After a run of formulaic animated musicals, in 1999 Disney reminded audiences of its authority in the field with this sterling adaptation of one of the 20th century‘s most enduring fables. Indeed, while Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ tale about a boy brought up by apes ranks among the most frequently filmed stories ever (50-odd adaptations, from early silents to Johnny Weissmuller in the 1930s through to Christopher Lambert in the 1980s), this version is not only among the most enjoyable, it‘s also one of Disney‘s most inventive features since Walt‘s golden age of the 1940s.

　　The story follows a small boy who‘s orphaned when he‘s shipwrecked on the coast of Africa. The boy, Tarzan (voiced by Linz as a child), is brought up by gorillas Kala (Close) and Kerchak (Henrisken). Unsurprisingly, Tarzan (voiced by Goldwyn as an adult) grows up with a shaky sense of self, and when he encounters his first human beings - violent hunter Clayton (Blessed), dotty explorer Porter (Hawthorne) and his love-struck daughter Jane (Driver) - his loyalties are divided. For the sake of Jane, Tarzan leads Clayton to the gorilla‘s family nest, inadvertently putting them in danger of being captured by Clayton and shipped back to England.
Disney pioneered a new form of animation for the film called ‘deep canvas‘, which gives complex sequences - Tarzan sweeping along branches like a snowboarder, or diving through rippling vines - an extraordinarily fluid, three dimensional quality. The same depth is apparent in the characterisation, which finds a genuinely poignant heart in Tarzan‘s relationship with Kala. And, while no one‘s suggesting this aims for the level of self-consciousness found in subsequent Pixar releases, for adults there‘s an irresistible spark to Rosie O‘ Donnell‘s wise-cracking gorilla Terk, while Minnie Driver‘s Jane is the closest the character is likely to come to Bridget Jones. ("Oh my God! I‘m in a tree! With a wild man!")

　　There‘s also a serious attempt here to make the j