Directors: Chris Buck & Kevin Lima
Voice Cast: Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Rosie O'Donnell, Glenn Close, Brian Blessed, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight, Nigel Hawthorne
Studio: Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: August 12, 2014
Retail: $29.99
ASIN: B00K5ZXIZY
Running Time: 88 minutes
Rating: G
Buy Link: Amazon
Review:
The 1999 Disney classic animated film Tarzan is getting the Blu-ray treatment on Tuesday, August 12. The film is directed by Chris Buck & Kevin Lima and features the voice talents of Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Rosie O'Donnell, Glenn Close, Brian Blessed, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight and Nigel Hawthorne. Bonus Features include deleted scenes, Research Trip to Africa, The Making Of The Music, "You'll e In My Heart" Music Video Preformed by Phil Collins and DisneyPedia: Living In The Jungle.
Based on the story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first animated version of Tarzan blends traditional animation with 3D backgrounds. Set during the 19th Century off the shore of Africa, an English couple barley escapes their burning ship. The take refuge in the rainforest by building a treehouse, where the plan on raising their son. Out of nowhere, a lioness, Sabor, invades the treehouse and murders the couple.
A female gorilla, Kala, hears the cries of the baby boy and comes to his rescue just in the nick of time to stop Sabor from claiming another victim. Sabor is the one that murdered Kala's child a few days before. Despite her mate's (Kerchak) objections, Kala claims the child as her own, naming him Tarzan.
Tarzan grows up as an ape and becomes best-friends with a gorilla named Terk and an elephant named Tantor. Shortly after he enters adulthood, human explorers invade their camp, leading Tarzan to meet the English woman, Jane. While Jane and Professor Porter are fascinated with Tarzan, their their hunter-guide Clayton isn't impressed. Actually, Clayton is planning on caging the apes and selling them.
Tarzan was box-office success in 1999, taking in nearly $450 million. A sequel, Tarzan & Jane, was released direct-to-video in 2002, followed by a prequel, Tarzan II, in 2005. A short-lived television series, The Legend of Tarzan, aired in 2002 for 39 episodes.
I grew up watching the old Tarzan films starring Johnny Weissmuller, but for some odd reason I never got around to watching Disney's version until I watched the Blu-ray version yesterday morning. The blend of 2D and 3D animation works great here; actually, I prefer this animation style over the computer animation that is overused in today's films. While the plot does differ from Edgar Rice Burroughs' original story, the script was cleverly written. Overall, the Tarzan: Special Edition is one of the better Disney films from the last fifteen-years. I highly recommend it to others.
*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
I really liked Tarzan and I completely agree with you when you say you preferred this animation style over the modern 3D one. With this style you could create absolutely stunning images, think the 'Colours of the Wind' sequence in Pocahontas or 'Hellfire' in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. They really knew how to play with colours. I never read the original story, so I'll have to get onto that! Great review :)
ReplyDeleteJuli @ Universe in Words