Tropes G to Z / Tarzan

Tarzan Trope Examples
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Genius Bruiser: Tarzan. From an early age, you can see that he's pretty smart, learning how to speak to several animal species, though at first that seems just like his increased mental capacity compared to the apes. Then he starts to show basic engineering capabilities, building spears, rain-blocks, and various other useful things. Then, when Jane and the others arrive, he learns English extremely fast, and is a voracious reader. But he can also kill leopards by himself.
Gilligan Cut: When Tarzan tries to get Terk and Tantor to distract Kerchak:
Terk: Okay! But don't make me do anything embarrassing...
[cut to Terk bursting out of the undergrowth in Jane's poofy yellow dress]
Terk: I'M GONNA KILL HIIIIIIIIIIM!!!!!
Gone Horribly Right: In order for Jane, her father, and Clayton to see the gorillas safely, Tarzan disguises Terk and Tantor as Jane and her father and has them lead Kerchak away from the others. It works... until Terk and Tantor accidentally stumble back into the gorillas' nest, thus causing Kerchak to stumble across what's happening.
Gory Discretion Shot: Used liberally because this movie has a lot more death than most Disney offerings. Tarzan's parents, Kala and Kerchak's baby, Sabor, and Clayton all meet violent deaths just offscreen.
Gray Rain of Depression: When Kerchak dies.
Green Gators: Averted with the brown crocodiles encountered by young Tarzan.

Hand Gagging: A villain does this to Jane, who quickly bites it.
Handy Feet: Tarzan has them, taking the idea of being raised by gorillas to its logical conclusion by having him grasp things with his feet. Not as well as a gorilla, but pretty well for a human.
Hanging Around: As Clayton tries to get at Tarzan with a machete, he gets some vines around his neck before falling from the trees until the vines go taut, snapping his neck and killing him instantly.
Happily Adopted: Tarzan. Invoked after Kala shows Tarzan the treehouse where he was found.
Hartman Hips: While rather slim, Jane has wide hips and a posterior worth mentioning.
Heel–Face Turn: The baboons that caused Jane and Tarzan so much trouble are part of the horde of animals that come to help him fight Clayton and rescue the gorillas.
Held Gaze: This happens between Tarzan and Jane when he first meets the girl, and they stare into each other's eyes in wonder.
Hell Is That Noise:
- Chillingly, when Kala enters the ruined cabin and steps over the fallen shotgun, listen very closely and you can hear faint gunshot sounds, followed by Sabor's roar.
- The spine-chilling scream Clayton lets out right before he dies.
Heroic Sacrifice: Tarzan's parents, who die trying to protect him from Sabor.
He's Dead, Jim: After Kerchak's last words to Tarzan, we get a Slow Motion shot of his arm falling to the ground.
Huggy, Huggy Hippos: Hippos are portrayed as gentle, docile animals; Tarzan can safely swim among them, not worrying that he might be attacked, and one even allows him to sit on its nose.
Hulk Speak: Tarzan. He mostly grows out of it by the end.

I Choose to Stay: Jane stays with Tarzan. Realizing he has nothing waiting for him in England either, Professor Porter remains behind as well.
Idiot Ball: When Sabor attacks the gorilla tribe, all the other adults just stand back and watch while Tarzan and Kerchak fight the leopard, even though both of them were almost a match for Sabor on their own and the addition of a few more gorillas would have made it a massive Curb-Stomp Battle against Sabor. The other parents could at least be excused for standing back to protect their children, but Kala has no excuse since Tarzan is all she has left.
If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: At the film's climax, Tarzan has an easy opportunity to off Clayton with his own gun. When Clayton taunts him to go ahead and do it, he comes to his senses and smashes the gun in disgust.
Clayton: (smugly) Go ahead, shoot me. Be a man.
Tarzan: Not a man like you
Immune to Jump Scares: Played for Laughs in the case of Kala. When Tarzan was a child, he used to scare her by sneaking up behind her and making a loud elephant trumpet. By the time he's grown to an adult, Kala has become so used to the prank that she can sense right when he's about to do it.
Inexplicable Language Fluency:
- Played straight when Jane talks to a baby baboon and he understands her.
- Averted when Tarzan meets Jane and can't understand her.
- Averted again when the gorillas find the books but are more interested in ripping them apart than reading them.
Ink-Suit Actor:
- Tarzan bears a striking resemblance to Tony Goldwyn, especially the teal eyes and the pointed chin.
- Jane bears more than a passing resemblance to Minnie Driver.
- Clayton's resemblance to BRIAN BLESSED isn't as obvious due to Blessed being known for his heavily bushy beard, but his nose and chin sure make Blessed stand out.
- Terk definitely has Rosie O'Donnell's trademark bang in her hair.
- Tantor has Wayne Knight's wide elastic smile.
- Kala has Glenn Close's small warm mannerisms. Likewise, Kerchak definitely possesses Lance Henriksen's expressive eyebrows and bags.
Intelligent Primate: Zigzagged. Gorillas are shown as sapient, and Terk even knows a few letters, but when they stumble across the camp where Jane, Clayton, and Professor Porter are staying, they don't perceive the human tools as anything more than musical instruments.
Intimate Artistry: Jane sketches a picture of Tarzan on a chalkboard for her father and gets lost in his image, showing that she is already falling for him despite their brief encounter.
Prof. Porter: Shall I, uh, leave you and the blackboard alone for a minute?
Irony: Clayton, the character who carries himself as a civilized hunter, who views himself as a paragon of civilized masculinity, and who has conquered the jungle spends his last moments howling and slobbering like a wild, feral animal before the jungle claims his life. Meanwhile, the supposed savage he has spent the movie mocking is the one who tries to save him from an unnecessary death.
- While exploring the Porters' camp, Terk passes by a chemistry set and wonders what kind of primitive beasts are responsible for the mess.
Invisible to Normals: When apes say "Tarzan", to normal humans it sounds like the apes are saying "ah ooh".
"It" Is Dehumanizing: When Kala brings the baby Tarzan to the rest of the gorillas, Terk and Kerchak both refer to Tarzan as 'it'. Kala, quietly and patiently, uses 'he' and 'him' until they follow her example.
It's Personal: Subverted; Tarzan doesn't know that Sabor killed his parents (or Kerchak and Kala's son), so the fight between the two has more meaning than he realizes.

Jungle Jazz: "Trashin' The Camp" is a jazzy, scatting musical number sung by a band of gorillas (and one elephant). It's the only song in the movie performed by on-screen characters rather than an off-screen Phil Collins.

Killed Offscreen: We never actually see Sabor murder Kala and Kerchak's son, and Tarzan's parents have been murdered long before Kala discovers the treehouse. We do get to see the dead bodies of the latter however.
Killer Gorilla:
- Unlike the book it's based on, the movie averts this trope. The only character who shows signs of it is Kerchak, with his Papa Wolf tendencies. Like real gorillas, Tarzan's tribe is mostly peaceful, but you do NOT want to get on their bad side.
- Clayton sees them that way, though, as he refers to them as "wild beasts". When he draws a rather poor sketch of a gorilla to ask Tarzan where the gorillas are, it has a large, snarling mouth with sharp teeth. This follows what the common scientific belief was about gorillas in Victorian times. The Porters, on the other hand, claim that the entire point of their exhibition to Africa is to debunk these notions of gorillas and have a much better general understanding of them than most in their time.

Language Barrier: When Jane meets Tarzan, she can't understand him, and he can't understand her. They eventually learn each other's language.
Laser-Guided Karma: It took eighteen to twenty years, but Tarzan is ultimately the one to bring down the one responsible for his parents' deaths. And, again, he's not even aware of that significance; he only killed Sabor because she was threatening his adoptive parents.
Later-Installment Weirdness: Within the greater context of the Disney Renaissance. The most obvious departure from the old 90's formula was the fact that virtually all the music was sung in the background, as opposed to being sung by the characters (bar a few measures of "You'll Be in My Heart" sung by Kala near the beginning, as well as "Trashin' The Camp").
Left Stuck After Attack: During their final fight, Clayton comes after Tarzan with a machete, repeatedly stabbing into the cluster of vines where Tarzan's hiding. One thrust gets stuck in the trunk of the tree, forcing Clayton to work it loose, which gives Tarzan a chance to put some distance between them.
Le Parkour: Tarzan takes this to new heights, especially with his "tree-surfing".
Letting Her Hair Down: Jane starts out with her hair up, but in scenes where she bonds with Tarzan and the gorillas she lets her hair down.
Let's Get Dangerous!: Tantor spends the movie as a Cowardly Lion, but upon hearing Tarzan's Big "NO!" when he is captured, he decides he's had enough of Terk's behaviour, angrily tells her he's had enough of it, and rushes to the ship where Tarzan and the others are captured, swims out to it, climbs aboard and takes out Clayton's thugs by himself. He also leads his herd to the nesting grounds, bringing reinforcements to stop Clayton from taking the gorillas.
- Jane as well. While being chased by the baboons, she gets the idea to open her parasol to knock them out of Tarzan's way, and in the climax, swings on a vine to stop Kala from being taken away by the poachers.
Literal Cliffhanger: Tarzan during his attempt to escape from Clayton's thugs on the ship that would go back to England, right before he falls down from the ship's funnel and gets captured.
Loincloth: Tarzan's outfit.
Look Behind You: When a baby baboon steals Jane's drawing of him, she distracts him by pointing behind him and excitedly claiming there's bananas.
Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: When Tarzan's rescuing Jane from the baboon horde, her left boot is lost. When the baboons return to play The Cavalry during the climactic fight scene, the baby baboon is wearing the lost boot as a helmet.
Lost in Translation: The poetry of the song "Son of Man" relies on man being both a term for humankind in general as well as literally for a grown male adult; the former references Tarzan's species, the latter his coming of age. Many other languages don't have this kind of ambiguity, so they had to go in either one direction or the other, eliminating some of the poetry of the song.
Low-Tech Spears: Tarzan, who was raised by gorillas following the death of his parents and subsequently lives in a pre-Stone Age society as opposed to the late 19th/early 20th Century world outside of the jungle, manages to create a makeshift spear which he uses to get fruit. As an adult, he uses it to defeat the evil leopard Sabor, unknowingly avenging both his birth parents and Kala and Kerchak's son.

Maniac Monkeys: The baboons are rather hostile.
Match Cut: Used many times between the gorillas and Tarzan's human family during the opening. One notable example is when Kala playfully tosses her baby in the air, and baby Tarzan falls back into his mother's arms.
Meaningful Echo: The gorilla speak for, "Jane stays with Tarzan," noted above in Chekhov's Skill. When Tarzan first teaches it to Jane, she repeats it back before she even knows what it means, and the gorilla cubs they've been playing with cheer enthusiastically. At the end of the movie, Jane repeats the phrase to the assembled gorillas on the beach, this time knowing exactly what she is saying, and is met with the same level of enthusiasm.
Mickey Mousing: Used during the "Son of Man" sequence.
Mischief-Making Monkey: The baby baboon that steals Jane's drawings.
Misplaced Wildlife:
- Averted and parodied: the movie replaces the lions and tiger^note in the book with a leopard, and when young Tantor says the river has piranha, another elephant quickly remarks they live in South America. Although that doesn't explain how they know what piranhas are.
- Played straight with the ring-tailed lemurs near the beginning, which are found in Madagascar, not mainland Africa. We never see them actually interact with the other animal characters, though, so maybe the scene just cut to Madagascar for that moment?
- Also, during the "Son of Man" montage Tarzan is seen fighting a green tree python, a snake that's native to New Guinea, islands in Indonesia and northern Australia, not Africa.
- Another shot during "Son of Man" features a black rhino sharpening its horn on a tree. Like the aforementioned lions, black rhinos are found in open woodlands, deserts, and grasslands, not rainforests.
- The midquel is arguably even worse, with wildebeest, gazelles, giraffes, and warthogs.
Missing Mom: Archimedes references her once while Jane is excitedly recapping her swing through the trees with Tarzan while chased by raging baboons.
Archimedes: [Jane] takes after her mother, you know. She would come up with stories like this. Not about - about men in loincloths, of course...
Mistaken for Flatulence: When the jungle animals first hear a gunshot, Tantor says, "Wasn't me, I swear."^note"...Well, OK, maybe it was."
Mr. Fanservice: Tarzan, who can seamlessly cross from being undeniably badass to just plain adorable whenever he's with Jane. His choice of wardrobe also helps too.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Averted for the most part. Tarzan is in extremely good shape for a man of his build... but Kerchak can swat him aside effortlessly. Played particularly straight, however, when he manages to use holds he learned while tussling with Terk to pin Kerchak, which marks a stark contrast when compared to his strength during his physical confrontations against Terk herself, the thugs on the ship and Clayton.
My God, What Have I Done?: Tarzan after he puts Kerchak in a headlock.
- Also for Terk when she and Tarzan were little. After Terk gives Tarzan a task to take elephant hair (thinking he will give up), she ends up horrified realizing that he actually does it and almost gets killed because of it.
My Greatest Second Chance: After failing to reach her own baby in time, Kala gets a second chance to stop Sabor from eating a child when she finds Tarzan in a house that was obviously attacked. Not long after, she has to save him from the leopard. Kerchak also has this reaction when Kala tells him that she saved the baby from Sabor, who killed their little one; this is why he allows Tarzan to stay, learning he lost his family as well.
Mythology Gag:
- In the books, "Tantor" is a term for elephants in general.
- Tarzan briefly puts Terk in a full-nelson, the same move he used against Terkoz in the novel.
- Jane's sketch of Tarzan is titled "Tarzan of the Apes", which is the title of the first Tarzan novel.
- Edgar Rice Burroughs' first novel Tarzan of the Apes also includes (two separate) scenes of young Tarzan being disgusted when he sees his hideous reflection in a pool of water, and covering himself with mud to make himself look more like an ape.
- Tarzan lets out a victory cry after he kills Sabor, like his book counterpart did whenever he made a kill.
- During the "Son of Man" montage, Tarzan and Terk lasso and ride a crane; the lasso was Tarzan's signature weapon in Burroughs' novels (albeit for hunting, not playing).
- The blackboard scene where Jane gets so lost in her thoughts of Tarzan that her father jokingly asks if he should leave them "alone for a moment" is similar to a scene in Burroughs' first novel where Jane describes Tarzan in such a gushing, fangirl-like style that the French soldiers listening are highly amused.
- Clayton calls one of his thugs "Snipes," the name of a minor villain in Burroughs' first novel.
- Tarzan fighting Sabor out of sight and slowly lifting her corpse into sight is directly taken from Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, where Tarzan fights and kills an ape underwater. That movie's Tarzan also appears to be an influence on the Disney version's design.
- Tarzan smashing Clayton's gun is a throwback to the old Johnny Weissmuller films, where Tarzan developed a habit of smashing strangers' guns on sight after seeing several of his friends shot (and been shot at himself).
- Confused about Tarzan apparently knowing his name during their first meeting, Clayton asks him, "Have we met?" Why, yes, Clayton, you did—in the original books, where Tarzan is actually your long-lost cousin, John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke!
- The scene where Jane gets freaked out watching Tarzan talk with a monkey who stole some of her things is basically a Gender Flipped version of a scene from Son of Tarzan, where (Tarzan's future daughter-in-law) Meriam's other love interest Morrison Baynes gets freaked out watching her argue with a bunch of monkeys until they give back all of her things they stole.

The Native Rival: Kerchak is more of a father figure than a direct rival, but he bears many characteristics of this trope, especially his reluctance to accept Tarzan as one of his tribe.
Nature Versus Nurture: A big part of the conflict, probably the main one, revolves around Tarzan's struggle to decide whether he belongs with those who raised him and who he's been friends with his whole life, or with the creatures who look like him, think like him, and whom he came from.
Never Learned to Talk: Tarzan is shown speaking in English around the clan of apes, but this is only because of the Translation Convention. When he's around other humans, he speaks limited English, but perfects it later on.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Tarzan shows Clayton where the gorillas are when he brings Jane to meet his family.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sabor's fight with Tarzan not only led to her death but for Kerchak to respect Tarzan who saved the gorillas from Clayton and the pirates.
No Name Given: Tarzan's parents are unnamed - in the books they were John and Alice Clayton, the Lord and Lady Greystoke. As a result, Tarzan never finds out who they really were.
Not Drawn to Scale: While with some crazy amount of Suspension of Disbelief we can accept that two solitary people, one of them a woman caring for an infant baby, devoid of all construction gear could have possibly created anything close to the jaw-dropping treehouse we see in the movie (within, apparently, just a few weeks no less), there is absolutely no conceivable way for them to have drawn that rope bridge across the gorge.
No Time to Think: At one point, Clayton has Tarzan in his shotgun sights. Kerchak charges the villain and takes two shotgun rounds to the chest - a mortal wound.
Nothing Is Scarier: Although it quickly becomes heartwarming when she finds little Tarzan alive in the blanket, the scene where Kala is exploring the ruined cabin, not knowing that Sabor's been through it, is chilling.
- When Kerchak and Kala's son dies in the beginning. We don't see his death, only Sabor pouncing on him in the shrubbery. Then again, it's probably best not to see.
Noodle Incident: Clayton apparently taught a parrot to sing "God Save the Queen".
Noose Catch: Clayton accidentally does this to himself after he cuts away the vines supporting him leaving just the one around his neck.
Not Now, Kiddo: Tantor's mother does this when he tries to tell her about the "piranha" (actually Tarzan) swimming towards the herd.
Nubile Savage: Tarzan, although his hair hangs in messy dreadlocks from lack of haircuts and no combing.
Nurture over Nature: Tarzan's ultimate decision.

Offscreen Teleportation: Done realistically. Jane sneaks away, but is only just around the other side of the tree.
Oh, Crap!:
- Kerchak and Kala, when they realize their baby is attacked by Sabor.
- Kala begins to have one when she notices Sabor on the roof-joints of the tree-house.
- Terk, Flynt and Mungo all have one when the elephants stampede right towards them. The gorilla family, including Kerchak and Kala immediately have one when the elephants charge through the jungle.
- Terk, Tantor and Tarzan all immediately have one when Sabor suddenly emerges from the part of the jungle to attack the gorilla family.
- Jane has one when she sees a army of angry baboons ready to attack her for making their child cry. She immediately has another one when they start jumping down from the trees and chasing her.
- Tarzan when he returns Jane to the camp and he suddenly sees Kerchak behind her. Jane then has one when she turns around.
- After Terk and Tantor are disguised as Jane and her father respectively by Tarzan as a plan to lure Kerchak away from the nesting grounds, they have one when they hear Kerchak's roar and they dash off to get away from him.
- Tarzan, after seeing Terk and Tantor running back to the nesting grounds (where he is showing his human friends the gorillas), and realizing that Kerchak is coming back.
- The look on Clayton's face when Kerchak charges at him is quite understandable.
- The expression on the face of the nameless hunter who has Jane trapped during the final fight is amusing; he's smug at having won... then there's a serious OH CRAP! expression when a whole freaking troop of baboons - one of whom is armed with an umbrella - charges at him.
- Tarzan has one during the climatic fight between him and Clayton. After Tarzan has dropped a whole tangle of vines onto Clayton to incapacitate him, he starts cutting himself free in a rage...but doesn't notice that one vine around his neck. Tarzan realizes what is bound to happen and frantically tries to warn him, but too late — the result is not pretty.
One-Word Title: It's a movie about Tarzan, called Tarzan, so it's a Protagonist Title.
Only One Name: Tarzan's original human name is not revealed. In the books it was John Clayton, and eventually he became Lord Greystoke.
Opposites Attract: Tarzan, a jungle-dwelling wildman, and Jane, a British Proper Lady, fall in love.
Outliving One's Offspring: The movie begins with Kala and Kerchak losing their child to Sabor.

Pale Females, Dark Males: Kerchak is black, Kala is brown, and the rest of the gorillas are different shades of grey.
The Patriarch: Kerchak, so much.
Papa Wolf: Two alpha males: Kerchak (in defense of his gorillas, and eventually Tarzan) and the baboon alpha (in defense of the little chimp.)
- To be specific, this is the job of a Silver Back Gorilla. They are the Alpha of their family, and will sooner show full-on aggression towards an intruder than ignore them. Researchers that have lived with gorillas for extended periods of time have only managed to do so because they knew how to interact with a Silver Back to the point where it wouldn't rip them apart. Kerchak may have been a Jerkass at times, but he was only doing what was required of him.
Paper Destruction of Anger: Clayton wants Tarzan to take him to the gorillas, pointing at a picture of one. Tarzan is more interested in wooing Jane, so Clayton tears up the picture in a fit of rage.
Parasol of Pain / Parasol Parachute: Jane uses her umbrella to shield herself and Tarzan from oncoming baboons. After the leader baboon steals her umbrella, he and his son use it to slowly descend down to the ground.
Parental Love Song: "You'll Be in My Heart". Kala sings it to Tarzan, promising that she'll care for him and he will "be in [her] heart always."
Perpetual Frowner: Kerchak. A downright serious character, as many gorilla alpha males are, he is never seen smiling in the film (except for a few scenes such as when he bonds with his biological son at the beginning) or in any other Disney media, often presenting an indifferent or angry look on his face.
Pop-Star Composer: Phil Collins. Notably, most foreign versions (that Phil Collins didn't sing himself^note), got a major pop star to sing the dubs; Hesham Nour in the Arabic version, Pella Ankarberg in the Swedish version, and Alex Panayi in the Greek version, just to name a few.
Primal Chest-Pound: Kerchak thumps his chest angrily when Kala tells him he wants to adopt Tarzan, and later when he menaces Jane. Tarzan also does this in the closing scene while letting out his Signature Roar. While Tarzan does it with his fists, Kerchak uses his open hands like real gorillas.
Progressive Instrumentation: "Trashin' The Camp", in which some playful gorillas and an elephant find a human camp and use the random objects they find there to play a (very destructive) impromptu song.
Protagonist Title: It's a movie about Tarzan, called Tarzan, so it's also a One-Word Title.
Pull The Trigger Provocation: Clayton actually tries to goad Tarzan into shooting him, but fails.
Clayton: Go ahead. Shoot me. (he laughs as Tarzan hesitates) Be a man.
Tarzan: (forces the barrel up against Clayton's throat while imitating a gunshot sound perfectly to throw him off-guard) Not a man like YOU! (he smashes the gun against a branch and throws the pieces away)
Puppy-Dog Eyes: Tarzan uses this technique on Terk, who lampshades it.

Race Lift: Of a sort. In the original novel, Jane was an American and Tarzan was the lost son of a British lord. In this film, it's just the reverse: Jane is a posh Victorian Brit while Tarzan has an American accent for some reason (likely due to a lack of exposure to a British environment robbing him of the chance to get an accent).
Ragnarök Proofing: The treehouse put together by Tarzan's birth-parents is incredibly intact after the better part of 20 years of neglect in a jungle climate. The outfit Tarzan finds there is even more so.
Raised by Wolves: Tarzan, of course.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Kerchak is this and a Heartbroken Badass. He objects at first to Kala keeping the baby she found until hearing that the baby has no family, owing to Sabor killing them. Kerchak says the baby will not be his son, but he can stay since he has no one else. His Anger Born of Worry towards Tarzan for starting the elephant stampede is understandable since he doesn't know that Terk was partly responsible, and he seems at least tolerant of Tarzan's building tools to catch up with his family. Indeed, when Sabor attacks, Kerchak's instinct is to pull Tarzan away from the fight and take the leopard head-on, and he gives Tarzan a look of respect, when he defeats the leopard, as well as expressing the fear that they had lost him. In the climax, when Tarzan comes to save them from Clayton and the poachers, he goes Papa Wolf and tries to protect him, ultimately sacrificing his life.
Replacement Goldfish: Part of the reason Kerchak dislikes Tarzan is because he feels Kala is trying to do this with their child Sabor killed. He even says so in the scene where she brings Tarzan back from the cabin, in a more Cruel to Be Kind fashion. He changes his mind, right before dying in Tarzan's arms.
Kerchak: Kala...it won't replace the one we lost.
Required Secondary Powers: Tarzan's ability to pick up English so fast can be attributed to his ability to mimic animal noises, which also allows him to have many jungle friends and imitate gunshots (although, given that he doesn't need to make elephant noises at Tantor, obviously it's not just gorillas that speak "gorilla").
Rescue Romance: Tarzan saves Jane from a horde of baboons who chase after her for making their young baby cry. Jane quickly falls in love with him after realizing he's not dangerous.
Rule of Animation Conservation: The reason for Tarzan's knuckle-walking, tree-surfing, and other acrobatics. They wanted to have Tarzan do things a normal human actor simply couldn't do. Being animated also makes it much easier to show Tarzan having a legitimate bond with his adoptive family.
Rule of Cool: The guy is surfing down giant vines. Either he has really smooth feet, or the vines are greased. Otherwise, there is a going to be a lot of friction. It's either that or a lifetime of not wearing shoes has left his feet so calloused that you'd need a blowtorch to get them off.
Rule of Drama: Sabor is portrayed as an equal match for Kerchak, and actually gets the advantage on him so Tarzan has to prove his prowess in battle by intervening. In real life, leopards are smallish ambush predators that usually hunt fairly small game, whereas Silverbacks are very strong and built like cement mixers, so in an actual straight-up brawl like we see Kerchak would have made a lovely leopard-skin rug the moment he first got his hands on Sabor.
Rule of Symbolism: Soon after Sabor is defeated, Clayton enters sporting the same color scheme, with shadows over him looking like leopard spots.

Save the Villain: Attempted. Tarzan sees the vine wrapping around Clayton's neck and tries to stop him from cutting the others. Clayton is too overcome with rage to listen and causes them both to fall from the tree, resulting in the vine snapping his neck.
Scenery Porn: The jungle is animated beautifully.
Serendipitous Symphony: The "Trashing the Camp" sequence.
Setting Update: The novel Tarzan of the Apes is set in 1912, contemporary with its publication. This film moves the setting back a few decades, to 1882.
Shipwreck Start: The movie opens with Lord and Lady Greystoke abandoning a burning ship, and taking a lifeboat to the shore of Darkest Africa. They took their infant son with them, and only what provisions they could take in a hurry at the time. That lifeboat would end up as the roof of a treehouse where the couple would live as castaways as best they could.
Shout-Out: There are a couple of moments referencing past Disney films:
- During the start of the "Trashin' The Camp" sequence, Terk dances with a white skeleton in similar fashion and design to the classic Disney short The Skeleton Dance.
- In the same scene, as Tantor is frightened by every single object in the Porter camp, the object that scares him the most is a tea kettle and cup that bear a striking similarity to Mrs. Potts and Chip.
- Another from Beauty and the Beast:
  Kerchak: You came back!
  Tarzan: I came home.
- Terk's questioning Kala about what she will name Tarzan, and subsequent reaction, bears more than a passing resemblance to Thumper regarding Bambi and his mother.
- The lead baboon combines the general physique of a true baboon with the dark gray coat, blue muzzle stripes and red nose of a mandrill, just like Rafiki.
- Blink and you'll miss it, but when Mungo turns Archimedes Porter upside down, a stuffed dog falls out of the professor's pockets. That dog is Little Brother.
- The gorilla who steals Clayton's rifle and looks into the barrel is mimicking an animatronic gorilla on the Jungle Cruise.
Shown Their Work:
- To show how much effort was put into portraying the gorillas, the production crew actually went to Uganda and Kenya to do research on gorilla behavior. Particularly, when Kerchak pounds his chest, he does it with open hands like real gorillas do, instead of clenched fists like most cartoon gorillas.
- Tarzan thinks he sees a lurking animal in the vegetation and stares towards it for a long while, but it's not until he turns away that Sabor suddenly attacks. This is accurate of most feline hunters who won't attack their prey until the latter turn their heads away.
- Hippos are shown walking along the bottom of lakes rather than swimming, due to their body weight and dense bones making them heavier than water.
Signature Roar: Tarzan's signature yell, performed by BRIAN BLESSED mimicking Johnny Weissmuller's iconic yodel after Tony Goldwyn was unable to provide a satisfactory version of the yell.^note
Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Tarzan's mom.◊
Silence Is Golden: The first eight minutes of the movie are completely dialogue-free, aside from the "Two Worlds" number, baby Tarzan's coos and cries, and the various ape and leopard noises.
Snipe Hunt: Terk sends Tarzan to find a hair of an elephant to get him to stop following her with the bigger younglings; that is, she wants him to give up on the idea of being an ape because Terk assumes that Tarzan would find the idea impossible. She goes My God, What Have I Done? when he jumps off the cliff to get the hair. He succeeds, although in the stampede he causes, panicking elephants almost crush a baby gorilla.
Soft Water: Zigzagged. Kid Tarzan jumps from the top of a waterfall, falls many stories, and hits the water with a loud smack before his body sinks, after which Mungo remarks, "That one hurt him!" However, he then rises to the surface seemingly unharmed after shaking off the fall.
Sound-Only Death: When Kala and Kerchak's son is killed by Sabor, all we get is the sound of the vicious leopard's growling attack.
Soundtrack Lullaby: "You'll Be In My Heart" starts as Kala singing to Tarzan, then switches to Phil Collins for the rest of the song as the gorilla tribe settles down into their nests for the night.
Stealth Insult: In the original version of Tarzan and Clayton's final confrontation, Tarzan holds Clayton at knifepoint.
Clayton: Do it. Prove you're a savage!
Tarzan: (lowering the knife) No. I'm not like you.
Stealth Pun: During the "Strangers Like Me" number, Tarzan and Jane share an intimate moment in a tree... and are surrounded by lovebirds.
Straying Baby: Kerchak and Kala's biological son chases after a frog while his parents are asleep. This ends with the worst outcome possible: getting eaten by Sabor.
Stripperiffic:
- Jane wears less and less clothing as the movie goes on, from a combination of trying to cope with full Victorian dress in the heat and humidity of equatorial Africa, and because the rough living damages the fabrics. At the very end, her outfit would have been considered obscene for the period.
- Tarzan wears nothing but a Loincloth for the majority of the movie. He wears one of his biological father's suits when preparing to leave with the humans, but takes it off when going to rescue the gorillas.
Strong Family Resemblance: Tarzan's biological father is identical to his son, only with short hair and a mustache.
Super-Persistent Predator: Sabor. A leopard whose seemingly easy prey is suddenly defended by an adult gorilla would probably be better off seeking other prey.
Super-Strength: The two mooks who try and carry off Kala at the end. A female gorilla her size would weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds. A steel cage that size would likely weigh over five hundred. Yet there are two men easily lifting and moving quickly with it.
Switch to English: At the beginning, the gorillas communicate through realistic gorilla noises. When Kala meets up with Kerchak after finding baby Tarzan, they start talking in English.

Take Care of the Kids: Kerchak tells Tarzan to take care of his troop at the end of the film.
Talent Double: While Tony Goldwyn provided the title character's speaking voice, BRIAN BLESSED (Clayton) provided his iconic yodel.
Tempting Fate: See Cue the Rain for one example.
That Thing Is Not My Child!: Kerchak's attitude towards Tarzan throughout the film. He finally accepts him as he dies.
Time Skip: Once from baby Tarzan to kid Tarzan, and then kid Tarzan to adult Tarzan. Both happen during or near a musical number, too - the first is immediately after "You'll Be In My Heart" and the second is during "Son Of Man".
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Terk and Jane.
Town Girls: The three main females: Jane (femme), Kala (neither), and Terk (butch).
Translation by Volume: Clayton tries to get Tarzan to understand the world "gorilla" by shouting it at him. Tarzan, of course, mimics him.
Clayton: GO-RIL-LAS!
Tarzan: GO-RIL-LAS!
Translation Convention: Around the animals, obviously.
Trash-Can Band: This ensues when the animals discover the Potters' camp.
True Beauty Is on the Inside: Jane calls Kala beautiful because of her personality.
Truck Driver's Gear Change:
- "You'll Be In My Heart" starts in G-flat as Kala sings to Tarzan, but switches to G when Phil Collins takes over, then modulates to E toward the end. In the single version, the verses are in G-flat but shift to E-flat for the chorus; then it shifts to A-flat for the bridge, then to F for the final verse.
- "Son of Man" starts out in D, but modulates up to E in the third verse, to symbolize Tarzan's Time Skip to adulthood.
- "Strangers Like Me" is mostly in B-flat, but temporarly modulates to E-flat for the bridge, then to B for the last chorus.
Tsundere: Jane. Just watch her reactions from when Tarzan is realizing there are other creatures like him and the way they interact during "Strangers Like Me".
Tutti Frutti Hat: During the first part of the song "Son of Man", a young Tarzan decides to test his new spear by striking a few fruits hanging from the trees. He manages to get at least a dozen of them in a single throw, but the spear barely avoids Kerchak, who was about to pick a single fruit on a branch below. In the next shot, Kerchak throws his usual Death Glare to his stepson, but the contrast between his glare and his new fruit headdress is clearly Played for Laughs.

Vague Age: Tarzan's age is hard to pin down. Judging from the fact that Sabor is still around (Leopards live to be 17 at the eldest), as is Kala (Gorillas have a lifespan of 35 years and females reach sexual maturity at 12 years, and considering the fact that her gorilla baby was happy to wonder off chasing a frog, meaning he was about 2-3 years old) he is likely to be 18-to-20 years old at the oldest.
Villainous Face Hold: When Clayton has captured Tarzan on the ship, he uses the barrel of his gun to lift Tarzan's chin up so he's forced to look him in the eye when Clayton reveals his betrayal.
Vine Swing: It wouldn't be a Tarzan film without copious amounts of this. He also teaches Jane to do it.

Waist-Deep Ocean: When Tarzan tries to grab a hair from the elephant herd, they're shown standing ankle-deep in a pool of water, with it coming up to the young Tantor's knees. However, the water is alternately shown being deep enough that they're swimming in it.
Walking Shirtless Scene:
- Tarzan, naturally. Walking pants-less, too.
- Max, one of Clayton's goons, is also constantly shirtless. Two of the other goons also have open vests which expose their bare chests.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Tarzan is constantly seeking the approval of Kerchak, who refuses to accept Tarzan as a member of the gorilla troop, much less as his adopted son. That all changes when Tarzan comes back to save them. Sadly, it doesn't last that long, as Kerchak receives a fatal bullet wound from Clayton. After Clayton's death, Tarzan kneels over Kerchak, who passes on leadership of the troop to Tarzan and acknowledges Tarzan as his son with his last words.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- Tarzan's deeply hurt when he discovers other humans and that Kala knew about them but instead let him think he was some kind of unique freak of nature.
Tarzan: Why didn't you tell me there were creatures that look like me?
- Kerchak to Tarzan when the latter allows the other humans to interact with the gorilla family and unfortunately, the silverback's anger turns out to be justified.
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Clayton taunts Tarzan with this when the latter has his own rifle pressed up to his neck, telling him to "be a man". However, as Tarzan proves, for all the rage he feels, he will not be the man Clayton is, and smashes his rifle to pieces.
Wiki Walk: For some reason Jane and her father brought every modern convenience with them, including a slide projector and slides depicting... well, everything (At least, everything British). Tarzan begins looking at them, and it is implied that he views every single one because there's a dissolve to him still looking through slides while the others are asleep.
Wild Child: The title character.
Women Are Wiser: Kerchak refuses to accept Tarzan as a son while Kala is the one who wants to adopt him.

You and What Army?: Tarzan may have been a pest as a child, but a baboon troop, a whole herd of elephants, a whole troop of gorillas - once freed, at least - and a freaking rhino and hippo ally with him to stop Clayton and the hunters.
Younger Than They Look: Tarzan and Jane are only 18 years old during the events of the movie and sequel series.

Tarzan / Tropes G to Z

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