Trivia / The Legend of Tarzan

Animated TV Series:

• Accidentally Correct Zoology: The series shows gorillas catching termites with sticks. Back in 2001, when the show was made, it was believed that only chimpanzees do this. However, in 2014, similar behavior was also observed in mountain gorillas.
• Fake Brit:
  • While Professor Porter had been voiced by an actual Brit (Sir Nigel Hawthorne) in the movie, his replacement here Jeff Bennett is American. Averted with Jane herself, now voiced by Olivia D'Abo.
  • Jane's friends from England - Hazel is voiced by the Canadian Tara Strong, and Greenly by the American Grey DeLisle. Eleanor however is voiced by Nicollette Sheridan, who was born in England, and moved to the US at ten.
  • Philander is voiced by the Scottish-born-American Craig Ferguson.
• Fake Irish: Dr Robin Doyle is Irish and voiced by Sheena Easton, who is Scottish.
• Fake Russian: Ron Perlman as Rokoff.
• The Other Darrin: Most of the cast were different from the film. Lance Henrisken was one of the only ones to reprise his role as Kerchak.
• Out of Order: The three episodes featured in Tarzan & Jane were aired later than the rest (since the show itself aired in 2001, while the direct-to-video film was released in 2002). However, two of those three episodes, namely "The Volcanic Diamond Mine" and "The British Invasion", obviously take place before two episodes of the show, "The Caged Fury" and "The New Wave", respectively, since the events of the former two are referenced in the latter two.

2016 live-action film:

• Box Office Bomb: The film cost $180 million to make, and only made $126.6 million at the US box office. It fared a bit better overseas, boosting it to a worldwide total of $356.4 million, but still not enough to turn a profit. Despite this, however, the film didn't do nearly as poorly as originally predicted, and Warner Bros. asserted it broke even.
• California Doubling: Set in the Congo, but filmed at Warner Bros. Studio in Leavesden, England. (Although background shoots were done in Gabon)
• Celebrity Voice Actor: In the Japanese dub:
  • Tarzan is voiced by the singer Kenta Kiritani.
  • Also and fittingly enough, the Narrator is voiced by the mangaka Goblin, who also did the narration in the animated adaptation of Ninja Slayer.
• Cowboy Be Bop At His Computer: Most reviews of the movie refer to Tarzan’s ape tribe as gorillas, but they are meant to be “mangani”, a fictional species of ape (which is Truer to the Text to the original novels). Granted, them being a separate species from gorillas is only briefly mentioned, and their designs look nigh-identical to gorillas.
• Dawson Casting:
  • George Washington Williams was only 41 when he died in 1891 in Blackpool, but he's played by 68-year-old Samuel L. Jackson. Though to his credit, he certainly looks younger.
  • Leon Rom was thirty in 1889. Christoph Waltz was sixty when he played Rom.
• Dueling Movies: With Disney's The Jungle Book (2016), another story about a Wild Child raised by animals (both of whom have been subjects to Disney Animated Canon films).
• Dyeing for Your Art: Alexander Skarsgård got seriously ripped for the part. Once filming ended, he immediately made up for the lost time/calories by eating a huge pie production had cooked for him.
• Fake American: Australian Margot Robbie as the American Jane.
• Fake Brit: The Swedish Alexander Skarsgård plays the English Tarzan (a.k.a John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke).
• Fake Nationality: The Austrian-German Christoph Waltz as the Belgian Léon Rom.
• Franchise Killer: Tarzan wasn't exactly a hot property by the time 2016 rolled around, and this film's poor box-office returns and critical reception pretty much killed the chances of the ape man's further adventures.
  • However, in 2023, it was announced that Sony were developing a Tarzan movie.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy and Charlie Hunnam were considered for the role of Tarzan before the casting of Alexander Skarsgård.
    • Michael Phelps also had brief discussions for the titular part, but was rejected after the producers watched his performance as the host of Saturday Night Live.
  • Jessica Chastain was originally hired as Jane Porter before Margot Robbie was cast, but departed the project due to scheduling commitments to Miss Sloane.
    • Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Lucy Boynton, Lucy Hale and Georgina Haig were considered for the role of Jane Porter as well before the casting of Robbie.
  • Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Sommers and Gary Ross were approached to direct the movie before David Yates was hired.