GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE

US, 1997, 92 minutes, Colour.
Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church, John Cleese, Richard Roundtree, Holland Taylor.
Directed by Sam Weisman.

George of the Jungle survived terrible reviews in the US to have box office of nearly $100,000,000. So much for reviews! It is based on a comic strip which is a spoof of Tarzan. It is played very broadly with Brendan Fraser as an accident-prone George. John Cleese provides the voice of Ape! Exactly what you might expect!

1.An entertaining jungle film? Spoof? Origins in a comic strip? The flavour of the comic strip style?

2.The African settings, the jungle, the animals? Life in the jungle? The contrast with the United States, the upper crust, society homes? San Francisco? The musical score?

3.The title, the background of the plane crash in the African jungle, George and his surviving the crash, taken by the gorillas, raised as a gorilla? His encountering the expedition? His reputation as ‘a white ape’? Rescuing Ursula? Taking her on his trapeze and the vines to his hut? His talking gorilla, Ape? Shep – the elephant dog? Touci, the toucan? Life in the jungle for the adult George? The simplicity, talking with the animals? His being shot? Ursula taking him back to the United States? George and his trying to adapt to high society, Ursula’s parents and their reaction? His manners, rough ways? The workman on the bridge – and George saving him? Feted as a hero? Touci with the news from the jungle, flying to America? George and his return, saving Ape? Ursula coming to Africa? Together in the jungle? A happy ending? Brendan Fraser’s genial performance as George? The goofy aspects and the comedy?

4.Ursula and the expedition, Lyle, the engagement? Lyle and his uptight attitude? In the jungle, looking for the white ape, encountering Ape? The bullet? Ursula and her being rescued? Her going back to the United States, with George, in love with him? The fastidious response of her parents, especially her mother? George and his adapting, becoming the hero, her response? Her going back to Africa – and happy ever after?

5.Lyle, the expedition, the hunter, the shooting? His staying in Africa, his looking for the ape, capturing him? Touci and the rescue?

6.The animals: Ape and being voiced by John Cleese, the sardonic remarks? The elephant dog? Saving George? Touci and the friendship?

7.Kwame, travelling and guide in the jungle, character, the thugs with Lyle? Their attitude towards the animals, capturing Ape?

8.Ape, the character through John Cleese’s voice? The irony of the end – and Ape with a singing career?

9.Audience familiarity with the Tarzan stories and liking them? This comic variation on a theme?