GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE
Remember George when he was a mere cartoon back in the 1960s? He is now alive and well in this boisterous, most enjoyable, laughable version interpreted by Brendan Fraser. George is just short of being dimwitted but then, how would you be if every time you swung from a jungle vine you went crashing into a huge tree? Despite that, George keeps on grinning, happy with the jungle friends, the wise ape whose name is "Ape" (voice of John Cleese), the drum-playing chimps, the lion, the toucan and George's own pet dog who just happens to look exactly like an elephant but, it must be admitted, does behave like a dog.
So this inept Tarzan-more-or-less-clone loves his home. We know this because there is a narrator's voice (Keith Scott) with a great sense of humor, who fills us in on anything we ourselves may not be aware of. There is Ursala Stanhope (Leslie Mann) who is on safari in Africa. When George, who has never seen a woman, first meets her he wonders what kind of "funny-looking fella" is this? I told you he has been hit on the head just a bit too often,
George takes the willing Ursala to his 2-storied home while Lyle Van de Groot (Thomas Haden Church), her ostensible sweetheart and safari-companion worries that the giant ape they are seeking may have carried her off. George gives up the jungle to return with Ursala to the "civilization" of San Francisco (as exemplified by Ursala's mother Beatrice Stanhope (Holland Taylor) who informs George that if he does not give up Ursala, Mother will see that George will no longer have a need for wearing a loin cloth. (One of several bits of adult humor.) As it happens, George has to return to Africa (with Ursala) because poachers are after his friends. Before George leaves San Francisco, he has some hair- raising adventures atop the Golden Gate bridge (Joey Preston is the stuntman).
Expecting another Disney film suitable solely for younger children, I was most pleasantly surprised to find myself laughing from beginning to end at this live and lively version of George, suitable for adults as well as kids. To top it off is the beautiful take off of The Lion King which I will not describe. Go see for yourself; it is one funny, slapstick movie.
Directed by Sam Weisman.
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Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman
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