The Tarzan Chimp is a character who was featured in the 1998 Disney direct-to-video film The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story.
Background
Personality
This chimp is shown to be the leader of the chimpanzees, often shown to be troublesome towards Baloo and Mowgli. He is shown to obey Shere Khan and Tabaqui's plans to help him separate Mowgli from Baloo and Bagheera. When he and the other chimps lure Mowgli into a hut located in a territory the chimps call "Monkey Town", this led to the latter being tricked into being locked into a hut, leaving Mowgli unable to escape until Baloo came to the rescue, revealing the Tarzan Chimp's behavior of being a trickster to Mowgli, showing the chimp's true nature. Afterwards, when Mowgli escaped and then Shere Khan entered the hut where Mowgli escaped with the help from Baloo and Bagheera, the Tarzan Chimp approaches Shere Khan to know if he found Mowgli, which Shere Khan inadvertently offends him by calling him a "jumbo chimp cocktail", a drink named after chimps, causing the Tarzan Chimp, the chimps, and the other monkeys to flee away in panic, which could imply that the Tarzan Chimp thinks that Shere Khan betrayed him and no longer wants to follow his orders.
Role in the film
In a plan to take revenge against Mowgli, Shere Khan asks Tabaqui to know if he found any new recruits for his reinforcements which the reinforcements the hyena found are chimpanzees, including the Tarzan Chimp where they comment on Shere Khan's thoughts of Baloo being an enemy to him which the tiger asks him to know if they would go to his secret honey stash which they agree to take over Baloo's honey stash which Shere Khan only allows them to take it after they lure Mowgli away from Baloo and Bagheera. The next day, the Tarzan Chimp and the rest of his fellow chimps approach Mowgli who tell him to play with them, much to Baloo's worry just as the chimps taunt Baloo by throwing fruits at him which Baloo roars in fury and as Mowgli overhears the Tarzan Chimp yelling "Party time!", Mowgli then decides to party with the chimps at Monkey Town, unaware that the chimps are luring Mowgli to a trap. As the Tarzan Chimp and the rest of his troop lead Mowgli to a territory known as "Monkey Town", the chimps then lure Mowgli into a hut for him to explore. However, it turns out that the Tarzan Chimp and the other chimps are using this as a trap to lock Mowgli inside, leaving him unable to escape.
Later, the Tarzan Chimp approaches Shere Khan and Tabaqui who reports to them that he and his fellow chimps have captured Mowgli just like they planned, which Shere Khan congratulates him for capturing Mowgli, offering him to work for the tiger who is looking for new sidekicks to assist him, which the Tarzan Chimp denies, just as Shere Khan plans to find Mowgli and eat him. After Baloo and Bagheera rescue Mowgli from Monkey Town, Shere Khan and Tabaqui arrive there in a plan to kill Mowgli only to find out that Mowgli has escaped. The Tarzan Chimp then appears again and asks him to know if he has captured Mowgli, which Shere Khan insults the Tarzan Chimp by calling him a drink named after chimpanzees, causing the Tarzan Chimp, alongside the other chimps and monkeys, to run away in fear. The Tarzan Chimp does not appear again after that.
Trivia
- The Tarzan Chimp and the rest of the chimpanzees were created exclusively for the 1998 Disney adaptation of The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story and have no original counterparts in the original 1967 film nor do they appear in Rudyard Kipling's original book. He is also not related to King Louie from the original 1967 film as well.
- The Tarzan Chimp's name is not mentioned in the film and his name was only listed in the end credits.
- His name is a reference to the character "Tarzan", a character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is possible that his name is an indirect reference to Cheeta, a chimpanzee character that appeared in the 1930s-1960s eras of the Tarzan films as well as the TV series 1966-1968.
- Curiously, Disney would later release a film in 1999 titled Tarzan starring the titular character of the same name, one year after the release of The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story.
- The Tarzan Chimp's position as leader is a possible reference to the dominant male chimps being the ones who lead groups of chimpanzees, showing that chimpanzees are patriarchal - unlike its relative the bonobo where the dominant females are the ones leading groups of bonobos.
- In real life, chimpanzees live in Central Africa, not India where the Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story was set.
