George of the Jungle movie storyline. Ursula Stanhope, a San Francisco heiress, tours Uganda with local guide Kwame and a trio of porters Kip, N’Dugo, and Baleto. Ursula is joined by her fiancé, Lyle Van De Groot, who tracked her down with help from two poachers Max and Thor. Lyle intends on whisking Ursula home to marry her, but his pompous buffoonery irritates the porters, particularly when he nearly kills one by shaking a rope bridge. Kwame tells Ursula of the legend of the “White Ape”, said to be a superhuman primate who rules the local jungle.
The next day, Lyle tries to drag Ursula away but they are attacked by a lion. Lyle tries to flee but knocks himself out. Ursula is rescued by the legendary White Ape, revealed to be George, who is child-like and has a habit of crashing into trees when swinging on vines. George takes Ursula to his treehouse home, where she meets his extensive family of apes, including an intelligent talking gorilla named Ape.
George also has an African elephant named Shep who he treats like a dog, a toco toucan named Tookie who provides gossip, and Little Monkey, an emotional capuchin monkey. Meanwhile, Lyle, Max, Thor, and the porters search for Ursula. George befriends Ursula, teaching her how to swing on vines, and tries to woo her following Ape’s advice to do so in the manner that a gorilla would. When this fails, he then charms her with a dance around a campfire.
Lyle, Max, and Thor discover George’s treehouse, and Lyle accidentally shoots George with a firearm he mistook for a novelty lighter. While Lyle is arrested, Ursula flies George back to San Francisco to get him medical treatment. George explores the city and rescues a paraglider on the Bay Bridge. Ursula, uninterested in marrying Lyle, admits the truth to her parents, but her overbearing mother Beatrice objects, wanting her to marry the wealthy Lyle.
At a party, Beatrice takes George aside and tells him to give up Ursula for her own sake or else she would turn George into a eunuch. In Africa, Max and Thor capture Ape with the intention of using him to make money. Tookie is sent to retrieve George, and they return to rescue Ape. Ursula realizes she loves George and departs to follow him with her father Arthur’s blessing.
George of the Jungle is a 1997 American live-action film adaptation of the Jay Ward cartoon of the same name, which is also a spoof of Tarzan. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures with Mandeville Films and The Kerner Entertainment Company 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 love interest; and Thomas Haden Church as her treacherous fiancé.
George of the Jungle (1997)
Directed by: Sam Weisman
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church, Holland Taylor, Richard Roundtree, John Cleese, Abraham Benrubi, Kelly Miracco, Spencer Garrett
Screenplay by: Dana Olsen, Audrey Wells
Production Design by: Stephen Marsh
Cinematography by: Thomas E. Ackerman
Film Editing by: Roger Bondelli, Stuart H. Pappé
Costume Design by: Lisa Jensen
Set Decoration by: Kathryn Peters
Art Direction by: David M. Haber, Mark Zuelzke
Music by: Marc Shaiman
MPAA Rating: PG for crude humor and mild violence, language and sensuality.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: July 16, 1997
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