Tarzan’s body represents him well. He is lean, toned, and agile. His body fits perfect to what he needs to be able to do. He swings through trees, slides across limps, and fights a jaguar. He would need to be thin and clever. He also has quick reflexes which would be imperative in the jungle world.
Jane is also thin and flexible. When she meets Tarzan, he gets extremely close to her and makes her uncomfortable. He looks up her dress and she kicks him in the face. Maybe a lot of women could do this, but I am not sure I could. She also seems to get the swing of swinging quickly.
Clayton (Brian Blessed) has a barrel chest and is tall. This represents this arrogance and desire for control. He wants the gorillas for selfish, financial reasons. When Tarzan’s mother is scared, he wants to chase her. He has no patience or compassion.
The animals don’t need a lot of attention. The animators had little say in how they look. However, I will look at a few.
The only gorilla I feel the need to look at is Kerchak (Lance Henriksen). He is a huge silver-back gorilla. Based on his large arms and dense body, he is strong and fierce. He is also a great protector. “Protect this family.”
Tantor (Wayne Knight) is an interesting character. The animators had little choice in how to design this character. He is an elephant so he must look like an elephant. He is huge, but he is a coward. He yells, “The horror, the horror (yelp), the horror!” He is an ironic character.
The physical structure of all the characters plays into their personalities well.
Check out a feminist look at this movie.
As always, I love the tropes and idioms site! Look at its take on Tarzan.
Come back next week for the beginning of a new first Thursday theme! Good bye Harry Potter! Hello something new!