Tarzan

For many fans, Tarzan was the mark of the third golden age in the Disney canon. This film is the first of the films to no longer feature the characters themselves singing the songs in the film, thus setting a trend that continued right up until Princess and the Frog.

Tarzan is one of many films that really feels like a great entry in the Disney canon. We are treated to what I felt was a rather strong opening sequence that really helped to set us up for the rest of film. While our hero is still a baby during it, the opening still cements the close bond that his adoptive mother has with Tarzan and helps to motivate her, as well as Kerchak. Also. Baby Tarzan is adorable.

Following the strong opening, the film almost feels like two films to me. The first 'film' follows Tarzan as he grows up and we learn of how he and his world work. All of this helps to set the stakes, and eventually culminates in Tarzan fighting the evil leopard Sabor. Once this has finished, we are introduced to the story proper where Tarzan then learns of other humans and begins to explore the world he has been missing out on for so many years. This 'second' feeling film explores his interactions with Professor Porter, his daughter Jane, and the main villain, Clayton. Despite this, the entire end product is really fun to watch with a few exceptions that aren't fully plot related.

So. Let's get the nitpicks out of the way first. One flaw was with Clayton, who really feels like a weaker villain from the 1990's decade since we don't get a very strong motivation from him. We know he wants the gorillas but that's as far as things really go. For the rest of the characters I found Tantor and Terk, Tarzan's childhood friends, to be fairly lacking. It probably did not help that Rosie O'Donnell voiced Terk. The final flaw I had with this film is the songs as far as how they handled it. It's rather hard to accept Phil Collins as being some sort of narrator for the film who sings at specific points. The film also seems to handle the songs in a misleading way, at first characters will begin to sing the opening lyrics as if they might do the whole song, but then we transition to Phil Collins taking over. Regardless, some of the songs are actually quite good.

So. Characters I enjoyed! I really liked Tarzan and Jane which was helpful to the film. If your two main leads are rather bland it can really hamper things, however on their own or together Tarzan and Jane are always entertaining to watch. Perhaps my favourite moment is when the two first meet each other. It's a rather funny, and yet also tender scene as Tarzan tries to make sense of things.

Tarzan earns a strong 4/5