Disney has long set the standard by which animated movies are measured, and should be measured. Since Steamboat Willie, and Fantasia, back in the early 1900s, Disney has continually raised the bar, with little or no competetion. The past few years though, have presented some formidable challengers to Disney’s reign. Granted, no one will ever surpass them, but Warner Brothers, with Anastasia, and Dreamworks, with The Prince of Egypt, have given the Mouse House some cause to at least sit up, and pay attention a bit.

Well, it appears that competition has indeed bred creativity again. After Anastasia came in with impressive animation, and a decent story, Disney countered with Mulan. Utilizing CGI, strategically placed songs, and compelling storytelling, the bar was raised again. Then came Prince of Egypt, which I believe gave birth to the animated movie, topping a lot of Disney faire, and definitely turning the heat up again. Now, Disney has countered, and anted up with Tarzan, a stunningly animated retelling of the Edgar Rice Burroughs tale of man’s cohabitance with apes.

We all basically know the story, a young boy is raised by apes, to be one of them, then is discovered by some American explorers, and becomes torn between the world he was born into, and world he is grown up in. The Disneyfication of it, gives us the obligatory bad guy, a big game hunter named Clayton, the cutesy sidekick Terk, and a toned down, but still very noticeable, musical score by Phil Collins. Other than that, it sticks pretty close to the story, from what I can remember.  It really does fall closer to an animated movie though, from the sense that Tarzan is a very adult tale about fitting in, and being torn between two worlds. Some scenes, and themes presented here may go a bit over children’s heads, due to content and violence. The scenes of fighting, and blood, were a bit unnecessary, and too much for kids I believe

I don’t know about anyone else, but another one of the appealing, interesting things about animated movies, is hearing, and guessing even, the voice of the characters. Usually, I will have some idea, but here, I had very little, and it made it a little more fun. Disney usually will draw the character around the voice of the actor, hence, you are kind of seeing an animated form of the actor. Here, the voices are, for the most part befitting what we see on the screen. Close, Goldwyn, Driver, Henricksen, Driver and Hawthorne all have individually developed personalities, which make them fairly enjoyable and easy to differentiate. Rosie’s character however, seemed too much like I was watching her in a monkey suit, and I didn’t really see the relevance or necessity of her character, other than for Disney’s personal touch. However, it is that magical touch that gives Tarzan it’s biggest asset, the animation. Just when you think they cannot top themselves, such as the Huns in the snow scene from Mulan, they come out and do it. The layered look of the jungle scenes, and the amazing skateboard like movements of Tarzan through the trees, shows why Disney will always be the king of the hill, no matter who comes along