Aw! I love the parallelism between the monkey family and human family. The switching from one to another presents similarities and differences between the two species at the beginning.
Look how happy the baby is to be with the monkey! The baby is instantly calmed and falls asleep so easily.
It's amazing how the monkey goes straight into mother mode and protects the baby as much as she can from the tiger. So far I am loving this.
Really shows the problem with otherness in Disney movies. Because Tarzan is different from the monkeys, they aren't okay with the idea of keeping him. They make it known that "it's not our kind" and that he just does not fit in. It is not really a matter of danger at all, considering his family is dead and he is just a baby.
Typical Disney movie in that it relies on a patriarchy. Kerchak is the main leader and must approve everything. The mother has to wait for husband's approval to keep the boy, rather than just deciding for herself. Suggest that women are not strong enough to make their own decisions.
All of the Phil Collins songs are wonderful, especially "You'll Be in My Heart." How cute, because it connects to how the mother shows Tarzan that their hearts are the same.
The germaphobe elephant is cracking me up, what a good little sidekick.
Funny how quick everyone is to turn on someone different. Tarzan makes one mistake with his friend but he is the only one blamed: "He will never be one of us."
Good example of having a mentor within the family. Do other Disney movies have this?
The first time we officially see Tarzan's "noise" is when he kills the tiger. This means a lot because he is getting revenge for his parents, yet he does not know this.
Here comes the true evil: Humans. Clayton is shown cutting down trees and shooting things. He seems nasty compared to the other two, Jane and her dad who have British accents and are presented in a more classy way.
Of course Tarzan saves Jane, the typical boy saves girl storyline *eye roll*.
When they first meet he creepily invades her personal space. This is almost uncomfortable to watch even though they are animated characters! But, he finds out that they are the same kind.
Humans once again shown as evil as they take over the jungle with tents, clocks, a typewriter, etc.
Dad and Clayton do not believe Jane and simply call it a "Girly Fantasy" instead of reality.
Once again bringing up the otherness, the humans say "let's make him more like us." People like people who are like them. They say "you belong with us" to lure Tarzan in and eliminate that otherness.
Humans strike again as he gets tricked onto getting on the boat by Clayton.
Finally! Kerchak opens up and says "family belongs to you--take care of them, my son." Tarzan is finally accepted into the other group.
This was my first time watching Tarzan and it was so good! Might be my favorite new Disney movie. I loved how it surrounded family and also how humans are negatively impacting our world.
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