Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Tarzan Blu-ray Movie Review

The original swinger.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 17, 2013

When it comes to film (and television) adaptations of his work, Edgar Rice Burroughs has had a pretty hard time of it overall when you pause to really think about it. Even putting aside the supposedly disastrous John Carter (a misfire, to be sure, but not the out and out horror some people claimed), Burroughs’ most iconic character, Tarzan, has often received short shrift on both the large and small screens. While the popular Johnny Weissmüller series from the thirties and the forties still remains perhaps the best remembered adaptation, few would argue that the series has much to do with Burroughs’ original conception, especially as the films became more and more ludicrous as the series wore on. Even less “genuine” were the replacements for Weissmüller, actors as disparate as Lex Barker and Gordon Scott, though finally the series did seek to get at least a little closer to the Burroughs novels with two Scott vehicles, Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure and Tarzan the Magnificent. Things got so bad during the sixties that one Tarzan outing actually had the jungle hero posing as a sort of international spy, albeit just slightly atavistic, a la James Bond. Ron Ely donned a loincloth for a short lived television series around this same time, episodes of which were cobbled together for the secondary market as supposed “feature” films. Not much happened in Tarzan land after that until the early eighties when both Tarzan, the Ape Man and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes opened within a few years of each other and sought to reboot the franchise for a new generation. Both films actually did okay at the box office, but neither was universally lauded by critics, with both films coming in for rather serious drubbing (not to mention dubbing in the case of Greystoke’s Andie McDowell, who had her voice replaced by Glenn Close). One final feature film called Tarzan and the Lost City appeared in the late nineties, and that’s been it in terms of live action fare, though a long gestating new version is still caught in development hell at Warner. (It should be noted that this is only a cursory list of the best known Tarzan outings through the year and is not meant to be an exhaustive inventory.) Which finally brings us to animated versions of the iconic hero. Though Disney’s Tarzan was a rather successful outing in what has been termed the “Disney Renaissance” of the eighties and nineties, and in fact is often cited as the last big hit of that renaissance, though its reputation has never quite reached the heights of some other Disney films from this same basic period, iconic entertainments like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.

It would hardly seem possible at first (or maybe even second or third) glance that the Disney forces taking on a property like Tarzan would produce anything even closely resembling its source material. This is, after all, the studio of cutely anthropomorphized animals who speak with celebrities’ voices and who often seem more human than whatever humans themselves are in any given property. And yet quite unexpectedly, this Tarzan, for all its admitted “Disney-fication”, comes rather close to at least some elements of Burroughs’ original conception. This starts with the opening scene which gives us the desperate events which brought young Lord Greystoke to the jungle and ultimately placed him under the care of a maternal gorilla (voiced by, ironically enough, Andie MacDowell’s dubber Glenn Close).

The opening ten or so minute sequence is a model of concise story telling, as Phil Collins’ “Two Worlds” orients us both to the Greystoke family, cast away on a jungle island after their ship burns, and the gorilla brood of Kala (Glenn Close) and Kerchak (Lance Henriksen). The gorillas are parents to lively little baby who in a terrifying scene in this segment is killed by Sabor, a leopard. Later, Kala, heartbroken, hears cries from another infant and finds the Greystoke’s tree house, where the two parents have also obviously succumbed to Sabor. Inside a bassinet Kala finds the infant Greystoke, only to realize within moments that Sabor is still inside the tree house. A violent skirmish breaks out, but Kala ultimately is able to escape with her “new” baby in tow. This elegant segment gives us all the background we really need to understand the emotions at play and it sets up the rest of the film magically.

The next twenty minutes or so introduces us to the newly named Tarzan as a little boy, along with two of his friends, the impish gorilla Terk (Rosie O’Donnell) and the skittish elephant Tantor (Wayne Knight). This segment also highlights what continues to be a theme throughout the film, Tarzan’s desire to blend in with his gorilla family, something that Kala encourages but which Kerchak is not very kindly about.

At this point, the film segues fairly seamlessly to Tarzan as an adult (voiced by Tony Goldwyn), detailing his longstanding relationships with his gorilla “relatives” and two best friends, as well as a showdown with Sabor. But then the film starts to go at least slightly off the rails with the introduction of the characters who form the bulk of the rest of the story, members of an expeditionary team including Jane (Minnie Driver), her father Professor Porter (Nigel Hawthorne), and the film’s Snidely Whiplash-esque villain, Clayton (Brian Blessed). Up until this point Tarzan had some of the folktale like quality that was quite similar to Disney’s version of The Jungle Book. While the film tries to meld some of Burroughs’ original Tarzan mythology with a souped up story of poachers, it’s an uneasy alliance at best and arguably the weakest section of this Tarzan.

There’s no denying that there’s some very real artistry running rampant throughout Tarzan. The film quite brilliantly finesses the whole “language” issue by introducing the animals first as grunting, snorting beasts and then only later having them speak in English once Tarzan has joined the fray. And the first dialogue between Tarzan and Jane very neatly recasts the iconic (if apocryphal) “Me Tarzan, you Jane” by having Tarzan be an incredible mimic who starts parroting back everything Jane says. The film also has a rather deep emotional heft, especially as it cartwheels toward its exciting finale. This may in fact only be half Burroughs, half something else, but on the whole it’s one of Disney’s most satisfying animated efforts from this era.

Tarzan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tarzan is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Disney received a technical achievement special Oscar for the new technology they introduced for rendering backgrounds in this film, and it was a well deserved accolade. The vaunted Disney multi-plane technique is taken to a whole new level in this film, aided by some extremely well done CGI which itself adds an air of dimensionality throughout the film. This high definition presentation often looks spectacular, with gorgeously lush hues and wonderfully dappled light effects dotting the jungle sequences. Characters are precise and distinctive looking, aided by excellent line detail. This is easily one of the most gorgeous Disney offerings of the nineties (and even beyond), one which has gone strangely underappreciated through the years, and it's a joy to see it in high definition.

Tarzan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately Disney made the odd decision to release Tarzan with only Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes in a variety of languages. This may be the main reason American consumers, who could otherwise enjoy this region free disc, may want to hold off until the expected Diamond Edition of the film is released stateside, a release that will almost undoubtedly feature lossless audio. It's an especial shame since the sound design of Tarzan is evocative, including excellent use of the surround channels for both Phil Collins' song score and the omnipresent sounds of the jungle. The Dolby track certainly has nothing inherently wrong in it, but a more forceful low end will certainly be evident in any lossless offering which may be forthcoming.

Tarzan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scene: Alternate Opening (480i; 2:13)


• "You'll Be in My Heart" Music Video Performed by Phil Collins (480i; 4:17)


• Disneypedia: Living in the Jungle (480i; 5:54) combines animation with live footage (probably from those old Disney True Life Adventures to impart a few facts.

Tarzan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Has it really been fourteen years since Tarzan was released? My eldest son, who leaves next year for his college life, was a toddler when this film came out, and my wife reminded me that when we took him to see Tarzan in the theaters, he brought along his Tarzan action figure and held it up to the screen every time Tarzan appeared. The magic and connection my then young son experienced is still very much in evidence in this film, one that was widely lauded upon its release but has somehow oddly been shunted to second string status in the wake of bigger, flashier Disney successes. Looking at the film again after several years is something of a revelation. This is one of the most complex pieces of animation Disney has done, and it looks fabulous on this Blu-ray. Unfortunately the boneheaded decision to offer only lossy audio may well offset the excellence of the video. My advice is to wait until an American Diamond Edition appears, hopefully with lossless audio (and perhaps with better supplementary material).