July 2000

Tarzan
Reviewed by Roger Kanno
DVD Format

Overall Enjoyment:
Picture Quality:
Sound Quality:
Packaged Extras:

Starring the voices of Minnie Driver, Nigel Hawthorne, Brian Blessed, Tony Goldwyn, Glenn Close, Lance Henrickson, Rosie O’Donnell

Directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck

Theatrical Release: 1999
DVD Release: 2000
Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen (Anamorphic)

It has been eleven years since Disney’s The Little Mermaid introduced a whole new generation of children and their parents to feature-length animation. Along the way there have been some real gems from Disney like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Toy Story, in addition to a few others from competing studios; however, many of these films share similar story lines and are therefore becoming mundane. Tarzan is a good film, but it comes from the wholly predictable Disney formula and today’s viewers have come to expect much more from animated films. Like it or not, the bar has been raised.

The story of Tarzan unfolds much like the The Lion King or Mulan. The main character, in this case Tarzan, matures from childhood to adulthood and must therefore negotiate his place in society. Despite the predictable story line, there is much to like about Tarzan. The animation for one is breathtaking with vibrant colors and an amazingly detailed, classic hand-painted look along with exciting and realistic three-dimensional visual effects. The vocal characterizations, especially those of Tony Goldwyn and Minnie Driver, bring depth and feeling to the characters. Phil Collins provides several catchy tunes, including the Oscar-winning, "You’ll Be In My Heart" (although my vote would have gone to "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut).

However, I found the characterization of the young Tarzan and his animal companions excessively whimsical and comical. The characters were a bit too one dimensional as if in a Saturday morning cartoon, which contrasts rather starkly with the more complex and serious characterizations of the adult characters. Jane, for instance, (played by Minnie Driver) perfectly blends her lilting voice with her character’s proper British manners and sense of wonder. Although as Tarzan, Tony Goldwyn does not have much to say, he nevertheless uses what few lines he does have to effectively convey his character’s inner strength, which is mirrored in the expressive animation of his facial features. The character of Jane's father and the main villain, Clayton are not nearly as well developed, and Glenn Close and Lance Henricksen are also a bit stilted as Tarzan's ape parents.

This adaptation of Tarzan focuses on Tarzan’s struggle to come to terms with his human identity in light of his ape upbringing, and on the choices that he must make between the two lifestyles. While the story is simplistic, it is effective and not overly preachy by animated film standards. The film also relies heavily on Phil Collins’ songs. Although I prefer Elton John’s lyrical treatment of The Lion King and Randy Newman’s more poignant songs from the Toy Story films, this is some of Collins best work and his sweeping pop songs blend well with the fantastic visuals.

The sound quality of Tarzan is problematic. Although Disney has admitted that there is a flaw in the mixing of the soundtrack, there has been no official recall of the disc. The problem can best be described as a leakage of sound from the left front channel to the left surround channel that leads to improper imaging to the side of the room especially when sounds pan from right to left front. This problem is subtle and intermittent and may not be noticed by some viewers. However, I found it distracting and thought that it might have caused the music to image excessively outside of the front speakers. Otherwise, the film’s overall sound is good with clear dialogue and well-recorded music and vocals of the Phil Collins songs.

In contrast, the video transfer of this disc is outstanding. Just check out the brilliant white flowers amidst the lush jungle greenery in Chapter 6 or the waterfall at the beginning of Chapter 7. The colors and depth of the picture are breathtaking with complex and minutely detailed animation. The leopard attack in Chapter 14 features smoothly flowing action and 360 degree camera angles that are thrilling to watch.

The most annoying feature of this disc is the multiple ads that are automatically played when the disc is first inserted into a player. Although you can bypass them individually by depressing the skip key, it is a chore to do so. Most of the extras provided on this disc are throwaways. There is a trivia game which consists of the same 15 questions each time you play it, an "interactive" read along, a Phil Collins music video, a behind-the-scenes feature with Phil Collins and N’Sync, the theatrical trailer, and a teaser trailer for Dinosaur. Also inexplicably included in the extras section are the "preview trailers," which consist of the same annoying ads that are present at the beginning of the disc!

If the sound mix were not flawed, Tarzan might have been a reference quality DVD due to its wonderful music score and pristine picture quality. The new Collector's Edition of Tarzan, which will be available by the time you read this review should remedy this problem with the audio, has more worthwhile extras, and retail for only a few dollars more than the standard edition.  

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