Great animation...So-so story

Rating: 7/10 (5 February 2000)

The animation has the Disney magic, the awesome technological and artistic talent we've come to expect for decades. Yet, with such an oft told story, it comes off as lame as your standard "knock-knock joke" fare.
Truly, bringing to life a story that's been around for a hundred years or so; takes a bit of a trick to breathe new life into. After all, the popular novel and its sequels. The cartoon strip, the endless series of motion pictures (silent and sound, black and white and color), the tv series...on and on. If anyone could pull it off, one would think the Disney studios could. Well, "...there is no joy in Mudville...", folks.

The environmental message, the easy going charm, the finely tuned expressions of the characters are all there...just nothing really new. The hidden ("wink-wink") humor to entertain the parents, which usually rescues adults from groaning through 2 hours of the normal kiddie fare, is also sorely lacking. The music did help, and was one of the picture's highlights. Unfortunately, that weighed against the predictability of the plot, the inaneness of some of the characters and the last second resolution of the differences between Tarzan and his adopted father really dull the senses.

These are the kind of issues that separate great movies from the average.