Tarzan II
Year: 2005
Directed by: Brian Smith
Starring: George Carlin, Harrison Chad, Glenn Close & Estelle Harris
Runtime: 72 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 18/07/22
Directed by: Brian Smith
Starring: George Carlin, Harrison Chad, Glenn Close & Estelle Harris
Runtime: 72 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 18/07/22
Tarzan & Jane has not only gone down as my least favourite Disney Animated Sequel so far, but it’s also one of the worst films I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching.
So my expectations for Tarzan II were exceptionally low, so low I had half a mind to not even bother. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad, but that doesn’t mean Tarzan II is worth anyone time.
Before Tarzan (Harrison Chad) became the ape man and met Jane, he was a child being raised by his adoptive gorilla mother Kala (Glenn Close). Not understanding why he doesn’t fit in, Tarzan struggles to keep up with the other gorillas and is looked down on by the family alpha, Kerchak (Lance Henriksen).
But when Tarzan becomes lost he finds himself in the company of Zugor (George Carlin); a gorilla who distanced himself from the family due to his not living up to others expectations. Seeing himself in Zugor, Tarzan desperately tries to appeal to the elderly gorilla in the hopes of living with him.
So my expectations for Tarzan II were exceptionally low, so low I had half a mind to not even bother. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad, but that doesn’t mean Tarzan II is worth anyone time.
Before Tarzan (Harrison Chad) became the ape man and met Jane, he was a child being raised by his adoptive gorilla mother Kala (Glenn Close). Not understanding why he doesn’t fit in, Tarzan struggles to keep up with the other gorillas and is looked down on by the family alpha, Kerchak (Lance Henriksen).
But when Tarzan becomes lost he finds himself in the company of Zugor (George Carlin); a gorilla who distanced himself from the family due to his not living up to others expectations. Seeing himself in Zugor, Tarzan desperately tries to appeal to the elderly gorilla in the hopes of living with him.
Tarzan II is yet another midquel, taking place during the ‘Son of Man’ musical number in the original film. Tarzan II even opens with that same awesome musical number, and it’s without a doubt the strongest part of the entire film…which isn’t really praise considering it just makes me want to watch the original film instead. But when compared to Tarzan & Jane, Tarzan II is so much better.
The story explores an interesting part of Tarzan’s personality, what with him being made to feel unwelcome by the gorillas his entire life. Zugor is also a fun character, he’s definitely a bit cheesy but he never crosses that line into absurd or comedy sidekick.
Meanwhile the ‘antagonists’ of the story, if they can be called that, Mama Gunda (Estelle Harris), Uto (Brad Garrett), and Kago (Ron Perlman), are all so stupid it hurts. Their personalities are ridiculously grating and their purpose in the story is negligible at best.
Tarzan II does feature some solid animation work and decent songs though. Phil Collins returns and provides a soundtrack that’s far better than the film deserves, and whilst it feels like songs that were rejects from the original film they’re still pretty good.
There’s more 3D elements in the animation than there were in Tarzan, and whilst none of them match the scale and complexity of the tree slide during Son of Man, the 3D elements in Tarzan II do look better than it’s big budget predecessor.
Whilst Tarzan II doesn’t do anything explicitly bad, it’s just kind of bland. It falls into the category of Animated Sequels that I simply won’t remember in a few days and will never seek out again.
It’s better than I had expected admittedly, but the bar had been set so low with Tarzan and Jane that I can’t imagine how it could have possibly been worse. If you’re desperate for more Tarzan then this will satisfy your itch, but it doesn’t need to exist and you’re not missing anything particularly exciting if you give it a miss.
The story explores an interesting part of Tarzan’s personality, what with him being made to feel unwelcome by the gorillas his entire life. Zugor is also a fun character, he’s definitely a bit cheesy but he never crosses that line into absurd or comedy sidekick.
Meanwhile the ‘antagonists’ of the story, if they can be called that, Mama Gunda (Estelle Harris), Uto (Brad Garrett), and Kago (Ron Perlman), are all so stupid it hurts. Their personalities are ridiculously grating and their purpose in the story is negligible at best.
Tarzan II does feature some solid animation work and decent songs though. Phil Collins returns and provides a soundtrack that’s far better than the film deserves, and whilst it feels like songs that were rejects from the original film they’re still pretty good.
There’s more 3D elements in the animation than there were in Tarzan, and whilst none of them match the scale and complexity of the tree slide during Son of Man, the 3D elements in Tarzan II do look better than it’s big budget predecessor.
Whilst Tarzan II doesn’t do anything explicitly bad, it’s just kind of bland. It falls into the category of Animated Sequels that I simply won’t remember in a few days and will never seek out again.
It’s better than I had expected admittedly, but the bar had been set so low with Tarzan and Jane that I can’t imagine how it could have possibly been worse. If you’re desperate for more Tarzan then this will satisfy your itch, but it doesn’t need to exist and you’re not missing anything particularly exciting if you give it a miss.