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Tarzan - Collector's Edition
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
It's enjoyable to see that Disney has decided to finally make improvements to its age-old formula of how they go about presenting their animated tales. Where we previously had to endure endless musical numbers(I'll admit, some weren't bad, but some became awfully excessive), "Tarzan" cuts the flab and all that's left is solid storytelling, focusing on the drama and the action of the classic tale. Cutting the story down to it's essentials helps give the story a propulsive and fleet pace that's frequently thrilling and exhilarating in it's grand, entertaining scale.
We all know the story, but does it entertain once more? For the most part, the animation staff at Disney have crafted a solid film, but still, there are moments where I felt that there were a few missteps, mainly in the insistence to include a sidekick in the form of an ape(Rosie O'Donnell) who causes more in the way of annoyance than laughter. There's a lack of a strong villian as well. All we're given here is a rather vague stereotypical hunter. The energy is certainly there, but you don't walk out with the film glued to your memories; in fact, it's entertaining, but rather forgettable.
The positives far outweigh the negatives, though. The animation(a combination of CGI added in as well) is absolutely stunning in it's color, scope and detail. There are incredible moments: the film starts off with a sequence that is a marvel of animation to show the events that led up to Tarzan being orphaned. That sequence also brings to light one of the other very strong aspects of this picture: the Phil Collins score may sound sometimes similar to his other hits, but there are songs like "Two Worlds" that are magestic, grandly emotional and as powerful as the imagery it backs up. Voice work is excellent, especially Tony Goldwin as Tarzan and Minnie Driver as Jane.
In tone, the film is different from recent Disney films as well. Drama is not overblown and sappy; it feels true, honest and pure. The humor is genuinely funny, not the kind of messy slapstick that has invaded some of the Disney features of the past. This isn't a film that will make adults cringe, I think that both adults and kids can enjoy this film equally. Coming in at just under 90 minutes, I'm sure that adults will not grow bored of this film. Even though there were a few moments that I felt were a bit slow, overall, the film seems like it's over only moments after it's begun.
I liked "Tarzan" quite a bit and a whole lot more than Disney's last effort, "Mulan". Still, this film doesn't have the witty humor and strong original story of "Antz" or the breathtaking visuals of "The Prince Of Egypt". Disney should be proud of their work on "Tarzan", but they should keep looking over their shoulder. Dreamworks, with animated pictures like "Prince Of Egypt"(which I consider an animation classic), is quickly catching up....
The DVD
VIDEO: Recently, Pixar put together their special edition of "A Bug's Life", which was in anamorphic widescreen, and the results were fantastic. Disney has finally done an anamorphic transfer for an animated title of their own with "Tarzan" and the results are magnificent. Images are wonderfully sharp, with remarkable clarity, with every detail of the animation apparent. Images are consistently smooth and beautiful, looking very "film-like". Colors are phenomenal, looking rich and incredibly vibrant. The colors of the jungle stand out wonderfully. I really found no faults with this effort from Disney - no shimmering, no pixelation, no problems whatsoever. It's unfortunate that they couldn't have done this fine a job with "Hercules", "Mulan" or any of their other recent Disney animated titles. I think everyone will certainly be pleased with how good this looks. The picture is letterboxed at 1.85:1. Same excellent image quality as the original release.
SOUND: The audio error that the original release suffered from has been corrected on this special edition. The sound is wonderful, with the marvelous Phil Collins score taking center stage often throughout the movie. Surrounds are used often and are effective, as well. Dialogue is consistently clear and easily understood.
MENUS:: Basic, although enjoyable "film-themed" menus. Still, it's unfortunate that Disney still hasn't realized that it would be a nice introduction to have animated menus for their animated titles. I was very pleased to see that the menus for the supplemental 2nd DVD did offer an animated introduction as well as very nicely animated main/sub menus, though.
EXTRAS:: Wonderfully, Disney's "forced trailers" when you insert the DVD into the player do not make a return appearance here, on this 2-DVD special edition.
Commentary: This is a commentary from Producer Bonnie Arnold and Directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck. They're a fun bunch, joking occasionally and providing a great detail of insight into the production and what it took to bring "Tarzan" to the screen. Their commentary talks about a number of different elements, such as concepts behind scenes that were changed or left behind, working with Phil Collins, and details of the animation process.
It's a very entertaining commentary to listen to, a very relaxed discussion of the struggles behind not only the animation, but how the story was going to unfold in a way that was, I think, a fresh perspective in this animated feature. Discussion often turns to the contribution of Phil Collins, whose score for "Tarzan" is excellent. They talk about how Collins become interested in the picture, and the process of working with him, as well as his inspirations and concepts for the songs in the film.
Along the lines of contributions, there is also a great deal of talk about what the actors who provided the voices brought to their roles, as well as the process of getting the right voice for the concept of what they wanted the character to be like.
Of course, the three also talk about the animation process, but not in extreme technical detail. They talk more about achieving a look to the jungle and the characters, as well as the early ideas that were thrown about for certain sections and characters. There is enough detail to understand the work done, so it's never overly technical, even when the group discusses processes such as the new "deep canvas" animation process that was used for "Tarzan".
The group contributes a commentary that's very funny at times, and energetic towards contributing comments and details, which is always appreciated. It's one of those commentaries that is entertaining and informative enough, for me at least, that I will likely be listening to it again.
Dinosaur Trailer: Thankfully, the cool "Dinosaur" trailer makes a return appearance on the first disc, letterboxed and in 5.1
Also On Disc 1: As was on the original release, the first DVD includes the "Read Along" story, and the interactive trivia game.
ON THE 2ND DVD
History And Development
From Burroughs To Disney: This is a short documentary that details the history behind the "Tarzan" legend, going from the original Burroughs story to the Disney adaptation, looking at the differences and concepts that went into both features to tell their versions of the story. The documentary includes interviews with many who were involved in the process, including producer Bonnie Arnold as well as members of the animation crew. This documentary lasts a little less than 3 minutes.
Early Presentation Reel: A reel showing many of the early pieces of concept artwork and character design, including sketches and other forms of animation showing the basic and rough ideas behind many characters and scenes. Playing behind the Reel is a song from Phil Collins. The reel lasts a little less than 3 minutes, and the artwork done (even though it isn't final) is pretty magnificent.
Research Trip To Africa: Starting with comments from director Kevin Lima, this featurette gives the audience a chance to view the research that the entire "Tarzan" team had to do to get inspiration for the movie, taking a look at the smallest details in their trip to the jungle. We get a chance to view not only some of the footage from their journey, but the artwork and ideas that were gained to use for the final picture. Again, this featurette is about 3 minutes.
History Of Production: A large text-based section that not only goes into detail about the history of the story, but also about the production process.
The Music Of Tarzan
The Making Of The Music: A short featurette that is mainly made up of Phil Collins discussing the process of recording and writing the music for the movie.
Tarzan Goes International: This featurette goes into detail about how Collins had to sing the songs for the movie in a number of different languages, since the film was, of course, going to play in a number of different countries.
Music Videos: "You'll Be In My Heart" and "Strangers Like Me"
"Trashin The Camp": N'Sync working with Phil Collins in the studio.
Original Phil Collins Song Demos
*Introduction: With an introduction by the executive music producer, we find out about what we're about to hear - original demo versions of songs - some that ended up in the movie as well as some that didn't find a place in the final production.
*Songs: "6/8 Intro", "Lullaby", "Son Of Man/Celebration", "Rhythm Piece", "I Will Follow".
Summary: The songs are played, while on-screen is a simple text screen that tells the song title.
Story and Editorial
Building The Story: We are let in on the story meetings, looking at the original storyboards and ideas that progressed as the production went forward. This featurette also does a nice job in showing the "storyboard" process, including the pitch to the director and then how it moves forward into the final animation process.
Original Treatment: The original treatment for the film, which includes text as well as concept artwork and designs.
Storyboard To Film Comparison: A "split-screen" comparison of the storyboards for the opening sequence to how the sequence looks in the final film.
Abandoned Sequences:
*Introduction: The first section in this area is a short presentation by producer Bonnie Arnold that goes into detail about the 3 sequences that are included on this DVD, and why they were ultimately left out of the final picture.
*Sequences: There are 3 scenes in all included here, and although they are in rough ("story reel") form, they still are very interesting to watch. They include both an alternate opening, and alternate final "battle" sequence, along with one additional scene from the film. I liked the "opening" and "final battle" scenes that ended up in the final picture more, but seeing these original concepts was a treat.
Characters Of Tarzan
Summary: This section takes a look at how each character integrated into the movie, as well as the original ideas that were turned into the character in the final movie. Along with interviews about the character with the creators, there are also plenty of storyboards and concept artwork that give viewers a further understanding of the creation of each character.
Animation Production
Concept Art: A section offering concept art of the scenes - again, the artwork, even in rough form, is excellent.
Color Keys: Used to give the artists a better idea of what color scheme to go with, there are many images included in this section to browse through.
Backgrounds and Layout Design: The neatest of the three art sections in this area, this shows images from the scene, showing the viewer step-by-step the process of building a scene from the background onwards.
Deep Canvas Process: A featurette that goes in-depth into the process that was talked about in the commentary, which is the new animation process that gives animation a 3-dimensional look, allowing much greater movement throughout animation. This featurette was only a couple of minutes long, and I wish it went into even greater detail.
Production Progression Demo: Using the multiple angle feature, we can look at 4 stages of a scene from the film - the story reel, the rough animation, the clean-up animation and the final product. Definitely one of the neater features included on this DVD.
Intercontinental Animation: A short featurette that talks about the process of having two teams working in two different countries and how the two teams worked together to create the final product.
Publicity
Summary: This section includes a small area that offers images from the film's ad campaign, as well as 3 trailers, all of which are in 2.0, unfortunately.
Final Thoughts: I have a lot of positive things to say about the effort that Disney has brought forth for this special edition, but there are some things that I have mixed feelings about. The image quality is just as excellent as on the original release, and the sound is, thankfully, fixed here. Also, no trailers pop up when the disc is first inserted, like some other Disney/Buena Vista titles have done lately. And lastly, the commentary was really entertaining and informative.
The second DVD has a lot to offer, but I wish they had offered a few larger documentaries that took a more in-depth look at the process than the featurettes(most of which are a few minutes long) did. Still, areas like the "Phil Collins" demo songs and the treatment, along with the script/storyboard comparisons and all of the concept art, are welcome additions that were a lot of fun to look through.
It's enjoyable to see that Disney has decided to finally make improvements to its age-old formula of how they go about presenting their animated tales. Where we previously had to endure endless musical numbers(I'll admit, some weren't bad, but some became awfully excessive), "Tarzan" cuts the flab and all that's left is solid storytelling, focusing on the drama and the action of the classic tale. Cutting the story down to it's essentials helps give the story a propulsive and fleet pace that's frequently thrilling and exhilarating in it's grand, entertaining scale.
We all know the story, but does it entertain once more? For the most part, the animation staff at Disney have crafted a solid film, but still, there are moments where I felt that there were a few missteps, mainly in the insistence to include a sidekick in the form of an ape(Rosie O'Donnell) who causes more in the way of annoyance than laughter. There's a lack of a strong villian as well. All we're given here is a rather vague stereotypical hunter. The energy is certainly there, but you don't walk out with the film glued to your memories; in fact, it's entertaining, but rather forgettable.
The positives far outweigh the negatives, though. The animation(a combination of CGI added in as well) is absolutely stunning in it's color, scope and detail. There are incredible moments: the film starts off with a sequence that is a marvel of animation to show the events that led up to Tarzan being orphaned. That sequence also brings to light one of the other very strong aspects of this picture: the Phil Collins score may sound sometimes similar to his other hits, but there are songs like "Two Worlds" that are magestic, grandly emotional and as powerful as the imagery it backs up. Voice work is excellent, especially Tony Goldwin as Tarzan and Minnie Driver as Jane.
In tone, the film is different from recent Disney films as well. Drama is not overblown and sappy; it feels true, honest and pure. The humor is genuinely funny, not the kind of messy slapstick that has invaded some of the Disney features of the past. This isn't a film that will make adults cringe, I think that both adults and kids can enjoy this film equally. Coming in at just under 90 minutes, I'm sure that adults will not grow bored of this film. Even though there were a few moments that I felt were a bit slow, overall, the film seems like it's over only moments after it's begun.
I liked "Tarzan" quite a bit and a whole lot more than Disney's last effort, "Mulan". Still, this film doesn't have the witty humor and strong original story of "Antz" or the breathtaking visuals of "The Prince Of Egypt". Disney should be proud of their work on "Tarzan", but they should keep looking over their shoulder. Dreamworks, with animated pictures like "Prince Of Egypt"(which I consider an animation classic), is quickly catching up....
The DVD
VIDEO: Recently, Pixar put together their special edition of "A Bug's Life", which was in anamorphic widescreen, and the results were fantastic. Disney has finally done an anamorphic transfer for an animated title of their own with "Tarzan" and the results are magnificent. Images are wonderfully sharp, with remarkable clarity, with every detail of the animation apparent. Images are consistently smooth and beautiful, looking very "film-like". Colors are phenomenal, looking rich and incredibly vibrant. The colors of the jungle stand out wonderfully. I really found no faults with this effort from Disney - no shimmering, no pixelation, no problems whatsoever. It's unfortunate that they couldn't have done this fine a job with "Hercules", "Mulan" or any of their other recent Disney animated titles. I think everyone will certainly be pleased with how good this looks. The picture is letterboxed at 1.85:1. Same excellent image quality as the original release.
SOUND: The audio error that the original release suffered from has been corrected on this special edition. The sound is wonderful, with the marvelous Phil Collins score taking center stage often throughout the movie. Surrounds are used often and are effective, as well. Dialogue is consistently clear and easily understood.
MENUS:: Basic, although enjoyable "film-themed" menus. Still, it's unfortunate that Disney still hasn't realized that it would be a nice introduction to have animated menus for their animated titles. I was very pleased to see that the menus for the supplemental 2nd DVD did offer an animated introduction as well as very nicely animated main/sub menus, though.
EXTRAS:: Wonderfully, Disney's "forced trailers" when you insert the DVD into the player do not make a return appearance here, on this 2-DVD special edition.
Commentary: This is a commentary from Producer Bonnie Arnold and Directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck. They're a fun bunch, joking occasionally and providing a great detail of insight into the production and what it took to bring "Tarzan" to the screen. Their commentary talks about a number of different elements, such as concepts behind scenes that were changed or left behind, working with Phil Collins, and details of the animation process.
It's a very entertaining commentary to listen to, a very relaxed discussion of the struggles behind not only the animation, but how the story was going to unfold in a way that was, I think, a fresh perspective in this animated feature. Discussion often turns to the contribution of Phil Collins, whose score for "Tarzan" is excellent. They talk about how Collins become interested in the picture, and the process of working with him, as well as his inspirations and concepts for the songs in the film.
Along the lines of contributions, there is also a great deal of talk about what the actors who provided the voices brought to their roles, as well as the process of getting the right voice for the concept of what they wanted the character to be like.
Of course, the three also talk about the animation process, but not in extreme technical detail. They talk more about achieving a look to the jungle and the characters, as well as the early ideas that were thrown about for certain sections and characters. There is enough detail to understand the work done, so it's never overly technical, even when the group discusses processes such as the new "deep canvas" animation process that was used for "Tarzan".
The group contributes a commentary that's very funny at times, and energetic towards contributing comments and details, which is always appreciated. It's one of those commentaries that is entertaining and informative enough, for me at least, that I will likely be listening to it again.
Dinosaur Trailer: Thankfully, the cool "Dinosaur" trailer makes a return appearance on the first disc, letterboxed and in 5.1
Also On Disc 1: As was on the original release, the first DVD includes the "Read Along" story, and the interactive trivia game.
From Burroughs To Disney: This is a short documentary that details the history behind the "Tarzan" legend, going from the original Burroughs story to the Disney adaptation, looking at the differences and concepts that went into both features to tell their versions of the story. The documentary includes interviews with many who were involved in the process, including producer Bonnie Arnold as well as members of the animation crew. This documentary lasts a little less than 3 minutes.
Early Presentation Reel: A reel showing many of the early pieces of concept artwork and character design, including sketches and other forms of animation showing the basic and rough ideas behind many characters and scenes. Playing behind the Reel is a song from Phil Collins. The reel lasts a little less than 3 minutes, and the artwork done (even though it isn't final) is pretty magnificent.
Research Trip To Africa: Starting with comments from director Kevin Lima, this featurette gives the audience a chance to view the research that the entire "Tarzan" team had to do to get inspiration for the movie, taking a look at the smallest details in their trip to the jungle. We get a chance to view not only some of the footage from their journey, but the artwork and ideas that were gained to use for the final picture. Again, this featurette is about 3 minutes.
History Of Production: A large text-based section that not only goes into detail about the history of the story, but also about the production process.
The Making Of The Music: A short featurette that is mainly made up of Phil Collins discussing the process of recording and writing the music for the movie.
Tarzan Goes International: This featurette goes into detail about how Collins had to sing the songs for the movie in a number of different languages, since the film was, of course, going to play in a number of different countries.
Music Videos: "You'll Be In My Heart" and "Strangers Like Me"
"Trashin The Camp": N'Sync working with Phil Collins in the studio.
Original Phil Collins Song Demos
*Introduction: With an introduction by the executive music producer, we find out about what we're about to hear - original demo versions of songs - some that ended up in the movie as well as some that didn't find a place in the final production.
*Songs: "6/8 Intro", "Lullaby", "Son Of Man/Celebration", "Rhythm Piece", "I Will Follow".
Summary: The songs are played, while on-screen is a simple text screen that tells the song title.
Building The Story: We are let in on the story meetings, looking at the original storyboards and ideas that progressed as the production went forward. This featurette also does a nice job in showing the "storyboard" process, including the pitch to the director and then how it moves forward into the final animation process.
Original Treatment: The original treatment for the film, which includes text as well as concept artwork and designs.
Storyboard To Film Comparison: A "split-screen" comparison of the storyboards for the opening sequence to how the sequence looks in the final film.
Abandoned Sequences:
*Introduction: The first section in this area is a short presentation by producer Bonnie Arnold that goes into detail about the 3 sequences that are included on this DVD, and why they were ultimately left out of the final picture.
*Sequences: There are 3 scenes in all included here, and although they are in rough ("story reel") form, they still are very interesting to watch. They include both an alternate opening, and alternate final "battle" sequence, along with one additional scene from the film. I liked the "opening" and "final battle" scenes that ended up in the final picture more, but seeing these original concepts was a treat.
Summary: This section takes a look at how each character integrated into the movie, as well as the original ideas that were turned into the character in the final movie. Along with interviews about the character with the creators, there are also plenty of storyboards and concept artwork that give viewers a further understanding of the creation of each character.
Concept Art: A section offering concept art of the scenes - again, the artwork, even in rough form, is excellent.
Color Keys: Used to give the artists a better idea of what color scheme to go with, there are many images included in this section to browse through.
Backgrounds and Layout Design: The neatest of the three art sections in this area, this shows images from the scene, showing the viewer step-by-step the process of building a scene from the background onwards.
Deep Canvas Process: A featurette that goes in-depth into the process that was talked about in the commentary, which is the new animation process that gives animation a 3-dimensional look, allowing much greater movement throughout animation. This featurette was only a couple of minutes long, and I wish it went into even greater detail.
Production Progression Demo: Using the multiple angle feature, we can look at 4 stages of a scene from the film - the story reel, the rough animation, the clean-up animation and the final product. Definitely one of the neater features included on this DVD.
Intercontinental Animation: A short featurette that talks about the process of having two teams working in two different countries and how the two teams worked together to create the final product.
Summary: This section includes a small area that offers images from the film's ad campaign, as well as 3 trailers, all of which are in 2.0, unfortunately.
Final Thoughts: I have a lot of positive things to say about the effort that Disney has brought forth for this special edition, but there are some things that I have mixed feelings about. The image quality is just as excellent as on the original release, and the sound is, thankfully, fixed here. Also, no trailers pop up when the disc is first inserted, like some other Disney/Buena Vista titles have done lately. And lastly, the commentary was really entertaining and informative.
The second DVD has a lot to offer, but I wish they had offered a few larger documentaries that took a more in-depth look at the process than the featurettes(most of which are a few minutes long) did. Still, areas like the "Phil Collins" demo songs and the treatment, along with the script/storyboard comparisons and all of the concept art, are welcome additions that were a lot of fun to look through.
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