George of the Jungle (film)

George of the Jungle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sam Weisman
Produced by	David Hoberman Jordan Kerner Jon Avnet
Screenplay by	Dana Olsen Audrey Wells
Story by	Dana Olsen
Based on	George of the Jungle by Jay Ward
Narrated by	Keith Scott
Starring	Brendan Fraser Leslie Mann Thomas Haden Church Holland Taylor John Bennett Perry Richard Roundtree John Cleese
Music by	Marc Shaiman
Cinematography	Thomas E. Ackerman
Editing by	Kent Beyda Roger Bondelli Stuart Pappé
Studio	Mandeville Films
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	July 16, 1997 (1997-07-16)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Spanish Swahili
Budget	$50 million
Box office	$174,463,257

George of the Jungle is a 1997 live-action, family-oriented, romantic-adventure-comedy film based on the characters from the original cartoon of the same name. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures with Mandeville Films and originally released to movie theatres on July 16, 1997. It stars Brendan Fraser as the eponymous main character, a primitive man who was raised by animals in an African jungle; Leslie Mann as his wealthy American love interest; and Thomas Haden Church as her treacherous fiancé.

A direct-to-video sequel, George of the Jungle 2, was released on DVD in 2003, however only four of the original actors returned for the sequel.

Plot

The film begins with an animated introduction showing a plane crash in which George, then an infant, is lost in a jungle in "the Heart of Africa" (more specifically, a region called "Bukuvu"). Over 25 years later, George (Brendan Fraser) is a Tarzan-like man, the "King of the Jungle". His friends include a sophisticated talking gorilla named Ape (voiced by John Cleese), along with a toco toucan named Tookie, a small capuchin monkey (played by Crystal), and an African elephant named Shep, whom he calls his "dog" (all voiced by Frank Welker).

The live action begins as heiress Ursula Stanhope (Leslie Mann) explores the jungle near George's home with the help of her guide, Mr. Kwame (Richard Roundtree) and some native porters. She has traveled to Africa alone, but she is joined by her wealthy fiancé, Lyle Van De Groot (Thomas Haden Church), who has found her with the help of Max and Thor, (Greg Cruttwell and Abraham Benrubi) two poachers who are posing as trackers. That evening, Mr. Kwame recounts the legend of the White Ape, said to be a huge, super-strong primate who rules the surrounding jungle.

The next day, Lyle almost causes the death of one of the porters, and he abandons Ursula when he and she are attacked by a lion. George saves Ursula and takes her to his treehouse home (albeit unconscious), and Lyle returns to the camp, claiming to have been attacked by the White Ape. While the exploration party searches for Ursula, George entertains her and teaches her to swing on vines. He also falls in love with her, so Ape advises him to woo her by making faces and beating his chest, as gorillas do. This fails to impress Ursula, but George wins her over with his charm, and they enjoy an evening of dancing around a campfire.

On the third day, the explorers discover George's treehouse, and Lyle shoots George as George tries to prevent the poachers from shooting Ape with a tranquilizer gun. While Lyle is jailed for the shooting, Ursula flies George to her home in San Francisco for medical treatment and buys clothes for him, and George explores the city and saves a paraglider's life. With George's help, Ursula finds the courage to tell her parents that she no longer wants to marry Lyle, but her mother (Holland Taylor), who is intent on marrying her to a man of wealth and prestige, threatens George to give Ursula up or she would "remove his reason for wearing a loincloth".

Meanwhile, the poachers capture Ape, knowing that he can speak. Ape manages to send Tookie to San Francisco to ask George for help. When Tookie finds George, George returns to Africa, and, after realizing she loves George, Ursula follows. George finds the poachers at the treehouse, with Ape in a cage, and he defeats them after an extended battle, with help from Ursula and his animal family. However, Lyle appears, having escaped from prison and joined a cult, and kidnaps Ursula with help from several mercenaries. Having been made a minister by his cult, Lyle intends to marry himself to Ursula immediately. After escaping the mercenaries with help from his gorilla friends, George chases Lyle and Ursula as they float into some river rapids on a raft, then saves Ursula while Lyle enters a dark tunnel. After performing his wedding ceremony and exiting the tunnel, Lyle discovers that he has just married a gorilla.

After admitting their love for each other, George and Ursula are married in a jungle ceremony, and they eventually have a son, whom George holds at the top of a rock outcropping in a scene derived from The Lion King. The film ends in Las Vegas, where Ape performs a song-and-dance act using the poachers as stage props.

Cast

• Brendan Fraser as George, a strapping young man who was raised in the jungle and frequently crashes into trees while swinging on vines.
• Leslie Mann as Ursula Stanhope, a wealthy heiress
• Thomas Haden Church as Lyle van de Groot, Ursula's wealthy, despicable fiancé
• John Cleese as Voice of Ape, a well-educated talking Gorilla
• Richard Roundtree as Mr. Kwame, Ursula's jungle guide
• Greg Cruttwell as Max, a poacher that works for Lyle
• Abraham Benrubi as Thor, a poacher that works for Lyle
• John Bennett Perry as Arthur Stanhope, Ursula's father
• Holland Taylor as Beatrice Stanhope, Ursula's mother
• Keith Scott as Narrator
• Frank Welker as Voice of Little Monkey, Shep, Tooki Tooki Bird, and Gorilla sound effects
• Kelly Miller as Betsy, Ursula's friend
• Abdoulaye N'Gom as Kip, Ursula's friend
• Michael Chinyamurindi as N'Dugo, Ursula's friend

Gorilla Suit Performers

• Tom Fisher
• Jody St. Michael
• Philip Tan
• Lief Tilden
• Robert Tygner

Animals

In the opening animated sequence, various animals swing on vines with young George, his "dog" Shep fetches a crocodile instead of a log, and a wildebeest falls in love with a bushman wearing a wildebeest mask.

In the live action film, a whole host of animals are seen. George fights with a lion, accidentally swings on a snake instead of a vine, rides an elephant, talks to a bird, and lives with various monkeys and apes.

The lion, elephant, and bird scenes were all filmed with a mix of real animals, puppetry (especially for the lion fight), and CGI (to show the elephant acting like a dog). The scenes with the orangutan, a chimpanzee, and the capuchin monkeys were filmed with live animals, but some computer work was used in a scene wherein the little monkey imitates George. The large Apes who live with George were all costumed actors or animatronic figures with the gorilla suits provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. In the "Pride Rock" scene, when George presents his son to the animals, CGI work is again used.

Soundtrack

Track #2, the Johnny Clegg song "Dela", also features the first few bars of the original George of the Jungle theme song.

1. "George of the Jungle" (Sheldon Allman, Stanley Worth) - 2:53 - Presidents of the United States of America
2. "Dela (I Know Why the Dog Howls at the Moon)" (Johnny Clegg) - 4:16 - Johnny Clegg & Savuka
3. "Wipe Out" (Jim Fuller, Berryhill, Patrick Connolly, Ron Wilson) - 2:39 - The Surfaris
4. "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" (Traditional) - 0:57 - Roger Freeland, Jon Joyce, Steve Lively, Gary Stockdale
5. "My Way" (Paul Anka, Jacques Revaux, Claude François, Gilles Thibault) - 1:11 - John Cleese
6. "Aba Daba Honeymoon" (Walter Donovan, Arthur Fields) - 1:55 - Karen Harper
7. "George of the Jungle" (Allman, Worth) - 1:03 - "Weird Al" Yankovic
8. "Go Ape [The Dance Mix]" (Michael Becker) - 3:25 - Michael Becker
9. "Jungle Band" (Michael Becker) - 3:18 - Carl Graves
10. "George to the Rescue" - 1:11
11. "Rumble in the Jungle" - 3:15
12. "The Little Monkey" - 2:23
13. "George of the Jungle [Main Title Movie Mix]" (Marc Shaiman) - 2:20

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 54% from 50 critics with an average rating of 5.3/10. Roger Ebert awarded the movie three out of four stars praising the film as "good-natured" and complimenting the cast's comedic performances.

Box office

The movie debuted at No.2 at the box office behind Men in Black, becoming a box office success.

External links

• George of the Jungle at the Internet Movie Database
• George of the Jungle at Box Office Mojo
• George of the Jungle at Rotten Tomatoes