Funny / Tarzan

Our love story starts as all do: with a young British woman kicking an ape-man with a loin cloth in the face.

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

• Baby Tarzan and Kala's first meeting. Just try and watch their reactions without laughing. Or dying of cuteness.
  Kala: Huh?!
  Baby: Huh???
• At one point Kala examines and smells Baby Tarzan, and upon lifting and sniffing his diaper for only a moment, she recoils instantly.
• Granted it's a suspenseful scene, we have Kala, a sweet, wise gorilla wife and mother, narrowly catch baby Tarzan by his diaper through an opening in the tree house's floorboards, yet the poor dear falls for the old conundrum of confusedly trying to get an object through a smaller opening.
  • And little Tarzan is blissfully unaware of the danger he's in.
• Young Tarzan pranking Kala by scaring her with an imitation of an elephant when she wakes up and doesn't find him.
  • Kala tries to get him to do quieter animals, but he thinks that's no fun. He even does a leopard sound. It gets even funnier when the youngest gorillas start mimicking him, much to the displeasure of their mothers.
  • Years later, when he's all grown up, it leads to this exchange:
    Tarzan: [trying to sneak up very quietly on Kala, winds up an elephant trumpet]
    Kala: [without even looking, completely deadpan] Don't even think about it.
    Tarzan: [splutters out a deflated trumpet and swings around in front of her] How'd you know it was me?
    Kala: I'm your mother, I know everything. Now where have you been?
    Tarzan: [chuckling] I thought you knew everything.
• Young Tarzan, not watching where he's going, accidentally runs headfirst into Kerchak. Kerchak scowls disapprovingly, and Terk bounds into view, Chewing the Scenery and sucking up outrageously.
  Terk: TARZAN! Thank goodness you're all right! Kala and I (sobbing) have been so worried! Oh! Thank you! Thank you so much for finding him, Kerchak — you are such a wise and caring leader... (whispers in Tarzan's ear) Run!
  • In the middle of Terk's butt-kissing act, it cuts back to Kerchak for a moment, who just rolls his eyes at the painfully fake display of worry.
• "Stop hittin' yourself! Stop hittin' yourself! Stop hittin' yourself!"
• Baby Tantor's entire introduction is pretty funny. Phobic elephant with squeaky baby voice is comedy gold. Also his mom talks like she's heard it all before.
  Tantor: MOM, are you sure this water's sanitary? It looks questionable to me...
  Tantor's Mom: It's fine, honey.
  Tantor: Yuck! But what about bacteria?
  Tantor's Mom: Tantor, can't you see Mommy's talking?
• The elephant herd panics over nothing. "PIRANHAAAAAA!!!!"
  • And before that where the herd of elephants are chatting amicably about piranha being native to South America, busily Leaning on the Fourth Wall.
    Tantor's Mom: For the last time, honey, there are no piranhas in...
    [chomp]
    Other Elephant: MY BUUUUUUUUTT!
• During the "Son of Man" montage, the unimpressed glare on Kerchak's face as he watches Tarzan swinging through the trees, clearly reads, "Show-off." During the same sequence a young Tarzan chucks his makeshift spear through the air, catching several fruits...and landing right besides Kerchak's head, giving him a Carmen Miranda-esque fruit hat. Kerchak just silently glares at Tarzan with a utterly exasperated expression as Tarzan sheepishly hides behind the tree.
• And before that — doubling as a minor Awesome Moment — there's a scene of Tarzan jumping around and being pursued by a huge snake, which ends with Tarzan stopping with a smug smirk on his face and the snake trying to bite him, getting stopped just inches from his face. It then cuts to a wider shot of the snake tangled up in the trees it was chasing Tarzan through, showing off Tarzan's Genius Bruiser capabilities to a tee.
• When Tarzan and Terk fight after "Son of Man", the rest of the gorillas take that fight really casually. Kala doesn't even try to calm them down, Kerchak is just annoyed, a random gorilla casually lifts up his bananas when they get in the way. It's not just like these fights happen all the time, it's like they happen the exact same way all the time.
• The majority of the Baboon Chase sequence.
  • Jane's Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat! moment.
  "Put me down. Put me down! NooooopickmeuppickmeuppickmeUP!"
  • When Jane gets caught on a vine during the chase, Tarzan is swinging away, then he sees he's lost her, shakes his head, and gives a look that just screams "Oh, for pity's sake..."
  • Seriously, the stuff Tarzan puts himself through to rescue this strange shrieking creature is both amazing and hilarious. His face when he does the splits...
  • Jane manages to fend off some of the baboons with her parasol, and looks very pleased with herself. Then she's attacked again and doesn't realize while she's trying to defend herself that she's actually choking poor Tarzan.
  • Tarzan returning the drawing to the angry father baboon (who is parachuting down with Jane's parasol the whole time) while speaking to him in his language. Though you can't understand the language, you can tell Tarzan is basically saying, "Fine, fine! I'll get it back for the kid!" (snatches drawing and hands it to the baboon) There, are we good?"
  • Funnier yet, the instant Tarzan returns the drawing, it sounds as if the father baboon is politely saying, "Thank you, sir!" After a violent, potentially life-threatening chase, suddenly everyone's concerned with manners again.
• When Jane ends up getting stuck between two trees whilst trying to get down:
  Jane: It can't get any worse, can it? [Thunder Equals Downpour/Cue the Rain] Obviously, it can.
• Tarzan wiggling Jane's toes tickles her and makes her laugh. It's cute.
• When Tarzan unknowingly gets a little too personal (read: trying to see what's underneath Jane's skirt), Jane's sudden pitch change, delivery and kick to his face is just perfect. See it here.
  Jane (hesitantly): No, no — get off — get — get off — (abruptly belting it out) Geddoff!
  • Tarzan's face after being kicked. He's clearly thinking, "Hey, what was that about?"
• Tarzan repeating everything Jane says. "No, no, no, no, *clears throat* I'm Jane."
  • Or this bit...
    Jane: [as Tarzan grabs her to go vine swinging again] Ummm...uh...can't we WAAAAAAAAAAALK!
    Tarzan: CAN'T WE WAAAAAAAAAAAAAALK!
  • When she first realizes he can speak, Tarzan is just repeating Jane saying "very nice". She first assumes he's talking about her hair, and replies, "Oh, thank you, I can't do a thing with it in this humidity, though" before realising that the strange wild man actually talked to her.
  • Tarzan dragging Jane's head to listen to his heartbeat and Minnie Driver's delivery of "oh dear".
• Tantor freaking out at the campsite, capping off with a pan to tableware resembling Mrs. Potts and Chip.
  Terk: These things aren't alive.
  Tantor: I knew that.
• "Trashin' The Camp."
  • The funniest part is that during the musical number, we cut to Kerchak and the troop, then to the professor and Clayton as they faintly hear the music and glass breaking.
• During the tense moment of Kerchak discovering Jane in the camp, it's more of a funny background event, but Terk is absolutely dumbstruck into silence and stillness with the knowledge that Tarzan found another of his own kind - when Kerchak orders the pack to move out, Terk has to be forcibly lifted away by Tantor.
• Jane's entire rant about her first encounter with Tarzan. Coupled with her father and Clayton's looks of absolute confusion.
  Prof. Porter: Jane! There you are! What happened?
  Jane: Oh, my goodness— Daddy! I was out walking. I was— Little baby! Little baby monkey, and I drew a picture.
  Prof. Porter: Yes, go on.
  Jane: Suddenly, monkey starts crying.
  Prof. Porter: Oh, poor thing.
  Jane: I turned round, and there's a WHOLE FLEET of them!
  Prof. Porter: Of what?
  Jane: There's an army of monkeys!
  Clayton: Monkeys?
  Jane: A huge tree full of them! Screaming at me! (mimics hooting)
  Prof. Porter: (to Clayton) That's Theropithecus babuinus. She's very good at this.
  Clayton: (in a somewhat nonplussed tone) Oh, really?
  Jane: Terrified I was, terrified! And suddenly, I was swinging in the vines, up in the air! Swinging, flying, I was in the air!
  Prof. Porter: With the monkeys, yes? In the air?! Yes, I know.
  Jane: And then I was surrounded!
  Prof. Porter: What did you do?
  Jane: And, Daddy... THEY TOOK MY BOOT!
  Prof. Porter: They took-?! Those are the ones I bought you.
  Jane: And I was saved! I was saved by a flying, wild man in a loincloth!
  Prof. Porter: Loincloth? Good Lord!
  Clayton: What is she talking about?
  Prof. Porter: I haven't the foggiest idea. Takes after her mother, you know. She'd come up with stories like that. Not about men in loincloths, of course.
  • Most of that speech was Minnie Driver ad-libbing.
  • There's also how hilariously excited Jane's father gets when she tells him about Tarzan. When she mentions how Tarzan moves around with his hands on the ground, he comments that it sounds like how Jane's aunt Isabel walks around.
  • There's also the very...shall we say, intense way Jane describes Tarzan while drawing him. Her father delivers this golden line:
    Prof. Porter: Shall I (ahem) leave you and the blackboard alone for a moment?
    Jane: (teasingly) Daddy, stop it.
• Tarzan repeats Clayton's name twice under the assumption it means "gunshot". Understandably, both the namesake and Prof. Porter are caught completely off-guard and their reaction is hilarious.
  Clayton: [visibly confused] Have we...met?
• When Clayton tries to get Tarzan to tell him where the apes are. Unfortunately, Tarzan can't understand him.
  Clayton: Where are the gorillas? [Tarzan tries to examine his mustache, but Clayton grabs him by his wrist] GORE-RILL-LAS!
  Tarzan: GORE-RILL-LAS!
  Jane: Shouting won't help, Mr. Clayton. He doesn't understand English.
  Clayton: Then I'll make him understand. If I can teach a parrot to sing "God save the Queen", I can certainly teach this savage a thing or two. [scratches out a caricature of a gorilla on Jane's chalkboard and gestures to it] Gore-illa.
  Tarzan: [examines the stick of chalk instead] ...Gore-illa.
  Prof. Porter: Aha! He's got it!
  Tarzan: Gore-illa! [proceeds to scribble wildly on the chalkboard] Gorrrrr-illlllaaa!
  Prof. Porter: Or perhaps not.
  Clayton: [grabs the chalk from Tarzan's hand and shakes his fist at him] No! No, no, no, no, no!
  Tarzan: [grabs chalk out of Clayton's hand and shakes his fist back] No! No, no, no, no, no!
  Clayton: No, no, no! Gimme that! [they both bicker and fight over the chalk until Jane snatches it from Clayton's hand]
  Jane: Mr. Clayton, I think I'll take it from here.
  [Tarzan and Clayton look at each other]
• When Tarzan tells Jane and co. that he can't show them the gorillas, Clayton angrily points to a drawing of a gorilla and tries to convince Tarzan to reconsider. Tarzan playfully leaps over him, and Clayton rips the drawing to shreds in a fit of rage.
• Terk in Jane's dress.
  • "I'M GONNA KILL HIIIIIIIIM!"
  • "Actually, I thought that dress looks rather slimming on you." "Oh, really? I thought it was a little revealing."
    • Also, Tantor is in disguise, too. And by that we mean his trunk is dressed up as a Professor Porter puppet.
  • Followed by the Oh, Crap! look on their faces when a roar from behind reminds Terk and Tantor that Kerchak is after them and they promptly run for the hills.
  • Tarzan convincing her to do it with Puppy-Dog Eyes.
    Tarzan: Terk, I'm asking you as a friend.
    Terk: (groans) With the face and the eyes and the — Arghh! All right! But don't make me do anything embarrassing.
• When they meet the Gorilla Herd and Clayton marks the spot on the map, it seems to be creepy and perhaps rather obvious Foreshadowing, but then there's a total Mood Swing when the Gorillas take an interest in him, snatching the map away briefly, and then taking his rifle away and examining and playing with it — one of them is looking right down the barrel.
  Clayton: (trying to tug it back) Give me that! Hey, what are you doing? Now, stop that! Stop! Hold on now. Leave that! That is not to be played with!
• "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU AND YOUR EMOTIONAL CONSTIPATION! TARZAN NEEDS US! AND WE'RE GOING TO HELP HIM! YOU GOT THAT?!"^* Not only did Wayne Knight deliver this line beautifully, there's also this hilariously subtle interpretation: He's basically yelling at Terk because she is acting like she doesn't give a shit.
• When Tantor forces Terk to join him in rescuing Tarzan, and sets off for the ship by running straight off of a cliff and into the ocean, complete with Tantor doing a classic Cavalry Charge with his trunk, only to sputter into a chaotic cacophony of random notes when he goes bug-eyed and futilely tries to brake before flying off the edge.
  Tantor: [thrilled] I NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!
  Terk: [pissed] GOOD! Because I'm gonna kill you!
  • When the Professor elbows the ship's wall just as Tantor's weight tips the ship and sends everyone slipping to the side.
    Prof. Porter: Oh, by Jove! Don't know my own strength.
  • This is followed up with a shot of Tantor climbing the ship and beating up Clayton's men. Cut to below deck, where Tarzan, Jane, Jane's father Professor Porter, and the ship's captain are all being held captive. Tantor's foot goes through the deck and stops just above Professor Porter's head, as Tantor trumpets. Cue the professor completely missing the massive foot above his head and commenting "That sounded just like an elephant!"
• Professor Porter swinging on a vine with his own loincloth and imitating Tarzan's yell at the end.
• In the midquel, Terk does an amazingly spot-on Kerchak impersonation.