Tarzan
Clayton is the main villain from the Disney film Tarzan. His first name is not given in the movie, but in the American version of the film's video game, he is known as Caspar. He is voiced by Brian Blessed.
There is no direct model for Clayton in the Tarzan series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs on which the movie is based. In the novels, Clayton is the surname of Tarzan's family, his own true name being John Clayton. The movie's Clayton appears to combine elements of Tarzan's cousin William Cecil Clayton, a rival for the love of Jane Porter in the first two novels, and Nikolas Rokoff, the series' first true villain, who appears in the second book, The Return of Tarzan. Neither, however, is much of a hunter.
Randy Haycock, the supervising animator for Clayton said in an interview for the special edition 2 disk DVD said "We tried to come up with one word to describe the character and the word we came up with was charismatic. He's really brutal, he's malicious and the part of him that’s charismatic and charming is simply there to hide his true nature, that's brutal and malicious".
Film appearance[]
In the film, Clayton, a veteran, serves as guide for Jane and her father Professor Porter on an expedition to Africa in search for gorillas, but his secret agenda is to use the trip as a means to hunt gorillas to sell on the black market. The character is arrogant and totally convinced in his own abilities and his invulnerability; Blessed said on him "Clayton's life is all about romance, a life long romance with himself. Clayton's an absolute, total egomaniac".[1][broken footnote]
With the introduction of Tarzan to the expedition, Clayton makes several attempts, all unsuccessful, to get the location of the gorillas from Tarzan.
With both his and his employers' goals thwarted, Clayton prepares to leave Africa with Jane and the professor. Manipulating Tarzan's feelings for Jane, he convinces the ape man they will stay if he takes them to the gorillas, which he does. Kerchak, the head gorilla, is angered by the trespass and attacks Clayton for brandishing a gun against the band.
Luckily for Clayton, Tarzan manages to calm down the frenzied ape. Disowned by Kerchak, he agrees to return to England with Jane and the professor, only to be surprised and imprisoned with them when they board the ship by Clayton and some pirates working for him. Now that the villain no longer needs them he wants them all out of the way so that he and his cronies can capture the gorillas and sell them to a zoo for three hundred pounds.
The heroes manage to escape and free the gorillas. Clayton confronts Tarzan and takes the battle to the treetops. Becoming tangled in a mass of vines, Clayton, in a blind fury, cuts his way through, unwittingly causing his own end from an uncut vine wrapped around his own neck. Tarzan tries to warn him but Clayton doesn't listen and in his rage, accidentally cuts the vine he's holding onto. Clayton falls and is killed when the vine around him snaps his neck. His dead body is only seen in a shadow as Tarzan watches his body hang from a tree.
Alternate Ending[]
There was an alternate ending to the original movie where Clayton and Tarzan fight on a boat where Clayton has some gorillas in cages and is trying to make an escape along with his henchmen.
In this version Clayton battles Tarzan with a machine gun and a dagger while making references to Tarzan being a savage and not a real man, which is reminiscent of the statement made in the actual ending. In this version, he dies when some barrels of oil catch fire and blow up the boat both Tarzan and Clayton are trapped on the boat but Clayton meets his end when support ropes tie up his legs and bring him down with the boat causing him to drown
This ending was dropped because it was felt that it was more appropriate to have the final fight in the jungle and allow the jungle to play a part in Clayton’s downfall (the vine around his neck).[1] They also wanted Clayton to appear more animalistic and rely more on brute force in his battle with Tarzan. Hence he has a lot less dialogue in the final version, except for his xenophobic remark, and is a lot more violent in his attacks. This alternate ending can be found on the special edition 2 disc DVD.
In other media[]
Legend of Tarzan[]
Clayton makes two flashback appearances in the TV series The Legend of Tarzan. In the episode Tarzan and the Gauntlet of Vengeance its revealed that he has a sister, Lady Waltham (voiced by Amanda Donohoe). She (or rather her valet, Hobson) kidnaps Jane, Tantor, Terk, and the Professor, and injects Tarzan with a fatal poison (via blowdart) and informs him that the antidote lies far away on a distant mountain named "Clayton's Peak". He, therefore, has a choice, to suffer as she had (and lose those he loves) or as Clayton had (and lose his own life). This episode also shows the scene where Clayton accidentally hangs himself.
Clayton also "appears" in the episode Race Against Time, when Tarzan gets bitten by a spider that causes him to hallucinate; because of this, he mistakes Professor Porter, who is holding a bamboo cane for Clayton and his gun.
In the episode Rough Rider, he tells Roosevelt after he tried to shoot Tantor that he hunts like Clayton. He asks when Tarzan swings away, "Who's Clayton?"
Kingdom Hearts[]
Clayton from Kingdom Hearts.
Clayton appears in the game Kingdom Hearts, accompanying Jane in the jungle. In contrast to the film, where he wanted to sell the gorillas for money, he seeks to kill the gorillas as hunting trophies, under the pretense of researching them with Jane. Desperate to find the gorillas, he asks Tarzan to direct him and Jane to the gorillas, but Tarzan refuses. Along the way, he finds Donald and Goofy stranded in a forest, and takes them to the campsite, where they are reunited with Sora.
After Tarzan finally decides to take them to the gorillas (since Clayton suggested that Sora's lost friends, Riku and Kairi, might be with the gorillas) Clayton wanders to the old treehouse and sees Terk. He aims with his rifle, but before he can shoot her, Donald stops him. Clayton claims he was aiming at a snake, but the others don't believe him. They go back to the camp and tell Jane what happened. Jane berates Clayton for his actions and forbids from going near the gorillas again. Furious, Clayton storms out and vows to get to the gorillas if it's the last thing he ever does. The darkness in Clayton's heart subsequently brings the Heartless to the world, and he uses them to round up the gorillas and capture Jane.
In the final confrontation with Clayton, Sora beats him to the point where he summons an invisible Heartless named the Stealth Sneak. After both are defeated by Sora, the dying Stealth Sneak collapses on top of Clayton, who is crushed to death. He is later briefly discussed by Maleficent, Oogie Boogie, Jafar and Ursula in Hollow Bastion, who brag about Clayton's weak heart and how he was swallowed by darkness in the end.
Clayton was not associated with Maleficent or any member of her council of Disney villains, making his role in the game very similar to that of Shan Yu in Kingdom Hearts II. Brian Blessed reprises his role as Clayton for the English version, and Banjō Ginga does his Japanese voice.