a british couple and their baby son has survived a shipwreck. they become stranded off the african coast near uncharted jungles. the couple builds a treehouse to live in. they are later attacked and killed by a vicious leopard called sabor. meanwhile, a family of gorillas are travelling to their feeding grounds. one of them is kala, whose own child was killed by the leopard. she hears the cries of the orphaned baby. she follows the sound across the jungle to the treehouse. she finds the child there. sabor attacks her, but kala and the baby escape without being hurt. they return to the gorilla family. kala decides to raise the child as her own. she names him tarzan. that makes her mate kerchak angry. he tells her the baby will never replace the child they lost.