Product Description

Disney presents the smash hit comedy that families and critics everywhere went bananas over! Deep in the heart of the African jungle, a baby named George, the sole survivor of a plane crash, is raised by gorillas. George grows up to be a buff and lovable klutz (ENCINO MAN'S Brendan Fraser) who has a rain forest full of animal friends -- like Tookie, his big-beaked messenger, Ape, a talking gorilla who's smarter than your average rocket scientist, and Shep, a gray-haired peanut-loving pooch of an elephant! When poachers mess with George's pals, the King Of Swing swings into action. But before you can say, "Watch out for that tree," George comes face-to-bark with a few vine-covered obstacles! You'll go wild for this "wonderfully wacky comedy" that People Magazine calls "impossible to resist!"|The elephant, Shep, is played by Tai, a 28-year-old veteran of such films as RUDYARD KIPLING'S THE JUNGLE BOOK and OPERATION DUMBO DROP. Tai was made up each day by a cosmetics artist who would cover the animal in gray and brown tones to keep her colors consistent.|While San Francisco and Hawaii provided outdoor locations, parts of the jungle were also built indoors, using the former Hughes Aircraft hangar in Playa del Rey, California, the same place Howard Hughes built his Spruce Goose.|Tai's doglike movements were added by Dream Quest Images through computer-generated enhancements. Ape and the other gorillas were the result of teaming live actors with a sophisticated radio telemetry system devised by the Jim Henson Creature Shop.|Inspired by the wit, style, and humor of Jay Ward, who produced the animated TV series for four years, the film's producers retained the series' catchy and now classic theme song.

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Not even the executives at Disney could have predicted the runaway success of this live-action movie inspired by Jay Ward's goofy 1960s cartoon character. Not only did George make a killing at the box office, but Disney's marketing wizards turned it into one of their best-selling videos. It's hard to begrudge the movie's success, even if this is the kind of mindless entertainment that caters to the lowest common denominator. In any case, it's obvious that kids love this movie, in which the idiotic George (Brendan Fraser) repeatedly swings into trees and attracts the attention of a lovely jungle explorer (Leslie Mann) who decides to call off her engagement to a wealthy snob (Thomas Hayden Church) in favor of the vine-swinging hunk with an elephant named Shep (that thinks it's a dog) and an ape named Ape (with a proper Brit voice provided by John Cleese). Filled with slapstick gags and some funny special effects, the movie can be a bit of a trial for adults, but it's a hilarious treat for its intended audience. --Jeff Shannon