History Franchise / Tarzan

The earlier Tarzan novels are [[PublicDomainCharacter out of copyright]] in the US, but not in Europe, and Wiki/TheOtherWiki suggests he's also trademarked by the author's company. Altogether, that explains why ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' only refers to him as [[CaptainErsatz "Lord Greystoke"]].

* From 1955 to 1950, Gordon Scott, a bodybuilder turned actor, would star in six Tarzan films, starting with ''Tarzan's Hidden Jungle'' and ending with ''Tarzan the Magnificent''.

* SignatureRoar: Tarzan's yell, described in the book as "the victory cry of the bull ape." Later Tarzan adaptations still use Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller 's Tarzan yell, or a variant; it is so well-identified with the character that different roars heard in some films (including those pre-dating Weissmuller or made by others studios) just sound ''wrong''.

* Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller starred in the best known film series, starting in 1932 and with twelves films in total until 1948. Weismuller's films were known for their {{Fanservice}} - male and female - and so much {{UST}} with his co-star Maureen O'Sullivan that MGM was forced to add an adopted son to the series to break it up.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Tarzan is raised by apes and lives among them. In most adaptations he has a monkey or ape as his NonHumanSidekick.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'': The world Deep Jungle is based off of the Disney film.

* 1998's ''Tarzan in the Lost City'' starring Creator/CasperVanDien and co-produced by Stanley S. Canter, one of the producers of ''Greystoke The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes''. Filmed on a modest budget and aiming to be a throwback more comparable with the serials of the 30s, it was a BoxOfficeBomb which made 2 million back from its 20 million budget and irreparably damaged Casper Van Dien's career as a leading man in Hollywood.

* ''WesternAnimation/TarzanOfTheApes''

* ''Tarzan the Fearless'' (1933) was released as both a movie and a serial. It starred Buster Crabbe, making him the only actor to play Tarzan, Film/{{Flash Gordon|Serial}}, and ComicStrip/BuckRogers. Crabbe, like Weissmuller, was an Olympic gold medalist in swimming, and a rivalry between the two was publicized. (In truth they had been friends for years.) Crabbe's production was released in competition with the Weismuller films due to a technicality that allowed other studios to make Tarzan films at the same time as the Weismuller series. Other films were also produced featuring Glenn Morris and Herman Brix during this time.

* The 1984 film ''Film/GreystokeTheLegendOfTarzanLordOfTheApes'' was an attempt at both a more naturalistic and slightly more faithful adaptation of Burroughs' work, including a depiction of Tarzan's returning to England. Notable that except in the film's subtitle, the name Tarzan is never used in any dialog. Generally acclaimed critically, insofar as it was considered a more dignified film than the Bo Derek one.

* Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller starred in the best known film series, starting in 1932 with the talkie ''Film/TarzanTheApeMan'', followed up by eleven sequels up to 1948. Weismuller's films were known for their {{Fanservice}} - male and female - and so much {{UST}} with his co-star Maureen O'Sullivan that MGM was forced to add an adopted son to the series to break it up.

** The second film in the series, ''Film/TarzanAndHisMate'', has its own work page.

* Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller starred in the best known film series, starting in 1932 with ''Tarzan the Ape Man'', followed up by eleven sequels up to 1948. Weismuller's films were known for their {{Fanservice}} - male and female - and so much {{UST}} with his co-star Maureen O'Sullivan that MGM was forced to add an adopted son to the series to break it up.

* MrFanservice: The lead character's standard mode of dress is a loincloth, and sometimes even less; spectacularly displayed by Creator/JohnnyWeismuller and Creator/MikeHenry). Often averted, however, in regards to earlier films in the series (particularly the silents) where the actors chosen to play the role weren't exactly fanservice-friendly, such as the burly first film Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln, and in ''Son of Tarzan'', a middle-aged actor was cast as an older version of the character yet still had a few scenes in Tarzan's standard "uniform".

* FurBikini: Jane often wears a variety of this after settling down in the jungle with Tarzan. Most often it's a one-piece minidress, though in the more {{Fanservice}}-y examples it's a [[BareYourMidriff midriff-baring]] two-piece.

* FurBikini: Jane often wears a variety of this after settling down in the jungle with Tarzan.

* The 1976 Creator/{{Filmation}} Saturday morning [[AnimatedAdaptation cartoon series]], ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'', was among the most faithful of the adapatations; the writers (including Creator/PaulDini) had ''[[ShownTheirWork actually read the books]]''.

First created by Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs in 1912, Tarzan has since swung through dozens of books, films and TV series, both straight and parodied. [[FolkHero Tarzan]] is the quintessential [[NatureHero jungle hero]]; [[MightyWhitey white but at home]] in DarkestAfrica. Often seen in a leopard LoinCloth.

* The Disney feature-length ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' cartoon was relatively free of gross instances of the studio's usual {{Disneyfication}}, although it did turn Jane from an American to a Brit among other things. It also had a villain named Clayton (note that Tarzan's real name in the book was John Clayton, not to be confused with this character who was Jane's fiancé, William Clayton, [[OneDegreeOfSeparation as well as Tarzan's cousin]]). The Disney ''Tarzan'' franchise also spawned an animated SpinOff TV series (''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'') and a stage musical (''Tarzan the Musical'').

For details of the novels, see {{Literature.Tarzan}}.

[[caption-width-right:320:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwHWbsvgQUE AH-EE-AH-EE-AAAAAAAAARGH!!!]]]]

* BarbarianLonghair: Being [[RaisedByWolves raised by apes]], [[WildChild Tarzan]] doesn't pay much attention to how his hair looks. Though in the book series, after learning about "civilized" humans through his father's old books, he cut his hair with a knife to set himself apart. Early silent films alternated between Tarzan being unkempt and clean-cut. Beginning with Weissmuller's films, Tarzan was clean-cut and short-haired. It wasn't until the 1999 Disney film that the long-haired version of Tarzan returned to cinema and most adaptations since have him keep his long hair.