Tarzan

Liam and I recently watched Disney's Tarzan, which I hadn't seen in forever.  Let me just say that I cried 3 times in the first 10-15 minutes of the movie, and that by the end I had cried a total of 6 times.  I don't remember my heart aching so many times before, I am turning into my mother.

Tarzan was released in 1999 by Walt Disney Animation and is considered the last of the Disney Renaissance films.  It is the 37th Walt Disney Animated Classic and the first animated feature of the story of Tarzan, based off of the book Tarzan and the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Tarzan is a story about a British couple who are shipwrecked on an island with their baby and cannot survive the wildlife.  An ape who has recently lost her own baby hears Tarzan crying and raises him as her own with the gorillas.  As an adult, other humans come to explore the island and Tarzan is torn between wanting to be with his own kind and staying with the family that raised him.


Voice talents include:
Tony Goldwyn as Tarzan (Scandal, Divergent, Law & Order: CI, Last Samurai, Ghost)
Glenn Close as Kala (Simpsons, Damages, Hoodwinked, The Shield, Stepford Wives, Air Force One)
Brian Blessed as Clayton (Peppa Pig, King Lear, Star Wars Episode I, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)
Minnie Driver as Jane (Good Will Hunting, Grosse Point Blank, About A Boy, I Give It A Year, Riches)
Nigel Hawthorne as Professor Porter (Amistad, Demolition Man, Yes, Prime Minister, Black Cauldron)
Wayne Knight as Tanto (Seinfeld, Jurassic Park, Space Jam, The Exes, Hot in Cleveland, 3rd Rock From the Sun)
Rosie O'Donnell as Terk (Flintstones, Now & Then, League of Their Own, The View, Rosie O'Donnell Show)

It's production budget of $130 million made it the most Expensive animated film of all time at the time of its release.  Disney's Treasure Planet finally topped it t $140 million in 2002.  Tarzan gross $448 billion worldwide as was the first Disney film to open at #1 since Pocahontas.

For the movie Tarzan, the production team developed a new CGI concept called Deep Canvas, which allowed artists to created CGI backgrounds that looked like a painting.  This technique was awarded a Technical Achievement Award in 2003 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.  The songs for the film were written and performed by Phil Collins.

I loved this movie, and although it has some disturbing emotional scenes for adults, my toddler didn't seem to be negatively affected.  He loved the movie and keeps requesting to watch the "movie with the baby" which is what Tarzan is now called in our house.  4.5 out of 5 stars. 

You can visit the official site: Tarzan

101 Dalmatians- 1996 Version

101 Dalmatians the 1996 version

Having recently watched the cartoon version and “live action” version of 101 Dalmatians, made me want to do a review on the movie itself as well as the actors & actresses within it.   To give a bit of background knowledge in case you have not seen it before the “live action” version came out in 1996.  101 Dalmatians is about 2 people Roger & Anita who both have Dalmatians Pongo & Perdita (name changed to Perdy for the “live action” version) who have 15 puppies.   Anita works for a horrid woman named Cruella DeVil.  Cruella has an insane fascination for furs and wants to make a fur coat out of Dalmatian puppy skin.  She tries to buy the puppies but Roger & Anita refuse to sell to her which causes Cruella’s henchmen Horace & Jasper to steal the puppies.  Altogether there are 99 puppies that are stolen waiting to be skinned and turned into a fur coat.  This results in dogs and a few other barnyard animals bonding together to attempt a puppy rescue.

I have to take a moment to say that this could possibly be one of the most brutal animal villains in Disney’s history.  I can’t think of any other movies that want to turn animals into coats, especially not puppies.  You can tell that in the 60s this was more of an acceptable villain than today.  There would be an uproar if that was to be created today as I can see parents saying how it would affect their children to think of dead puppies….  Not that I fully disagree, but we can’t shelter them from everything.  However, that is a whole other topic for another day.

For the live action version there was a pretty great cast.  Glenn Close was cast as Cruella DeVil and she owned that role.  She did such an excellent version that it was almost seamless from the 1961 cartoon version.  Her henchmen were played by Hugh Laurie & Mark Williams.  Mark Williams looks as if the cartoon version was created in his image and Hugh Laurie does a wonderful job in his role as well.  Anita is played by Joely Richardson and she also does quite well in her role.  Now we come to Roger who is played by Jeff Daniels.  Now as much as I think he can be a great actor I think that he drags the movie down in his role.  He is somewhat slap-stick funny in the beginning but than his character feels mostly empty for the rest of the movie as if he is trying to force the role instead of actually BE the role. 

As I was doing more research into the “live-action” version of the film I ended up doing quite a bit of comparing with the stars of the film and what they have done since.    I found it very interesting how many of the characters ended up being huge TV show stars.

Glenn Close with The Shield, The Simpsons & Damages.  Hugh Laurie with Fortysomething, Stuart Little & House.  Joely Richardson with Nip/Tuck & The Tudors.  Mark Williams with The Fast Show, Grass, Carrie & Barry, The Indian Doctor, Father Brown & Blandings (He sticks to mostly British filming).  Jeff Daniels in the Newsroom.

 It is always interesting to watch an old movie and see how big some of the stars’ careers took off.  I definitely recommend watch the “live action” 1996 version on 101 Dalmatians if you haven’t had the chance to see it.  The animals did the best job of all in my opinion, it is always great to see a lot of highly trained animals fulfilling their roles and interacting with other animals. 

The above video is taken from YouTube and is not created by me, it is used for entertainment purposes only.  Please enjoy

 

*There was also a 102 Dalmatians movie made with a return by Glenn Close.  I have yet to see this movie and hesitate especially due to the majority of rushed production of Disney sequels.