Tarzan – Special Edition (Disney Animated)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B     Extras: B-     Film: B

 

 

Tarzan is one of the most filmed characters ever, as a recent pair of DVD box sets reminds us.  It is only on a few occasions that the character has been animated.  In a surprisingly mature hit series in the mid-1970s produced by Filmation for Saturday Mornings on CBS, he was a mature, well-spoken adult who knew the jungle.  His origins are covered in a few seconds during the opening credits.  In one of their most elaborately animated feature films to date and one of the last great hand-drawn ones, Disney’s production of Tarzan in 1999 was a peak of their comeback as a creative force to be reckoned with.

 

A semi-musical with hit and miss vocal songs written and performed by Phil Collins (at its better moments offering his best work in over a decade), a couple with a newborn are in the jungle and do not survive.  At the same time, an ape couple looses their newborn to a tiger attack.  The mother discovers the human newborn and takes him in, eventually becoming a pre-teen wundekind on his way to becoming Lord Of The Jungle.  Part of that “lord” has to do with its British origins in that the young boy was British, lost courtesy of that countries worldwide colonization.  This is also done with more humor and more complex animation layouts than expected.  Rosie O’Donnell provides the voice of the comic relief character, and there are many light-hearted moments, but there are the more serious adventures and the mix is pretty good.  Of course, it will not be as serious or more serious than the Filmation series, but Disney and the Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate (aware of the character’s fan base) decided to take a different approach and it was a huge hit.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.66 X 1 image looks good, but not spectacular, with clarity ranging from terrific to slightly on the soft side.  However, this new DVD corrects problems with the previous problem with the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which is one of the best on DVD top date, with fullness and detail atypical of Dolby compression.  Unfortunately, Disney did not add DTS like they just did for the Toy Story re-release (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and with only a 5.0 isolated score and single commentary track by the co-directors and Kevin Lima & Chris Buck, plus producer Bonnie Arnold, there was room.  That is more obvious with the low number of extras, which include a games/activities section for children, Music Videos, some deleted scenes in rough form and an alternate opening.  It is a nice disc, though die-hard Disney and Tarzan fans will want the older Collector’s Edition despite its sound troubles, despite its current going price.  Otherwise, this is a pretty good reissue.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo