Mini Review #115: Tarzan (1999) (Patreon)

For some reason as a kid, I missed out on watching this Disney animated Tarzan movie. Or maybe I had seen it but it was so long ago that I forgot everything about it, either way I was going in with a mostly empty brain about this movie. All I knew as one Phil Collins song (which is such a bop) and the villains demise (because I watched a top 10  Disney villain deaths video a while back). Safe to say, this movie was really good! Everyone always talks about Phil Collins in this movie but I would first like to highlight the STUNNING animation. The background work of the jungle was incredible and so detailed making the world feel expansive and grande. The fluidity of the animation though is where I was most impressed. Watching Tarzan swing along vines, around trees, and up waterfalls was so satisfying and electric. The animation for these scenes, in which there were many, were done in these sweeping long takes as we track him and his impressive footwork across the forest canopy. Seriously some impressive animation! Phil Collins was also mostly fun in this movie. He has some songs that I adore such as "You'll Be in My Heart" and when they play in the movie I think they fit well. Some other times though, his songs just kinda distract from the overall tone of a scene. For example (minor spoilers): at the very start of the movie Tarzan's parents's ship blows up and they barely survive. The score is sweeping and epic and the visuals are dramatic. As they sit in the boat immediately after this horrific moment, Phil Collins's voice just appears out of the blue singing a song. While it was a good song, I thought a more nuanced instrumental score would have served that scene a lot better. To me it was more like "Oh hello Phil where the heck did you come from" rather than "Oh hey Phil I am glad you are here". Oh and yeah, the villain death is a very mature thing to put into a kids movie. Had me shocked and I knew what was gonna happen.