The Jungle Animals[1] are background characters in the Tarzan franchise, first introduced in the 1999 Disney animated feature film Tarzan. They are animals that inhabit an African jungle that appeared in many media inspired by the franchise.
Background[]
Most of the animals seen in Disney's Tarzan franchise consist of African fauna. Such types of animals that Tarzan encounters can include mammals (such as primates, pachyderms, ungulates, or felines), birds, reptiles (such as crocodilians or chameleons), frogs, invertebrates (such as insects or arachnids), or fish (such as cichlids). Unlike other animal characters such as Terk, Tantor, Kala, or Kerchak, most of them do not speak much when Tarzan is around.
Development[]
During the development of the film, the Tarzan production team went on a safari on March 12, 1996, consisting of directors Chris Buck and Kevin Lima as well as many artistic developers (Doug Ball, Paul Felix, Brian Pimental, and Dan St. Pierre) who traveled to Kenya. While designing the animals, they visited various Kenyan reserves and lodges such as "The Ark" and explored Masai Mara, the largest animal reserve. Doug Ball, who was the head of background designs, took over 5,000 photographs as a reference for the film. During their trip to Africa, the group visited the Amboseli National Park, where they observed various animals such as elephants, zebras, giraffes, Cape buffaloes, ostriches, baboons, wildebeests, warthogs, impalas, hyenas, and a hippo, serving as an inspiration for the animals from Tarzan.[2]
One of the major highlights of the production team's trip to Africa was the Sweetwater Chimp Sanctuary where they met park manager Vince Smith, who introduced them to a family of chimps roaming freely within the sanctuary. This experience gave a profound effect on Lima and the other members of the Tarzan production team to get a great inspiration on Tarzan. Later, the team went to Uganda to observe the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. As the gorillas had a large role in Tarzan, the visit was anticipated and educational for the team in developing several gorilla characters for the film. Seven months later, supervising animator Glen Keane took a similar trip to Africa and visited the gorillas as well. Keane found the experience that gave him valuable insights as well as a new perspective in developing the film. According to an interview with Keane, he shared his experience of wanting to go to Africa and see real-life gorillas in the wild, stating that the element was the main reason Tarzan would feel comfortable of living in the jungle with gorillas.[2]
Appearances[]
Tarzan[]
A clan of gorillas is seen bustling in the deep jungle living together in harmony while Kerchak and his wife Kala watch over their baby during the musical number "Two Worlds". The baby gorilla sees a chameleon crawling on a branch and becomes distracted, but Kerchak prevents him from chasing it. Later that night, a leopard named "Sabor" attacks the baby gorilla chasing a frog across the jungle; Kerchak and Kala attempt to rescue their baby, but is unfortunately killed by the leopard, causing the gorillas to lose their son as Kala mourns the loss of her baby. The next day, Kala stands far from her husband, mourning over her baby's death. However, Kala hears the sound of a baby crying as she runs to follow the sound, rushing past a waterfall where a flock of storks are wading, and a group of baboons under a lush jungle, just before approaching a treehouse constructed by humans, where she finds an orphaned baby boy whose parents were killed by Sabor, which they were able to escape from the ferocious leopard.
Kala returns to the lushness where the other gorillas are present, where they ask her if she is all right, which she tells them that she was sidetracked and later tells Terk that she will be the human baby's adoptive mother. Kala then tells her husband Kerchak that she saved him from Sabor, which he fears that the human baby is not part of their family, thinking that humans are a threat to gorillas and that the human baby won't be part of their family. Kala explains that there are no other survivors in the treehouse other than the baby, which Kerchak accepts in keeping the baby just before Kala names the baby boy "Tarzan", followed by Terk returning home with her mother. Kala sings a lullaby to Tarzan called "You'll Be in My Heart", comforting the young child while the other gorillas are sleeping in the jungle for bedtime.
Throughout the song, amongst the animals Kala and Tarzan encounter are galagos and a ring-tailed lemur and her offspring, who all stare at Tarzan. A bunch of blue moths fly around Tarzan - one of them landing on his face before flying away. As the song continues, a bunch of adult gorillas sleep during the night with their young just before Tarzan falls asleep with his adoptive mother. The next day, Tarzan imitates an elephant sound to surprise Kala and later a leopard, which she tells him to imitate the sound of a quieter animal, which he thinks that he wants to have fun the more he imitates a loud animal.
Elsewhere in a large waterfall area is a large herd of forest elephants while a flock of birds flies above them. As Tarzan arrives at the waterfall, Terk suggests him to get an "elephant hair", which he sees two large adult bull elephants fighting for dominance at the water. Tarzan jumps from high above to encounter a hippo underwater while cichlids swim around the water. Tarzan swims to the spot where a bunch of elephants are talking while a young Tantor asks his mother is the water is sanitary, which she tells her son that the water is all right - albeit busy talking. Tantor then sees Tarzan swimming by as he alerts the other elephants that there is a swimming creature; Tarzan's head emerges from the water which Tarzan mistakes him for a hostile piranha (unaware that there are no piranhas in the water, due to its African setting).
Tarzan swims into the water and bites an elephant's tail, causing him to react in pain and the other elephants to stampede across the lake as Tantor is still mistaking Tarzan for a piranha while Terk and Flynt and Mungo hear the commotion caused by Tarzan resulting in the incident. The frightened elephants rush across the termite mound area smashing some of them and embarrassing the gorillas (including Kerchak). Terk then corrects Tantor that Tarzan is a human who would never do any harm. Tarzan claims that it was his fault in accidentally causing the incident, which Kerchak fears that Tarzan will never be part of his family, which Kala defends her adopted son who later finds out that he and his adoptive mother are exactly the same.
During the "Son of Man" sequence, Tarzan climbs on a tree where several gorillas are climbing only to be rescued by Terk who saves him from losing his grip. He then imitates a chameleon walking on a vine falling onto a bunch of bananas where gorillas are eating, disappointing them. Tarzan later finds himself standing on top a hippo's head in the water where a large group of hippos emerge from the surface. Elsewhere, Tarzan sees a rhinoceros carving its horn on tree bark, as Tarzan tries to copy it using a stone knife to carve on the tree while Tantor interacts with a monkey. Later in the vines, Tarzan swings along a group of black colobus monkeys across the jungle and as he continues swinging across the jungle, he encounters a python camouflaged as a vine, causing him to fall onto a small puddle of mud inhabited by hostile large crocodiles attempting to eat him. Tarzan escapes from the crocodiles in the mud.
Meanwhile at a marsh, Tarzan and Terk encounter a marabou wading on the water, where the two ride it like a bronco, only for the marabou to get irritated for harassing it. Tarzan then leaps across a herd of elephants with birds perched on their bodies, just as they fly while Kala, his adoptive mother, is impressed. Later, Tarzan grows up into an adult man who then swims into the lake, causing a school of cichlids to retreat before he rescues his elephant friend Tantor who sank into the water with hippos below the two. The next day, Tarzan is chased by a long green snake who attempts to bite him, only for it to find itself tangled between two trees. Tarzan later encounters Terk and Mungo attempting to find some termites inside a mound, only for Tarzan to use Tantor to blow onto the mound, causing dozens of termites to fly out and give the gorillas something to eat.
Later during the battle between Tarzan and Sabor, the other gorillas are gathered to witness the battle between man and leopard, which Tarzan manages to kill the leopard during the battle, causing the other gorillas to praise him for being a hero who saved them from the leopard. All of a sudden, Kala and the other animals hear gunshots from a distance, causing Kerchak to move to another safe area while Tarzan discovers that there are humans arriving in the jungle as he hears a conversation from Clayton mentioning there were lots of wildebeests during his journey to Africa. Clayton attempts to shoot Tarzan mistaking him for a hippo or rhino while he, Professor Porter, and Jane have only a few weeks in Africa before the ship returns to England.
Clayton continues firing from his rifle, causing more birds to fly away and hear the commotion while Jane encounters a baby baboon who takes away her book while he interacts with the drawings from her book. Jane tricks the baboon believing there are bananas for him, only for him to cry (which Jane tells him not to give him crocodile tears) - unaware that there is a whole bunch of hostile baboons (led by a mandrill) behind her, leading a chase across the jungle. While Jane is being chased by baboons, Tarzan attempts to rescue her just as the baboons continue to chase them across the jungle, which they were able to, followed by the mandrill and the baby baboon floating downwards using Jane's parasol; Jane later describes Tarzan as a man talking to baboons just before starting his relationship with her.
Meanwhile Tantor, Terk, and the other gorillas are looking for Tarzan in the jungle, which they found out that there is a camp set up by humans in the jungle. Terk and the other gorillas curiously interact with the objects in the camp such as a typewriter, plates, barrels, a cereal box, and other objects while Tantor uses a phonograph as a trumpet, just as the animals cause a mess in the camp while Kerchak and the other gorillas hear the commotion during the musical number "Trashin' the Camp". Jane arrives at the spot excited as she sees gorillas in the jungle as she realizes that Tarzan is affiliated with them. Kerchak arrives and approaches Jane, mistaking her for a predator as the other gorillas are worried that there are humans in the jungle while Kala takes Tarzan away for safety. Jane then recaps her experience in the jungle that there were lots of monkeys (more specifically baboons) in the jungle and they were chasing her but was saved by Tarzan and then saw the gorillas, which Clayton and Porter are curious of who left with them and Jane finds out that it was Tarzan, the man raised by gorillas.
During a council at the jungle, Kerchak announces to the gorillas that they must stay away from humans due to them being dangerous to animals. Tarzan tries to tell Kerchak about this, but he denies, explaining that he would be willing to risk the gorillas' safety, fearing that risking his life is dangerously for him. He then advises Tarzan to protect the gorilla family from the humans and stay away from them while Kala advices her adoptive son to listen to his orders, seeing humans as a threat to the gorillas. However, Tarzan ignores his adoptive mother's warning and risks himself to meet Jane, the Professor, and Clayton.
Back at the camp, Clayton tells the Professor that he arrived at Africa to search for gorillas, not indulge a fantasy story. Porter describes Tarzan and his movements similar to a gorilla, while Clayton thinks that Tarzan could be linked to the gorillas. He then asks Tarzan where the gorillas are, which he could not answer. When Clayton plans to make Tarzan talk so he can interact with normal humans, Clayton shows him a drawing of a gorilla on the chalkboard and teaches him to say the word "gorilla"; Tarzan continues struggling to speak normally with humans around him.
During the "Strangers Like Me" sequence, Tarzan sees an illustration of a gorilla, followed by Clayton showing him a drawing of a fierce gorilla. Tarzan then returns to the jungle sleeping with the gorillas while Kala and Terk realize of something strange happening to him just before returning to the camp. Later, Tarzan finds Jane seeing a lovebird and drawing a picture of it, which she shows him her drawing of the bird she is seeing. The lovebird flies away, causing Jane to react disappointedly. Tarzan and Jane climb atop of large branch where they see countless lovebirds in the canopy, which Jane happily interacts with the birds. Later, Clayton is furious with Jane and the Professor that they have wasted too much time for nothing when they were expected to see a gorilla, explaining that the boat could arrive at any day. Jane suggests Tarzan to take her, Clayton, and Porter to see the gorillas, but Tarzan cannot, due to restrictions enforced by Kerchak. As the song resumes, Clayton shows Tarzan the same drawing of the gorilla he showed him the other day, which Tarzan believes gorillas are not dangerous, leading Clayton to furiously rip the drawing in frustration.
As the crew is packing up for the ship on their way to England, the Professor asks a crewman that he waited thirty years to see a gorilla during his trip in Africa and he won't leave until he sees one, but he refuses to listen. Clayton then blames Jane, claiming it was her fault, explaining that he should have followed his instincts in setting traps for the gorillas. Before they can leave, Tarzan introduces Jane, the Professor, and Clayton to Kala as well as various other gorillas as Jane is happy that she finally saw a gorilla, alongside the Professor who was wanting to see a gorilla for all the years while Clayton happily sees them - unaware that they are taking his stuff. Kala watches Tarzan and Jane interact with gorillas but not before Kerchak arrives at the area to ward off the humans from the jungle. Clayton grabs his rifle that the gorillas took from him and attempts to shoot Kerchak while Tarzan tries to prevent him from killing the hunter. Tarzan urges the surviving humans to retreat from Kerchak while he accuses Tarzan for betraying his family. Kala approaches Tarzan who plans to show him something she should have shown him long ago - the treehouse where she found him when he was a baby as Kala explains to Tarzan that she just wants to make him happy based on what he decides just before he emotionally plans to leave for England with Jane via ship.
Furthermore during the climax of the film when Tantor and Terk rescue Tarzan who is in mutiny on the ship where they bring him back to the jungle, Clayton and his men arrive at the jungle and capture various animals with nets as they attempt to kill them. Tarzan runs across the jungle and amongst the animals noticing his return include hippos, elephants, and baboons, where they all follow Tarzan and arrive at the spot where Clayton is threatening to kill Kerchak. The jungle animals - consisting of elephants, rhinos, hippos, and baboons (and a mandrill) rush into the spot where they retaliate against Clayton and his men, causing a clash between humans and animals in the jungle. Tantor and Terk join in the fight with the other animals, fighting off various men. During the battle, Tarzan and Jane rescue Kala who is caged by hunters while Clayton shoots Kerchak in the process, severely injuring him as the animals continue fighting the hunters. The battle between animals and humans ends after Clayton fell off a vine where he ended up getting hung on the neck, causing him to drop his knife, as thunder flashes to reveal Clayton's body hanging on a vine, showing that he was killed during the battle.
After the battle, Tarzan arrives at the spot where Kala and the other gorillas approach Kerchak who was severely injured during the battle against Clayton. Kerchak tells Tarzan to forgive him for misunderstanding about the humans in the jungle, telling him to take care of the gorillas just before Kerchak dies. Tarzan mourns Kerchak's death, followed by Jane, the Professor, and all the other animals mourning his death. Following Kerchak's death, Tarzan avenges him, deeming himself as the protector of the gorilla tribe.
The next day, Tarzan introduces Jane to Kala who is accepted by Kala to be in the jungle. Jane utters gorilla sounds, telling Kala that she and Tarzan get to stay in the jungle. The other gorillas cheer for the two just before they return the jungle to have a lot of fun with Terk and Tantor.
The Legend of Tarzan[]
The jungle animals have appeared in various episodes of the animated series adaptation of Tarzan. Their roles can vary depending on which episode they appear within. Additionally, some episodes have titles with names of animals in them (such as "Tarzan and the Lost Cub", "Tarzan and the Rogue Elephant", "Tarzan and the Giant Beetles", etc.), which these episodes are focused on specific animal characters.
The episode "Tarzan and the Jungle Madness” focuses on the animals of the jungle that have gone crazy due to the towers built on Dumont's trading post. Professor Porter's plot (as well as his flashback) in the episode shows him studying the red flowers blooming quickly, where he gets pecked by an angry woodpecker on the head. Just as the Professor throws his hat to avoid getting hurt, he asks the woodpecker if he is satisfied, only to find out that the woodpecker is in a savage state. As the Professor tumbles down a cliff, more red flowers open to reveal angry woodpeckers inside, which then begin to chase and attack him. During the flashback, the Professor narrated that he encountered something unusual in the jungle while discovering hostile birds emerging from red flowers, but made it home alive. It was then revealed that during the next few days, animals began to attack his house where the Professor was ambushed by angry lizards, as he believed that the red flower must have caused the birds and lizards to go savage. Porter then started working on an antidote to take care of the animals, but due to the animals attacking, he moved to Tarzan and Jane's treehouse and as the antidote was almost complete, the animals bursted in the house and began attacking him.
Tarzan and Jane arrive at the jungle to discover something unusual, where they encounter a big mess at the treehouse, which the latter fears that a riot occurred within, as Tarzan fears that something bad occurred, leading for Jane to find her father. However, Tarzan and Jane encounter Terk and Tantor who have gone in a savage manner where Tarzan attempts to deal with his animal friends who have gone in a savage manner, but they were too powerful. The madness not only applies to Terk and Tantor, but also a nearby woodpecker which begins to attack Jane, which Tarzan shoos it away. Jane asks Tarzan of something strange happening in the jungle, which the two are attacked by various hostile animals such as woodpeckers, red-eyed tree frogs, and baboons. Tarzan and Jane encounter an unusual red flower which Jane believes that the pollen from the flowers may have given the animals a side effect causing them to go savage just as she finds her father's torn journal.
As Jane could not finish reading the journal, due to it ending with a letter "p", leaving it incomplete, this leads Tarzan and Jane to find an object beginning with the letter "p" that must have made the animals gone into a savage state. Tarzan finds a beaker containing the antidote for the animals hidden under a phonograph. Tarzan attempted to use the antidote on Terk and the other gorillas, but it was ineffective. Tarzan and Jane decide to escape the jungle and avoid the rampaging animals - gorillas, elephants, baboons, crocodiles, rhinos, vervet monkeys, hippos, buffaloes, black leopards, zebras, and others. Just as the animals continue to chase them, Tarzan and Jane arrive in the cave to find the Professor hiding in it. As the animals outside the cave continue causing a rampage, it is then revealed that the pollen spread from the red flowers was not the main cause that gave the animals the side effect in putting them into a savage state but rather something else - the electric towers built in Dumont's trading post. Tarzan exits the cave where the hostile animals are outside when two hostile baboons began to attack the survivors inside.
Tarzan the leads the animals to the electric tower at Dumont's trading post. Dumont orders his men to arm themselves with guns, but this was disrupted when Tarzan grabs the rifles used by two hunters while Dumont blames Tarzan for being a rogue animal, which Tarzan denies. As the savage animals are arriving, Tarzan ties a vine on both of the towers, just as the hostile animals destroy the towers, causing the surviving men to retreat. All of a sudden, the animals stop acting savage, causing them to behave in a normal manner - the rhino being the first to return to his normal state, followed by the other animals including Terk and Tantor who return to their normal state, causing them to no longer attack humans.
Tarzan II[]
A lizard briefly appears in the opening scene sleeping on a branch before it leaps out of it, followed by Tarzan rushing through a log unaware there is a spider web from the other side of it while being chased by a mysterious creature whom they think he is the "Zugor" (actually Terk pretending to be a monster). During the "Son of Man" sequence, three baby gorillas follow Tarzan and Terk across the jungle just before they pass through Kerchak. The song ends with the baby gorillas meeting their respective mothers who are furious with him, thinking Tarzan is dangerous to be around other gorillas. That night, Kala puts her adoptive son to sleep while all the other gorillas are sleeping for the night on a large tree.
Later when Kala tries to show the strongest tree in the jungle to protect every tree from future storms, two bats are seen hanging upside-down just before they wake up and fly away at night. The next day when the gorillas are following Kerchak, the baby apes play with Tarzan again while their respective mothers are worried that their sons might get in trouble again just before it starts raining. During the rain, water pushes part of the tree's roots to the edge of a cliff, leading Kerchak to tell the other gorillas to run due to the storm. The survivors make it to the other side, except for Tarzan who is shown to have survived the storm as he finds himself in the ravine. Tarzan then overhears one of the mother gorillas saying that Kala would be better off without Tarzan. A fearful Tarzan runs across a tall patch of grass, causing a flock of birds to fly away.
During the musical number "I Need to Know", Tarzan finds himself in another part of the jungle where he sees a herd of wildebeests running across the grass as well as a pool of hippos in a river. Tarzan later encounters a baboon wanting to eat its fruit, but is suddenly chased by a whole bunch of baboons and later plucks a feather from a camouflaging marabou, which angrily chases him, just before the song ends. Tarzan find himself in a rift, being chased by a hostile leopard named "Sabor”, only for the feline to be frightened upon hearing a loud voice shouting, "Zugor!".
Tarzan finds himself in the rift where he sees a large blue gorilla named "Kago" preventing a rodent from escaping while a large brown gorilla named "Uto" grabs Tarzan, mistaking him for a bird which Kago realizes that the entity he is holding is a human. Tarzan attempts to escape the quarrel as Uto and Kago are fighting, only for Mama Gunda to stop the argument between them. Gunda arrives and mistakes Tarzan for a bird like what Kago did which Tarzan insists he is an ape. The conversation is interrupted when Mama Gunda and Uto and Kago hear a mysterious entity shouting "Zugor"; Tarzan is chased by a silhouette of an unseen entity just before he encounters an elderly gorilla named "Zugor".
The next day, Zugor walks across a swamp, pushing a flamingo out of his way and later a turtle, which the flamingo becomes angry of what Zugor did to her while Tarzan helps a turtle stand up after his shell was flipped upside down. As Zugor and Tarzan approach a beehive to taste honey without disturbing the bees, Zugor attempts to eat a purple fruit but is approached by a rhinoceros aided by his oxpecker companion. As the rhino and oxpecker hear Zugor shouting his name, the distracted animal duo attempts to find the source of the sound, frightening the two. Just as Zugor attempts to eat the fruit the rhino was about to eat, he and his bird companion approach Zugor and attempt to kill him while Tarzan is being chased by the rhino across the jungle. Tarzan uses a vine to lasso Zugor while the rhino is about to ram him into a tree, which Tarzan rescues him while the rhino and bird both hit the tree, resulting their comeuppance.
Tarzan follows Zugor walking past the stunned rhino and bird where he convinces him to help him, which he follows him into his home. After Zugor finds out that Tarzan is not a gorilla like him, the two leave after their conversation. During the "Who Am I?" sequence, Tarzan finds two giraffes eating fruits from a tree and attempts to imitate them, but is unlucky. He then approaches a baby warthog drinking water as Tarzan tries to imitate him, only to be chased by angry warthogs. Other animals that Tarzan imitates during the sequence include him flying like vultures, swimming with cichlids, pushing a tree like an elephant, attempting to ask for worms from an adult eagle like what her eaglets are doing, croaking like a bullfrog, opening his mouth like a hippo (a plover flies into Tarzan's mouth), pronking like springboks, or swinging like vervet monkeys. Tarzan later runs across a lake where he tries to fly like a flock of flamingos in a marsh, which he suddenly finds a hiding crocodile inside, which chases him and Zugor. The two find themselves at sandy area where more crocodiles are present, attempting to eat them while a crocodile hatchling appears at the end of the song, snapping its jaws.
As Terk and Tantor arrive at Dark Mountain, they encounter Uto and Kago whom they mistake Terk for a bird they could throw, only for the two to realize that she is a gorilla like them and not a bird while Gunda asks Terk if there is a silverback in the family, which Terk insists that she keep it a secret. Later when Tarzan is at Zugor's house, he claims that he wants to be like him which he scares a ladybug away. Later when Uto, Kago, and their mother attack Kala and the baby apes, Zugor arrives to rescue Tarzan who recaps to him that who he is, after he remembered that he saved him from the hostile rhino that attempted to kill him, just as Tarzan tries take care of Uto and Kago. As Mama Gunda confronts Zugor, she bullies him that the vultures wouldn't want him while Zugor taunts her that the hippo wants his body back while Tantor and Terk rescue the baby apes and Kala. Tarzan then imitates a crocodile while Gunda insults Zugor calling him a "scraggly old sloth" just before they continue arguing using insults.
Tarzan manages to rescue his adoptive mother and defend her from Uto and Kago while Gunda thinks Zugor has beautiful eyes. As Gunda starts her relationship with Zugor, two birds fly around them. The relationship becomes briefly interrupted when Kago pushes the birds out of the way, only for Gunda who decides to put the quarrel between her sons to an end. As Gunda continues her relationship with Zugor, one of the birds arrives in a dizzy state but faints due to the injury she got from Kago.
Back at the jungle, Tarzan decides to remain part of the ape family while the baby apes play with Zugor, only to be approached by Gunda and her two sons, as Zugor tells him they need him, just before he leaves with them while Gunda punishes her sons for destroying Zugor's house, leading them to repair the damage they did.
During the end credits of the film, some of the animal characters besides Terk, Tantor, Uto, Kago, Zugor, Mama Gunda, Kala, and Kerchak in still images appear in the end credits - more specifically the incidental animals. They appear during the part where the credits are scrolling, consisting of a baboon, the turtle tipped over by Zugor, the rhinoceros, the oxpecker, the baby warthog, the vultures, the cichlids, the bullfrog, the vervet monkeys, the crocodile hatchling, and the birds that appeared during Gunda and Zugor's relationship.
Video game appearances[]
Tarzan[]
Jungle animals appear in the console and handheld versions of Tarzan as beings that the player can interact with. They can either appear as helpful entities that can help the player reach hard-to-reach places or collect items or serve as hazardous enemies that can harm the player along the way. Animals that appear as enemies can harm the player by either coming into contact, attacking them with a unique method, or throwing/dropping objects. Some of these enemies can be defeated using methods of attack while others have to be avoided, meaning not all dangerous animals can be defeated depending on the level's layouts. In spite of these, other animals appear as background elements that serve no purpose in the game such as lizards, butterflies, or dragonflies and thus cannot be interacted with. One of the bonus levels, "Stork Ride"[3], features young Tarzan riding on a marabou where the player must reach the end of the level within a time limit while avoiding obstacles.
Although many of these animals do not intend to attack the player, touching dangerous animals can still harm the player, causing Tarzan to lose health while others can throw projectiles at Tarzan, causing him to lose health. Flying animals such as birds also appear as enemies where they can fly across various parts of certain levels and can occasionally drop coconuts on Tarzan, causing damage to him.
Tarzan: Untamed[]
Jungle animals appears as being that the player can interact with. The primary element of the game is that the player must rescue baby gorillas captured by a suspicious poacher named "Oswald Gardner" planning to sell them to zoos, which Tarzan must break the cages to free them and return them to their family. Animals other than gorillas appear as enemies such as black panthers, snakes, rhinos, porcupines, red river hogs, spiders, piranhas, or crocodiles while others such as hippos serve as helpful methods for the player. Like in the Tarzan video game, some of these enemies can be defeated using methods of attack while others have to be avoided, meaning not all dangerous animals can be defeated depending on the level's layouts. Dangerous animals are not the only enemies encountered in the game, but also poachers as well.
Tarzan: Activity Center[]
The jungle animals have a prominent role in the "Terk & Tantor's Power Lunch" mini-game. During gameplay, the animals are represented by tile colors whose food coincide with the same colors. The player uses a chameleon ball to hit the animal icon to change into a specific color and hit the right food to complete a level (for instance, hitting a baboon icon turns the ball yellow and can hit yellow banana tiles to feed the baboon, hitting a galago icon turns the ball purple and can hit purple bug tiles to feed the galago, etc.). Chameleons on the top right of the screen represent lives and the player loses a life if a ball hits a Kerchak or Sabor tile (which must be avoided at all costs). Butterfly tiles occasionally appear and can randomly change colors when the butterfly flaps its wings. Hitting the butterfly with the ball's color matching it can instantly clear all tiles at once. The more the player clears away tiles after they lost a chameleon, a new chameleon will replace the one that retreated from Kerchak or Sabor. In addition to these, some special tiles can either slow down or increase the ball's speed. Sloth tiles occasionally appear in later levels and hitting the sloth slows down the ball's speed for the whole duration of the level to make it easier to clear all the tiles and avoid hazardous tiles. Cheetah tiles also occasionally appear in later levels and hitting the cheetah increases the ball's speed for the duration of the level, making it a bit more difficult to avoid hazardous tiles. The game ends when the player loses all chameleons.
The "Fetch-the-Sketch" mini-game is presented in the style of a memory game where the player must match each pairs of animal sketches to complete. Completing each game results in the player to win an animal fact card showcasing unique facts about animals.
The "Jungle Journal" mini-game includes a chameleon icon on the bottom right of the screen, which the player can click on to start from scratch to toggle their pictures from colored to black and white. The "Tarzan's Secret Language" tab involves the player to create their own custom language using animal symbols to make animal sounds or letters of the alphabet respectively.
The "Tarzan's Jungle Tumble" mini-game involves the player collecting all the objects within the treehouse while avoiding the leopard cubs that crawl across the layout. The player can also use a bottle of milk to temporarily stun a leopard cub, but has a limited amount during gameplay. Touching a leopard cub causes the player to lose a life and the game becomes harder in further levels with more leopard cubs along the way.
Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure[]
Besides Terk and Tantor appearing as playable characters and Kala and Kerchak appearing as non-playable characters that the player can talk to in the Tarzan-themed hub, said hub also includes generic elephants or gorillas that the player can talk to. When approached, they give players special quests for them to complete in order to unlock extra content - some of them treated in a standard manner or others that must be completed within a time limit or the player will need to restart the quest if they run out of time.
Kingdom Hearts[]
Excluding simian-based Heartless enemies, the Powerwild and Bouncywild, and the chameleon-based Heartless boss, Stealth Sneak, which are encountered respectively in the Deep Jungle world, the jungle animals also appear as non-playable characters in certain locations. Hippos inhabit a location named after them called "Hippos' Lagoon", where the player can use them as platforms. During gameplay, hippos can occasionally submerge underwater, so the player must jump quickly to avoid falling into the water.
Blue moths resembling the ones from the "You'll Be in My Heart" sequence appear during the ending storyline after the heroes won Kerchak's trust and he threw Sora to the waterfall where the moths are present. Sora then closes the Keyhole while Donald and Sora reconcile their friendship by apologizing after their argument prior to their arrival at the jungle.
Disney Parks and other live appearances[]
Tarzan's Treehouse[]
The former Disneyland version of Tarzan's Treehouse included a butterfly collection encountered within while exploring the walkthrough attraction, in addition to sculptures of Kala and Sabor respectively seen throughout the attraction.
The Hong Kong Disneyland version of the attraction accessed via raft also includes one of the terrariums with animatronic butterflies whose wings flap in the laboratory area, unlike in the California version of the attraction, in addition to sculptures of Kala and Sabor respectively seen throughout the attraction.
Tarzan: The Encounter[]
Actors wearing monkey costumes took part in the former show in Disneyland Paris, Tarzan: The Encounter, which retold the story of Tarzan and his adventures in the jungle.
The Shanghai Disneyland version of the attraction, Tarzan: Call of the Jungle, used a format similar to the Paris version of the show where it retold the story of Tarzan and his adventures in the jungle, except that it included actors wearing gorilla costumes rather than monkey costumes. Additionally during the "You'll Be in My Heart" sequence, said actors used butterfly and bird props as the song played throughout the scene.
The Golden Mickeys[]
Actors wearing colobus monkey costumes took part during the "Son of Man" sequence dancing with Tarzan as one of the songs during the "Heroism" segment in the Golden Mickeys attraction at the Disney Cruise Line ships, Disney Wonder, Dream, and Adventure respectively as well as formerly in Hong Kong Disneyland. Additionally, an animated projection showing a clip of Tarzan swinging with the colobus monkeys plays throughout the song, as well as showing gorillas briefly appearing.
The Forest of Enchantment: A Disney Musical Adventure[]
During the "Son of Man" sequence, performers held leaf props forming a gorilla face to represent the scene's Tarzan theme.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to the Tarzan production team, the elephants seen in Tarzan were based on African forest elephants rather than African savanna elephants. The designs of the elephants having a red coloration over their body in Disney's Tarzan franchise were based on real-life photographs of the red elephants due to the dirt they throw all over themselves. These reference images gave the production team an idea to make the Tantor character a red elephant.[4]
- During the end of the "Son of Man" sequence where Tarzan evolves into an adult man, he dives into the water where a school of cichlids are swimming, where one of them blinks and reacts in fright, causing it and the other fish to swim away. Most species of fish such as cichlids do not have visible eyelids in real-life, unlike the ones seen in Tarzan.
- Although the Disney Tarzan franchise is set in an African jungle, not all animals seen in the franchise are native to the African jungle in real life - although some non-native African species are occasionally mentioned:
- The original Tarzan film features ring-tailed lemurs, which are only found in the island of Madagascar.
- Tarzan II features African animals only found in savannas such as giraffes, wildebeests, or springboks. Additionally, some characters such as Zugor, Uto, or Gunda also mention non-native African species such as alligators or gibbons, which are not native to Africa in real life.
- In the video game adaptations of Tarzan on consoles and handheld devices respectively, some of the non-native African jungle species include toucans, macaws, red-eyed tree frogs, squirrel monkeys, or piranhas, which are restricted to South America respectively. Additionally, pufferfish[5] (despite having piranha colorations) also appear in areas with water in the Game Boy Color version of Tarzan.
- While some pufferfish are found in rivers in the Congo River Basin, the pufferfish in the Game Boy Color version of Tarzan have a greater resemblance to porcupinefish (as indicated by their spines protruding from their body), which are restricted to oceans.
- Tarzan: Activity Center features sloths and anteaters illustrated on tiles and sketches respectively, which are restricted to South America in real life. Additionally, the game also includes cheetahs, which are restricted to the African savanna.
- In The Legend of Tarzan, some of the animals featured in certain episodes include blue-and-yellow macaws (restricted to South America) as well as savanna-restricted animals giraffes, zebras, or spotted hyenas.
- A recurring location called "Pellucidar" located beneath the African jungle features various types of prehistoric nonavian dinosaurs and (and a pterosaur) that were thought to be extinct. In real life, the fossils of these dinosaurs - including the Pteranodon, were not found in Africa in real life.
- The wildebeests were mentioned in the first Tarzan film by Clayton saying his story about his safari in Zambezi. Although mentioned, the wildebeests would later make their appearance in the 2005 midquel Tarzan II.
- The wildebeests that appear in Tarzan II were never referred to by name in the English audio description track and were simply described as generic animals.
- A clip of the mother ring-tailed lemur and her offspring from the "You'll Be in My Heart" sequence from Tarzan was also featured as one of the scenes featured in the "Colors of the Wind" sequence in the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience, showcasing forests and jungles from Disney animated films - not just from Pocahontas, but also from Brother Bear as well.
References[]
