Tarzan

Name: Tarzan
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Animation, Family
Released: June 18, 1999
Duration: 88 min
Rating: 79
Cast: Minnie Driver, Tony Goldwyn

1999

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 207 Ratings

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7.8

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7.8	Your Score
7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 207 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: June 18, 1999 | G

Starring: Minnie Driver, Tony Goldwyn

Summary: With his wisecracking ape buddy Terk and neurotic elephant pal Tantor, Tarzan learns to survive in the animal kingdom. His "Two Worlds" collide with the arrival of humans, forcing Tarzan to choose between a "civilized" life with the beautiful Jane and the life he knows and loves with his gorilla family.

Director: Chris Buck and Kevin Lima

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Animation, Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 88 min

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Awards & Rankings

19	#19 Best Movie of 1999
18	#18 Most Discussed Movie of 1999
6	#6 Most Shared Movie of 1999

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Lisa Alspector

The stylized physiques and movements of the characters in this exciting animated musical-romance-adventure are at once realist and fantastic. Read full review

100

Susan Wloszczyna

This is entertainment worth thumping your chest over. [18 June 1999, Life, p.2E]

F. X. Feeney

Of the many excellent animated features Disney has produced over the past decade, this is the one that feels the freest, and sweetest. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Although the villainous parts of this Tarzan are a bit hazy and the animal attraction between Tarzan and Jane a bit chaste, the film, nevertheless, works both for children and the adults. Read full review

Desson Thomson

Speaking of Jane, Minnie Driver gets the big banana for top off-screen performance. She brims over with prissiness and pep, tenderness and visionary appreciation. Read full review

James Berardinelli

From a purely visual standpoint, this may be the most impressive of all of Disney's traditionally animated features. Read full review

Richard Gehr

Visually rich yet numbingly formulaic. Read full review

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User Reviews

anonreview

Apr 23, 2011

This movie is one of Disney's greatest. Heart warming, inspiring, fantastic. The visuals, plot, and soundtrack are the stand-out features, but it is the sheer excellence in all areas of the film that make this a movie for everyone, not just a child's movie.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

MovieLonely94

Oct 23, 2010

like Mulan, Tarzan is excellent

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

muzziklover

Feb 20, 2012

One of my favourite Disney animated films. Has a great story, interesting characters and one of the best animation the company has ever done. Seeing Tarzan sliding through the jungle like he's skating on it is just amazing to look at. Tarzan acts as he should act; like an ape but he stillOne of my favourite Disney animated films. Has a great story, interesting characters and one of the best animation the company has ever done. Seeing Tarzan sliding through the jungle like he's skating on it is just amazing to look at. Tarzan acts as he should act; like an ape but he still has a lot of humanity in him, Jane is the best damsel in distress I have ever seen in any film and the animal characters are creatively designed and well thought out. The only problem I have with this film is Phil Collins singing in and out of the film. It is out of place and is completely random. Oh and I don't like Phil Collins' singing that much. Don't get me wrong, the songs are fantastically composed but it should have been sung by the characters in the film instead of Collins and if it was just Phil Collins composing and the characters singing, it would've been one of Disney's best musical because the songs are really great. Overall, a great Disney movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Creepers200

Mar 25, 2017

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

grandpajoe6191

Oct 5, 2011

"Tarzan" is one of those Disney classics that molded your brain and your heart with passion and innocence. A colorful masterpiece overall.

6 of 6 users found this helpful60

LoletinAlexis

Oct 20, 2018

The last Disney movie before reaching the Experimental Era.
It contains little symbology, but enough to give it enough potential to fully exploit this great animated film.
There are some visual inconsistencies, but nothing important. After all, it's Disney's last great movie before itThe last Disney movie before reaching the Experimental Era.
It contains little symbology, but enough to give it enough potential to fully exploit this great animated film.
There are some visual inconsistencies, but nothing important.

After all, it's Disney's last great movie before it derails the train.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

greedybadidea

May 25, 2020

In the late 19th century, an English couple and their infant son survive a shipwreck. They end up near an uncharted rainforest on the Congolese coast, where they build themselves a treehouse from the ship's wreckage. Meanwhile, Kerchak, the leader of a troop of gorillas, and his mate KalaIn the late 19th century, an English couple and their infant son survive a shipwreck. They end up near an uncharted rainforest on the Congolese coast, where they build themselves a treehouse from the ship's wreckage. Meanwhile, Kerchak, the leader of a troop of gorillas, and his mate Kala mourn the death of their baby at the hands of a savage leopard named Sabor. Soon afterward, Kala hears the infant son's cries and finds the treehouse, where she discovers that Sabor has killed the couple as well. Kala encounters Sabor and escapes with the infant in her possession. Kala takes the infant back to her troop to raise as her own, an action which Kerchak objects to. Kala adopts the human child, naming him Tarzan. When aged seven, Tarzan begins to befriend other animals, including Kala and Kerchak's niece Terk and a paranoid elephant named Tantor; but he is treated hostilely by Kerchak due to physical differences, so he makes great efforts to improve himself. As an adult, Tarzan manages to slay Sabor with a spear he crafted, gaining Kerchak's respect.

One day, the gorillas' peaceful life is interrupted by the arrival of a team of English explorers, consisting of Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, his daughter Jane, and their tour guide, a hunter named Clayton, who have come looking for gorillas to study. Jane drifts out of the group, and is attacked by a gang of mandrills, who chase her through the trees' branches, but a curious Tarzan manages to save her. Tarzan realizes that Jane is similar to him, and she leads him to their camp, where Porter and Clayton garner interest in him. Porter views Tarzan as an opportunity for scientific advancement, while Clayton desires to persuade Tarzan to lead him to the gorillas. Kerchak firmly warns Tarzan to stay away from them, but Tarzan disobeys his warnings and continues to return to the camp, where the Porters and Clayton teach him what the human civilization is like with the use of a slide projector and various other gadgets. A few months pass, and Jane and Tarzan begin to develop feelings for each other, but Tarzan still refuses to lead them to the gorillas out of respect for Kerchak.

The explorers' ship soon returns to retrieve them. Jane asks Tarzan to return with them to England, but Tarzan asks Jane to stay with him when Jane says that it is unlikely that they will ever return. Clayton convinces Tarzan that Jane will stay with him if he leads them to the gorillas. Tarzan agrees and leads the trio to the nesting grounds, while Terk and Tantor lure Kerchak away to prevent him from attacking the humans. Jane and her father are excited to mingle with the gorillas, when suddenly, Kerchak returns and attacks the Porters and Clayton, but Tarzan stops him, allowing them to escape. Kerchak accuses Tarzan of betraying the troop, who turns against him. Kala takes Tarzan to the treehouse where she found him and reveals his past to him. He dons a suit that once belonged to his father, signifying his decision to go to England, before he and Kala share a bittersweet goodbye.

When Tarzan boards the ship with Jane and Porter, they are all captured by Clayton and his band of stowaway poachers. Clayton reveals his plan to capture the gorillas and sell them for a fortune, and he was just using the Porters for a way to go to the jungle. He subsequently used Tarzan to find the nesting grounds and locks him, Jane, and Porter away in the storage area of the ship. Tarzan manages to escape with the help of Terk and Tantor and returns to the jungle to save the gorillas. During the ensuing battle, Clayton fatally shoots Kerchak and fights Tarzan across the treetops. Although Tarzan spares his life and destroys his shotgun, Clayton tries to kill him with his machete. After Tarzan traps Clayton in vines, Clayton wildly slashes the vines with his machete, causing him to fall from the tree with a vine tangled around his throat, hanging and killing him. Kerchak apologizes to Tarzan, finally accepts him as his son, and names him his successor before peacefully dying.

The next day, Jane and her father prepare to leave on the ship, but Tarzan remains behind with the gorilla troop, intending to withhold Kerchak's last wish to lead and protect the family in his place. As the ship departs, Porter encourages his daughter to stay with Tarzan, and Jane jumps overboard to meet Tarzan with her father shortly following her. The Porters reunite with Tarzan and embark on their new life together.… Expand

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