Tantor

Tantor is Tarzan's and Terk's best friend in Disney's 1999 feature film Tarzan, its 2005 midquel, 2002 sequel, and its 2001 television series. He was voiced by Wayne Knight in the first film, and later by Jim Cummings in the spin-off productions.

Personality
Tantor usually appeared to be timid and even a downright coward who was easily spooked. However, he cared deeply for his friends and at times, he displayed considerable bravery despite normally appearing to be quite cowardly. For example, he boarded Clayton's ship to rescue Tarzan (complete with trumpet "Charge!" flair) and fought against a rogue elephant in the television series. He also seems to be somewhat of a germophobe and attempts to be an intillectual, though he tends to fail at the latter.

Physical appearance
Tantor is an African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). He has red brownish skin. When he's young, his ears are shorter and his tusks don't grow yet, and speaks in a high voice. When he's an adult, his ears achieve their full size, his tusks are longer and sharper and his voice is noticeably deeper.

Tarzan
Tarzan first encounters Tantor as he was a kid during a dare by Terk to take an elephant hair, during the dare a very young Tantor thinks Tarzan is a piranha and informs his mother about it and she doesn't believe him until Tarzan bites one of the elephants which causes a stampede, after the aftermath it appears that Tarzan has died but he turns out to be alright and reveals he has managed to retrieve an elephant hair when he tells Tantor about he tells him that if he told him he would've gladly gave him one of his hairs, he continues to be his friend well into adult hood later in the film he Terk and some of their gorilla friends sneak onto the human's campsite and trash the place, later when Tarzan invites Jane, her father, and Clayton to the gorilla site Tantor and Terk provide a distraction to Kerchak so he won't find out about it, eventually he does find out about it and is enraged, later when Tarzan joins the humans and is put in a cell Tantor comes to the rescue and takes Terk with him being brave for the first time and fights off the men on the ship and they help fight Clayton's men so they won't make off with the gorillas. In the end Tantor celebrates the marriage of Tarzan and Jane along with Tarzan's gorilla family.

Tarzan II
When a young Tarzan runs away from the gorilla family to try and find his own place in the jungle, a young Tantor and Terk go out to find him and bring him back home. He initially refuses to go back, but when he rescues the two of them from Uto, Kago and Mama Gunda, they become friends again and with Kala's arrival onto the scene, they all return home.

Tarzan & Jane
In a compilation of three episodes of The Legend of Tarzan (Tarzan and the British Invasion, Tarzan and the Volcanic Diamond Mine and Tarzan and the Flying Ace), Terk and Tantor are assisting Tarzan and Jane in preparing their first wedding anniversary and preparing the treehouse for the party.

The Legend of Tarzan
By the time of the series/Tarzan and Jane, Jane and Professor Porter had since learned how to communicate with the animals. Tantor himself played a major part in several episodes. In Tarzan and the Rogue Elephant, a group of elephants move into the jungle escaping the rogue elephant Mabaya, Tantor becomes a mentor to the young Jabari, who has a strong resemblance to a young Tantor.

Another episode, Tarzan and the All-Seeing Elephant, focuses on Tantor searching for a mysterious deity to elephants high in the mountains. Though he doesn't truly find the All-Seeing Elephant, the experience serves to strengthen his friendship with Terk.

In Tarzan and the Rift, Tantor's new girlfriend thinks Terk is loud and obnoxious and forces Tantor to choose between them

Jim Cummings provides Tantor's voice from the start of this series.

House of Mouse
Tantor is notably the only character from Tarzan to appear on House of Mouse, which was made at the same time as The Legend of Tarzan. He appeared at the end of "The Stolen Cartoons" to help Mickey and friends block off Pete's escape and throw him out of the club. He also appeared in "Donald and the Aracuan Bird".

Disney Parks
Tantor makes a limited amount of appearances in the Disney theme parks around the globe. Most notably, Tantor is featured in the jungle-themed parade float of the Flights of Fantasy Parade in Hong Kong Disneyland. A golden Tantor float was also featured in Disneyland's Parade of the Stars. Tantor also makes an appearance during the "Trashin' the Camp" sequence of The Golden Mickeys.

Disney INFINITY
Tantor appears in the game as a mode of transportation for playable characters.

Trivia

 * The character Tantor was actually created specifically for the Disney movie. In the original books, "Tantor" is actually the Mangani (a fictional apelike species) language term for any elephant in the African jungle.
 * Tantor does not appear in the stage musical adaptation.