Tarzan

I've been watching through the animated Disney movies, to try to draw some animals from them. And doing so makes me notice stuff I'd never noticed before. 

Especially combined with a familiarity with out zoo animals. 

 

The most recent Disney movie I've noticed anew is Tarzan. I never really realized how amazing the animation is. Tarzan's movements, especially the way he uses his hands. He obviously knuckle-walks like a gorilla, but he'll also use his knuckles instead of fingers when he's handling things.

And then there are things that I can't help calling out. For example, there are no ring-tailed lemurs in Africa. Nor are there bananas. Mandrills don't hang out in trees much. Except maybe the babies. Why are the gorillas making chimpanzee noises? And I think these are supposed to be mountain gorillas. So why are they living right next to the ocean?

But it's cool that they included a lot of animals that you don't usually see in cartoons. Like Maribou storks and spoonbills. Get some of those interesting African animals in there!

But the part that really caught me was Two Worlds - the opening. I've always loved that scene. But for some reason it really got me this time. Maybe because I know gorillas so much better now. But it's such a powerful segment. The plight of Tarzan's parents is so tragic. They survived a shipwreck and worked together to build a safe have for their son. But they didn't make it any farther.

 

Okay, I tried looking this up, and I had not luck. These three movies: Tarzan. Treasure Planet, and Peter Pan 2. Something about the character animation feels very similar to me. One of the key animators must have worked in all three of those movies. But I don't know how to find out without looking up every animator!