Jana of the Jungle was a 1978 Hanna-Barbera Animated Series created by Doug Wildey, of Jonny Quest fame, as part of The Godzilla Power Hour.
Jana, voiced by B. J. Ward, roams the rainforests of South America in search of her lost father. She is aided by Montaro (Ted Cassidy), a native who is a descendant of a lost warrior tribe, and Dr. Ben Cooper (Michael Bell), a young wildlife biologist who maintains the preserve started by Jana's father. Jana also has two Non-Human Sidekicks: Ghost, an albino jaguar, and Tiko the coatimundi yapok. Jana's collar doubles as a sharp-edged throwable weapon which could—among other things—cut vines and bore holes through cave walls. Montaro wields the equally potent Staff of Power that can cause earthquake-like shockwaves when it strikes the ground.
Jana also made a cameo appearance on Yogi's Space Race.
Tropes:
- Action Pet: Janna has several loyal pets with their own personalities that like to help her out.
- Adventure Series: A show about adventures in the jungle.
- Animated Series: It is a series that is animated.
- Crafted from Animals: Janna wears a fur swimsuit-like dress made from the hide of an unknown animal.
- Deadly Disc: Janna’s necklace doubles as a dangerous throwable weapon.
- Disappeared Dad: Jana's father, although not much is made of it.
- Episode Title Card: The series uses them, as do most Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
- Film Felons: In "The Animal Snatchers", a gang of poachers try to cover up their operation by posing as a documentary film crew. They later catch Jana in a snare, causing her to drop her collar, and abduct Ghost.
- Great White Feline: Jana has a pet white jaguar named Ghost.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Janna has blonde hair, not uncommon for a Jungle Princess, and she is very kind and compassionate. She doesn’t back down from her values, makes friends with animals easily and she always goes out of her way to Save the Villain.
- Jungle Princess: Jana, of course. She fits many of the classic requirements: she's a young American woman who has been stranded in the jungle since childhood, has bonded with the local tribespeople and animals, and protects her home from a variety of threats.
- Lady Land: The Amazons' kingdom in "Race for Life". Despite not liking men trespassing on their territory, they're also wary of Jana.
- Magical Native American: Montaro has shades of this, but is (obviously) a rarer South American version.
- Misplaced Wildlife: Subverted in an episode where a captive elephant breaks loose and is rampaging through the South American rain forest. Here, the elephant is explicitly shown not to be native to the region, forcing Jana to explain to the frightened natives that it is a simply a large animal before she sets out to find it and prevent it from causing irreparable damage or being killed by the natives.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Jana goes everywhere barefoot like most Jungle Princesses, but its contrasted with Mantaro, a native with Boots of Toughness.
- Protagonist Title: The series title is Jana of the Jungle.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Manyaro is a descendent of a lost warrior people.
- Rings of Death: Played With. While Jana's collar is sharp enough to double as this type of weapon, she never throws it at people or animals.
- Save the Villain: In "The Golden Idol of the Gorgas", Jana saves the Gorga chief from crocodiles after he accidentally falls into the river.
- Statuesque Stunner: The Amazons in "Race for Life" are taller than the main characters.
- Vine Swing: One of the ways Jana travels around the jungle.
- The X of Y: The series title is Jana of the Jungle.
