Tarzan (character)

Tarzan is the main character of Disney's 1999 animated feature of the same name. He was voiced by Tony Goldwyn as an adult and by Alex D. Linz as a child.

Personality
Tarzan is an extremely brave, loyal and honorable character. He cared deeply about his family and friends and was willing to risk his life to save them. He has also been shown to be willing to rescue his enemies. For example when Clayton was about to fall to his death Tarzan exclaimed "Clayton! No!" and reached out to save him even though Clayton had fatally wounded Kerchak and attempted to kidnap his whole gorilla family.

In his youth Tarzan was playful and fun loving but also felt like an outcast due to the fact that he was human. Until Jane Porter, her father and Clayton arrived he had never seen another human before and was therefore unaware of what species he was. As an adult he had matured into a more serious character but still displayed a playful and friendly side when around his family and friends. Tarzan was also very curious and when he heard a gunshot he went to investigate while the rest of his family moved deeper into the jungle. It was because of his curious nature that he met Jane, Professor Porter and Clayton.

Having lived in the jungle his whole life, Tarzan developed exceptional abilities that would be impossible for other humans. He was able to swing through the trees, hold things with his feet and had a good sense of hearing and smell. He frequently moved like a gorilla, walking on his knuckles but would walk upright at times too. He was an incredible fighter being able to hold his own against some of the jungles deadliest predator. One of Tarzans most notable accomplishments was when he managed to kill Sabor a ferocious and powerful leopard who had killed his parents many years earlier. Tarzan often fought with a spear but would also commonly use his bare hands to defeat his opponents. He was also incredibly strong being able to pin down Kerchak and lift at least two fully grown humans at the same time without any apparent effort.

Design
Tarzan's brown hair is styled in long dreadlocks. He wears almost no clothes. The only piece of clothing he wears is a tattered, brown loincloth around his waist. He also wears his father's clothes occasionally. His eyes are a light green-blue in color and his muscular body is tanned from living in the jungle all his life.



Tarzan
In the movie, Tarzan starts off as a baby who escapes a burning ship with his biological parents and lives in a treehouse with his parents but later on his parents are killed by Sabor the Leopard. Luckily the baby was rescued by a female gorilla named Kala who had lost her baby gorilla son to Sabor. After escaping Sabor, Kala brings the baby back to her gorilla family and tells her mate Kerchak the leader that she wants to adopt the baby since his parents were killed by Sabor and there are no more humans left in the Jungle to which Kerchak agrees but says the baby won't be his son. Kala names the baby Tarzan and sings him a lullaby about being in her heart forever(You'll Be In My Heart). Soon Tarzan grows into a boy and likes to tag along with his best friend Terk and some other gorillas. One day while taging along Terk tells Tarzan to get an elephant hair off an elephant tail to which Tarzan jumps into the water and swims up to an elephant and grabs its tail causing the elephants to run wild and rush through the Gorillas territory. When Kerchak sees this he scowls at Tarzan telling him that he will never be one of them. Disappointed and hurt by this Tarzan runs down to the edge of the water and puts mud all over himself and than Kala shows up.

Kingdom Hearts
Tarzan appears as a party member in the first Kingdom Hearts game.

Tarzan first encounters Sora in his former treehouse home, being attacked by the leopard Sabor. Tarzan managed to chase off Sabor and became friends with Sora, through a difficult conversation due to Tarzan's limited vocabulary. Sora asks for Tarzan's help to locate Riku and Kairi, although Tarzan doesn't really understand. He leads Sora through the jungle's depths to an encampment where Sora meets Tarzan's friend, Jane, who is surprised to see Sora, and later Donald and Goofy. Clayton, a hunter whom Jane brought to the jungle, attempts yet again to persuade Tarzan to show them the location the gorillas. Tarzan, however, cannot do it as the leader of the gorillas, Kerchak, is distrustful of the humans. At this point, Clayton has his heart taken by the Heartless and he falls into darkness. Sabor attacks Sora and Tarzan again, but they kill him.

Jane and Terk are briefly kidnapped by Clayton, but are saved shortly after by the Keyblade bearer. Unfortunately, Clayton and his gang of Heartless have now captured all the gorillas so that Clayton can shoot them. Sora and Tarzan intervene and the gorillas escape. Clayton and a large Heartless named Stealth Sneak fight Sora, Tarzan, Donald and Goofy, but they are defeated (Clayton being crushed by the Heartless). Tarzan seems to be able to tell that Clayton is no longer human, and expresses his discovery immediately before the fight. Grateful for their rescue, the gorillas show Sora and the others the location of the world's Keyhole. Jane then figures out what Tarzan's continuous grunting means: Friends in the heart (the word heart is subtitled in punctuation symbols).

Disney Parks
Tarzan appears in various Disney parks. Though an uncommon walkaround character these days, he does have the Tarzan's Treehouse attraction at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland as well as appearing in various shows inspired by the film. At Tokyo DisneySea, Tarzan appears in the park's version of Fantasmic!, swinging on vines with Jane in projected footage during the jungle sequence.