BEFORE: OK, here's where things maybe get a bit confusing. This film and the next two on my list were originally going to be watched in January, along with that week of Batman and Superman-based animated films, but then I added "The Irishman", "Stand Up Guys", "Joker" and "Teen Titans GO! to the Movies" all at the last minute, and I found myself with too many films, and February 1 coming up fast. So I cut a couple of animated films, which I think made that DC Comics week a little stronger, without Tarzan in the mix. And it was only four months before I found a new place to re-schedule them, and they serve a different purpose here, connecting other Disney films to my last animated film (for now) and then in turn, helping me get to the end of May and all that June has to offer. So, on that level, it seems like it was meant to be.
Only, here's the problem - Frank Welker is the connection from "Aladdin", where he was the voice of the Cave of Wonders, Apu the monkey, and also the sounds made by Jasmine's tiger, Rajah. Only I can't confirm with the IMDB that Frank Welker did a voice for "Tarzan 2", he's not listed. He's listed as the voice of a leopardess in this film on Wikipedia, but noticeably absent from IMDB and the film's official credits. He voiced that same leopard, Sabor, in the original "Tarzan" film, but didn't appear in that film's credits either, so it's possible that they just re-used the sounds he recorded for the first "Tarzan" film here, and that would still count, by my rules. He's also listed as the voice of Sabor in several Disney-based Wikis, so I'm going to stand by the very probable possibility that he's the source of the leopard sounds in today's film, but I just can't completely confirm it. I'd hate to break the chain over something like this, and I have no time to re-work the chain and still stay on schedule. (There are other films I could add in here that would serve as a more definite link, the problem there is, I don't want to watch "Tom & Jerry Blast Off to Mars" or "Scooby-Doo: Where's My Mummy?")
So, my belief is that Frank Welker carries over from "Aladdin", from tiger sounds to leopard sounds, and I really hope that's correct.
THE PLOT: The tale of Tarzan's misadventures as a boy as he searches for his true identity and the meaning of family.
AFTER: This one's still on Netflix, though it's in my Disney Plus watchlist, when I tried to watch it I noticed it said "coming June 25" so I guess whenever the Netflix contract on a Disney film runs out, it comes back to home base. But all this drama over whether Frank Welker's voice is in this film or not, and I wish that the film's story had made this risk worth it, because it really didn't. Young Tarzan gets separated from his adoptive gorilla mom, and it appears to Kala that he died by falling off a cliff, only he didn't, he grabbed a vine and slammed into a cliff ledge. (Some Disney films seem to have a problem with the laws of momentum, there was a moment in "Frozen II" where Olaf was riding on a wagon or something, and after the wagon hit a barrier, he got knocked off and flew BACKWARDS into Anna's arms. If the wagon stopped suddenly, his momentum should have made him fly off the wagon in a FORWARD direction, not back.)
But because Tarzan hears another gorilla say something about how Kala is "better off without him", he gets it in his head that he probably shouldn't go back to her and reveal that he's alive. Right, because seeing his crying, grieving mother should be seen as a definite sign that she doesn't want to find out that her son didn't die. Huh? It's also a bad lesson for the kids, who should always call their mother to let them know they're alive, if there's ever any reason to think otherwise. But this sets Tarzan off on an adventure to Dark Mountain, to try to find out why he's not like the other apes, and maybe how to learn to be a better ape (umm, you'd think he'd be in the best position to learn that by going back to his ape family, but I guess let's assume that young Tarzan maybe isn't very smart?).
I don't know, this is all a bit weird, like the fact that it's called "Tarzan 2" but takes place BEFORE most of the original "Tarzan" film. I guess it's set between the opening boyhood scenes of that movie, but before the adult Tarzan scenes? So it's not a sequel but a - midquel? Would "Tarzan 1.5" make more sense than "Tarzan 2"? Did we need a full-on "Muppet Babies" type version of the Tarzan story? I guess this was made during a different time, back when Disney was ripping itself off before other studios could, making quickie home-video sequels to all their big-budget animation films that were successful? Then, of course, they moved on to making live-action remakes of all their big-budget animation films that were successful, I'm not sure if that was an improvement. But you have to admit that DisneyCo. is very eco-friendly, they truly believe in recycling, at least when it comes to characters and plotlines. And Phil Collins songs.
Things turned out OK for Tarzan, he went all the way to the Dark Mountain and hung out with a couple bullying brother gorillas and also a cranky senior hermit gorilla, just to figure out he was better off back at home with his family. Seems to me that should have been evident in the first place, but what the heck do I know? In case you were wondering if adult-humor comic George Carlin ever appeared in a Disney film, this is that film.
Also starring the voices of Harrison Chad (last heard in "Charlotte's Web 2"), Glenn Close (last seen in "The Chumscrubber"), Brenda Grate, Harrison Fahn (last heard in "The Fox and the Hound 2"), Lance Henriksen (last heard in "Superman: Brainiac Attacks"), George Carlin (last seen in "The Last Laugh"), Estelle Harris (last seen in "Once Upon a Time in America"), Brad Garrett (last heard in "Ralph Breaks the Internet"), Ron Perlman (last seen in "Pottersville"), Connor Hutcherson.
RATING: 4 out of 10 conveniently-placed vines
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