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Tarzan: The origin of a legend
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| During the creation of “The Lion King”, a seven page bit of dialogue and plot setup was found tedious and boring. It was replaced by a beautiful trek of animals advancing on Pride Rock for the presentation of the new prince of the pride lands, Simba. Combined with an Elton John song arranged by Hans Zimmer, the same story was told without uttering a single word. It was so powerful, it was shown in its entirety as the films trailer. Word of mouth was spectacular and the Lion King went on to make some 550 Trillion dollars or something. Quite often, Disney has tried to replicate the success of that sequence with varying degrees of success. A close second appears in the first 8 minutes of Tarzan. Animators had a lot of back story to relate to the audience from Edgar Rice Burroughs novels as well as material created specifically themed to the animated film to come. A lot of material, and not a lot of time. It begins at: | |
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(00:37 secs) After a brief title sequence we are introduced to the innocent face of our hero as a frightened infant. |
| (00:40 secs) It is revealed that he is in the arms of his mother as they are lowered into the sea. | |
| (00:42 secs) Their ship is ablaze and the father secures their escape at the last second. As the family is reunited in an escape dinghy, we are beautifully introduced to a couple of the themes that will run throughout the film: In this case familial love and separation. At this point we also hear the first words of Phil Collins song “Two Worlds”… Two Worlds One family… We cut from the first world to… | |
| (01:19 secs)…the second world.. One of apes. Here again the theme of familial love. The contrast between the apes and humans is apparent while the emotions are identical… | |
| (01:32 secs) Back to the human family as they reluctantly greet their new surroundings. As the baby seems to point out a perfectly safe looking place to call home, we see hope. It seems everything is going to be fine. We see the father smile in closeup… crossfade to… | |
| (01:50 secs)…the ape fathers smile in closeup. Hope and peace are in both worlds. The mother ape tosses her child into the air… crossfade back to… | |
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(02:02 secs) …the human mother catches her child out of the air… The humans are going to adapt and find peace. And we know the apes will be happy as well… Unless the jungle has something to say about it.. |
| (02:08 secs) Through a wonderful montage, the castaways build their home in the safety of a large tree not unlike the Robinson family of Switzerland. | |
| (02:17 secs) As the song states “A new life is waiting”… On the right of the screen, the sun blazes brightly… | |
| (02:20 secs) … but it fades out as the moon fades in on the left side of the screen… each orb sitting atop the suggested image of a glaring leopards eyes. | |
| (02:21 secs)…Danger has arrived with the night. the first casualty is the ape child after straying playfully from its family… | |
| (02:47 secs) “No words describe a mother’s tears. No words can heal a broken heart.” The mother follows her tribe lifelessly having lost her child. But she hears a cry in the air. | |
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(02:59 secs)”Somewhere something is calling for you…” She runs toward the cries with a new sense of purpose.. Incredible emotions for an animated feature. |
| (03:23 secs)The song comes to an apparent end. The two worlds will now collide. The mother breaks into the human home. There is story in the images. A broken window… A Shotgun lying harmlessly on the ground- its shells unused… Bloody leopard prints on the floor… A broken picture frame of a human family… And finally, a baby under a sheet. | |
| (04:57 secs) Through facial expression we see the mothers thought process as she pieces together the situation. She will take this baby and raise it as it has lost its family. We are introduced to another theme as the human and apes hands are joined at the palms… So different.. yet so the same… Two Worlds.. One family. | |
| (06:15 secs)Her devotion is going to be tested as the leopard who took her own child attempts to get to the baby. Through an exciting claustrophobic chase in the small cabin… | |
| (06:30 secs) …to a cliffhanging chase in the open air, we see that she’s not going to lose this one… Not this time… Through some clever strategy, she overcomes… and escapes.
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| (07:53 secs) The song resumes as the mother offers one last growl at the leopard… But he’ll be back… | |
| All in all, that little sequence is a short story of its own with a beginning, middle and an end. The artwork is exceptional and creative. And the story clearly relayed without a single word of dialogue. Although the technology is vastly different, I see some of early Disney studio techniques still employed today. Most prominent is the return of “gags”. They are peppered throughout the film. But in this sequence, the chase on the net, the rescue by hanging diaper, even smaller things like a sneeze in the face. And we find that, like early Disney, the characters are already well defined and in our hearts… | |
| You can watch a video of the opening song below. The quality is limited as it is compressed for internet streaming, but you can get the idea. | |
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Certainly skips alot of the story line doesn’t it? It has been quite awhile since I have watched this. Viewing it now I do wish Disney would have added to the opening sequence. I wonder what if any animation got left on the cutting room floor.
The unabridged version of the book has so many great details.
I recall Christopher Lambert in Greystoke The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. The first half of that film, came the closest to what I have seen to the true Tarzan story line. Then it took a turn away from the literature and fell short of my expectations.
Jeff W.,
The way I remember it, Greystoke stands out as the first Tarzan that wasn’t an action figure, more of a human being. But the film also was the greatest departure from Burroughs novels. A major chunk of the story takes place in Scotland. For movie’s sake, it made for a interesting contrast: a woman stuck in an empty world where only apes belong… compare it to an ape-man stuck in a bustling world where only humans belong. It didn’t hold my interest well.
Neither Disney’s nor Hudson’s take were the most fun, but I found Disney’s take to be the most powerful portrayal of the themes in the books. There could be ‘details’ that are missing, but I believe the story remains strong and efficient. As a screenwriter, my goal is to cut the work until the story is streamlined.
Ever since the success of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, big films have launched into this quick pace storytelling. And they’re getting faster. It is certainly not everyones cup of tea, but shows no sign of turning back.
Wow. That was longer than the post. Obviously, your comment sparked my interests.
Just don’t get me started on the Bo Derek version? haha hahaha.