Awesome / Tarzan

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

The Disney film:

You all know the famous sound by this point.

• This movie gets the respectful honor of having one of the most BLOOD-PUMPING intros in the history of Disney! It starts off quiet with the usual logo appearing. But then it doesn't take long for the drums to kick in even more and for the movie to cut from a slow showing of the title, to a ship that's burning and about to sink! With Tarzan's parents escaping the ship in time, and then...Two Worlds properly kicks in. Awesome Music doesn't even describe Tarzan's soundtrack!
• Tantor hears Tarzan's cry for help, and Terk ignores it. After spending the entire movie afraid of everything, he grabs Terk and instantly grows a spine.
  Tantor: Thaaaaaaaaaat's it! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU AND YOUR EMOTIONAL CONSTIPATION! TARZAN NEEDS US, AND WE'RE GONNA HELP HIM! YA GOT THAT?! Now pipe down, and hold on tight! We've got a boat to catch.
  • He then climbs onto the ocean liner and single-handedly beats up Clayton's crew. There's a very good reason why you don't mess with an enraged elephant.
    • The walls of the boat don't have anything to grab on to, so either Tantor found a way... or he jumped up.
• There's also the first time Tarzan REALLY does his signature yell after killing Sabor.
  • Just the fight in general. It is incredibly satisfying to watch Tarzan take down the monstrous cat that killed his parents, unknowingly avenging them, and even his would be adoptive sibling.
  • Even the gorillas get there CMOA as they're watching the fight they're showing hooting and hollering as they're cheering Tarzan on.
• The fact that Tarzan recruits the entire fucking jungle to fight Clayton. And they come to help.
• Tarzan rescuing Jane from the baboons is one long Moment of Awesome. Doubles as a Funny Moment.
• Jane gets one, too, when she swings around to knock out one of the men holding Kala's cage.
• Kerchak sees a thug trying to club Tarzan from behind and he knocks the guy out with a single punch! Tarzan's impressed face says it all.
• Tarzan in the climax of the film threatening Clayton with his own gun and then refusing to shoot him.
  Clayton: Go ahead, shoot me. [Tarzan hesitates, Clayton chuckles] Be a man.
  [Tarzan presses the barrels right to Clayton's throat... and (perfectly) imitates the sound of a loud gunshot. Clayton flinches and backs up]
  Tarzan: Not a man like YOU! [He smashes the gun as it falls to the jungle floor in pieces]
  • The look he gives immediately afterward along with the score's Sting really finalizes the CMOA.
  • Though a villainous case, let's give Clayton credit. He managed to trick the entire cast into his plan, and when he was exposed, he actually challenged and went toe-to-toe with Tarzan of all people. Not once did he resort to the usual snivelling antics of Disney's more egomaniacal Rogues Gallery whenever Tarzan got an upper hand, he just got angrier.
• Tarzan's (unnamed) parents. After being shipwrecked and washed up in a trackless jungle with their infant son, they decide to not moan or bitch about it and instead make a tree house that we all wish we could have built as kids. Tarzan's mother is actually helping the father with the heavy lifting instead of just doing the 'woman's' work. Keep in mind that all of this is taking place in the nineteenth century.
  • Heck, "Two Worlds" in general is awesome.
• "Son of Man" is a big CMOA, especially the scene where Tarzan climbs a waterfall.
  • Heck, the tree surfing in general. Let's face it, we all wish we could do that.
  • "Son of Man" starts when little Tarzan vows to become the best ape ever. The first shot is of him failing to keep up with the gorillas without help. At the end, he's outpacing them thanks to his badass swinging and parkour skills. That's awesome stuff right there.
  • It's also where Tarzan stops trying to be exactly like the other gorillas, which he very clearly isn't, and starts thinking and acting more like a human — making weapons, swimming, fighting with wits and agility as opposed to brute strength, using his natural human agility to swing, tree surf and do parkour. He finally starts to get familiar with the second half of "ape-man."
  • Noticeably, outpacing the gorillas is actually the last thing he does in the song. His first successes are building a shelter for his mother, outsmarting a snake and using some creative thinking to provide a spectacle for his fellow gorillas. As the lyrics say, his growth isn't just becoming strong, but wise as well.
• In "Strangers Like Me", Tarzan riding through the trees on a penny-farthing.
• "Two Worlds" reprise, specifically in the end when Jane and Tarzan swing out to the ledge, zoom out to see them and the beautiful jungle scenery, with Tarzan letting out his famous Tarzan cry and pounding his chest.
  • Going on from that, there's the sheer fact that Jane can keep up the vine surfing and the swinging with Tarzan; he's been doing this for most of his life, while she's been a sheltered Victorian girl for most of hers.
    • Even if Tarzan was taking it easy, it was still impressive on her part.
    • She goes from an unaided tree surf into a high speed aerial pirouette, showing she's keeping up with him just fine.
• Kala is mourning her baby in Heroic BSoD. Then she hears a familiar sound: a baby crying. Not gorilla, but recognizable to a mother. Cue her climbing the treehouse that Tarzan's parents built, and following the cries to a child in a crib.
• Kala fending off Sabor while protecting baby Tarzan. This scene alone proves she's more badass than Kerchak. Kerchak's reaction says as much when Kala says, "I saved him from Sabor." Fear for her life, amazement that she survived with not a single scratch, and respect for her love.
  • And she knows it too. When Kerchak goes slightly berserk against her for defying him about getting rid of baby Tarzan, she not only doesn't move, she gives him a Death Glare (not of the threatening kind; the type a parent would give to a child for throwing a petty tantrum). Kerchak doesn't back down easily; but in the end, his beloved Kala gets her way.
  • And when they get away, Kala goes the extra mile to snarl at Sabor, showing that if that cat did anything again, she'd take her on. Mama Bear? Try Mama Gorilla!
• Tarzan vs. Kerchak. To clarify, Kerchak is a silverback gorilla, capable of tearing a human being in half with about as much effort as you'd peel an orange if he'd want to. He is furthermore, at the moment, supremely pissed off. What does Tarzan do in an attempt to stop him? He jumps on Kerchak's back, puts him in a headlock and wrestles him into submission long enough so that his friends could escape. This needs to be repeated: Tarzan (human) beats Kerchak (angry Silverback Gorilla).
• Kerchak deserves some recognition. Although he's an obstacle to Tarzan and Kala alike, he repeatedly shows remarkable speed, skill and (by ape standards) intelligence... always in the service of his family.
• While Tarzan has to save Kerchak from Sabor, Kerchak's first reaction on realizing the leopard is nearby is to save his adopted son. He pulls Sabor away when she's chasing Tarzan and prepares to avenge his first child head-on. "That doesn't mean he's my son" is nonsense; Kerchak is willing to die for anyone in the troop.
• Though a villainous one, Sabor is one badass leopard. Kala was desperately fighting for her (and Tarzan's) life against her. She actually didn't physically defeat Sabor, she fled from her.
  • She's not just a homicidal psycho jungle cat, but unbelievably stealthy to boot. In the moments leading up to her attack on the gorillas, Tantor and Terk are arguing with each other while Tarzan is looking suspiciously at the patch of forest Sabor is hiding in. That's not an empty background: Sabor is painted in with the rest of the foliage right in the middle of the screen, but she's so well-camouflaged that a viewer probably won't see her unless they pause the film or know exactly where to look.
  • Considering that leopards normally live up to seventeen years on average, and that she was still an adult while Tarzan was a baby, Sabor definitely gets badass points for still being able to take him on twenty years later, let alone even living that long.
• Aside from the fact he winds up getting captured, Tarzan has one brief but incredibly Awesome moment when he takes that huge leap◊ from the top of one of the ship's masts towards the funnel (and reaches it and manages to hang on to its top), complete with a short fanfare playing in the background and his chasers staring in total awe when he does the jump. He may have struggled in this new environment and gotten captured, but if anything, this serves as evidence that the ape-man is in his apex!
• Prior to this film, the pivotal scene of Tarzan meeting Jane has been prone to tons of parody, thanks to the Hulk Speak dialogue of the Weissmuller films ("You Tarzan, me Jane"). This version, using a "repeat after me" approach and adding some expected humor, removes any trace of parody. It's a moment of awesome for the film's writers, and the scene itself also qualifies as heartwarming.
• One for Jane during the above scene. While she was understandably terrified during most of the chase, she completely avoids the Hysterical Woman trope towards Tarzan. She's nervous but she's mostly calm and not afraid to maintain her boundaries when he gets a little too close for comfort. She doesn't in the least seem to be afraid that this complete stranger ape-man could hurt her, even though he's physically stronger than she is. Right off the bat, she treats Tarzan as a fellow human being, not a threat.
• Kala defending baby Tarzan in front of Kerchak. She argues back and forth with him, not even blinking when Kerchak roars and gets right in front of her face in anger. Kerchak might be king of the pack, but there's no stopping a mother's love.
• Kerchak also gives in when Kala reveals that Sabor killed Tarzan's family. He may be a Heartbroken Badass, but he is honorable and won't leave a child to the elements.