Tarzan (Disney)

Tarzan (also known as the "Ape Man") is the titular protagonist of Disney's 1999 animated feature film of the same name. Tarzan was raised by a colony of gorillas after his parents were killed by the bloodthirsty leopard Sabor. Tarzan would grow to become the valiant protector of the natural world, all the while remaining blissfully unaware of his true heritage, until a chance encounter with Jane Porter, a human woman.

Physical Appearance

Tarzan is a slender man of muscular build with tanned skin, long brown hair worn in dreadlocks, and green eyes. He always wears a brown loincloth, strapped to his waist, but he wore his father's clothes when boarding the ship.

Personality

Tarzan is an extremely brave, loyal, and honorable character. He cares deeply about his family and friends and was willing to risk his life to save them. He's also known to be willing to rescue his enemies; an example of this was when Clayton was about to fall to his death, and Tarzan exclaimed "Clayton! Clayton, don't!" and reached out to save him, even though Clayton had fatally wounded Kerchak and attempted to kill him and kidnap his whole gorilla family. This also shows that he cares for his enemies and does not wish death upon them.

In his youth, Tarzan was playful and fun-loving but also felt like an outcast due to the fact that he was human. Until Jane Porter, her father, and Clayton arrived he had never seen another human before and was, therefore, unaware of what species he was. And as an adult, he had matured into a more serious character but still displayed a playful and friendly side when around his family and friends. Tarzan was also very curious and when he heard a gunshot he went to investigate while the rest of his family moved deeper into the jungle. It was because of his curious nature that he met Jane, Professor Porter, and Clayton.

In The Legend of Tarzan series, he has shown to take over as the leader and while he retains the majority of his personality from the film, there are some other aspects explored and expanded. For example, he shows a hatred of leopards (understandably so since they killed his parents and attacked him and his family in the past) and refused to accept a baby cub that Jane found. He also displayed very similar traits to Kerchak as he refused to accept the baby because it was different and a threat to him and his family (which is very similar to Kerchak's reaction to Tarzan growing up and Jane defending the cub as Kala defended Tarzan.) This could imply that Kerchak influenced Tarzan. Also, he hates hunters that hunt for sport and money, and is very protective of the forest, often kicking the hunters out and destroying their guns. Another aspect is his leadership, where another gorilla challenged him for leadership and won because Tarzan saved him. However, the gorilla mistakenly leads the pack to a different route than Tarzan which turned out to be a pit of tar housing a ferocious gigantic snake. Tarzan not only rescued his pack but ingeniously hid himself and his friends with mud so the snake couldn't see them. Another aspect seen is when his personal life with Jane, her father, and humans, in general, tend to interfere with his duties as a troop leader. Once the gorillas were kicked out of their home and he had to choose between staying with his family or with Jane because Jane and her father (as normal humans) couldn't live with them. The gorilla that challenged Tarzan also stated he let his personal life get in the way of his duties and when Jane's friends came to visit and he unintentionally embarrassed her in front of them, he tried to act civilized to impress them.

He has also shown to be surprisingly romantic, as shown through his interactions with Jane, often complimenting her, protecting her, and giving her flowers while proclaiming her to be the best woman there is. He takes romance seriously, as shown when he was forced to act in a movie about him in "Silver Screen" and was told to kiss a woman he didn't love, saying how confusing acting was and also by refusing Queen La's advances towards him. He is also good at telling when people are telling lies, though he can be tricked. He is also noted for being highly intelligent, as he often thinks his way out of situations given the fact many of his opponents are species that are stronger than him, and he made weapons self-taught. In "Jungle Madness", he was able to figure out what made the animals go mad, and in "Lost Treasure" he was able to outsmart some treasure hunters who threatened to kill Jane if he didn't do what they said. He is also noted to be fairly civilized despite never letting go of his "wild man" persona, with Jane noting he is more civilized and kind than most and is shown throughout the series to have high morals. In "One Punch Mulligan", he refuses to fight Mulligan because he does not want to give in to his demands and doesn't believe fighting for sport is right and in another where he saves his mortal enemy Tublat from being a caged animal despite hating him because it is the right thing to do. He is very well read and is seen reading books on occasion in order to learn more, showing he has culture.

Appearances

In the original movie, Tarzan starts off as a baby who escapes a burning ship with his parents, John and Alice Greystroke, and lives in a treehouse built by them as a happy family. Tragedy falls upon the new family, however, as his parents are killed by Sabor the Leopard later on.

Luckily, the baby is rescued by a female gorilla named Kala, who had lost her baby son to Sabor. After escaping Sabor, Kala brings the baby back to her gorilla family and tells her mate, Kerchak, the leader, that she wants to adopt the baby since his parents were killed by Sabor and there are no more humans left in the Jungle, to which Kerchak agrees, but says that the baby won't be his son. Kala names the baby, Tarzan, and sings him a lullaby about being in her heart forever.

Years later, Tarzan begins to befriend other animals, including a young female gorilla named Terk and the paranoid male elephant, Tantor. Tarzan finds himself treated differently because of his different physique, so he makes great efforts to improve himself. As an adult, when Sabor attacks the gorillas again, Tarzan manages to kill Sabor with his crafted crude spear, unknowingly avenging his biological parents, and gaining Kerchak's reluctant respect.

The gorilla troop's peaceful life is interrupted by the arrival of a team of human explorers from England, consisting of Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, his daughter, Jane, and their hunter escort Clayton, who are looking to study gorillas. Jane accidentally becomes separated from the group and chased by a baboon troop, with Tarzan saving her out of curiosity. He realizes that she is human, just like he is. Jane leads Tarzan back to their camp, where Porter and Clayton both take great interest in him; the former in terms of scientific progress while the latter hopes to have Tarzan lead the group to the gorillas. Despite Kerchak's warnings to avoid the strangers, Tarzan continuously returns to the camp, where Porter, Clayton, and Jane teach him to speak English properly as well as what the human world is like, and he and Jane begin to fall in love. However, they have difficulty convincing Tarzan to lead them to the gorillas due to Tarzan's fear for their safety from Kerchak's threat.

The explorers' ship soon returns to retrieve them. Jane asks Tarzan to return with them to England, but Tarzan, in turn, asks Jane to stay with him when Jane says it is unlikely they will ever return. Clayton convinces Tarzan that Jane will stay with him forever as long as he leads them to the gorillas; Tarzan agrees and leads the trio to the nesting grounds while Terk and Tantor lure Kerchak away to avoid having him attack the humans. Porter and Jane are excited to mingle with the gorillas, but Kerchak returns and attacks the humans upon seeing them. When Tarzan restrains Kerchak while the humans escape, Kerchak coldly disowns Tarzan for having betrayed his family, causing him to flee in shame. Kala takes Tarzan to the treehouse where she found him, shows him his true past, and says that she wants him to be happy whatever he decides. Tarzan puts on his late father's suit, signifying his decision to go to England, deciding he is better off with the humans anyway.

When Tarzan boards the ship with Jane and Porter the next day, they are ambushed by Clayton and his traitorous band of stowaway thugs. Clayton reveals his plans to capture and sell the gorillas for a fortune now that he knows where the nesting grounds are and imprisons Tarzan, Jane, and Porter to prevent them from interfering. Tarzan manages to escape with the help of Terk and Tantor, and he returns to the jungle. Clayton fatally shoots Kerchak and battles Tarzan across the treetops. After gaining the upper hand, Tarzan grabs Clayton's shotgun and points it at him. To avoid stooping to the latter's level, an enraged Tarzan mimics the sound of a gunshot and destroys Clayton’s rifle, declaring he is nothing like him, causing the latter to attack the former with his machete until Tarzan traps Clayton within a forest of vines. As Clayton struggles to cut himself free, one of the vines gets wrapped around his neck like a noose as he falls from the treetops, hanging himself to death. Kerchak, in his dying breath, finally accepts Tarzan as his own and names him as leader of the gorilla troop. The rest of the gorillas are freed after scaring away the rest of Clayton's men.

The next day, Porter and Jane prepare to leave on the ship while Tarzan stays behind with the gorillas. As the ship leaves shore, Porter encourages his daughter to stay with the man she loves, and Jane jumps overboard to return to shore; Porter shortly follows her. The Porters reunite with Tarzan and his family and embark on their new life together.

The midquel film centers on Tarzan's childhood and the origin of his unique identity. Tarzan was an awkward kid trying to fit in with his ape family. Growing up, Tarzan had a childhood fear of the Zugor, a mythical monster said to live on Dark mountain. His second fear was that his mother, Kala would get hurt because of him. Although he walks like an ape, he is nowhere as fast as one, which results in the accident that leads his family to believe he is dead. When he overhears his mother tell Kerchak she would have given her life for him, and three ape females who say Kala and the family are better off without him, he decides to run away. After traveling perhaps two to three days, Sabor chases him into a valley. Later, Tarzanñn escapes the family of three apes who are trapped there and follows an old gorilla to a tree the ape calls home. When Tarzan discovers the old ape is really the Zugor, he blackmails him into mentoring him into becoming the best ape be can be, and when he realizes he isn't an ape, he forces Zugor to help him figure out what he is. Later on in the movie, he finally finds out that he is where he belongs, and calls himself a "Tarzan". This being his name and the only thing that he, at the time, knew himself to be (other than an ape.)

Tarzan appears as the titular protagonist of the animated series. Since the end of the film, Tarzan has assumed his role as leader of the Gorillas. He has married Jane and they live happily in the jungle, residing in the old treehouse that Tarzan's parents had built before their deaths. Although Tarzan doesn't live with his mother and the other gorillas, he will still leap into action to protect them at any length. He often returns to seek Kala's advice in dealing with situations such as the doubts of the other gorillas, and Jane wanting him to be more "civilized". While helping Jane get over her more romantic ideas about jungle life, she acts as his guide to the duplicity in human nature—and insists he eat his food from a plate. It is a never-ending growth process for both, with some startling insights into what "civilized" means, and some uproarious stumbling blocks along the way.

Many episodes revolve around his romance with Jane, interacting with the human world, as well as encountering various visitors to the jungle from England. The rainforest becomes a place of trade, with a port established by the recurring character Renard Dumont.

With Clayton and Sabor having been killed, a new line of enemies emerges for Tarzan to face, most notably Queen La, who fell in love with Tarzan and began an endless pursuit to eliminate Jane and have him as her mate. Another is Samuel T. Philander, a rival of Archimedes who often tries to steal his research. And there is Tublat, a rogue gorilla and Kerchak's former rival who wishes to rule over the gorillas.

In Once Upon a Studio, Tarzan is seen watching in shock alongside Jane and the others as Goofy tries to figure out how to work the camera while on top of the ladder. He is later seen in a distance shot singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" with the rest of the featured Disney characters, before the group photo is taken.

In Wish, Tarzan was among the Disney animated characters that appeared during the credits. He is the last character to appear before the scrolling credits.

Kingdom Hearts

"To Be Added"

Disney parks

Disneyland Resort

During 2021 refurbishments of Jungle Cruise, Tarzan appeared on a poster for the Jungle Navigation Company.

Tarzan appeared in Parade of the Stars, riding a golden Tantor.

Tarzan's likeness is featured in the walkthrough attraction, Tarzan's Treehouse, at Disneyland park.

In Disney California Adventure, Tarzan appeared in the original version of World of Color that ran through 2010. His scene with Jane during the "So Close" sequence was later replaced by an appearance from Flynn Rider and Rapunzel.

Walt Disney World

In the former Celebrate the Magic show at the Magic Kingdom, Tarzan briefly appears to transition The Lion King segment to The Jungle Book.

Tarzan makes occasional meet-and-greet appearances at Disney's Animal Kingdom, near the entrance and Discovery Island. In the same park, Tarzan was also the leader of the former stage show, Tarzan Rocks!, which ran from 1999 to 2006

Tarzan and Jane appeared in The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios, albeit based on their appearances from 1930s Tarzan movies rather than the 1990s Disney film.

During 2021 refurbishments for Jungle Cruise, Tarzan appeared on a poster for the Jungle Navigation Company. Tarzan is also mentioned in the ride's queue by Albert Awol, mentioning movie night having a film called, "Tarzan and Me". Awol additionally imitates Tarzan's distinctive yell while clearing his throat.

Tokyo Disney Resort

At Tokyo DisneySea, Tarzan appears in Fantasmic!, swinging on vines with Jane in projected footage during the jungle sequence.

Quotes

"To Be Added"

Trivia

• He is one of two Disney stars to meet his author. The other is Ariel of The Little Mermaid. In both cases they meet them in their television series, made after the film they first appear in, and in each case they are unaware of the significance of the meeting.
• When Tony Goldwyn was unable to provide a satisfactory version of the Tarzan yell, Brian Blessed, the voice of Clayton, stepped in and provided the yells for the film instead. Michael T. Weiss provides both Tarzan's regular speaking voice and Tarzan yell in The Legend of Tarzan.
• Despite being taught English by English people, Tarzan speaks English with an American accent. Reportedly, Tony Goldwyn was originally meant to use an American accent when speaking with the gorillas and a British accent when speaking with humans in order to differentiate gorilla language and English, but the idea was dropped when Goldwyn could not pull off a convincing English accent.
• While Tarzan called Kala "Mother", he never called Kerchak "Father", since Kerchak didn't consider him his son.
• Despite not appearing in the show itself, Tarzan was featured in some online games for the television series House of Mouse. However, Tantor made brief appearances in the show.
• When Tarzan is fighting Sabor, during the moment when Tarzan is lying on his back and Sabor is lying on top of him, Tarzan has his legs bent (he lifts his belly/waist to try to lift Sabor) but in the next shot, despite the fact that we don't see his legs, Tarzan appears to be lying firmly on his back.
• Tarzan evidently shows fear, as during his fight with Sabor, when Tarzan is backing away in the tree branches, if one listens past Tarzan's grunts and the branches snapping, they can hear Tarzan let out a deep, slight whimper.
• He's also demonstrated fear in the scene that takes place on the boat, first when he realizes Clayton's men had taken the boat's crew members hostage and then went chasing after him (though this is mostly due to not expecting them to do that), and then moments after when he's holding onto the funnel's top before falling from there (probably due to being aware that he was having difficulties trying to climb it and he'd fall from unexpected heights).
• According to the books, Tarzan's birthday is November 22 and he was born in the year 1888. Tarzan birth name is John Clayton, viscount Greystroke. Tarzan is born royalty.
• He was once shown naked briefly in the episode "Tarzan and the Lost Cub", when a playful leopard cub ripped his loincloth after he and Jane landed safely on a tree branch from tree-surfing. An embarrassed Tarzan then covers his naked body with two leaves. That scene is very brief, lasting about 8-9 seconds of the episode, and we don't see his privates in that scene.