Tarzan
It has been too long. It's even been too long since I wrote proper thoughts about a TV show (2 months?? madness). I think it's gotten into one of those things where I'm putting it off entirely because it's been long enough to feel awkward, or something. So let's see if I remember how to do this! :D
I love the opening music, the intro to Two Worlds. It's like Jungle Batman. The computer animated water and boat look a little odd, but overall it's beautiful.
Now I know why I was putting it off. BECAUSE BURSTING INTO TEARS HURTS LATELY.
It dives head-first right into the prologue, in the fine Disney tradition of communicating a lot without dialogue. Showing the parallels between the two families and getting across the plot in seconds.
I guess Tarzan and his parents were the only survivors of the flaming ship, but it seemed a tad weird to me that the ship was already completely deserted when they were getting into the lifeboat. What happened?
Also, clearly his parents are awesome for building that kick-ass treehouse by themselves when they also had an infant to take care of. And in a matter of weeks, too, or Tarzan would have aged! Evidently that is one awesome gene pool.
Sabor seems to have a taste for human flesh and babies of both species. I'm not sure where I was going with that.
Also, Terk is a bit older than Tarzan, which probably during the bulk of the movie has her like 20 or so. Now, I understand that in the creative process Terk was only made a female character after Rosie O'Donnell auditioned, and they went “why not?”, but the anthropologist in me remembers a Jane Goodall story of the female chimp who was barren and took on a male role because of it. So-because a female ape would probably have at least one baby by then-I have concluded that Terk is barren and that's why she hangs out with Tarzan and other guy gorillas rather than having babies.
I love Tarzan mimicking various animal noises. Like how picking up on and imitating sounds is an actual character trait so it makes sense that he is able to pick up English remarkably well.
So even though this movie also has a fast establishing opening, and took a break in his childhood to establish how he feels like a freak/outsider, the pacing is like 100% better than Hercules. Maybe it's because there isn't even a big plot. It's entirely about Tarzan growing up and feeling like an outsider and figuring out how to do things and find his place.
And Tarzan works really hard to keep up with the gorillas, but the best part is all his fantastic TOOL USE. And all the gorillas are like “...what's that thing growing out of his arm? It must be magic!” (sorry, that old ad just popped into my head and I had to use the quote.) It's established that he's intelligent and adaptive, and when he fights Sabor it's all cunning and tool use that gets him out ahead. And wow, he killed Sabor. I forgot that happened this quickly. With his human brain he's able to kill the leopard that eluded all the gorillas who could rip Tarzan apart like toothpicks if they wanted to.
OH MAN SUCH PRETTY PAINTED BACKGROUNDS
I have not watched this movie enough.
EEEEEEEEE ADORABLE VICTORIAN ANTHROPOLOGISTS THEY ARE GEEKING OUT OVER A GORILLA NEST THEY ARE ADORKABLE
(I suppose there may be a better word than anthropologists, but I can't be bothered to think of it, and considering them anthropologists makes me happy, so)
LOL Jane - “OH LOOK BANANAS!” I love that Jane is pretty much a geek/dork/nerd.
Also, Tarzan's expressions while he is saving Jane! And then the conversation with the monkeys from Jane's perspective!
OMG the combination of Tarzan's expressive silence and Jane's babbling. There's so much going on in this scene and it plays out beautifully. And then he goes imitating her again because that's what he does and he's pretty excited about it because he's figured out that she is his species and all that is shown and not told. :D
Also, the gorillas playing with the camp is lots of fun. Did I mention this movie has some really fantastic pacing and flow? This scene seems like it would drive the movie to a halt, but it comes in very smoothly, flowing from the previous scene, providing a small break in the serious story without being a Designated Comic Relief Break, and then also flows very smoothly back into the rest of the plot.
“And, Daddy, he stole my boot!”
LOL, I was going to say something about Jane fangirling over Tarzan, but then he showed up and her father fangirled bigger than she did.
I am thinking there was some rather serious miscommunication when the Porters hired Clayton to protect them. Maybe he was just the cheapest gun for hire available. I guess the assumption we're supposed to make is that he was hiding his true purpose of capturing and/or killing gorillas so that he could tag along with the gorilla experts in the hopes that they would find them, but the Porters are exasperated with his trigger-happiness and he is exasperated with their pacifism--you'd think these conflicts of interest would have been apparent sooner.
(And Clayton being Tarzan's cousin in the original book is totally my headcanon for this movie now. It... doesn't really effect anything, I just like it.)
Oh man Strangers Like Me. Tarzan just blossoms with all the new information. And then there's some pretty intense staring at each other.
Also, I am pleased that the comic relief comes out of the characters; no designated comic relief characters here!
Clayton gives Tarzan some wine? What? Of course it was Clayton's effort to schmooze and manipulate Tarzan, but I thought all reference to alcohol was banned from Disney movies by this point.
Some specific beautiful things in the animation: The lighting effects, and the very three-dimensional sense of space in the backgrounds.
I'm just sitting here watching, I can't think of things to say.
Omg the little piano of “You'll Be In My Heart” when Kala shows Tarzan the treehouse...
Poor Tarzan out of his element, and he has no idea that Clayton is a jerk. Heck, he probably assumed that Clayton was like the alpha male and that's why he was more aggressive than the others, plus Clayton was playing nice with him before.
Oh man the use of color and quick shots
I love that Jane is quite capable even if she's not really a fighter. And there's still little bits of miscommunication humor even in the drama moments.
And the sound imitation is pretty literally a chekhov's gun, and then Tarzan stops Clayton from cutting him by tangling him in the vines, and what really kills Clayton is that he doesn't understand how vines work and doesn't listen to Tarzan yelling “don't” at him. And then one of the creepiest deaths in a Disney movie.
...and then Kerchak dies. Man this movie has a pretty high body count. And Tarzan and Kerchak reconcile and Tarzan is the new alpha male! Hooray!
Jane kisses Tarzan and I'm not sure he even knows what that is, but he decides he likes it and wants to do it again.
Oh man, the backgrounds are so beautiful. And the fluid animation. GLEN KEANE. I didn't see any other names I recognized. I probably missed them.
So, story-wise, this is a huge improvement over Hercules and Mulan, as I dimly recall. Both movies had their strengths, but they also had pacing problems (Hercules especially, Mulan just mostly feels like there was stuff cut out and it is kinda short). This movie is pretty much paced perfectly, despite starting at kind of a run (which one might expect to then slam to a stop or fizzle out). It just flows perfectly without obvious act breaks or scene changes or feeling too long or too short. On top of that, it has some really stunning visuals both in the backgrounds and animation. Also, anthropology, the heroine being a nerd, the hero being intelligent and curious-yeah, I like this movie a lot.
Of course now I want to watch Lilo and Stitch. (That's next, right?) But I can't because it's 10:20. Dear self: you are dumb.
Also, for possible future list purposes: Tarzan's biological parents were both seen and killed. His adoptive father died near the end of the movie, but his adoptive mother survived. Jane has a goofy little father in the Maurice-Sultan mold, and no mention is made of her mother (but I'd assume her mother is dead, or else they wouldn't be moving to Africa on a whim and leaving her behind). Oh, and I might want to count Kerchak as a threatening father, similar to Triton, but I haven't decided how valid that is.
The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Tarzan, Pinocchio, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Sleeping Beauty, Oliver and Company, Mulan, Alice in Wonderland, The Three Caballeros, The Great Mouse Detective, Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Hercules, Pocahontas, Robin Hood, 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, Snow White, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under, The Fox and the Hound, Dumbo, Fun and Fancy Free, Make Mine Music, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, The Sword in the Stone, Bambi, The Aristocats, The Black Cauldron, Saludos Amigos
(I might have to reorder these sometime...)
I love the opening music, the intro to Two Worlds. It's like Jungle Batman. The computer animated water and boat look a little odd, but overall it's beautiful.
Now I know why I was putting it off. BECAUSE BURSTING INTO TEARS HURTS LATELY.
It dives head-first right into the prologue, in the fine Disney tradition of communicating a lot without dialogue. Showing the parallels between the two families and getting across the plot in seconds.
I guess Tarzan and his parents were the only survivors of the flaming ship, but it seemed a tad weird to me that the ship was already completely deserted when they were getting into the lifeboat. What happened?
Also, clearly his parents are awesome for building that kick-ass treehouse by themselves when they also had an infant to take care of. And in a matter of weeks, too, or Tarzan would have aged! Evidently that is one awesome gene pool.
Sabor seems to have a taste for human flesh and babies of both species. I'm not sure where I was going with that.
Also, Terk is a bit older than Tarzan, which probably during the bulk of the movie has her like 20 or so. Now, I understand that in the creative process Terk was only made a female character after Rosie O'Donnell auditioned, and they went “why not?”, but the anthropologist in me remembers a Jane Goodall story of the female chimp who was barren and took on a male role because of it. So-because a female ape would probably have at least one baby by then-I have concluded that Terk is barren and that's why she hangs out with Tarzan and other guy gorillas rather than having babies.
I love Tarzan mimicking various animal noises. Like how picking up on and imitating sounds is an actual character trait so it makes sense that he is able to pick up English remarkably well.
So even though this movie also has a fast establishing opening, and took a break in his childhood to establish how he feels like a freak/outsider, the pacing is like 100% better than Hercules. Maybe it's because there isn't even a big plot. It's entirely about Tarzan growing up and feeling like an outsider and figuring out how to do things and find his place.
And Tarzan works really hard to keep up with the gorillas, but the best part is all his fantastic TOOL USE. And all the gorillas are like “...what's that thing growing out of his arm? It must be magic!” (sorry, that old ad just popped into my head and I had to use the quote.) It's established that he's intelligent and adaptive, and when he fights Sabor it's all cunning and tool use that gets him out ahead. And wow, he killed Sabor. I forgot that happened this quickly. With his human brain he's able to kill the leopard that eluded all the gorillas who could rip Tarzan apart like toothpicks if they wanted to.
OH MAN SUCH PRETTY PAINTED BACKGROUNDS
I have not watched this movie enough.
EEEEEEEEE ADORABLE VICTORIAN ANTHROPOLOGISTS THEY ARE GEEKING OUT OVER A GORILLA NEST THEY ARE ADORKABLE
(I suppose there may be a better word than anthropologists, but I can't be bothered to think of it, and considering them anthropologists makes me happy, so)
LOL Jane - “OH LOOK BANANAS!” I love that Jane is pretty much a geek/dork/nerd.
Also, Tarzan's expressions while he is saving Jane! And then the conversation with the monkeys from Jane's perspective!
OMG the combination of Tarzan's expressive silence and Jane's babbling. There's so much going on in this scene and it plays out beautifully. And then he goes imitating her again because that's what he does and he's pretty excited about it because he's figured out that she is his species and all that is shown and not told. :D
Also, the gorillas playing with the camp is lots of fun. Did I mention this movie has some really fantastic pacing and flow? This scene seems like it would drive the movie to a halt, but it comes in very smoothly, flowing from the previous scene, providing a small break in the serious story without being a Designated Comic Relief Break, and then also flows very smoothly back into the rest of the plot.
“And, Daddy, he stole my boot!”
LOL, I was going to say something about Jane fangirling over Tarzan, but then he showed up and her father fangirled bigger than she did.
I am thinking there was some rather serious miscommunication when the Porters hired Clayton to protect them. Maybe he was just the cheapest gun for hire available. I guess the assumption we're supposed to make is that he was hiding his true purpose of capturing and/or killing gorillas so that he could tag along with the gorilla experts in the hopes that they would find them, but the Porters are exasperated with his trigger-happiness and he is exasperated with their pacifism--you'd think these conflicts of interest would have been apparent sooner.
(And Clayton being Tarzan's cousin in the original book is totally my headcanon for this movie now. It... doesn't really effect anything, I just like it.)
Oh man Strangers Like Me. Tarzan just blossoms with all the new information. And then there's some pretty intense staring at each other.
Also, I am pleased that the comic relief comes out of the characters; no designated comic relief characters here!
Clayton gives Tarzan some wine? What? Of course it was Clayton's effort to schmooze and manipulate Tarzan, but I thought all reference to alcohol was banned from Disney movies by this point.
Some specific beautiful things in the animation: The lighting effects, and the very three-dimensional sense of space in the backgrounds.
I'm just sitting here watching, I can't think of things to say.
Omg the little piano of “You'll Be In My Heart” when Kala shows Tarzan the treehouse...
Poor Tarzan out of his element, and he has no idea that Clayton is a jerk. Heck, he probably assumed that Clayton was like the alpha male and that's why he was more aggressive than the others, plus Clayton was playing nice with him before.
Oh man the use of color and quick shots
I love that Jane is quite capable even if she's not really a fighter. And there's still little bits of miscommunication humor even in the drama moments.
And the sound imitation is pretty literally a chekhov's gun, and then Tarzan stops Clayton from cutting him by tangling him in the vines, and what really kills Clayton is that he doesn't understand how vines work and doesn't listen to Tarzan yelling “don't” at him. And then one of the creepiest deaths in a Disney movie.
...and then Kerchak dies. Man this movie has a pretty high body count. And Tarzan and Kerchak reconcile and Tarzan is the new alpha male! Hooray!
Jane kisses Tarzan and I'm not sure he even knows what that is, but he decides he likes it and wants to do it again.
Oh man, the backgrounds are so beautiful. And the fluid animation. GLEN KEANE. I didn't see any other names I recognized. I probably missed them.
So, story-wise, this is a huge improvement over Hercules and Mulan, as I dimly recall. Both movies had their strengths, but they also had pacing problems (Hercules especially, Mulan just mostly feels like there was stuff cut out and it is kinda short). This movie is pretty much paced perfectly, despite starting at kind of a run (which one might expect to then slam to a stop or fizzle out). It just flows perfectly without obvious act breaks or scene changes or feeling too long or too short. On top of that, it has some really stunning visuals both in the backgrounds and animation. Also, anthropology, the heroine being a nerd, the hero being intelligent and curious-yeah, I like this movie a lot.
Of course now I want to watch Lilo and Stitch. (That's next, right?) But I can't because it's 10:20. Dear self: you are dumb.
Also, for possible future list purposes: Tarzan's biological parents were both seen and killed. His adoptive father died near the end of the movie, but his adoptive mother survived. Jane has a goofy little father in the Maurice-Sultan mold, and no mention is made of her mother (but I'd assume her mother is dead, or else they wouldn't be moving to Africa on a whim and leaving her behind). Oh, and I might want to count Kerchak as a threatening father, similar to Triton, but I haven't decided how valid that is.
The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Tarzan, Pinocchio, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Sleeping Beauty, Oliver and Company, Mulan, Alice in Wonderland, The Three Caballeros, The Great Mouse Detective, Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Hercules, Pocahontas, Robin Hood, 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, Snow White, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under, The Fox and the Hound, Dumbo, Fun and Fancy Free, Make Mine Music, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, The Sword in the Stone, Bambi, The Aristocats, The Black Cauldron, Saludos Amigos
(I might have to reorder these sometime...)