Tarzan

Genre: Animated/Adventure/Musical.

Studio: Disney.
Production Company: Walt Disney Animation.

Project Phase: Greenlighted.

Who's Voices Are In It: Tony Goldwyn (Tarzan); Minnie Driver (Jane); Rosie O'Donnell (Terkoz); Nigel Hawthorne (Porter); Brian Blessed (Clayton); Glenn Close (Kala); Wayne Knight (Tantor); Lance Henriksen (Kerchak).
Who's Making It: Kevin Lima, Chris Buck (Directors); Bonnie Arnold (Producer); Glen Keane (Supervising Animator, Tarzan); Phil Collins (Song Score); David Zippel (Lyrics); Mark Mancina (Musical Score); based upon the Edgar Rice Burroughs' character Tarzan and the novel Tarzan of the Apes.

Premise: A young boy raised by a tribe of wild apes discovers his human heritage.

Release Date: Summer 1999.

Comments: Disney has said that this version on Burroughs' legendary character will emphasize the author's original vision. This can be taken as more of a serious, or even 'mature' take on the Tarzan mythos. 1995's Pocahontas chose to follow a similar route, opting for a combination of traditional Disney animation techniques (playful, colorful, humor-filled) with a seriousness laced in (more realism, less fantasy.) With the information presented in the original Disney announcement, it seems that this film is following in the same footsteps as Pocahontas. Of course, as the film takes better shape, the atmosphere of the film will start to grow more sharper.

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

June 7, 1996... [Project information supplied courtesy of 'ss1'.]

August 8, 1996... An attendee at this summer's The Hunchback of Notre Dame press junket was in attendance when Disney company officials gave a small address about this upcoming film. Stressed was the focus on the Burroughs' material and a considerable amount of time will be spent focusing upon Tarzan's childhood, "...and then address the issue of what is really family, nature or nurture. He was raised by animals, but he's really a human. Should he stay in the jungle, or go off with Jane? (What would Balloo say?)" [Scoop supplied by 'egoman'.]

September 3, 1996... We've been told that a David Zipeel will be composing the lyrics for the film - Collins will be only composing the music. [Scoop handed in by 'walt@disney.com'.]

December 17, 1996... Tarzan's nanny? Rosie O'Donnell, or so we've been told. [Scoop sent in anonymously.]

January 21, 1997... Someone else heard that Rosie might be playing an ape character in the film. [Scoop furnished by Nick Corporon.]

June 22, 1997... We've been told by that veteran film composer Alan Silvestri will score Disney's upcoming animated Tarzan project. This is unusual for both Silvestri and Disney's track records, but the scooper maintains it's the God's honest truth. [Sent in by James Furlong.]

June 24, 1997... On her talk show, Rosie said that her monkey character is called Cheetah. [Sent in by 'Gargantuan'.]

June 29, 1997... Nuh-uh. According to this Disney artist currently working on the project, Rosie's ape character is most definately not named Cheetah. Instead, she voices Tarzan's ape friend Terkoz. Also, the man providing Tarzan's voice won't be Wesley Snipes; instead, Tony Goldwin (best known as the bad guy from Ghost) does the honor. Other roles include: Minnie Driver as Jane, Nigel Hawthorne as Porter, Brian Blessed as Clayton, and Glenn Close plays Kala, Tarzan's adopted ape mother. Phil Collins is still assigned to write the music and the lyrics, the animator also adds, but they're unsure whether Collins will be helming the score (which the scooper on June 22nd informed us will be Alan Silvestri's duty instead.) [Info sent in by our friendly anonymous animator at Disney.]

The plot will center on Tarzan being discovered by a British expodition, among them Jane. Tarzan will then have to decide to return to his Engilsh homeland or remain in the jungle. The film will sport computer generated 3-D jungle backgrounds around the traditionally-drawn characters. [Scoop sent in by 'Captrips67'.]

September 17, 1997... Disney may be in the process of wooing none other than Harrison Ford to provide the voice of the ape Kerchak in Tarzan. The scooper reports that Kerchak is the silverback alpha male of Tarzan's adopted family, and that they believe it's a longshot for Disney to attempt this sort of casting coup. [Scoop submitted anonymously.]

September 21, 1997... Disney approached comedian Chris Rock about voicing the gorilla, but he declined. Apparently Rock told Entertainment Weekly that the fact he is black might have weighed in on Disney's decision to try and cast him as a gorilla, which is a pretty heavy thing to accuse. [Sent in by 'cpa'; originally appeared in Entertainment Weekly.]

September 23, 1997... This source confirms that Collins will write the film's pop music, Alan Silvestri the score, and David Zippel is going to pen the lyrics. [Thanks to 'Nate'.]

October 21, 1997... A friendly little anonymous person whispers us some news about the animated project. The talk of Harrison Ford voicing the ape Kerchak seems to have been real; however, his involvement fell through and another dramatic actor is being selected. Wayne Knight has been preliminarily cast as Tantor the elephant but his participation is still subject to change. And yes, Phil Collins has written all of the film's lyrics by himself. "The backgrounds are not really computer generated<" the scooper writes, "they are hand painted areas wrapped around computer models. It looks incredible, by the way!" The release date for all this fun? 1999. [Scooped by a pair of anonymous apes.]

November 4, 1997... According to the scooper, Lance Henriksen of Millennium fame has signed to do the voice of Kerchak. [Anonymous.]

November 25, 1997... Secondary confirmation of Henriksen's involvement. He's goin' ape, kids! [Thanks to our anonymous female ape.]

March 17, 1998... There may have been a screening of the work-to-date on the Disney lot today. One of our scoopers came to us with a report on the footage they've seen so far...

"Tarzan is great, superb, wonderful, exciting, funny, beautiful....and, it's good, too! This is the first screening and about 23% of it is animated so far, but what was animated is just great. I never thought that after Hollywood has milked the subject to death since the 1920's that an animated feature version of the hero I grew up with would bring anything new...wow, was I wrong!! They had the entire sequence finished in color that using the new depth background painting process....this was the first time I'd seen it, and it's everything folks at the Studio have been telling me! In fact, it was so spectacular the audience burst into applause when it concluded...a new milestone in Disney animation and color has just been reached. I rode back to the studio on the bus sitting next to Doug Ball, the head of Backgrounds on the film...he described the process (known as Deep- Canvas) to me (something I never thought the computer could do, get true painters actually painting on a computer electronically!)...I am going to go over there sometime soon and watch them working on this just to see how it works. And, believe me, lad, if ever the proof of constant drawing from the human figure really does make you good, it shows in the human figure animation of Tarzan as well as in the gorillas, which are as close to real gorillas as you can come! I expect it will be set for release in the late Spring of next year (Doug said all the BGs have to be finished by the end of November)."

[Mailed anonymously.]

April 11, 1998... Word just hit CA that Alan Silvestri is off the project as composer of the score. No word yet on a replacement. [Submitted by 'C'.]

September 1, 1998... A little late but better than never. Mark Mancina is now providing the instrumental score for this flick. [Jungle love by 'C'.]

October 4, 1998... An anonymous Rosie-watcher had her show on the other day, when she was interviewing Eisner, Head Mousketeer over at Disney. She offerred a sneak peek of her character from the movie. The clip that they showed was apparently pretty impressive. He goes on to say that the animators did a good job, for "[t]he ape quickly reminds you of Rosie not to be saying that Rosie looks like an ape." Thanks for the clarification, amigo. [Scoop handed in anonymously.]

October 5, 1998... We received this review from Alexis, who is the envy of everyone here right now: "Saw an advance screening of Tarzan this week. Relatively rough, 20% full-color, 50% pencil, 30% storyboards. Lance Henriksen is indeed playing Kerchak. From what I saw and what I could guess at, the animation technique represents yet another substantial step forward for Disney, far beyond anything you'll see elsewhere. The film also represents a slight break from the latest Disney formula with the absence of character songs (all but one of the songs are Phil Collins singing in the background while other action takes place) and the absence of Short Funny Things (e.g. the dragon in Mulan, the satyr in Hercules, and the gargoyles in Hunchback). Bottom line, go see this movie and expect to see a lot of what you saw in Mulan: reasonably catchy music, great sight gags, some more sophisticated humor, virtually zero supporting character development, and more than a few moments of 'Oh, wow, look at that.' Good for all ages, although parents should be aware that it is implied that Tarzan's parents get eaten. Short running time, too: 75-85 minutes, although they may be adding other scenes later." We really appreciate the concept of Short Funny Things (TM). [Thanks to Alexis for the review]

October 15, 1998... Rumors as it that Disney execs are thinking of possibly moving up the release date of this project. Read more about it in DeadPool's own column. [Scoop provided by 'DeadPool']

November 5, 1998... Will they? This scooper doesn't think so. "In reposnse to Deadpool's musing about Disney moving Tarzan to a dEcember date to go heads on with Prince of Egypt, while it provides a nice scenario of the the two animation powers going directly against each other, sad to inform you that the Mouse House has no such plans, at least according to my sources working for Disney Feature Animation. Tarzan, 100% sure is still locked for a summer 1999 release, and next up for them would be Toy Story 2 Thanksgivings or Christmas 1999." [Thanks to Ken DeLite for the word]

November 24, 1998... Another mysterious review of the work-in-progress has been sent in. The scooper didn't reveal where they saw the film or add any other details save what they told us below:

"Just when you thought Disney was running out of visual ideas we get Tarzan. From someone who has been sorely dissapointed in Disney animation since Lion King this was actually a pleasant surprise.

"Slightly more adult content than previous movies. Several parents we're stunned when the bad guy met his fate in a very Un-Disney way. The animation is fantastic and finally looks different than the standard (look) we're used to from Disney. Awful songs by Phil Collins tainted the movies magic but it would be unfair to attach them to the film since they seemed to be placeholders more than the actual sountrack." [Anonymous.]

November 26, 1998... Want to read another review of the Tarzan work-in-progress? OK -- but beware that a SPOILER SHOWCASING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOOK AND FILM is revealed in the review...

"I saw a rough version of the film (40% was completed, and I have to say that what I saw that was done and still in production was simply visually stunning. The backgrounds and layout was done with intricate detail so that the camera could move about the dense rain forest like in no other movie. The voices are generally good, in particular Minnie Driver as Jane, Lance Henrickson as Kerchak, and Glenn Close as Kala. (I wonder what they were thinking when they cast Cruella de Vil as a tender mother.) Storywise, the movie sort of lags in the beginning but once Jane appears, the film reaches pure bliss because we finally get to see the story slow down a bit. (Like Hercules, the pacing goes by too fast for any non-action scenes to have a real, substantial impact. As far as the tone goes, I was surprised at the darkness to it, though not as dark as Hunchback or Pocahontas. More than anything else, Tarzan is an action movie, and a good one at that! I was rather impressed at the obvious studying they did of gorilla social behavior and human evolution (Tarzan learns to keep up with the group when he swings through the trees like man's ancestors). However, they did not really care when other species not native to African rain forests appeared. (I know i'm going overboard, but what else am I going to do with my $10,000 a year education in primatology?) Regarding the novel itself, it glosses over how Tarzan got to the jungle in the first place and Tarzan does not kill Kerchak like in the book. Also, Minnie Driver and Nigel Hawthorne play biological anthropologists (like me!) in the film unlike the book. I can't wait to see the finished product."

[Anonymous.]

January 3, 1999... Getting right to the point: the image to the right is a still from Tarzan. There you go. [Thanks Eric.]



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