Tarzan (1999) - 7 stars out of 10

Tarzan (1999) - 7 stars out of 10

“Tarzan” is a tough movie to rate.  It is that awkward transitional film between the epic musicals of the Disney Renaissance and the “next generation does not want to watch our characters sing” movement of the 2000’s.  If you compare “Tarzan” to the Disney musicals that came before it, it seems incomplete.  If you compare it to animated films where the characters do not spontaneously burst into song, it is pretty good.  I can definitely understand why the writers did not want Tarzan to don a top hat and cane and prance about the forest.  That would slightly ruin his manly image.  But I also believe that the film would be a lot more engaging if the characters expressed their emotions through song.  Picture this:  Kala sings all of You’ll Be In My Heart instead of just the first 30 seconds, young Tarzan sings a song about fitting in (a la I Just Can’t Wait To Be King), Jane sings a song debating whether she could love a man from a different world, Clayton and the hunters sing a Be Prepared-esque song about capturing the apes, and the Strangers Like Me montage would still fit in perfectly!  Why wasn’t I consulted before they made this film?  Don’t get me wrong, I adore these songs by Phil Collins.  Some of my favorite Disney songs of all-time come from this film and there are times when Phil’s music is the perfect background for a montage that tells a part of the story.  I love the imagery in Strangers Like Me during the lyrics “Take my hand, there’s a world I need to know,” and the mirror images of the gorilla and human families in “Two Worlds” really get the point across.  Unfortunately, the film has one montage after another which makes it feels like we are fast-forwarding through significant parts of the story and missing out on important details (though I guess that’s how they justified making “Tarzan II”…)  I was initially upset that the opening of the film jumps right into the boat accident and that we never got to know Tarzan's parents.  But in hindsight, it is a very exciting way to begin a film and helps us to understand how little time Tarzan had with them.  The Trashin’ the Camp sequence is really cool, but seems out of place without meaningful songs sung by the main characters.  That being said, I enjoyed Disney’s adaptation of this story.  The concept of having Tarzan basically surf on the tree branches creates great visual appeal (what kid didn’t want to be able to do that?) and keeps him from having to swing on vines the entire film.  The surfing has a three-dimensional feel to it and is complimented by the Deep Canvas CGI technique invented to bring the backgrounds of this film to life.  “Tarzan’s” visuals are stunning and probably the reason that critics loved this so much.  While the story is interesting, most of the serious moments are interrupted with comedy before we are able to have the proper emotional response.  Examples include when Kala is trying to rescue baby Tarzan from an attacking tiger, and when they first hear gunshots but it is immediately turned into a fart joke for the elephant.  It reminds me of “Mulan” when their location is revealed because of a misfired rocket, and the camera immediately cuts to a guilty-looking Mushu which cheapens the severity of the moment.  All Disney movies have that moment where I wish that would’ve just let us feel something without turning it into a joke, but this movie seemed to be a constant stream of those moments.  I do appreciate that the communication between Tarzan and Jane is believable.  Unlike “Pocahontas” where the characters magically understand each other after two minutes, the film emphasizes the communication barrier through Tarzan’s ability to mimic words without comprehending.  When he does eventually learn to communicate, it is on a basic level that a person could realistically learn in a week.  I also appreciate the film’s cleverness, like dressing the elephant trunk as Jane’s father and the cameo by Chip and Mrs. Potts!  I think that the character of Jane is the best part of the film.  Through her compassion toward Tarzan and conflicted feelings, she achieves a level of depth that the other characters do not.  Minnie Driver captures this depth in her delivery of each line.  I also loved the voice acting of Glenn Close as Kala, Nigel Hawthorne as Jane’s father, and Wayne Knight as the very nervous elephant Tantor.  “Tarzan” has a lot of good and a lot of bad, but I would definitely watch this film again for its stunning visuals and amazing Phil Collins soundtrack (even though the songs should be sung by the characters!)