Walt Disney was originally contacted by Edgar Rice Burroughs to adapt his story of Tarzan, the Ape Man into an animated feature shortly after the release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” It wasn’t until 1999 that the studio opted to try their hand at telling this age-old story. On the offhand that you were never exposed to the story of “Tarzan”, it follows the shipwreck of the British Greystoke family that delivered them onto the savage lands of Africa. The couple, along with their baby, tries to make the best of their plight and eke out an existence until they could be rescued. Unfortunately, rescue was not to come and both the Lord and Lady Greystoke died, leaving their infant son to the wild. In Disney’s version, the story remains the same and is presented within the first several minutes of the movie brilliantly set to the song “Two Worlds” as performed by Phil Collins. In fact, this marked a new direction in animated features for Disney. Instead of having the songs performed by characters in the film, they were all written and performed by Collins.

Each song sets up the narrative as the story moves along, fitting the situation perfectly. When Tarzan is adopted by the female ape Kala, her love is described in the song “You’ll Be in My Heart”, and later he grows into manhood to the tune “Son of Man.” Disney’s “Tarzan” offers a richly woven version of the tale, punctuated by the Collin’s terrific songwriting and performances.

Once Tarzan reaches manhood, we are introduced to the familiar characters of Jane Porter (Minnie Driver) and her father (Nigel Hawthorne), who along with their guide Clayton (Brian Blessed) have traveled to Africa in search of gorillas. But where the Porter’s purely scientific, Clayton’s are a sight more… profitable.

As is always the case in Disney animated features, the voice actors do a superb job. Standing in for Tarzan is actor Tony Goldwyn, who is best remembered as Patrick Swayze’s ‘not so good’ friend in “Ghost.” He does a tremendous job with the characterization, and together with Minnie Driver as Jane they build quite a strong chemistry. Rosie O’Donnell, whom I generally don’t really enjoy, admittedly turns in a very funny performance as Tarzan’s ape friend Terk.

When “Tarzan” was originally released on DVD, there were two versions. One was the bare bones single disc, for those who only wanted the movie, and the terrifically designed and produced 2-disc set for the Disney-philes who wanted it all. This of course was the one I wanted and to this day do not regret buying. Since Disney ‘retired’ those versions back in 2002, they are now re-introducing the film to new audiences this week with an all-new DVD release.

I was hoping this new DVD release would feature all of the great supplements that were available back in the original release, that way these new audiences could get the whole picture. Instead they are keeping it to a single disc release, with only a handful of supplemental features. The good news is that most of these features are going to be well-received by casual Disney fans. The bad news is that a lot of these features are TOTALLY new, which means that those who bought the original special Edition will still need to double-dip and buy this one in order to have a complete collection of all the “Tarzan” supplements.

What have been carried over from the earlier release are deleted scenes, an alternate opening sequence and filmmaker’s commentary. There are also videos for the songs “Strangers Like Me” (Collins), “You’ll Be In My Heart” (Collins), and “Trashin’ the Camp” (Collins and ‘N Sync). New to this version is a music video by Everlife for “Strangers Like Me”, which is extremely weak compared to Collins’ version, an educational feature about some of the animals in the film as compared to their real-life counterparts, and a set of three games for the kids.

The transfer on this new release is comparable to the original, which means it is stellar. Watching it on our 65” big screen offered a beautifully vibrant experience. The sequences where Tarzan is ‘surfing’ through trees is nothing short of amazing and quite dizzying to watch.

Bottom line, if you already own the earlier 2-disc version of “Tarzan”, there’s really no reason to pick up this one. However since these earlier releases are difficult to find for a reasonable price, if you don’t have a copy of “Tarzan” on DVD at all in your collection, you should absolutely grab this one.

Directed by: Kevin Lima & Chris Buck
Starring (the voices of): Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Rosie O’Donnell, Glenn Close, Brian Blessed, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight
Extras: Commentary by: the filmmaker's, Terk's Tree-Surfing Challenge -- Three All-New Games!, DisneyPedia: Living In The Jungle, Deleted Scenes Including Alternate Opening, All-New Music Video Featuring The Wildly Popular Everlife, Music Videos Featuring Phil Collins and 'N Sync
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Disney
Release Date: 10/18/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: G
Website

We'll give Tarzan a B+.