The Legend of Tarzan

Plot synopsis:
As a result of the Berlin Conference, the Congo Basin is claimed by King Leopold II of the Belgians, who rules the Congo Free State in personal union with the Kingdom of Belgium. The country is on the verge of bankruptcy, Leopold having borrowed huge amounts of money to finance the construction of railways and other infrastructure projects. In response, he sends his envoy Léon Rom (Christoph Waltz) to secure the fabled diamonds of Opar. Rom's expedition is ambushed and massacred, with only Rom surviving. A tribal leader, Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou), offers him the diamonds in exchange for an old enemy: Tarzan.
The man once called "Tarzan", John Clayton III, the fifth Earl of Greystoke (Alexander Skarsgård), has long since left Africa behind and settled down in London with his American-born wife, Jane Porter (Margot Robbie), taking up his birth name and ancestral family residence as Lord Greystoke. In the eight years since returning from Africa, John's story as Tarzan has become legendary among the Victorian public, although John himself wishes to leave the past behind him. Through the British Prime Minister (Jim Broadbent), John is invited by King Leopold to visit Boma and report on the development of the Congo by Belgium, though Greystoke politely declines the invitation. An American envoy, George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson), who recognises John from the stories of "Tarzan", privately reveals his suspicions that the Belgians are enslaving the Congolese population. Williams persuades John to accept the invitation in order to prove his suspicions. Jane is disappointed when John says that she should not come, as he thinks the trip would be too dangerous, remembering how both his parents died as a result of the jungle's brutality following their shipwreck there — his mother of disease and his father later killed by the Mangani apes — leaving the baby John to be raised as Tarzan by his Mangani "mother" Kala and "brother" Akut. However, Jane reminds him that she grew up in Africa as well, and misses her home and friends there. John relents, and allows Jane to accompany him.
John, Jane, and Williams take the trip to the Congo. There, the trio encounters a tribal village and villagers who knew John and Jane during their stay in the jungle. Jane explains to Williams that her husband was once considered an evil spirit by the African tribes, including that of Chief Mbonga. She recalls how, when she was younger, she and her father lived in the tribal village helping to care for local children. There she met Tarzan who was made feral and physically enhanced by his life with the apes. The naked ape man saved Jane's life by shielding her from a vicious mangani attack, suffering severe injuries in the process. Jane took the injured Tarzan home, nursed him back to health, and the two fell in love. That night, as the tribe sleeps, Rom and his mercenaries raid the village and kidnap John and Jane and kill the tribe's leader. They then escape to a nearby steamboat with Jane and several of the tribe's members, but Williams is able to rescue John before he can be taken to the boat.
With the aid of the tribe's warriors, John and Williams intercept a Belgian military train carrying captured slaves, providing Williams with the evidence he needs to expose King Leopold. They also discover that Rom intends to use the diamonds to pay for a massive army to subdue the Congo, and allow Belgium to mine its wealth for Leopold's benefit. As John and Williams continue onward, John encounters the adult Akut, who is now leader of the apes. Aware that Akut considers him a deserter, John prepares to fight Akut, though he soon loses. That night, as John recovers, Williams recalls the massacres of Native Americans during the Indian Wars, comparing to those of Rom and Leopold.
On Rom's steamboat, Jane dines with Rom, before escaping and swimming to shore. Jane stumbles into a group of mangani apes, where she is rescued by Rom, whose men then shoot and kill many of the apes. John saves the remaining group, reconciling with Akut, before pursuing Rom. He is cornered by Mbonga and his tribe, where it is revealed that John once killed Mbonga's only son for previously killing Kala. A defeated Mbonga tearfully accuses John of lacking honor, as his son was just a young boy when John killed him. John spares Mbonga, just as Akut and the manganis arrive to subdue the tribe. Rom takes Jane and the diamonds to Boma, where he plans to take control of the army. John, Williams and Akut trigger a massive stampede of wildebeest through Boma, destroying the town and distracting the soldiers, allowing John to rescue Jane. As Rom attempts to escape by boat, Williams sinks it with a machine gun as John swims aboard. Rom incapacitates John by strangling him and then tying him by the neck to the ship's railing, before trying to escape again. John then summons crocodiles with a mating call to devour Rom, before escaping the destroyed vessel himself.
Williams returns to England and presents the Prime Minister with evidence exposing the slave trade in the African Congo. One year later, John and Jane, having remained in Africa and settled in Jane's father's old house, welcome their first child, as John, Lord Greystoke, returns to his rightful place among the great apes as Tarzan.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Not bad at all, in fact surprisingly good- should have lasted longer though.
I wasn't sure whether this series would be good.
I loved the film Tarzan, and I feared this series would be a disgrace.
What a surprise!
This series is surprisingly good, it isn't as good as the film, but it does really well in terms of character relationships and stories especially.I do agree that this series should have lasted longer, one season is not enough for a TV series in my opinion, and the series consequently didn't end as well as it could have done.
It left room for more but nothing else happened.
The animation isn't as gorgeous as in the film, but it is good and colourful, while the music is well composed, the writing is humorous and strong, the voice acting expressive and the story lines engaging with good action.
The characters are also fine, Tarzan is charismatic enough, Jane is still the funny and beautiful woman I fell in love with and Terk and Tantor are also funny.
The funniest character though is Professor Porter, a lot of the time he is hilarious, and I liked the slimy trade operator too, while there are some cool new characters as well, too many to mention in fact but I especially loved Queen La and the Leopard men.Overall, a terrific show that should have lasted longer.
Don't expect it to be quite the same as the film, just expect a fun show that sticks close to the stories, and you're in for a good time.
9/10 Bethany Cox. One of the better Disney cartoons.
The only thing I can find wrong with Disney's Legend of Tarzan is it's not long enough.
Only one season!
Come on, give us more!
This series picks up right where the movie left off and shows Jane adjusting to life as Tarzan's mate and the gorillas adjusting to having a human for a leader.
Turk isn't too warm to Jane just at first because Jane can't keep up with the gorillas and takes up almost all of Tarzan's attention.
Tantor meanwhile loves to partner up with Jane's father Archimedese Q.
Porter (Archie) and assist him in his scientific experiments.Many cool characters are introduced including the slimy trading post operator, Renard Dumont, who's always flirting with Jane and ticking Tarzan off, Queen La who turns Dumont into an animal (I forget what kind), the leopard men and my favorite, the dinosaurs of Palusidar (sp?).I love how the characters interact with each other.
The relationships are pretty much the same as they were in the movie, except that you see how the characters grow closers to each other as they come to know and love one another.As was said, the only way this could've been better is if there's been more episodes..
Not bad from Disney..
For quite a time it seemed Disney was wasting good money to make bad cartoons for t.v.
(like the new Doug, and Pepper Ann) but i was impressed with Buzz Lightyear, and i'm also impressed with the legend of Tarzan.
The show features Tarzan, Jane, Jane's father, Tantor the elephant and Tarzan's ape friends.
In each episode, they might face a villian or a common problem in the Jungle mainly animals that pose as a threat,or poachers for that matter.
The action is pretty good and the show has some decent animation.
If you liked the movie, you'll probably like this show.
But don't expect a lot of thing that happened in the movie though (like the tree surfing, though you'll see that a few times on the show)..
Lives up to the Burroughs stories!!!.
This show is terrific!
It's funny and full of new characters who are barrowed from the original Tarzan stories.
It shows that there is life/adventure after marriage for a Disney couple.
Okay, so the animation isn't the greatest, but the voices wonderful.
The replacements for Tarzan, Jane, Terk, and Tantor do a job worthy of the big screen film.
I recommend this cartoon for anyone who loves a good adventure and anyone who has read the Edgar Rice Burroughs's books..
The only Disney series that was taken from the books from Edgar Rice Burroughs and brought up to par from the classic movies and the mid-1960's TV show of the same title.
Very impressive.
Very impressive.
Lots of action,and a surprise twist during some of the episodes in which Tarzan saved the day and maintains law and order in the jungle along with Jane,Jane's father and some impressive animal friends.
It shows also that Tarzan and Jane worked as a couple and also maintaining a beautiful lifestyle for themselves against the hidden dangers that surround them,but as always they overcome the expected.
I would put this second to Disney's Buzz Lightyear as one of the better shows on the channel.
Grand style of adaption from a great Disney animated movie of the same title..
Everything a typical series has, except for the animation in its first film.
This series was surprisingly not as bad as I would have thought it would be.
I first saw "Tarzan" and really liked the film.
It had great animation, a good plot to follow, a board of characters, and a beginning, middle, and end.
I really did not think of this movie as being one that deserved a sequel, let alone "Cinderella", "Pocahontas", or "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", which all had sequels to their first big movie.
The thing that relates these sequels all together is that the first movie made it big and got a lot of audience and was mainly successful, and that the sequel was not at all worked on as hard as the first, or had as stunning animation.
"Tarzan" was one of the Disney movies that was based on a television series that was made after the movie itself.
So like all the sequels to the movies, this series in particular did not have great animation.
The animation was doable for having the will to entertain the audience long enough for one episode at least, but not enough to make it a top animation series.
Most series that I have seen go for the story that is involved more than anything else.
This series in particular went for action and adventure, a pretty good mixture.
What most series seem to fail at accomplishing is how to make the action actually look like action, not a jumble of poorly drawn  figures trying to rationalize a mix of ideas and put it into the form of a tableau.Everything in this series is mainly average, making it an average kid show.
There are some new characters in the series too.
What I liked about it is how it described even further of Tarzan and Jane's adventures even after the second movie had come out.
The thing that I was most annoyed at was what I have been talking about the whole time: animation.
Like I said, the animation is okay, but the main movie "Tarzan" uses one form of animation, a good one which shows that the animators spent time one the movie, and the series uses a whole different look to it's picture.
The animation throughout the series is fluent, but between the movie and the series it is not.
Since this is only a cartoon and since Disney has already made two movies with the name "Tarzan" on them, it is obvious that they could not spend the money to make this a star show.
The point I am getting at is how I dislike the fact of changing the type and appearance of animation through the same course of a film or series.
I did like the few episodes I saw of the series, but to adults, they might find it as a sorry excuse for a television show.
Since it was not Disney's best work or best work effort put to the final piece, I would rate this series a 7 out of 10, for lacking the source of its primary animatedly constructed film.