Clayton



The main villain from Tarzan, Clayton is, like any classic Disney villain, hungry for money and power, and intensely voiced by English Actor Brian Blessed. But what makes him stand out from the crowd is his harshness. Like Cruella De Vil before him, Clayton's cruel treatment of animals (in this case, the apes), and Tarzan himself, makes him a chillingly cold villain so different from the run-of-the-mill animated bad guy. His character is also a home-hitting statement on poachers and why we need to make sure animals and the world are safe.

In the film, Clayton, a veteran, serves as guide for Jane and her father Professor Porter on an expedition to Africa in search for gorillas, but his secret agenda is to use the trip as a means to hunt gorillas to sell on the black market. The character is arrogant and totally convinced in his own abilities and his invulnerability; Blessed said on him "Clayton's life is all about romance, a life long romance with himself. Clayton's an absolute, total egomaniac".[1][broken footnote]

With the introduction of Tarzan to the expedition, Clayton makes several attempts, all unsuccessful, to get the location of the gorillas from Tarzan.

With both his and his employers' goals thwarted, Clayton prepares to leave Africa with Jane and the professor. Manipulating Tarzan's feelings for Jane, he convinces the ape man they will stay if he takes them to the gorillas, which he does. Kerchak, the head gorilla, is angered by the trespass and attacks Clayton for brandishing a gun against the band.

Luckily for Clayton, Tarzan manages to calm down the frenzied ape. Disowned by Kerchak, he agrees to return to England with Jane and the professor, only to be surprised and imprisoned with them when they board the ship by Clayton and some pirates working for him. Now that the villain no longer needs them he wants them all out of the way so that he and his cronies can capture the gorillas and sell them to a zoo for three hundred pounds.

The heroes manage to escape and free the gorillas. Clayton confronts Tarzan and takes the battle to the treetops. Becoming tangled in a mass of vines, Clayton, in a blind fury, cuts his way through, unwittingly causing his own end from an uncut vine wrapped around his own neck. Tarzan tries to warn him but Clayton doesn't listen and in his rage, accidentally cuts the vine he's holding onto. Clayton falls and is killed when the vine around him snaps his neck.

[edit] Alternate Ending

There was an alternate ending to the original movie where Clayton and Tarzan fight on a boat where Clayton has some gorillas in cages and is trying to make an escape along with his henchmen.

In this version Clayton battles Tarzan with a machine gun and a dagger while making references to Tarzan being a savage and not a real man, which is reminiscent of the statement made in the actual ending. In this version, he dies when some barrels of oil catch fire and blow up the boat both Tarzan and Clayton are trapped on the boat but Clayton meets his end when support ropes tie up his legs and bring him down with the boat causing him to drown

This ending was dropped because it was felt that it was more appropriate to have the final fight in the jungle and allow the jungle to play a part in Clayton’s downfall (the vine around his neck).[1] They also wanted Clayton to appear more animalistic and rely more on brute force in his battle with Tarzan. Hence he has a lot less dialog in the final version, except for his xenophobic remark, and is a lot more violent in his attacks. This alternate ending can be found on the special edition 2 disc DVD.

Role in Kingdom Hearts
Clayton also appears in Square Enix's game as the villain of the world Deep Jungle. He finds Goofy and Donald Duck lost in a bamboo grove, and takes them to the camp as they reunite with Sora (the game's main protagonist). Apparentely, he keeps his movie role as an obssessed hunter, trying to shoot the apes at any cost. In the treehouse, he locks the aim at a distracted Terk, only to be interrupted in the nick of time by Donald. Back at the camp, Jane forbids Clayton to get near the gorillas again, wich increases the anger and hate in his heart. Maleficent later states that this was the very factor that atracted the Heartless to the world. But Clayton pays the price by generating the Stealth Sneak heartless, and then battles Sora and Tarzan. When the Heartless's source (Clayton himself) is defeated, the weakened chameleon falls right over the hunter, finally crushing him for good.