Tarzan II

Tarzan II (displayed with the title Tarzan II: The Legend Begins on the DVD cover) is a 2005 direct-to-video midquel to the 1999 Walt Disney Feature Animation film Tarzan. It was released on June 14, 2005.

The film tells the story of a young Tarzan's adventure to discover who he really is. Glenn Close and Lance Henriksen reprise their roles as Kala and Kerchak from the first movie; Harrison Chad, Brenda Grate, and Harrison Fahn are the new voices for Young Tarzan, Terk, and Tantor. They are joined by new characters voiced by George Carlin, Estelle Harris, Brad Garrett, and Ron Perlman.

The film features two new songs from Phil Collins and takes place during the song "Son of Man" from the first film.

Plot

As a young boy being raised by gorillas, Tarzan (voiced by Harrison Chad) is worried that a fabled monster known as the Zugor (voiced by George Carlin) will someday catch him. He is disappointed that he can't run as quickly as the other young apes in his family, and his attempts to prove himself keep resulting in chaos. When an accident leaves his adoptive mother Kala (voiced by Glenn Close) thinking that Tarzan has died and the other apes feeling that Tarzan has reached a fitting end, Tarzan believes it best for everyone involved if he runs away.

Alone in the jungle, Tarzan gets chased by Sabor the leopard right to a rocky place known as Dark Mountain, inhabited by two hulking, spoiled gorilla brothers, the dim-witted Uto (voiced by Brad Garrett), the exceedingly violent Kago (voiced by Ron Perlman), and their controlling, over-protective Mama Gunda (voiced by Estelle Harris). But they fear the Zugor as much as Tarzan does, and when the booming call of the monster echoes through the valley, Tarzan is able to escape from them. He encounters a crotchety old gorilla who at first keeps the boy distant, but Tarzan discovers that this old gorilla actually is the Zugor, who uses hollow trees as megaphones to amplify his voice and pretend to be a monster to scare other jungle creatures away from his territory and food. Tarzan uses this discovery to force Zugor into letting the boy stay with him. Thanks to Tarzan's cheerfulness and helpfulness, Zugor begins to warm to him as the boy continues to try to figure out what he is.

Tarzan's best friends Terk and Tantor (voiced by Brenda Grate and Harrison Fahn) come looking for him, but Tarzan does not want to return home with them. It is only when Kala arrives and encounters trouble with Gunda and her boys that Tarzan finally realizes what he is supposed to be: a Tarzan, with his own special tricks that no one else in the jungle can do. Terk and Tantor eventually rescued Tarzan and become best friends once again. Tarzan tells Kala that she was right before, and that he is a part of his family. The film ends when Kala gives Tarzan a hug and tells him how proud she is of him for rescuing her from the two ape brothers, after which Mama Gunda punishes Kago and Uto for destroying Zugor's tree house and Terk and Tantor are finally reunited with Tarzan.

Cast

• Harrison Chad as Tarzan - Before he was king of the jungle, Tarzan was an awkward kid trying to fit in with his ape family. When he was growing up, Tarzan had a childhood fear of the Zugor, a mythical monster said to live on Dark mountain. His second fear was that his mother, Kala would get hurt because of him.
• Glenn Close as Kala - Tarzan's adoptive mother loves her son more than anything. Kala is kind and gentle unless provoked, or if her family is threatened.
• Brenda Grate as Terk - Tarzan's sarcastic, wise cracking, and deadpan "cousin". Her full name is Terkina, but she goes by "Terk."
• Harrison Fahn as Tantor - A germophobic, panic-prone elephant, loyal to his friends, Terk and Tarzan, despite these impediments.
• Lance Henriksen as Kerchak - Kala's mate and the leader of the gorilla troop.
• George Carlin as Zugor – An old hermit ape living in a hollow tree on Dark Mountain and the deuteragonist. He is the "monster" feared by Tarzan and almost all the animals.
• Estelle Harris as Mama Gunda - A controlling, overbearing, and short, both in height and in temper, female ape and the main antagonist.
• Brad Garrett as Uto - A dim-witted, clumsy, and panicky ape and a secondary antagonist who likes to throw any creature he finds off a cliff to see if they can fly .
• Ron Perlman as Kago - A violent, easily provoked, and an all around thug, he's also a secondary antagonist.
• Connor Hutcherson as Tonka
• Frank Welker as Animals' vocal effects (uncredited)

Reception

The film won a DVDX Award for Best Original Score (in a DVD Premiere Movie) in 2006. It was also nominated in 2006 for the Annie Award for Home Entertainment Production and for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Young Actress Brenda Grate. ^[1]

References

External links

• Tarzan II at the Internet Movie Database
• Tarzan II at the Big Cartoon DataBase