First created by
Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, Tarzan has since swung through dozens of books, films and TV series, both straight and parodied.
Tarzan is the quintessential
jungle hero;
white but at home in
Darkest Africa. Often seen in a leopard
Loin Cloth.
In
the original books, Tarzan was the son of Lord Greystoke,
raised by apes after being orphaned in Africa as a baby. After meeting Jane and learning the basics of human interaction, he left the jungle in search of his true love. They married and settled in England, where they had a son, but eventually grew tired of civilization and returned to the jungle.
Most of the
films omit Tarzan's English sojourn and his status as Lord Greystoke. Instead, he has often been provided with a
pet chimpanzee and an adopted son — the latter because the film Tarzan never formally married Jane, and thus was not allowed by the
Hays office to actually have gotten her pregnant.
Tarzan's further adventures generally have one of two plots: either Tarzan discovers a
Lost World, or he defends his African friends against European villains. Along the way, Tarzan and his family became immortal, if only in the literary sense.
The quote at the top of the page is a
Beam Me Up, Scotty!, as Tarzan did not say it in any of the books, or even, exactly, in any movie - he just slapped his chest and said "Tarzan", then poked Jane and said "Jane". (In the books,
Tarzan was very intelligent, and by the end of the series, spoke something like thirty languages.)
The earlier Tarzan novels are
out of copyright in the US, but not in Europe, and
The Other Wiki suggests he's also trademarked by the author's company. Altogether, that explains why
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen only refers to him as
"Lord Greystoke".
The
Jungle Princess is his
Distaff Counterpart.
For details of the novels, see
Literature.Tarzan.
Adaptations of the
Tarzan books include:
Film - Live Action- Johnny Weissmuller starred in the best known film series, starting in 1932 with Tarzan the Ape Man, followed up by eleven sequels up to 1948.
- 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, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers. 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.)
- The 1984 film Greystoke 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.
Film - Animated- The Disney feature-length 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, as well as Tarzan's cousin). The Disney Tarzan franchise also spawned an animated Spin-Off TV series (The Legend Of Tarzan) and a stage musical (Tarzan the Musical).
Live-Action TV- Several TV series. The best known in the United States is the 1966 series Tarzan, starring Ron Ely, which lasted for two seasons on NBC.
Newspaper Comics- A daily newspaper strip from 1929 to 1972 and a Sunday paper strip from 1931 to 2000, both distributed by King Features Syndicate and featuring the work of a variety of writers and artists.
TheatreWestern Animation
Various adaptations provide examples of:
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