Did you feel the need to study gorillas or go there? No, that wasn't really the point because you do see any of my movement. It was just about the voice. And when they first asked me to do it, I thought, 'Gosh, if a gorilla opened her mouth what would her voice sound like?' [Mumbled gorilla speech] But that wasn't what they wanted, obviously. They wanted whatever qualities they heard in my voice. Once I got over that, I could relax.

So you weren't watching the movie as you did the voice over? Not at all, because they hadn't done the animation yet. My understanding is that they basically do the detail of the animation after they've gotten the voice. The voice you do quite early on. Two and a half years ago, I think, I had my first session.

You didn't know what you would look like? Oh, yes, they've done that. They know what all the characters will look like. I actually saw the beautiful plaster model of Kala and I saw a lot of the storyboard. I went to the animation building out in California and spend a day there meeting everybody. I met everybody, in every phase of the production, and it was just very eye opening and very impressive to see the artwork. They were working on 'Mulan' at the time, and they have, in the lobby, pictures of the whole cast up with their characters, and a lot of the beautiful art on one hallway. And then they had all of 'Tarzan' on the other. So you really feel like you're part of a very special, gifted team of people. You've spent a lot of time in Africa. I have, yes. Not with gorillas, though. It's what I would love to do. I'm a mother, to me that's Kala. I have a child that I used to sing to, and my daughter's the most important thing in my life. When you have a child you want to protect them, you hurt when they hurt and you want to hopefully give them whatever equipment they'll need to deal with life. And that's basically what Kala tries to do. It's very hard in this day and age to convince a child that who she is, is the most important thing of all. That she does not have to look a certain way, or wear certain clothes, or be in a certain group. Because there's so many forces teaching our children that they have to be a certain way. And it's, I think, family is there to teach children otherwise. Their uniqueness, while they have that connection.

What are your strongest memories of your time in Africa? I went to Africa [because] my parents lived there. I've never been on a safari. They lived in Kinshasa, which is now back to the Congo. The last big even that my father, who was a doctor, was involved in before he left in 1976 was the outbreak of an unknown virus called Ebola. Nobody knew about it, and my dad and I were talking about it one day and I said, 'Man, this would be a great movie.' So I went to Columbia, got $25,000, returned to Africa with my dad in 1987, to a country that was totally in ruins, basically. We found our way; it was one of the greatest trips I'll ever make in my life, 300 miles across the rainforest to the mission where Ebola had broken out. We did some of the initial research and met some of the nuns and priests who had been involved. Then 'Outbreak' came out, and that was it. 'Outbreak' is not the story of Ebola. But that was going deep into the heart of Africa, and that was astounding - the color, the sounds, the people and the overwhelming sounds of the rainforest. So I have very vivid memories of that.

When your parents first went there, you were in your teens.Did you go away to school? I never really lived there. I spent protracted vacation, but I never actually went to school in Africa.

In your last Disney movie, you got to ham it up as Cruella DeVille.Did you have as much fun on this one? It was nice. I mean, I really believe in this movie. I think it's a beautiful movie, and I really like what it says. I've analyzed mother figures in all the great cartoons. Because, first of all, I grew up with them and then I saw them again with my child. I realized that it's very rare to have a mother figure, because, in all the timeless fairy tales, for something scary to happen to a child you have to remove the mother. Mothers protect. So, Bambi's mother dies. Cinderella doesn't have a mother. She has a wicked stepmother. Sleeping Beauty doesn't have a mother. She has little fairies. Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast' doesn't have a mother, and she has a very kind of out of it father. The Little Mermaid doesn't have a mother, and has a very distant father, again, who doesn't understand her. Like Bambi, who has this father who kind of goes by, very formal. I think I'm right, the first of the great-animated features that had a mother that didn't die was 'Lion King.' But she doesn't figure that strongly. It's more Nala, the young lion that figures. So here we are with a story that allows for a great mother figure, but still allows something to happen to the child. And it's rare.

I was worried you were going to die. Oh. I'm glad she doesn't die.

Were you aware of what mannerisms they might have brought to Kala from you? I just asked the two directors because I've been asked this question, and they said basically the eyes.

Do you think it's a big responsibility, playing in a Disney film that's going to be seen by thousands of children? I think it is. I think what Kala brings to this movie is comfort and love and commitment. She says in the very beginning, in the lullaby, 'You'll be in my heart always. I will always be here.' And I think that's what children want to hear. Children want to know that you're going to be there, no matter what they you're going to be there. I think that the most terrible nightmare for a child is to be abandoned. So I think to be a mother who follows through on her commitment, even at the end when it might mean risking losing him, is a very powerful message - to mothers, as well as to children.

What was it like seeing your voice come out of Kala on the screen? It was very strange. Very strange. And then I kind of forgot it was my voice.

Did you do any ad-libbing? No. I can't say I'm a great ad-libber. I have to really be in the mood, and usually I kind of get into trouble when I try to ad-lib. And her scenes are very different; they're very focused. I think the challenge for the voice was to convey her strength and love, and to make it palpable in the voice. Because when you're not used to doing voice acting, I guess, you know that you have your face to rely on, you have your body language to rely on. A lot of acting is what you don't say. And you don't have that. You only have the words. I heard Tony say in one of his interviews yesterday that it's like some sort of crazy acting class, some acting exercise, and he's right. Pure voice.

Do you approach your selection of roles differently as a mother? Absolutely. I feel that there are some movies that are irresponsible to make in the climate of this country. I feel that quite strongly. And you can't, I mean, this country is based on freedom of expression, so it has to be a very individual thing. But I choose to not contribute to certain elements that I think are not healthy. I've turned down things because of that.

'Tarzan' has a very strong anti-gun message.Was that on your mind at all as you did this? Yes. I think that is a very strong message, and I think it's good. Only the bad guy has the gun, not the good guy. Also, it questions, what is civilization? You know, we think we're so civilized. I've questioned that, many times. I don't know what the difference between what's going on in Kosovo and what happened in the Middle Ages. I think there's something in the human spirit that wants catharsis. We want to think that we can start over again. But then how do you get catharsis without bloodshed? And I have this theory that forgiveness is basically how you get that without bloodshed, but forgiveness then becomes a revolutionary act. And who's going to forgive and not be killed? Because in history, the people who have preached forgiveness have basically been killed.

It seems that Tarzan is a new type of role model for masculinity. He doesn't celebrate the ability to overpower. Right. He's an innocent, really, who learns and is kind. I think he has awareness that there are other species on the planet. Now we're putting it all on the story, but I think that was part of Edgar Rice Burroughs as well.

Do you think Hollywood will actually change its ways in the wake of all this media criticism? I just read in the paper yesterday that Fox announced their new shows, and they're all at a level of violence and sex that has never been seen before on TV. And I think, you know, damn them, really. That's my noble end.