Tarzan Chronicles (Welcome Book)
For its latest animated feature, instead of adapting a fairy tale, legend, or myth, Disney has chosen the relatively modern story of Tarzan. As it did with the heroes of its other recent movies, the studio focuses on the alienation of adolescence in its Tarzan, who no longer belongs with the apes who raised him but doesn't fit in with the humans who invade his jungle home. The book tie-in to the movie recounts how the filmmakers faced the challenge of developing a new version of the character strong enough to overcome the vivid adult image of Tarzan made pervasive by Johnny Weissmuller and his live-action-movie successors. Besides hundreds of color and black-and-white illustrations, from early conceptual drawings through production stills, the volume features excerpts from diaries kept by the movie's creators, including sketches from a safari the animators went on to research the film's African setting. This handsome coffee-table book should join its fellow Disney tie-ins (e.g.,The Art of Mulan) on library shelves.Gordon Flagg