Tarzan's Monkey Mom

In the new Disney feature Tarzan, Glenn Close supplies the voice of Kala, the tender-hearted gorilla who raises Tarzan. And she tells CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen that giving voice to an animated gorilla has been a high point of her twin careers as an actress and a mother.

Her daughter, Annie, was one of the reasons Close took the job. But there was another motivation: the character of Kala.

"This is only the second mother figure that exists through the whole movie in the big animated Disney movies," says Close. "What is so rare and beautiful about this story is that the mother exists, and she is allowed to be strong and nurturing, and the story still happens."

There is one scene in which Tarzan, about 5 years old, realizes that he and the gorilla who raised him look very different. To reassure the boy, Kala says, "Close your eyes. Now. Forget what you see. What do you feel?"

Tarzan: "My heart."

Kala: "Come here."

(She holds Tarzan in her arms and he feels the beat of her heart.)

Tarzan: "Your heart!"

Kala: "See? We're exactly the same."

Says the actress, "I like that the message is: 'Yes, we are different. But we are connected by the fact that we all have hearts that beat underneath.' And it is a simple message. But I also think it is a profound message."

Providing a voice for an animated character is a "first" for Close, but she is no stranger to movies for children. She played Cruella De Vil in the live-action version of 101 Dalmatians, which still brings her much awe and recognition from children who recognize her on the street.

"It is so great, because kids are actually thrilled by Cruella, because I think kids like to be scared," explains the actress. "But there is something funny about Cruella as well."

Close has earned five Oscar nominations for roles in The World According to Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), The Natural (1984), Fatal Attraction (1987), and Dangerous Liaisons (1988). ("I don't spend a lot of time looking at my old movies," she says.)

As an actor, what has to happen in a scene for Close to feel that she has done her job?

"That is intangible, you know?" Close replies. "I have a great friend who is a great Hungarian director, andÂ…in a moment where a take really works, he says, 'The angel just passed over.' I think all great art is something that has been brushed by an angel."