Yes with some no

Rating: 7/10 (27 July 2009)

It's unusual for a Disney animated feature to be anything other than successful, and Tarzan doesn't buck the trend. It is a solidly entertaining animated feature. Which is not to say that it's perfect.
I didn't care for the songs. Disney songs are usually notable for two things: one, they are memorable and, two, they move the story along. Well, perhaps these songs will become more memorable on repeat viewings, but I didn't feel that they moved the story along particularly well. Worse, they seemed horribly familiar, at least a couple seeming to have been bodily lifted, with only minor musical tweaks, from The Lion King. Oh well, perhaps it's just that I don't care for Phil Collns' voice serenading me in a Disney movie.
The movie picks up on more of the Burroughs original than most movies before it, but it soft pedals Kerchak. This isn't entirely surprising, and is a reasonable editorial decision. I'd still like to see the original, though.
As well as swinging through the jungle using vines, Tarzan has taken to ""surfing" down moss-covered tree trunks and branches. Well, OK, I suppose. But the production people have come up with some fancy footwork along intertwined branches which supposedly emulates skateboarders skating between obstacles. They are so inordinately proud of this manoeuvre that it appears everywhere - in the movie, in the trailers, in every documentary on the special features DVD. I've got news for you, guys - it looks stupid.
And I could do without the comedy sidekicks a retread of Timon and Pumbaa.
The story is a serviceable simplification of the original, the voice talent is great (particularly Minnie Driver), and the jungle backgrounds are exquisitely animated - the film is handsome.
Maybe I'm just getting picky in my old age!