Tarzan is one of our guilty pleasure movies. Mainly because of Phil Collins' 90's cheesiness. This will be our last retrospectively, since this is the very last Disney film we saw as kids and also, the first Disney film we ever saw in theatres. This is one of the few Disney films where both the original dub and the Finnish dub work for us.
Characters
Tarzan: He's much more engaging when he's a kid. Once he turns into an adult he becomes kinda boring. There's not much focus on Tarzan's character arc, which can make the character less interesting.
Jane: The best thing about this whole movie. She is one of the funniest Disney women ever (and better yet, funny on purpose). Much like Meg, her character arc is ultimately about the guy - though like in Meg's case, where one could argue that her character arc was to learn to trust people again, Jane's arc could also be interpreted differently. It could be seen that Jane has to make a decision between being part of a community where she could be authentically herself (and devote herself to science in practice) or choosing conventional life in "civilized society".
Kala: The most important minor character in Tarzan's life. She is kind and understanding of her son and pretty much a classic good mother figure. She does have some personality since she defies her mate and leader of the pack, but is also afraid of the humans and their weapons.
Terk & Tantor: Once again, we have a great comedic duo and they are, with Jane, our favourite part of the film.
Minor characters: Jane's dad is great. Especially his moustache. Kerchak is an okay sort-of-antagonist-who-turns-into-a-father-figure. Clayton is not the best villain (but better than Ratcliffe, because let's face it, anybody's more menacing than that doofus). His death scene is pretty impressive, though.
Story
Pretty mediocre. It's simple and doesn't try to be too ambitious. Many elements are lifted from Disney's other Africa film, The Lion King. This movie also handles the environmentalism vs. industrialism issue better than Pocahontas. It is less sappy in its preachiness and you actually like the characters involved. Choosing to live as part of nature instead of destroying or exploiting it, is a more coherent message than whatever Pocahontas was trying to push.
Miscellaneous
The animation is absolutely gorgeous. Tarzan is one of the best looking Disney films we've seen. The colours are sharp and the background lush. That Phil Collins, though. The songs are incredibly vague and tell you nothing about the characters, but at least they do further the story (which is something that is largely lost in modern Disney films). We shamefully admit, one of the songs is a total guilty pleasure as well. The score is nothing special, but unlike in (most) modern Disney outings, it does use the songs as a basis for the instrumentals.
