New "deep canvas" backgrounds steal the show!!!

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2001)

'Tarzan' delves right into the core of the story from the very start, beginning with the shipwreck that causes mother, father and son to be castaways on an island inhabited by wild animals. The montage of scenes are brilliant as they show, side by side, comparison between the humans and the animal families. After this spectacular start, the timeworn story gets brilliant treatment from the Disney animators. The boy grows into the fearless hunk and his meeting with Jane in the jungle has to be one of the cleverest bits of animation ever. Jane is voiced by Minnie Driver in what is undoubtedly the top vocal job in the film.
An exception is Rosie O'Donnell, but then--needless to say--I'm not an O'Donnell fan. Her vocals are a distracting annoyance since you immediately recognize it is she and the character becomes an obvious source of comic relief. But I digress. The film gets off to a great start and only occasionally stumbles. I didn't care for the bland Phil Collins songs--especially 'Trashing the Camp' (the entire scene should have been cut) but songs were not intended to be the strong point of this version of the Tarzan legend. Nor are they as effective as those in 'The Lion King'. But 'Tarzan' is a movie that really MOVES and you'll find yourself caught up in the frantic story from the very brilliant animation of the opening scenes.
Only other weak factor of the animation is the poorly motivated villain who is too one dimensional and the Disney artists have made him a replica of Governor Ratcliffe in 'Pocahontas'. Other than that, it's top-notch Disney with the jungle settings looking more real than ever thanks to their new "deep canvas" technique for background paintings. By all means, see it and enjoy!!