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Tarzan
USA 1999
Reviewed by Leslie Felperin
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
The nineteenth-century. A man and woman are shipwrecked with their infant son off the coast of east Africa. They build a tree house and move in, but Sabor the leopard kills the adults. Kala, a gorilla who has lost her own child to Sabor, finds the infant human, names him Tarzan and adopts him, despite the misgivings of her mate Kerchak, the head of their gorilla tribe. Although Kerchak never fully accepts him, Tarzan grows up among the gorillas and is befriended by Terk, a sarcastic female gorilla, and Tantor, an elephant.
Tarzan reaches manhood. One day, a new sound is heard in the jungle: gunfire. Professor Porter, a zoologist, has arrived in the jungle with his daughter Jane to study the gorillas. They are guided by Clayton, an adventurer who is secretly planning to capture gorillas and ship them back to England. When Jane, separated from the others, is cornered by Sabor, Tarzan saves her. Kala explains to Tarzan his origins by showing him the treehouse. Eager to learn more about his race, Tarzan spends time at the humans' encampment where he learns English and the history of mankind. They persuade Tarzan to take them to the gorillas. Clayton's men attack and capture many of the gorillas, much to Jane and Porter's disgust. With Tantor's help, Tarzan sets the gorillas free and in doing so finally wins the mortally wounded Kerchak's respect. Jane and Porter prepare to return to England, but at the last moment, Jane turns back and decides to stay with Tarzan, now the head of his tribe.
Review
One of the most frequently filmed stories in the cinema, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes is adapted to suit the times and has become a useful yardstick of our changing attitudes towards nature, savagery and Africa. The first adaptation in 1918, with Elmo Lincoln in the loincloth, tended to emphasise the freakish nature of the ape-man and was inflected by the still-very-hot debate about Darwinism and man's contested relation to apes. Later versions, starring Johnny Weissmuller through to Christopher Lambert and Casper Van Dien, have posited a Tarzan more noble than savage, a good man in Africa who upholds up the white man's burden by his unique sensitivity to the environment. Frequently, imperialism is naturalised through Tarzan; he is 'rightly' the king of the apes, a sovereignty that inevitably places him above even the African natives.
Tellingly, there are no Africans in Disney's latest version of the story, Tarzan, perhaps because issues of imperialism would be considered a distraction to this Discovery-channel, eco-friendly take on the classic story. Instead, the gorillas themselves, here literally given a voice for the first time, represent that which is native and threatened by European encrouchers. Meanwhile, with his dreadlocks and deep tan, despite his white parents this version's Tarzan is 'blacker' than any previous incarnation.
Regardless of any subtextual meanings, supervising animator Glen Keane's Tarzan is admittedly a triumph of caricature: feral, powerful, more animalistic than any other version as he walks on his knuckles like an ape. In the film's heirarchy of design, he is the missing link between the highly realistic rendering accorded to the apes and the much-more cartoonish, exagerrated humans (even the film's self-mocking Jane looks like something out of a late-UPA cartoon). Disney's clever twist on the story is to make the hero's confusion about identity, family and community the film's emotional meat, although there's little doubt that in the end he will find his true place among the animals that nutured him, but with a mate thrown in as a bonus. And just in case there's any doubt, Tarzan uses technology in a strangely paradoxical way to counterpoint the human and natural worlds: to show Tarzan's point of view of the jungle as he swings and 'surfs' like an extreme-sport aficionado through the trees, the animators have used a new, state-of-the-art computer technique called 'Deep Canvas' to create a vertiginous, speeding effect. The best the humans can offer him, when Jane and her father introduce Tarzan to the history of his species, is a magic lantern slide show, perhaps a deliberate nod towards the most primitive form of animation.
Credits
- Producer
- Bonnie Arnold
- Screenplay
- Tab Murphy
- Bob Tzudiker
- Noni White
- Based on the story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Additional Screenplay Material
- David Reynolds
- Jeffrey Stepakoff
- Editor
- Gregory Perler
- Art Director
- Daniel St. Pierre
- Songs
- Phil Collins
- Score
- Mark Mancina
- ©Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc/Disney Enterprises, Inc
- Production Company
- Walt Disney Pictures presents
- Associate Producer
- Christopher Chase
- CAPS Supervisors
- Scene Planning:
- Thomas Baker
- Animation Check:
- Barbara Wiles
- Janet Bruce
- 2-D Animation Processing:
- Robyn L. Roberts
- Colour Models:
- Karen Comella
- Paint/Final Check:
- Hortensia M. Casagran
- Compositing:
- James 'JR' Russell
- Digital Film Print:
- Brandy Hill
- Technical Co-ordinator:
- Ann Tucker
- Paris Unit Supervisors
- Layout:
- Olivier Adam
- Background:
- Joaquim Royo Morales
- Clean-up:
- Christophe Charbonnel
- Visual Effects:
- Allen Blyth
- Production Manager:
- Coralie Cudot-Lissillour
- Florida Unit Supervisors
- Clean-up:
- Philip Boyd
- Visual Effects:
- Joseph F. Gilland
- Garrett Wren
- Background:
- Sean Sullivan
- Artistic Co-ordinator
- Fraser MacLean
- Production Co-ordinators
- Video Reference/Recording:
- Kathy Cavaiola-Hill
- Communications Co-ordinator:
- Juliet Nees
- CAPS:
- Kirsten A. Bulmer
- Scene Planners
- S.J. Bleick
- Ronald J. Jackson
- Cynthia Goode
- Dave J. Link
- Mark Henley
- Rafaël Vicente
- Manager Digital Production
- Kirk Bodyfelt
- Director of Production
- Dorothy McKim
- Senior Managers
- Production CAPS:
- Gretchen Maschmeyer Albrecht
- Scene Planning/Camera:
- Joe Jiuliano
- Florida CAPS Manager
- Fran Kirsten
- Post-production
- Supervisor:
- Patsy Bougé
- Co-ordinators:
- Eleanor Lesh
- Robert H. Bagley
- Administrator:
- Heather Jane MacDonald-Smith
- Engineer:
- Michael Kenji Tomizawa
- Artistic Supervisors
- Production Manager:
- Jean-Luc Florinda
- Computer Graphics:
- Eric Daniels
- Visual Effects:
- Peter Demund
- Clean-up:
- Marshall Lee Toomey
- Backgrounds:
- Doug Ball
- Layout:
- Jean-Christophe Poulain
- Story:
- Brian Pimental
- Associate Art Director:
- Dan Cooper
- Casting
- Ruth Lambert
- Mary Hidalgo
- London Consultant:
- Leonie Cosman
- Story Consultants
- Juliet Aires
- Keith Giglio
- Story
- Stephen Anderson
- Mark D. Kennedy
- Carole Holliday
- Gaëtan Brizzi
- Paul Brizzi
- Don Dougherty
- Ed Gombert
- Randy Haycock
- Don Hall
- Kevin L. Harkey
- Glen Keane
- Burny Mattinson
- Frank Nissen
- John Norton
- Jeff Snow
- Michael Surrey
- Christopher J. Ure
- Mark Walton
- Stevie Wermers
- Kelly Wightman
- John Ramirez
- Camera/Film Recorder Operators
- John D. Aardal
- John Derderian
- Jennie Kepenek Mouzis
- Camera Operations Co-ordinator
- Stephanie L. Clifford
- Cameramen
- Video Reference Crew:
- Al Vasquez
- Tom Smith
- Chris Ullrich
- Technology
- Systems Support Manager:
- Michael R. Fodor
- 2-D Software:
- Kevin J. Hussey
- Media Group Manager:
- Thomas Moore Jr
- Systems Development Manager:
- James J. Sepe
- Leads:
- Graham S. Allan
- Richard M. Barnes
- Janet E. Berlin
- Mark Roy Carlson
- Hank Driskill
- Norbert Faerstain
- Mark W. Gilicinski
- John D. Hoffman
- Troy R. Norin
- Kyle Odermatt
- Nasser B. Salomon
- Mark M. Tokunaga
- Mary Jane 'M.J.' Turner
- David Troude
- Jon Y. Wada
- Doug White
- Software Development Supervisor
- Tasso Lappas
- Software Development Senior Technical Director
- George Katanics
- Software Development Technical Directors
- Peter H. Palombi
- Mayur Patel
- Model Development Supervisor
- Gil Zimmerman
- Model Development Technical Directors
- Nick Collier
- Ian Coony
- Bill Konersman
- Andrea Losch
- Nicoletta Marcialis
- Kevin Paul Sheedy
- Look Development Supervisor
- Dale Drummond
- Look Development Technical Directors
- Sean Eckols
- Clunie Holt
- Mira Nikolic
- Additional Digital Production
- William T. Carpenter
- Erica Cassetti
- Sanguan V. Chow
- Nika Dunne
- Eric Gervais-Despres
- Steve Goldberg
- Claire Lawrence-Slater
- Sean Locke
- Jean-Louis Malgoire
- Thomas C. Meyer
- Chris Springfield
- Charles Stoner
- Gary Telfer
- Susan Thayer
- Nathan Detroit Warner
- Jeff Wolverton
- Visual Development/ Character Designs
- Chen-Yi Chang
- Guy Deel
- Peter de Séve
- Vance Gerry
- Jean Gillmore
- Joe Grant
- Ian S. Gooding
- Brian Jowers
- H.B. (Buck) Lewis
- Rick Maki
- Henry Mayo
- Sergio Pablos
- Tina Price
- Jeffrey Resolme Ranjo
- Harald Siepermann
- John Watkiss
- Rowland B. Wilson
- Principal Location Design
- Paul Felix
- Loïc Rastout
- David A. Dunnet
- Supervising Animators
- Tarzan:
- Glen Keane
- Jane:
- Ken Stuart Duncan
- Kala:
- Russ Edmonds
- Young/Baby Tarzan:
- John Ripa
- Terk:
- Michael Surrey
- Clayton:
- Randy Haycock
- Porter:
- David Burgess
- Kerchak:
- Bruce W. Smith
- Tantor:
- Sergio Pablos
- Sabor:
- Dominique Monfery
- Ape Family:
- Jay Jackson
- Baboons/Baby Baboon:
- Bruce W. Smith
- Captain/Thugs:
- T. Daniel Hofstedt
- Flynt/Mungo:
- Chris Wahl
- Animators
- Tarzan:
- Georges Abolin
- Pierre Alary
- Marc Allard
- David Berthier
- Bolhem Bouchiba
- Patrick Delage
- Eric Delbecq
- Thierry Goulard
- Borja Montoro Cavero
- Enis Tahsin Özgür
- Stéphane Sainte-Foi
- Tran-Quang-Thieu JC
- Kristoff Vergne
- Jane:
- Jared Beckstrand
- Doug Bennett
- Robert Bryan
- Caroline Cruikshank
- Mark Koetsier
- Doug Krohn
- Kala:
- Mario J. Menjivar
- Dougg Williams
- Andreas Wessel-Therhorn
- Young/Baby Tarzan:
- Steven Pierre Gordon
- Jeff Johnson
- Yoshimichi Tamura
- Terk:
- Adam Dykstra
- Danny Galieote
- David Moses Pimentel
- Chad Stewart
- Clayton:
- Tim George
- Richard Hoppe
- Michael Stocker
- Porter:
- David Block
- Theresa Wiseman
- Kerchak:
- Robb Pratt
- Marc Smith
- Tantor:
- James Hull
- Mike Kunkel
- Jean Morel
- Stevan Wahl
- Sabor:
- Marc Eoche Duval
- Juanjo Guarnido
- Zoltán Maros
- Ape Family:
- Catherine Poulain
- Additional Animation
- Ruben A. Aquino
- Jean-Luc Ballester
- Dale Baer
- James Baker
- Travis Blaise
- Tom Bancroft
- Richard Bazley
- Roger Chiasson
- Wayne Carlisi
- Michael Cedeno
- Robert Espanto Domingo
- Jerry Yu Ching
- Sandro Cleuzo
- Tom Gately
- Brian Ferguson
- Raul Garcia
- David Hancock
- Christopher Hubbard
- Bert Klein
- James Young Jackson
- Sang Jin Kim
- Sam Levine
- Mark Alan Mitchell
- Joe Oh
- Jamie Oliff
- Ralph Palmer
- Mark Pudleiner
- William Recinos
- Michael Show
- Bill Waldman
- Anthony Ho Wong
- Phil Young
- Ellen Woodbury
- Clean-up Animation Lead Keys
- Tarzan:
- Philippe Briones
- Jane:
- Juliet Duncan
- Kala:
- June M. Fujimoto
- Young/Baby Tarzan:
- Margie Daniels
- Adult/Baby Terk:
- Debra Armstrong
- Young Terk:
- Brian B. McKim
- Clayton:
- Randy Sanchez
- Dan Tanaka
- Porter:
- Tony Anselmo
- Kerchak:
- Tracy Mark Lee
- Young/Adult Tantor:
- Terry Wozniak
- Sabor:
- Gontran Hoarau
- Flynt/Mungo:
- Susan Lantz
- Ginny Parmele
- Ape Family:
- Susan Lantz
- Ginny Parmele
- Baboons/Miscellaneous Characters:
- Liève Miessen
- Captain/Thugs:
- Gail Frank
- Clean-up 2nd Unit Supervisor
- Vera Lanpher-Pacheco
- Visual Effects Supervising 3D Effects Animator
- Dan Chaika
- Visual Effects Supervising Animator
- Mark Myer
- Visual Effects Animators
- Etienne Aubert
- Thierry Chaffoin
- Margaret Craig-Chang
- Jeff Dutton
- Colbert Fennelly
- James Menehune Goss
- Craig L. Hoffman
- Tom Hush
- Michael Cadwallader Jones
- Dorse A. Lanpher
- Dan Lund
- Brice Mallier
- David Joseph Mildenberger
- Cynthia Neill Knizek
- Masa Oshiro
- Mouloud Oussid
- Kathleen Quaife
- Allen M. Stovall
- David Tidgwell
- Phillip Vigil
- Marlon West
- Additional Visual Effects
- Gordon Baker
- Robert Bennett
- Guner Behich
- Verell 'Skip' Bowers
- Paul Briggs
- John Cashman
- Aliza Corson
- John Fargnoli
- Jazno Francoeur
- William J. Haas
- Darlene E. Hadrika
- Michael Kaschalk
- Paul R. Kashuk Jr
- Stephen McDermott
- Michael L. Oliva
- Christopher R. Page
- Sean Simon Ramirez
- Paitoon Ratanasirintrawoort
- Gary Schumer
- Heather M. Shepherd
- Rochelle Doriot Smith
- John David Thornton
- Tony West
- Additional 2-D Animation Processor
- Florida Supervisor:
- Jan Barley Gutowski
- Colour Stylists
- Penny Coulter
- Maria Gonzalez
- Barbara Lynn Hamane
- Debbie Jorgensborg
- Heidi Lin Loring
- Celine O'Sullivan
- Sylvia I. Sanchez
- Marie St. Clair
- Judith L. Tolley
- Additional Animation Checker
- Florida Supervisor:
- Laurie Sacks
- Layout Journeymen
- James P. Alles
- James Beihold
- John Byrne
- Fred Craig
- Vincent Massy de la Chesneraye
- Pierre Fassel
- Richard Carl Livingston
- Antonio Navarro
- Simon O'Leary
- John Puglisi
- Tom Shannon
- Allen C. Tam
- Sherilan Weinhart
- Tanya T. Wilson
- Additional Layout
- Scott Caple
- Arden Chan
- Shawn Colbeck
- Trish Coveney-Rees
- Tom Dow
- Mac George
- William Samuel Hodman
- Gary Mouri
- Franc Reyes
- Kenneth Spirduso
- Kevyn Wallace
- Yong Hong Zhong
- Blue Sketchs
- Madlyn Zusmer O'Neill
- Valérie Braun
- Monica Albracht Marroquin
- Bill Davis
- Eithne Ersoz
- Noel C. Johnson
- Supervising Digital Background Painter
- David McCamley
- Backgrounds Journeymen
- Jennifer K. Ando
- Dominick R. Domingo
- Debbie Du Bois
- Olivier Besson
- Justin Brandstater
- Hye Young Coh
- Scott Fassett
- Jean-Paul Fernandez
- Thierry Fournier
- Susan Hackett
- Jason Horley
- David Jarvis
- Mi Kyung Joung-Raynis
- William Lorencz
- Jerry Loveland
- Serge Michaels
- Gregory C. Miller
- Patricia Millereau-Guilmard
- Don Moore
- Patricia Palmer-Phillipson
- Pierre Pavloff
- Philip Phillipson
- William T. Silvers Jr
- Christophe Vacher
- Thomas Woodington
- David Yorke
- Additional Backgrounds
- Sunny Apinchapong
- Ron DeFelice
- Xin-Lin Fan
- Christopher F. Greco
- Miguel Gil
- Brad Hicks
- Xiangyuan Jie
- Geraldine Kovats
- Michael Kurinsky
- James J. Martin
- Barbara Massey
- Kelly McGraw
- Kevin McNamara
- Peter Moehrle
- David Murray
- John Piampiano
- Leonard Robledo
- Robh Ruppel
- George Taylor
- David Wang (Ying Guang)
- Colour Model Mark-up
- Bill Andres
- Sherrie Cuzzort
- Beth Ann Mccoy-Gee
- Grace H. Shirado
- Christine Ng Wong
- David J. Zywicki
- Editors
- Associate:
- Tim Mertens
- Animation:
- James Melton
- Character Sculptures
- Kent Melton
- Christophe Charbonnel
- Tony Cipriano
- Costume Designer
- Video Reference Crew:
- Fionn Zarubica
- Title Design
- Robert Dawson
- Gary Cofer
- Titles
- Custom Film Effects
- Additional Synthesizer Programming
- Marc Mann
- Score Conductor
- Don Harper
- Orchestrations
- David Metzger
- Executive Music Producer
- Chris Montan
- Score Producer
- Mark Mancina
- Score Co-producer
- Christopher Ward
- Music Production
- Director:
- Andrew Page
- Manager:
- Tom MacDougall
- Co-ordinator:
- Deniece LaRocca
- Music Editor
- Earl Ghaffari
- Songs Recorder/Mixer
- Frank Wolf
- Score Recorder/Mixer
- Steve Kempster
- Songs
- "You'll Be in My Heart (Phil Version)" by/performed by Phil Collins; "You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins, arranged by Mark Mancina, performed by Phil Collins, Glenn Close, orchestra conducted by Mark Mancina; "Two Worlds", "Strangers Like Me" by Phil Collins, arranged by Phil Collins, Mark Mancina, performed by Phil Collins, orchestra conducted by Mark Mancina; "Son of Man" by/performed by Phil Collins; "Trashin' the Camp" by/arranged by Phil Collins, Paul Bogaev, performed by Rosie O'Donnell, Phil Collins
- Vocal/Creature Sound Design
- Scott Martin Gershin
- Additional Audio
- Mark Ormandy
- Additional Dialogue Recording
- Vince Caro
- Brian Riordan
- Re-recording Mixers
- Chris Jenkins
- Mark Smith
- Ron Bartlett
- Original Dialogue Mixer
- Doc Kane
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Per Hallberg
- Effects Editors
- Christopher Assells
- Peter Michael Sullivan
- Geoff Rubay
- ADR
- Supervisor:
- Curt Schulkey
- Foley
- Supervisor:
- Craig S. Jaeger
- Artists:
- James M. Moriana
- Jeffrey Wilhoit
- Recordist:
- Greg Zimmerman
- Mixer:
- Nerses Gezalyan
- Editor:
- Lou Kleinman
- Animal Anatomy Consultants
- Dr Elizabeth Rega
- Dr Stuart Sumida
- Voice Cast
- Brian Blessed
- Clayton
- Glenn Close
- Kala
- Minnie Driver
- Jane
- Tony Goldwyn
- Tarzan
- Nigel Hawthorne
- Professor Porter
- Lance Henriksen
- Kerchak
- Wayne Knight
- Tantor
- Alex D. Linz
- young Tarzan
- Rosie O'Donnell
- Terk
- Taylor Dempsey
- young Tantor
- Beth Anderson
- Jack Angel
- Joseph Ashton
- Robert Bergen
- Billy Warren Bodine
- Hillary Brooks
- Roger Bumpass
- Lily Collins
- Kat Cressida
- Jim Cummings
- Aria Curzon
- Jennifer Darling
- Debi Derryberry
- Patti Deutsch
- Paul Eiding
- Blake Ewing
- Francesca Falcone
- Michael Geiger
- Scott Gershin
- Sam Gifaldi
- Amy Gleason
- Jackie Gonneau
- Debbie Hall
- Jonnie Hall
- Sandie Hall
- Tina Halvorson
- Linda Harmon
- Karen Harper
- Micah Hauptman
- Jennifer L. Hughes
- Grady Hutt
- Luana Jackman
- Adam Karpel
- Theo Lebow
- Brandon Lucas
- Ricky Lucchese
- James Lively
- Sherry Lynn
- Melissa MacKay
- Danny Mann
- Ilana Marks
- Jason Marsden
- Mickie T. McGowan
- Donna Medine
- Nils Montan
- Bobbi Page
- Brandon Pollard
- Phil Proctor
- Scott Record
- Michael Reagan
- Ian Redford
- Jessica Rotter
- Chris Sanders
- Stephanie Sawyer
- Laura Schillinger
- Brianne Siddall
- Frank Simms
- Susan Stevens Logan
- Shane Sweet
- Tiffany Takara
- Dominic Thiroux
- Jamie Torcellini
- Erik von Detten
- Joe Whyte
- Danielle Wiener
- additional voices
- video reference cast
- Miriam Johnson
- Brian McCarthy
- Rocco Vienhage
- Certificate
- U
- Distributor
- Buena Vista International (UK)
- 7, 962 feet
- 88 minutes 28 seconds
- SDDS/Dolby digital/Digital DTS sound
- In Colour
- Prints by
- Technicolor