TARZAN

Germany, 2013, 93 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Kellan Lutz, Spencer Lock, Joe Cappelletti, Jaime Ray Newman, Mark Deklin.
Directed by Reinhard Kloos.

Tarzana is a German animation film based on the celebrated classic by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Adult audiences may have expectations, especially from the 1930s and 40s series with Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and Maureen O’ Sullivan as Jane. At the time, they moved the stories from the 19th century into the contemporary 20th century – and were accepted as such.

There were other Tarzan include Lex Barker, Gordon Scott. Perhaps the most faithful version of the film was the very serious Greystoke (1983) with Christopher Lambert and Andy Mac Dowall, a lavish production, period story, directed by Hugh Hudson.

There was also the popular Disney version of the late 1990s.

With this film, the story has been brought forward into the present and given a very environmental message. Some Americans are seen doing archaeological work in Africa and, as they return home with a young son, going through extraordinary locations which they have been searching for, they are killed in a crash. The young boy survives and grows up to be the expected Tarzan.

One of the survivors of the expedition also has a daughter, Jane. When an American company executive pretends to be interested in the environment but is merely interested in mineral development and exploitation, they all travel to Africa where they encounter Tarzan who, in the expected fashion, has grown up with the animals, is at home with a wide range of animals who tend him. He encounters Jane, they have a series of adventures together, the villain of the company is unmasked and right prevails as does romance and the at homeless of humans with the animals.

The film did not receive very good reviews, older audiences remembering the past. However, at a very basic level, it could be enjoyed by a very young audience and as a means for getting across an environmental message to them.