the happy bastard 's quick movie review me tarzan . . .
you happy viewer .
for a minute there , i thought i was going to be groaning over the release of disney 's latest , another adaptation of a legend from the past .
( remember the pathetic pocahontas ? yikes ! )
but guess what- disney , a company that 's been on a roll lately with animated films
, strikes again with another wonderful tale that pleases the eyes as well as the inner kid in you .
the story is pretty basic- tarzan is left orphaned and a female gorilla who 's lost her young adopts him into her group . as he matures into a much older man , tarzan still wonders just why he 's so much different from the clan , and then arrives a hunter , a professor , and the professor 's lovely daughter , jane- who meets tarzan rather quickly after getting in trouble with a group of feisty babboons .
from there , tarzan faces tough choices-
should he stay with the ones that he grew up with or go join his own kind in england ?
the voicework here is pretty top - level .
tony goldwyn is very convincing as the ape man ; minnie driver adds a delectable touch to the already - beautiful jane ; nigel hawthorne makes for a pretty nasty hunter voice ; rosie o ' donnell keeps the laughs rolling as tarzan 's best ape friend terk ; and wayne " newman " knight has his moments as a panicky elephant .
the movie is superb throughout , mixing a great script with incredible computer - assisted visuals .
when tarzan tree - surfs ( a twist that was added on top of the same ol' vine swinging- and a great one , i might add ) , the camera twists and turns , allowing the trees all around to come to life vividly .
i could n't believe my eyes- disney has come a long way since starting in a ballroom for beauty and the beast .
and the music 's not half bad , either .
fortunately , there 's no ridiculous singing characters here , just a great set of songs by phil collins that perfectly fit the mood .
there 's some great action sequences here as well , including a wonderfully done chase between tarzan , jane , and the aforementioned babboons .
but , of course , it 's not all action-
there 's a message here as well that has to do with family .
this is easily one of disney 's best animated films of the decade
and it 's one i ca n't wait to put in my home library .
. .
that is , if my vcr still works in the year 2000 .
great script with incredible computer - assisted visuals strikes again with another wonderful tale that pleases the eyes as well as the inner kid in you a wonderfully done the voicework here is pretty top - level the movie is superb throughout there 's some great action sequences easily one of disney 's best animated films of the decade