Tarzan premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on June 12, 1999, and was released in the United States on June 16, 1999.
The animation of the film combines 2D traditional hand-drawn animation with the extensive use of computer-generated imagery, and it was done in California, Orlando, and Paris, with the pioneering computer animation software system Deep Canvas being predominantly used to create three-dimensional backgrounds. Meanwhile, the production team embarked on a research trip to Uganda and Kenya to study the gorillas. English recording artist Phil Collins was recruited to compose and record songs integrated with a score by Mark Mancina. Following Murphy’s first draft, Tzudiker, White, and Dave Reynolds were brought in to reconstruct the third act and add additional material to the screenplay. Pre-production of Tarzan began in 1995, with Lima selected as director and Buck joining him the same year.
The excerpts from Mark Mancina's score may push the melodrama buttons a little hard, but they are effective blends of African and movie music. The core elements, however reminiscent of The Lion King they may be, aren't bad in and of themselves (apart from "Trashin' the Camp," a jive lyric-less doo wop parody). As recently as Aladdin, Disney's animated films had rich soundtracks filled with robust songs and surging, dramatic scores.
It's an exercise in recycling, essentially. It follows the same formula that's informed every Disney soundtrack since The Lion King - take two sweeping ballads and one up-tempo dance number, and surround them with reprises and re-recordings for radio, as well as excerpts of the score. Undoubtedly inspired by Elton John and Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for The Lion King, the soundtrack for Tarzan, Disney's summer 1999 blockbuster, has little of the freshness that makes the film a visual treat.