31st Mar 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#42 Lilo & Stitch (2002)

BACKGROUND

It all started with …Stitch?

When Lilo & Stitch was released in 2002, many people fell in love with that little blue alien, who is both cute and fluffy. Stitch was so popular he got himself a whole fictional backstory of his time as an “extra” in Disney Animation before getting his “big break”; his own attractions; and a whole range of merchandise items, as well as multiple meet-and-greet locations and spots in parades and shows at the Disney theme parks.

Lilo & Stitch was released between two major flops for Disney Animation: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002). During this time, Disney Animation was struggling against strong competition and a lack of direction. So, it was a huge surprise to everyone that the low-budget, left-alone, little-anticipated movie of Lilo & Stitch did so well. It managed to succeed critically, and commercially, and is still fondly remembered, having triumphed over the other animated features that came out in the 2000s.

I didn’t used to like Lilo & Stitch at all. I didn’t like Stitch much. I thought he was disgusting and gross – his chilli dog burp in Stitch’s Great Escape still haunts me – and I thought Lilo was quite bratty. It wasn’t until I was much older that I fully understood the main family plotline, of Lilo being brought up by her sister, Nani, and the risk of her being taken away by Social Services. Once I understood that, I found I liked the film a whole lot more, and could connect with the characters by understanding their troubles.

PLOT

The movie starts off at a criminal trial in space. Dr. Jumba Jookiba is accused of illegal genetic experimentation, actually creating something – the evil, naughty, disgusting Experiment 626. Jumba is sentenced to prison, and Experiment 626 is to be exiled to an isolated asteroid, but before he can be transported there, he escapes, taking a red police cruiser, which eventually crash lands on Earth. The United Galactic Federation had hoped he’d land in the ocean as the creature cannot survive in water, but manages to land on one of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai. Jumba is released from prison and sent to Earth to recapture Stitch, along with Agent Pleakley.

In Hawaii, we meet a little girl called Lilo, who struggles to fit in with her classmates, and generally misbehaves often. Lilo is cared for by her older sister, Nani, as both their parents have recently died, however, Nani struggles to juggle work, home, and care responsibilities, meaning that the two are on the radar of Social Services. Social Worker Mr. Bubbles has been assigned to them. Their first meeting does not go well, as Lilo has gone home alone and locked all the doors, so Nani has to climb in through a back window to open the door to Mr. Bubbles. He is not impressed and Nani is given three days to turn things around. Lilo and Nani fight, but make up later, where Nani secretly hears Lilo wishing for a friend. Nani decides to take Lilo to the local dog shelter the next morning. Meanwhile, Stitch has crash-landed on this strange island, and is run over by multiple trucks. The drivers take him to the local dog shelter for medical attention.

Lilo and Nani arrive at the shelter, where Lilo is told to pick out a dog. She stumbles across Stitch, a strange-looking blue “dog”, and instantly feels a connection to him. The shelter owner and Nani want her to choose a different one, as this one not only looks weird, but acts strangely. Lilo refuses to choose anyone else, and officially now owns the creature, which she names Stitch. Soon, Lilo realises that Stitch is very bad and destructive. Stitch doesn’t want to be a pet, but has to use Lilo and Nani as protection against Jumba and Pleakley who are watching, waiting to capture him. Stitch ends up attacking Pleakley and Jumba whilst at a luau dinner show with Lilo, waiting for Nani to finish her shift as a waitress. Nani is promptly fired for the incident and now must rush to get a new job on Bubbles’ orders, with Lilo being told to make Stitch into a “model citizen”. He is destructive and continues to break things in the house, but feels some sort of affiliation with the story of “The Ugly Duckling”, who feels lost and like he doesn’t belong – as Stitch does.

The next day, Lilo tries to teach Stitch to be like her idol, Elvis Presley, while Nani desperately searches for a job. Just when things are looking up at the beach, with Nani close to getting a lifeguard position, and Lilo organising a show for Stitch to play some Elvis music, the attention he receives causes Stitch to go crazy, and he attacks people, and destroys more public property. To cheer them up, Nani’s friend, David, arrives and takes them surfing. The good vibes are promptly spoiled by Jumba and Pleakley grabbing Stitch underwater, who drags Lilo down accidentally. Nani swims down to rescue her, with David having to go back in to save Stitch. Everyone is ok; however, Mr. Bubbles has witnessed the whole day’s events, and tells Nani he will be taking Lilo into care tomorrow morning. Nani and Lilo have a heartfelt discussion that evening, with Lilo admitting that she’d hoped Stitch would become a part of their family. Stitch leaves, wanting to cause no more damage, settling in the woods.

The following morning, Stitch is found by Jumba, and runs to Lilo for help, where she is alone at the house, with Nani going with David to try to secure a job in town. Jumba and Pleakley enter the house and Jumba and Stitch fight, destroying everything, with an exploding plasma gun leaving the whole house obliterated. Lilo is put into Bubbles’ car on his arrival at the house, with Nani pleading with him not to take her away. Lilo, upset, runs out of the car into the woods. Stitch follows her, to return one of the few unharmed items from the house – the last photo she has of her parents. Suddenly, Gantu, part of the Galactic Federation who has been sent here to finish the job that Jumba and Pleakley are clearly not capable of, captures both Lilo and Stitch, putting them into a container at the back of his ship. As the ship is about to depart, Stitch manages to crawl out of the container, leaving Lilo behind. Nani shouts for the ship to stop, but it departs, leaving Nani to ask Stitch for information on where Lilo has gone. Jumba finally captures Stitch before he can tell Nani anything. She pleads with all three of them to help her. They won’t do it. Stitch then says the word “’ohana” to Nani, who is perplexed that he understands the meaning of ’ohana and family, but it shows that he will find Lilo. Stitch easily convinces Jumba to help.

They fly off in Jumba’s red spaceship, including Nani, who is incredibly confused by this whole situation, and catch up to Gantu, who now realises Stitch has escaped. A chase ensues, through mountains and valleys, until Stitch can jump on to Gantu’s ship. He is pushed off, back to the mainland, where he commandeers a gas truck, driving it into one of the nearby volcanoes to set off an explosion to blast him back up into the air. Stitch crashes through Gantu’s windscreen, and throws him out, though he is caught by Jumba’s ship. Stitch breaks the container, releasing Lilo. Gantu’s ship explodes, and Stitch and Lilo land onto Jumba’s ship, with it landing safely in the ocean, and David giving them a ride to shore on his surfboard! Stitch is arrested by the Grand Councilwoman of the Galactic Federation. Mr. Bubbles, who is actually a former CIA agent and has met the Grand Councilwoman before (Roswell, 1973), has come to witness this, and prompts Lilo to tell the Grand Councilwoman that she paid for Stitch. Lilo shows the paperwork and says she cannot take Stitch away, otherwise it’s stealing. The Grand Councilwoman is pleased by this turn of events, and sentences Stitch to “exile” on this planet, with Lilo and Nani; the family is now under the protection of the Galactic Federation and Bubbles. The movie ends happily with them rebuilding Lilo and Nani’s house, and shows how the family has adjusted to daily life.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Stitch is one half of the titular characters, obviously. He’s gross, disgusting, poorly behaved, with bad manners, and a sole purpose to be destructive and “evil”. He was made to destroy cities, and cause general chaos. Something he doesn’t manage to achieve much of in Hawaii. He is a strange-looking, weird, blue alien-type thing, with antennae, back spines, and six limbs. When Lilo is looking for dogs at the pet shelter, Stitch manages to retract his antennae, spines and two limbs to look more like a dog – using inspiration from a poster on the wall of a dog hugging a little girl. Originally, Stitch was going to be a green alien, but the team at Disney decided that was too “out there”, so they started to make Stitch grey, to make him seem a bit like a cross between a koala and a dog, before making him bluer, partly because some of the dogs in Lady and the Tramp (1955) were a kind of slate blue, so it wouldn’t be such a stretch for a dog to be that colour. Supervising Animator Alex Kupershmidt added in different movements for the character of Stitch, so he could be creepy, with insect-like movements, or cute, with pet-like ones[1].

Stitch doesn’t talk at the start of the movie, and the plan was for him not to talk at all, however, the team decided that by letting him speak some English, small phrases or words here or there, it would show him integrating with humans and becoming comfortable with his new family. His monologue at the end about ‘ohana is one of the main reasons that he is released as it shows that he has learnt how to adapt to a family, and has begun to mend his “evil ways”. Stitch feels like he belongs now, and by saving Lilo from Gantu, putting himself at risk, he learnt the true meaning of ‘ohana[2]. Stitch’s voice artist is in fact the director, Chris Sanders. He was inspired by the silly high-pitched voice he’d use to annoy work colleagues, and added in strange animal noises and sounds for Stitch’s “temp track”. When Stitch was given some dialogue, Sanders continued to provide that too, as everyone had gotten used to the voice. Plus, they felt it would be awkward for an actual actor to sound like Stitch![3]

For the character of Lilo, the team knew they needed someone who could sound sweet, but also be able to tap into the darker emotions that Lilo has. Lilo is a complicated character. She is struggling with the death of her parents, and the upheaval that has come with it; she doesn’t know whether to see her sister as just her sister or as her guardian now; she doesn’t get on with her classmates, and lashes out with frustration at not belonging, leading to her attacking and biting one of the girls, Mertle, which further outcasts her from the group; and she is just generally feeling confused and lonely. It’s a lot of emotions for one little girl to have! After many casting calls, Daveigh Chase was chosen to voice Lilo as she was able to give a haunting quality to the character, along with a really dry demeanour. She gave such a strong performance, whether that was being over-excited about things, or having to be really down and depressed. I particularly like Lilo’s line where she is putting spoons into pickle juice for some sort of voodoo ritual and just says matter-of-factly but in a creepy sort of way: “My friends need to be punished”. Daveigh Chase, in the same year as Lilo & Stitch, would star in the supernatural horror movie The Ring (2002).

Nani is Lilo’s older sister, and now guardian. She has to juggle so many things at once, with keeping Social Services at bay being the main priority in her mind, because, as much as her and Lilo fight and argue, they are the only family each of them has, and there’s no way they could be separated. It’s difficult to remember at times that Nani is only nineteen years old because she has so much responsibility that she has to deal with. Actress and singer Tia Carrere was chosen to voice Nani, and, as she grew up in Hawaii, she was asked to look over her lines and add in any colloquialisms that she felt would enhance the authenticity of her character, as well as being asked for specific examples of what she or Nani might say. For example, Carrere was asked what would she say if somebody hit her with a car, and she said “stupid head”, which was included in the movie, as well as the phrase “lolo”. Carrere has had roles in movies such as True Lies (1995), and was also a participant in the second series of Dancing with the Stars. Carrere returned to voice Nani in subsequent movies and spin-offs. I love Nani; she’s hilarious and probably my favourite character, along with her friend and potential love interest, David. They’re great together.

David loves to surf and is a fire dancer at the luau dinner show where Nani used to work. He cares a lot about Nani: he tells Nani about a job towards the end of the movie, treats Lilo like his own little sister, and tries to help the two of them stay together as much as he can. Lilo tells David at one point that, from reading Nani’s diary, she learnt that Nani thinks he has “a nice butt and fancy hair”, to which David is clearly pleased! He’s a bit goofy at times, but he’s a perfect fit for Nani, and Lilo. Tia Carrere actually suggested Jason Scott Lee for the role of David, as he was also raised in Hawaii, so he would comment on the script as well, adding to it, to make it sound more local and real. Jason Scott Lee played the role of Mowgli in the 1994 live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book, and the part of Böri Khan in Disney’s 2020 remake of Mulan. Currently, Jason Scott Lee plays the role of Benny, Doogie/Lahela’s father, in the Disney TV series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-present).

To round out the main human characters, we have Mr. Cobra Bubbles, a tough-looking Social Worker, who catches everyone off guard. He’s very intimidating and doesn’t give anybody an inch. At first, he was going to be a skinny, nerdy-looking, nervous guy from the mainland; a typical civil servant type, with Jeff Goldblum being approached for the role. However, it was decided that actually, in order to keep Lilo from walking all over this person, they had to go in the opposite direction. That’s when they decided that Ving Rhames, with inspiration from his role in Pulp Fiction (1994), would be the best fit. He was intimidating, even to the directors, and no-nonsense, but he worked well and did a great job with the character[4]. For me, I didn’t think he was just one sided. Sure, he was kind of menacing, but actually, towards the end, you do get the sense that he has emotions and doesn’t want to split up this family. Rhames would also continue to voice the character of Cobra Bubbles.

The aliens of Pleakley and Jumba in Lilo & Stitch are, quite clearly, the comedic relief. Pleakley is an agent of the Galactic Federation, and Jumba is the convicted mad scientist. Pleakley is very “by the book” and Jumba is crazy and impulsive, wanting to do things his way. If it weren’t for Pleakley and his belief that humans are a necessary part of the plan to revitalise the mosquito population on Earth (something Bubbles convinced him of years before, we learn), Jumba would’ve obliterated everything and anyone who got in his way of capturing Stitch. They have some great scenes together. I particularly like the luau scene, all of it really, including Stitch eating the cake and then spitting it back out again, but particularly when Nani is concerned that Pleakley, dressed as a female guest, looks really swollen after Stitch tried to bite his head off, and Jumba replies: “Actually, she’s just ugly”. They are a great comedic duo together, and the movie wouldn’t be the same without them. Jumba is voiced by David Ogden Stiers, of M*A*S*H (1977-1983) fame, playing Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, as well as of Disney fame, voicing characters such as Cogsworth (Beauty and the Beast (1991)), and Governor Ratcliffe (Pocahontas (1995)). Kevin McDonald voices Agent Pleakley. He is known for being a part of Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. Both actors would reprise their roles for the spin-offs.

Finally, we have the evil Captain Gantu, who will stop at nothing to destroy Stitch, though he fails and ends up looking incompetent yet again, as he also allowed Stitch to escape on route to his banishment asteroid. The Grand Councilwoman is very proper and matter-of-fact, however, when she releases Stitch to Lilo at the end of the movie, we see that she does have a heart and doesn’t want to separate this family either. Gantu is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, who reprised his role as well. He is best known for his voice work and distinctly deep voice. Zoe Caldwell was a four-time Tony Award winner for her theatre work, and also reprised her role for the subsequent Lilo & Stitch spin-offs.

PRODUCTION

Lilo & Stitch turned out to be a much deeper movie than what audiences had been used to from Disney. Lilo & Stitch represents a problem in society, of the constant scrutiny from Social Services despite trying to do your best by your family, as well as pushing forward the idea of non-conventional families being just as important and just as solid as nuclear ones. It also shows a real sisterhood between Lilo and Nani, with all the love and messy moments that come with it. It’s important to remember that these two existed a decade before Anna and Elsa, so Disney did make strong, real female characters before 2013!

Lilo & Stitch was based on a children’s book written by Chris Sanders, the movie’s director, in the 1980s. It was an original idea that was meant to be set in the forests, with a strange alien-being interacting with these woodland creatures that wouldn’t want anything to do with him. The book was never published, but Sanders kept the idea in mind for the future. When President of Walt Disney Feature Animation Thomas Schumacher asked for new ideas for movies after Mulan (1998) had wrapped, Sanders decided to pitch his idea. Schumacher liked the idea but felt that it would be better if the alien interacted with the human world instead of with animals, yet still somewhere remote. They thought about Kansas, but Sanders then thought to base the movie in Hawaii instead, especially as it was remote and rural enough a setting for the alien to avoid detection. Sanders brought in Dean DeBlois who had worked with him on Mulan to co-direct. They were mostly left alone to figure out the movie, but were told that they would have to work at the Florida Studio where Mulan had been animated. DeBlois was reluctant as he’d had a miserable time there with the packed schedule, so wanted Sanders to agree that they would only work during the weekdays, and not at the weekends. This was agreed and led to a much more creative and energetic team working on the movie[5].

Disney Feature Animation Florida was an annex of the official Disney Burbank Studio, operational from 1989 to January 2004. It was originally housed in trailers near where Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster currently stands, with only around forty artists. In 1998, they were moved to their own $70 million building which stood behind the, now-defunct, Magic of Animation pavilion, with the number of artists increasing to around 400. The animators in Florida had developed sequences and supervised animation on some characters for many of the “Renaissance” films. Mulan (1998) was the first animated feature to be produced primarily by this Florida studio. Lilo & Stitch would be the second one to be almost entirely made in Florida, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The last film to be produced by the Florida division was Brother Bear (2003)[6].

During production, some changes had to be made to the movie quite late in the production journey, based off test screenings. Test audiences found that the original scene of Jumba attacking Lilo and Nani’s house was too violent, as Stitch cuts a gas line and Jumba ignites it to blow up the house. This was amended to be the blocked-up plasma gun going off instead, with Stitch and Jumba passing it back and forth to the children’s rhyme “hot potato”. Stitch was meant to part of a villainous gang with Jumba, however, this didn’t allow for Stitch to redeem himself at the end of the movie, as he would’ve been inherently evil having started off down a villainous path. They made Stitch a genetic mutation instead, knowing that he would then be able to go on a journey to overcome evil. The test screenings also showed that viewers thought Lilo and Nani were mother and daughter, so the scene in Lilo’s bedroom was altered to make this clear, by mentioning the fact they are sisters three times!

The biggest change, though, came from the tragic events of 9/11. The original end scene of the group saving Lilo was meant to involve Stitch hijacking an aeroplane, with Jumba flying it through a city. Although this tragedy only happened around nine months before the release date of the movie, and the sequence had already been completed, the production team set about making changes early on, even before Disney executives told them they had to. The 747 was changed to be Jumba’s huge red spaceship, which him and Pleakley drove to get to Earth – it still has the generic shape of a 747 plane, but it did work well. The setting was changed from a city to a mountain valley. The original scene has been released as a deleted scene on multiple DVD releases[7]. Although this change was disappointing for the team, even though they it had to be so, it did allow for them to have a couple of extra minutes of budget to play with. They created a postscript for the film with this budget, showing a montage of scenes of how the family’s life was now, including birthdays, vacations, Halloween and Christmas. They were very pleased with this ending, and felt it really made the film. I personally love this ending; the film wouldn’t be the same without it.

Luckily, because Schumacher wanted the movie to be worked through without notes from the “higher-ups”, and as it was only running on a small budget, the Disney executives, including Michael Eisner, were given generic updates on the movie. It wasn’t until the movie was completely finished, with colour, music, effects, etc., that Eisner saw any of it. Thankfully, he liked it, even though he found it strange and odd[8].

For the animation style, it was decided that watercolours would be used for the backgrounds, something that hadn’t been done by Disney for decades. It was considered dated by some animators, and had been abandoned for its slow, awkward process. Sanders was insistent on using watercolours for the backgrounds to give the movie a “storybook” feel. Ric Sluiter, Art Director on this movie, was not a fan, and wanted to do a standard wash instead. He tried both a wash and a full watercolour, and they came out completely differently, with the watercolour winning out. They had to be trained to in this medium again[9]. I believe it made such a difference to the movie, as the backgrounds feel real yet magical. The character designs had mostly come from the original picture book that Chris Sanders had created, with the idea for voices also already being more or less decided.

To capture the beauty and reality of Hawaii, the team went on a research trip and were surprised by the purity and clarity of colours on the island, seeing as there is little to no pollution disrupting the view. Instead of just taking photographs, the artists were observing and painting sites and structures in person as they saw it in real-life. Even specific details like the colour of the sea form being pink, not white or grey, were included in the movie. Andreas Deja, Supervising Animator for Lilo, was told to go to the local school and see how the children behaved and looked. After some discussion, Deja was allowed in and sketched some of the children, seeing how fidgety children of Lilo’s age could be. The team wanted to carefully observe everything and get even the smallest details to feel accurate and authentic. They got the approval of Tia Carrere, who felt not only was the art style beautiful but that the houses looked just like the houses she’d grown up around, and that her character, Nani, looked like a local girl. It was also on this research trip that they were introduced to the term ‘ohana and how it refers to both close and extended families. It’s about people coming together and sharing a bond, no matter whether they are “blood relations” or not.

Hula and music are a huge part of Lilo & Stitch, with Chris Sanders saying that hula and Hawaii had been treated badly in Hollywood, by not replicating anything truthfully. The team made sure to consult the correct people, to truly replicate these art forms[10]. The animation of hula was of particular importance to the production team of Lilo & Stitch as they were only too aware of the spiritual and cultural important of the dance for the Hawaiian community. They consulted with “hula masters”, and filmed hula dancers for a whole day, performing a dance based off the opening song “He Mele No Lilo”, and animated the sequence movement-for-movement, so every gesture was accurate and authentic[11].

MUSIC

With the help of Mark Keali’l Ho’omalu coming onto the team as both a consultant and to write the two main songs of the movie: “He Mele No Lilo” and “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”, they successfully recreated authentic music, even incorporating historic native Hawaiian language into the songs, giving a mixture of both English and Hawaiian. These songs were performed by Ho’omalu and the Kamehameha Schools Children Chorus. The Disney team booked out a movie theatre to show the movie to all of them in Honolulu before Lilo & Stitch was released. Ho’omalu collaborated well with Alan Silvestri, who was brought in to compose the score. He had been in mind from the start of production. Silvestri is known for composing for many Robert Zemeckis movies, like The Polar Express (2004) and Forrest Gump (1994), as well as one of my favourite movies, Father of the Bride (1991).

The rest of the soundtrack comes from either Elvis originals or covers of his songs. The final song “Burning Love”, which plays over the ending montage, was a cover recorded by singer Wynonna Judd in Nashville. The team had always planned for Lilo to like Elvis and knew they’d have to ask permission to use: Elvis’ picture, to reference him, to mimic him, and to change his lyrics. Luckily, the representatives from Elvis’ estate loved the screening of the movie and gave them permission for all these points!

RECEPTION

Before the movie was released, Disney set up a clever marketing campaign to entice audiences to see the movie. They came up with four teaser trailers, where iconic moments from four of Disney’s “Renaissance” movies would be ruined by Stitch, with some of the voice actors from the original movies even coming in to record lines! The trailers were incredibly popular and can still be found on YouTube. They did the job of getting everyone interested in Stitch himself. These trailers involved Stitch crashing the chandelier onto Belle and Beast; Stitch arriving on a space ship in the middle of Aladdin’s “A Whole New World”; Stitch being raised by Rafiki on Pride Rock instead of baby Simba; and Stitch crashing a wave onto Ariel while she’s singing. I remember seeing these trailers. I’m not sure what I thought of them back then, but I like them now! The production team also went to Cannes Film Festival in 2002 to do screenings for the international press[12].

Lilo & Stitch was released in June 2002, with a premiere at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, and a premiere in Honolulu. Lilo & Stitch made around $270 million at the box-office against a small budget of $80 million, making it the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2002 behind Ice Age (2002). The movie was praised for its fun and charming story; its approach towards families and their problems; and for its artistic style. Lilo & Stitch unfortunately lost out to Spirited Away (2001) for Best Animated Feature, though Daveigh Chase and David Ogden Stiers had voice roles in both movies.

LEGACY

However, the movie was still incredibly popular, so much so that it spawned a TV series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003-2006), and three direct-to-video sequels: Stitch! The Movie (2003), which sets up the plot of the TV series; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005); and Leroy & Stitch (2006). There are plans for a live-action adaptation, with a director and screenwriter now attached to the project. Stitch was so popular in Japan that he also got his own anime-style TV series called Stitch! which aired from 2008 to 2012.

Stitch has been a crowd-pleasing character for both Disney merchandising and within the Disney theme parks. He received his own attraction called Stitch’s Great Escape, taking over the location of ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter at Tomorrowland in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. It opened on 16^th November 2004. The attraction was popular to begin with, but was soon rarely at capacity, and closed in January 2018; signage was removed in 2020. However, he does still remain as a meet-and-greet character, and you can meet him as well as Lilo at ‘Ohana at Walt Disney World’s Polynesian Resort. It serves a family-style character buffet breakfast and dinner each day.

Outside of the US, you can find Stitch at the interactive Stitch Encounter shows at Disneyland Paris (known as Stitch Live! from 2008), Tokyo Disneyland (from 2015), and Shanghai Disneyland (from 2016). It was present at Hong Kong Disneyland from 2006 to 2016. Similar to Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot, Stitch Encounter allows children to interact with a Stitch via a big theatre screen. At Tokyo Disneyland, The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai! opened in July 2008, featuring songs from the movie. As you can see Stitch has been a beloved Disney character for many years, with fans of all ages.

And don’t forget “626 Day”, a whole day dedicated to Stitch, a.k.a. Experiment 626, on the date 6/26, so 26th June, which doesn’t work for any country that puts the day before the month in their dates, but it’s still clever! The Disney Parks celebrate this day with specialty treats and merchandise.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Lilo & Stitch has continued to be popular and relevant for its strong sense of family, as well as for its lovable characters, beautiful artistry, and catchy, well-known music. It’s a movie that is mentioned and referenced often, and I do like it, much more than I did when I was younger. It was one of those Disney movies that didn’t have many expectations attached to it, so it was much more likely to exceed them. The budget was small, it wasn’t overlooked by Disney executives much, and it kept things simple. This was the perfect approach to the movie, and from researching, I can tell how much passion and enthusiasm went into the project – it shows.

Mostly importantly, it lets everyone know that families can come in all shapes and sizes and be messy; there is no correct version of “family”. I will always have the most memorable quote from the movie in my head forever, as I’m sure many people will, that important phrase: “’Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind – or forgotten”.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Spence D., ‘A Look Inside the Creation of Lilo and Stitch’, IGN (online), 17^th June 2012.

[2] Credit: Douglas Laman, ‘The Untold Truth Of Lilo & Stitch’, Looper (online), 8^th June 2022.

[3] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[4] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19^th October 2022.

[5] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[6] Credit: Dave Shute, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: When Disney’s Hollywood Studios was a Studio’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[7] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[8] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19^th October 2022.

[9] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[10] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19^th October 2022.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Animating the Hula”, from Lilo & Stitch (2002) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[12] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

24th Mar 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#37 Tarzan (1999)

BACKGROUND

When Tarzan was released in 1999, Disney hoped it would make more of an impact than some of the previous “Disney Renaissance” movies. Hercules (1997) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) had not performed as well as expected, and did not receive the same attention or accolades as the likes of The Lion King (1994) and Beauty and the Beast (1991).

Luckily, Tarzan did perform well at the box-office and took the Disney Animation department in a new direction, with an increased use of CGI technology; a move away from the typical fairy-tale approach; and a step back from the Broadway-musical style. Despite all that, some say that Tarzan was the movie that set Disney Animation off on a new path to failure, since, by dismissing the well-used, tried and tested formula of the early “Disney Renaissance”, it meant that Disney made a series of either inadequate, underperforming movies, or disappointing, major flops after Tarzan, a trend that went on for almost a decade.

Tarzan has much more of a mixed reaction to it than I thought. I have always loved Tarzan. I think we probably watched it at the cinema when it first came out, but I do distinctly remember watching it at a “kids club” while on holiday in Cyprus around the time of its release. So, I’ve been disappointed to find that amongst the general articles detailing Tarzan’s legacy and movie history, there are also multiple essays picking holes in the plotline of Tarzan and/or discussing its “complicated history” and describing it as a “disappointment”. It’s a strange mixture of opinions. Perhaps it has something to do with the number of adaptations of the novel that exist today, or maybe people just don’t think much of the character of Tarzan and his story anymore.

PLOT

Regardless of your opinion on Tarzan, everyone knows the basic story: a man is raised by gorillas in the jungle and then meets humans for the first time. Disney’s movie starts off with an intense opening sequence of both a human family and a gorilla family. The humans have been stranded in the jungle after escaping a boat fire with their small baby. They decide to build a treehouse to survive in the jungle. This is paralleled with a gorilla family, who have a small baby too, however, soon that baby is killed by a leopard, known as Sabor, leaving the parents heartbroken. Later, the mother gorilla hears a strange crying, and follows the noise to a treehouse where she finds a baby, alone, with evidence of Sabor having attacked whoever else lived there. The mother gorilla, Kala, decides to raise the baby herself, but sees the leopard is still there, waiting for its next prey. Kala and the baby escape, leaving Sabor tangled in some ropes. Kala is allowed to keep the baby, after some discussion, but still to the reluctance of her partner, and leader of the gorilla pack, Kerchak.

Five years later, the baby, called Tarzan, has grown, however, struggles to fit in with the other gorillas, with relations between him and Kerchak still strained. Tarzan is determined to belong and after an incident of Tarzan trying to fit in starts an elephant stampede, he feels even worse about himself, until Kala tells him they aren’t so different. He is determined to be “the best ape ever” anyway. The movie jumps fifteen years where Tarzan is friends with Terk and Tantor, an elephant he met during the unfortunate stampede, and has figured out how to act within the gorilla family, though Kerchak still is not fond of him. That is, until Sabor attacks the family, and Kerchak, injured, is saved by Tarzan, who kills the leopard, thus getting at least a small bit of respect and admiration from Kerchak.

The reconciliation is cut short by the sound of a gunshot. Kerchak, concerned, tells the group to move out. Tarzan, however, follows the sound, and finds three strangers – who look just like him. Curious, he follows them, which is good, because soon, the woman, Jane, upsets an angry pack of baboons who chase her through the jungle, and Tarzan has to save her from being killed. Once the baboons have left, Tarzan stares at Jane, confused about why she looks like him, and why he can’t understand her. After a few awkward moments, Jane asks Tarzan to take her to her camp, where they find that Terk, Tantor, and some of the other gorillas have destroyed most of their belongings. This is where Jane learns that Tarzan is one of the gorillas; Tarzan leaves with them. Jane then tells her father, and Clayton, their “guide”, about her confusing ordeal.

The next day, Jane is explaining her encounter with the “ape man” further, when he appears, just when the other two think she’s gone mad! Thinking Tarzan can help them find the gorillas, they teach Tarzan English and about humankind, whilst Tarzan and Jane also start to develop feelings for each other. Tarzan refuses to take them to the gorillas, not wanting to go against Kerchak, but when he realises that Jane is leaving soon, he relents and takes them to the group, using Terk and Tantor as bait to lead Kerchak away. This goes well, for a while, until Kerchak unexpectedly returns. Tarzan holds Kerchak back so they can escape, and becomes angry at his mother for keeping his true identity from him. Kala takes Tarzan to his parents’ treehouse for the first time, telling him he can choose whether to leave with the humans, or stay with them. Tarzan decides to go to England with Jane.

However, as they are about to board the boat, Tarzan, Jane, and her father find they have been double-crossed by Clayton and his men, who imprison them and the ship’s crew, before going ashore to capture the gorillas and take them back to England to sell them. Tarzan is angry at leaving his family in danger and finds he is not being able to free everyone from the steel cage. Luckily, Tantor and Terk board the ship, sensing danger after hearing Tarzan yelling. They fight the guards with the roof of the cage breaking under Tantor’s weight. Now freed, Tarzan, Jane and her father rush to the mainland to defeat Clayton and his men, who are attacking the gorillas, with ropes, guns, and flares, before throwing them in cages. As Tarzan returns, they decide to take what they can, which includes Kala. Jane races over to free her, with Tarzan coming to her aid with a crowbar to open the cage. Now, Tarzan must fight off Clayton, who has shot Kerchak, and also him. They take the fight into the trees, where Tarzan breaks Clayton’s gun, so he can do no damage. But Clayton simply pulls out a knife and threatens Tarzan with it. In defence, Tarzan throws vines onto Clayton to stop him, but Clayton pulls and cuts at the vines, which tighten around his throat, until he freefalls down. Thanks to a well-timed lightning flash, we see a silhouette of Clayton’s lifeless body, hanging in the vines…

Kerchak lays dying, and apologies to Tarzan for not making him feel like he belonged with them, when he did all along. Kerchak makes Tarzan the new leader of the group. Despite his feelings for Jane, Tarzan now knows his duty is to stay in the jungle. Jane and Porter go to board their ship to return home. Porter encourages Jane to remain in the jungle with Tarzan, because she loves him. Jane jumps out of the boat and swims to Tarzan where she greets him with an awkward kiss. Porter also decides to jump out and stay in the jungle, telling the ship’s captain to say they never found them; people get lost in the jungle all the time! The gorillas are overenjoyed to find that Jane is staying with Tarzan, and the film ends happily with them all adjusted to their new lives.

Tarzan is based on the 1912 story Tarzan of the Apes, by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, with the story first being published as a novel in 1914. The novel actually spans dozens of sequels, but Disney’s Tarzan is based on the first one. There are differences between the novel and the movie, with some notable ones being that Kerchak kills Tarzan’s father; Tarzan finds his parents’ treehouse at a young age, so knows humans exist from that point, even teaching himself to read English; Tarzan kills Kerchak in the novel; Jane leaves the jungle to travel back to the USA, where she plans to marry Clayton, who is a Viscount, not a hunter; and Tarzan leaves the jungle to go to Europe, before following Jane to the US. In the sequel novel, Tarzan finally marries Jane, but they are not together in the first book. Some of the novel’s characters have also been excluded from the movie, such as a tribe of African settlers, and French naval officer Paul D’Arnot,. Another interesting point is that Tarzan is known to be the son of Viscount and Lady Greystoke, with his name being John Clayton II, meaning Clayton is actually his cousin, who takes control of their English estate after the family’s disappearance[1]. Although Tarzan’s lineage is not mentioned in the Disney movie, it’s interesting to think that Clayton and Tarzan are cousins and that Tarzan is actually a nobleman by birth!

CHARACTERS & CAST

We first see Tarzan in the movie as a baby, quite a curious one, as we see when he meets Kala for the first time. He isn’t scared though, and that’s something that we see throughout his life; he certainly isn’t timid and is just curious about the world around him, especially when he meets Jane and the others. As he gets older, Tarzan feels more and more like he doesn’t belong with the gorillas, despite his efforts to fit in. When he does meet the humans, it makes him even more confused about where he really belongs, and becomes torn between his duty to his family, but wanting to be around the people who look like him and can teach him about his real species. He feels angry at his mother for not telling him about his birth parents earlier, and is upset at never being fully welcomed into the family, thanks to Kerchak’s lack of approval. When Tarzan meets Jane, things start to make sense for him, and he feels like he’d be better off in England with them, even if that breaks his mother’s heart, and his. Tarzan is loyal to those he loves, and will protect them at any cost, as we see at the end of the movie, when he races in to save his gorilla family. This culminates in a touching scene between him and Kerchak where Kerchak finally sees him as his son, and Tarzan becomes the new accepted leader.

The character of Tarzan was animated primarily by Glen Keane, working with a group of thirteen other animators at Disney Animation’s Paris studio, meaning that some parts of the film were made in France, while others were created in the studio in California. He wanted to draw Tarzan as he was written, as the live-action actors who had played Tarzan had not been able to do the character justice, simply because they could not move in the way the character did. This is something that Edgar Rice Burroughs had agreed with from as early as 1936; that animation would be the best medium to bring his hero to life on screen[2]. It was important to make his movements as fluid as possible, and to experiment with how he used his environment. “Tree surfing” was very much Keane’s idea, and is frequently used in the movie. He drew inspiration from his son’s skateboarding and love of extreme sports[3]. Glen Keane believed that animating Tarzan would be simpler than designing other characters, as clothes and drapes of fabrics would not have to be thought about, however, it was actually more challenging because instead, Keane had to accurately capture human muscles, with a professor of anatomy even superimposing drawings of correct muscles over the top of the Tarzan drawings so Keane could make corrections[4].

Tarzan is voiced by Tony Goldwyn. Goldwyn has appeared on television in series such as the ABC political drama Scandal (2012-18) as President Fitzgerald Grant III, and in films like Ghost (1990), where he played Carl Bruner, Divergent (2014) and its sequel Insurgent (2015) as Andrew Prior, Tris’ father, and most recently Oppenheimer (2023) where he portrayed Gordon Gray. Disney were pleased with his strong voice and the fact that he was a good mimic, so could do the animal noises that Tarzan makes throughout the movie. There is some debate, though, around the iconic Tarzan yells. Brian Blessed has been credited with them, however, in an interview at the D23 Expo in 2019, footage was shown of Goldwyn making the iconic call, with the directors claiming Goldwyn’s one was used. I have seen both actors do it, and neither sound like the one in the movie, so who knows! Maybe it’s a combination of both?

Jane is Tarzan’s love interest in the movie. I’ve always liked Jane, because she wasn’t just pretty and sweet; she was both incredibly intelligent and very funny, something that Disney’s leading ladies didn’t used to be at this time. She’s also creative and inquisitive, which gets her into trouble around the gorillas and the baboons in the jungle. Her relationship with Tarzan is very sweet, though she doesn’t allow herself to love him initially because they come from two different worlds and she doesn’t think it will work. She even resigns herself to being separated from him for ever by going back to England, until her father persuades her otherwise. Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, to use his full name, is not a major character in the movie, however, him and Jane have a great relationship with each other, being able to tease each other, and having their studies in common. Nigel Hawthorne, the voice of Porter, as well as that of Fflewddur Fflam in The Black Cauldron (1985), brought warmth and intelligence to the character, who could’ve so easily ended up as a bumbling buffoon! Hawthorne had also starred in the British sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister (1980-88) as Sir Humphrey Appleby, and won a BAFTA for Best Actor for his portrayal of King George III in the movie The Madness of King George (1994). Jane is inspired by conservationists Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. Jane is voiced by Minnie Driver, best known for her work on TV sitcom Speechless (2016-19), along with Good Will Hunting (1997), and The Phantom of the Opera (2004). She does a great job with the character, and even improvised the scene of Jane describing her meeting with Tarzan, resulting in one of the longest animated scenes being created, which took around seven weeks to animate[5].

For Tarzan’s gorilla “parents”, Kala and Kerchak couldn’t be more different. Kala and Tarzan’s relationship is at the heart of the film. She is loving and nurturing, teaching him that it’s what’s inside that counts, and that in actual fact humans and gorillas aren’t so different. She also learns to let go, saying that Tarzan “will always be in her heart” regardless of whether he chooses to go to England or stay with them. Decorated stage and screen actress Glenn Close, the voice of Kala, was very interested in playing a mother in a Disney animated movie. Close had worked with Disney before, from playing the role of Cruella de Vilin the live-action film 101 Dalmatians (1996), and its sequel 102 Dalmatians (2000), a character who is the complete opposite of Kala! Kerchak on the other hand is the stepfather figure to Tarzan. He doesn’t initially want Kala to adopt Tarzan, but relents, though he makes it clear that just because he can stay, “that doesn’t make him my son”. Tarzan spends much of the first part of the movie trying to avoid Kerchak and doing anything he can to not annoy him, before trying to gain his approval. At the end, just before his death, we get to see a different side to Kerchak, where he apologies for his behaviour, and accepts that Tarzan has always been his son; he gets a chance at redemption. Kerchak is voiced by actor Lance Henriksen, who has had roles in films such as the Alien franchise, where he played Bishop, as well as doing voice work for movie, television and video games.

Then there are Terk and Tantor, Tarzan’s childhood friends. Terk is a lovable gorilla, despite her being loud, overly confident, and a bit bratty, but she is a good friend to Tarzan, and helps him out when she can. She’s also very funny and quite the show woman, so that helps the audience connect with her. Terk and Tarzan are very close and have been since they were young. Rosie O’Donnell was brought on to voice Terk, giving the character the tomboy vibe that the team wanted. O’Donnell began her career in comedy, before acting and hosting her own daytime talk show The Rosie O’Donnell show from 1996 to 2002. Tantor is a neurotic, germophobic elephant who Tarzan and Terk meet partway through the movie, when they are about six years old. Tantor likes his peace and quiet, but can’t find a lot of that around those two! He’s the one to convince Terk that Tarzan needs their help at the end, proving that, although he is scared of things, he will push through it for others. Wayne Knight is the voice of Tantor, though Woody Allen was in the initial line-up for the role before being poached by Jeffrey Katzenberg to voice the lead character in the DreamWorks film Antz (1998). In the 1990s, Knight was perhaps best known for playing Newman in Seinfeld (1992-98) and Officer Orville in 3^rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001) as well as for being in Jurassic Park (1993). He would voice the character of Al for Pixar’s Toy Story 2, released in November 1999, five months after Tarzan.

Then we come to the villains of the movie: Sabor and Clayton. It is not just coincidence that once Sabor is killed by Tarzan, we then meet Clayton as the two were both created to be parallel to each other, with the colour palettes of the characters even being similar. Sabor is just a leopard, doing what he does because of his nature; he’s a predator in the jungle, he’s supposed to hunt things. On the other hand, Clayton is a game hunter with a hidden agenda: to capture all the gorillas and sell them for a lot of money, under the guise of being Jane and Porter’s guide and protector. Clayton is suave and charming on the surface, but brutal and malicious underneath[6]. He’s a great villain, one of the better Disney ones I think, though he is not referenced so much in the Disney villain franchise, which is a shame. Clayton has one of the more horrifying deaths, as he ultimately ends up being hung by vines. It’s not something I ever noticed as a child, so it’s not like it’s traumatising, but the image of his silhouette hanging in the jungle is quite haunting and quite a push for Disney, whose villains mostly disintegrate or fall from great heights so you don’t have to see anything too grisly! Clayton is voiced by legendary English actor Brian Blessed, known for so many performances, such as Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon (1980), Lord Locksley in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and for originating the role of Bustopher Jones in the London cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre show Cats in 1981.

MUSIC

The songs for Tarzan were written by Phil Collins, known for both his solo career and for being the drummer, and later lead singer, in the band Genesis. Collins wrote five songs for the movie. He had been asked to wait until the team had fleshed out the story, but Collins had been so inspired from reading the novel that he ended up sending across multiple draft songs, with three ending up in the final movie. “Two Worlds” was the first song to be written by Collins, and is used for the whole opening sequence, showing the two “worlds” that Tarzan will become a part of. It is also reprised at the end of the movie, when Jane and her father become part of the two worlds as well.

Then, there is “Son of Man”, which plays during the “time jump” sequence, where Tarzan is growing up, figuring out what role he plays within the family. This is my favourite song and scene in the movie, because it’s optimistically hopeful and cheery, and full of funny sequences of Tarzan being taught by Terk how to act like a gorilla. Though a close second-favourite of mine is both the scene and song of “Strangers Like Me”, which accompanies the scenes of Jane teaching Tarzan about the human world, where the two start to fall in love. “Trashin’ the Camp” is a bit different to the other songs, as it is very percussion-centric, something that Phil Collins was well-known for. It demonstrates the sounds that the objects in the human camp make as Terk, Tantor and the gorillas break, destroy and turn over everything in the camp, with some “doo-wop” vocals from Terk. It’s another good song, and is very catchy, with a great beat. It might sound simple, but according to Collins, it was difficult to achieve. Phil Collins also recorded a version of this song with NSYNC for the Tarzan soundtrack.

Finally, “You’ll Be in My Heart” was written with his daughter in mind, to be a lullaby to her[7]. Apparently, this song was written during Christmas dinner at a neighbour’s house. At the beginning, Phil Collins was reluctant to be a part of Tarzan, as he didn’t think he could write story-telling songs to fit a typical Disney musical. Directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck flew to Switzerland to persuade him to come on to the movie as they wanted a percussive-style for the music to separate it from the other Disney “jungle” movie, The Lion King (1994). Collins said he would try. “You’ll Be in My Heart” would go on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1999, and the soundtrack would win the Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album[8] – so I think he did more than “just try”! As well as this, Phil Collins recorded many of the songs in different languages, such as French, German, Italian, and Spanish, for the releases of Tarzan in other countries. It was the first time Collins had ever done that. Collins would collaborate with Disney again for the music on Brother Bear (2003).

Mark Mancina was brought on to compose the score, having worked as an additional composer and music arranger on The Lion King soundtrack, before working on the score for the theatre adaptation. He would work with Phil Collins again for Brother Bear (2003), and for Disney again by composing the score for Moana (2016) alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda. Mancina and Collins made sure to work collaboratively together to ensure the music kept the same style throughout the movie[9].

PRODUCTION

Originally, it was thought that Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to make Tarzan as a TV adaptation, to be made from a new Disney studio in Canada. Kevin Lima at the time was in the middle of post-production on A Goofy Movie (1995), which had been partly produced by the Disney Television Animation department. This was Lima’s directorial debut. Katzenberg approached Lima to direct this new Tarzan adaptation, however Lima was unsure about adapting Tarzan via the television animation route and did not accept. Katzenberg left Disney in 1994. From this point, Lima was approached by then-CEO Michael Eisner to adapt Tarzan as an animated feature film. Lima agreed and brought in Chris Buck to co-direct, who had just finished working on Pocahontas (1995) as supervising animator. Lima and Buck knew they would not make Tarzan in a musical style, as they felt that Tarzan singing, and swinging through vines in his loincloth would look ridiculous. I have to agree. This route forward was boosted by Bonnie Arnold coming on to the movie as producer, having just produced the Pixar smash-hit Toy Story (1995), as Pixar used their music as more of a commentary to the story and did not have their characters sing[10].

In March 1996, the production team went on a research trip to Africa for inspiration, both around animals and vegetation. They took multiple rolls of footage, making sure to notice the smallest details. They went on safari, toured reserves in Kenya, and saw mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where they observed the special family relationships that gorilla groups have, as well as appreciating the beauty of the jungle, and feeling the all-encompassing nature of it[11].

Part of what made Tarzan so brilliant to look at was the specific software that was created to design the convincing jungle landscapes. It was called Deep Canvas, a computer-based tool used to enhance the depth of the backgrounds. It also allowed for more movement and flexibility in how the camera moved around its backgrounds. For example, the use of camera motions like this is most evident in the rollercoaster-style sequences of Tarzan “tree surfing”, the baboon chase with Jane and Tarzan, as well as the vine swinging shots in the tree canopies. These sequences using Deep Canvas totalled around ten minutes of the 88-minute running time. The moving background environments were created in computer-generated shapes to give a full 3D look. Once these backgrounds were computer-animated, then the hand-drawn characters were added to them, before painting the backgrounds digitally. This whole process took hours, compared to months, to execute the correct painterly finish[12]. The Deep Canvas technology would then be used for other Disney animated films, like Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002), before winning a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 2003[13].

As usual, not every scene developed for Tarzan made it to the final edit of the film. The film had an alternate opening, which would’ve involved Tarzan’s father writing at his desk in their newly built treehouse during a strong storm before being attacked by Sabor, the leopard. This opening seemed quite dark, and makes the demise of Tarzan’s parents much too obvious, rather than just alluding to it. Secondly, the “exploring the human camp” scene was extended, with Terk “volunteering” to check out the place. Terk realises none of the objects can hurt them, so they continue their search for Tarzan. This scene was edited out due to it being unnecessary to the plot. Finally, the final battle between Clayton and Tarzan was originally to have taken place on a riverboat, with lots of gunfire, explosions, and fire. This was ultimately not used as it didn’t feel like a fitting ending; Disney felt Tarzan should have his final fight in the jungle[14].

RECEPTION

Tarzan was released in June 1999, and did very well at the box office. It made $450 million worldwide against a budget of $130 million, so it was deemed a success in that way, with the visuals being a standout feature of the movie. Although, other reviews criticised the comic relief characters, and did not like Phil Collins’ music. They also found the romance between Tarzan and Jane weak, and did not understand the removal of all African characters from the movie. In regards to specific issues with characters and music, this is simply about personal preference. I personally like the music, and I think Tarzan and Jane are a great couple; I believed their romance wholeheartedly, both as a child and an adult. I also do not have a problem with the comic-relief characters. Focusing on the comments around race, this is something Disney get picked up on often. I understand that now we are looking to be more inclusive and diverse in our use of characters in the entertainment industry, and that it is important not to cut out a whole section of a source material simply because it could be difficult content to include. Disney stated the removal of the African characters from Tarzan was to ensure the film was not made “over complicated”. That is quite understandable, and as Tarzan is not particularly loyal to the source material, they did not need to include all the characters. Perhaps if Tarzan gets a live-action adaptation, some of these points can be corrected.

LEGACY

With the commercial success of Tarzan, the movie would span quite a franchise for Disney. It first got an animated television series, called The Legend of Tarzan, which directly follows the ending of the movie. This aired for two seasons between 2001 and 2003. There were also two direct-to-video films, with Tarzan & Jane (2002), which used three unaired episodes of the TV series, based one year after the original movie, with Tarzan and Jane celebrating their first wedding anniversary. Then Tarzan II (2005) was released, which takes place within the events of the original movie, set during Tarzan’s childhood. A sequel called Tarzan III was cancelled in 2006. A Broadway musical version of Tarzan was also created, opening in 2006, with international productions taking place up to 2016.

Within the Disney theme parks, there was a theatre show called Tarzan Rocks!, which ran from 1999 to 2006 in the, previously open-air, Theater in the Wild at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. I remember watching this show a few times during my visits. Instead of a retelling of the movie, it was a rock concert experience involving gymnasts, singers, dancers, aerialists, roller-blades, and an aerial ballet between Jane and Tarzan. A live-band played hit songs from the movie. It closed in 2006, in part because of the opening of the Broadway show, and because the theatre was slated for construction work to enclose it fully[15].

At Disneyland, the original Swiss Family Treehouse walkaround attraction, based on the 1960 Disney movie Swiss Family Robinson, was closed on 8^th March 1999 to make way for a Tarzan-themed renovation. The attraction Tarzan’s Treehouse opened on 23^rd June 1999, with ten feet being added to its height, and live-size fiberglass figures of the characters being added to the rooms, with the story being that Tarzan and Jane moved into his parents’ treehouse in the jungle. Music from the movie was edited to play repeatedly as instrumentals[16]. Sadly, Tarzan’s Treehouse was closed at Disneyland in 2020 to make way for a new treehouse called Adventureland Treehouse, based on the Swiss Family Robinson once more. I’m not really sure why they did this as the reason for refurbishing it to be themed to Tarzan was because most audiences were not familiar with the Swiss Family Robinson story.

Luckily, Tarzan’s Treehouse still exists at Hong Kong Disneyland and has been there since the park’s opening in 2005. To get there, you have to board a log raft to take you over the Rivers of America as the treehouse resides on an island in the middle of the river, which makes it a real event and not something you just pass by.

Tokyo Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris do not have any Tarzan-themed attractions, however, at Shanghai and Paris, there was a stage show based on the film. At Shanghai it was called Tarzan: Call of the Jungle. It was a huge stage production, similar in ways to Tarzan Rocks!, that opened in 2016, but closed three years later in 2019 for unknown reasons. At Disneyland Paris, their stage show was called Tarzan: The Encounter and it opened in April 2000. It ran until 2008, when it was closed, only to be revived in 2011 but closed again in 2012, for unknown reasons. These two stage shows were very similar and featured a rock soundtrack, acrobatics, and dancing.

The characters, such as Jane, Tarzan, and Terk are harder to find these days, though they are most likely to appear at Hong Kong because of its Tarzan-themed attraction and at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Park because of its theming. Most recently, Terk, Tarzan, and Jane, plus even Kala and Kerchak were spotted at the DVC Moonlight Magic event at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2023. Tarzan, Jane, and Terk were also around during Earth Week that same year. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Terk was seen by the rafts to the treehouse a few years ago, but the treehouse has only recently reopened after the pandemic so perhaps Terk and other characters might appear soon.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My overall view of Tarzan has always been that I like the movie. It is one of my favourites, for the music and the characters. Many do agree that visually Tarzan looks stunning, with the jungle landscapes looking incredibly realistic, and the actions scenes being particularly daring and intriguing, even if they did not generally like the movie. Tarzan would be one of Disney’s last “good” animated features for a while, both critically and commercially, as the new millennium would mean Disney became inconsistent with their animated movies, and ended up releasing some real flops, with Pixar and DreamWorks only increasing in popularity over this same period.

Still, Tarzan allowed Disney to do something a bit different, by moving into CGI, and stepping back from their usual formula of fairy-tale retellings with a Broadway twist. It may not be to everyone’s liking, with comparisons between the ever-popular The Lion King (1994) making Tarzan seem lesser, but it was a good chance to experiment with new technologies and to remain faithful to a character who, up until that point, had not lived up to his potential in other Hollywood adaptations.

Tarzan was a success in many more ways than it was a failure, and it gave Disney some confidence and reasoning to experiment with new ideas. It may not be as memorable or beloved as other Disney “Renaissance” films, but it still deserves to be classed as a hit.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes (1912).

[2] Credit: Disney, “From Burroughs to Disney”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[3] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[4] Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Tarzan (1999)’, pp. 109-111.

[5] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[6] Credit: Disney, “Creating Characters”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[7] Credit: Disney, “The Making of the Music”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[8] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[9] Credit: Disney, “The Making of the Music”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[10] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘Disney’s ‘Tarzan’ Was A Hit – So Why Is It Remembered As A Disappointment?’, SlashFilm (online), 8^th October 2019.

[11] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[12] Credit: Steve Daly, ‘”Tarzan” changes the face of animation’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 9^th July 1999.

[13] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[14] Credit: Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[15] Credit: Dave Shute, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The “Extinct” Shows of Theater in the Wild’, YourFirstVisit.Net, date unknown.

[16] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Story of Tarzan’s Treehouse’, MousePlanet (online), 18^th April 2018.