by Leah Stone
With all of the hubbub over the latest Tarzan film set to be released on the 2nd of May in the UK, I decided to cover the whole of the Tarzan franchise in this week’s article.
With all of the hubbub over the latest Tarzan film set to be released on the 2nd of May in the UK, I decided to cover the whole of the Tarzan franchise in this week’s article.
Now, pretty much everyone who owns a TV has seen the 1999 Disney film version of Tarzan. However, that is not where the story of Tarzan started. No, Tarzan was first featured in a book called Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Burroughs, the first of a series of books containing Tarzan as the title character. The 1999 film version does share some of the same characters as the original books, however its plot it strikingly different (for example, in the book series, Tarzan’s adoptive ape mother is killed by an African tribe). The Disney film, in comparison, has the same beginning as the books (Tarzan’s parents die and he is adopted by apes) but to make it more child-friendly, Tarzan meets Jane Porter and her scientist father. Upon discovering his humanity, he learns some of the human ways before his ape family is threatened by the “bodyguards” that the Porters brought with them. Tarzan falls in love with Jane and, just as she is about to sail back home, she realises that she loves him to, and both her and her father decide to stay in the jungle.
There have also been many other renditions of Tarzan, the first film being in 1918, Tarzan of the Apes, with Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan. From 1932 to 1948 there was a series of 12 films, starting with Tarzan the Ape Man, competing with several other film versions up until 1999. There have also been a variety of TV shows, many lasting only a short period of time, and also the TV movie Tarzan in Manhattan (1989) and its sequel Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (1996) perhaps more famous than the TV series themselves.
Tarzan has been a part of our popular culture for nearly 100 years. It’s not particularly educational, nor does it correctly represent Africa. Yes, Tarzan’s morals show that you should protect who you love, to be accepting of those different to you and that change can be a good thing. But Tarzan, to a child, is more of a fun film to watch than an educational one. I know many people that grew up dancing around the room pretending to be apes, practicing his yelling call and banging on their chests. Imitating other people the way Tarzan imitates Clayton’s walk.
Tarzan has been a part of our popular culture for nearly 100 years. It’s not particularly educational, nor does it correctly represent Africa. Yes, Tarzan’s morals show that you should protect who you love, to be accepting of those different to you and that change can be a good thing. But Tarzan, to a child, is more of a fun film to watch than an educational one. I know many people that grew up dancing around the room pretending to be apes, practicing his yelling call and banging on their chests. Imitating other people the way Tarzan imitates Clayton’s walk.
I am sceptical about the new 3D movie. Tarzan has been made and remade so many times that I feel there could be other avenues to explore rather than a plot that has 89 listings on IMDB. But, then again, the last Tarzan was 15 years ago, perhaps it is time for something fresh. Bringing it into the future may dust off the old cobwebs and make the whole experience a whole lot more realistic. Or do we prefer the less advanced animation of 1999, the silent films of the early 20th century?
I just hope that the new Tarzan film is as good as it is made out to be, otherwise it will be awful to have such a wonderful childhood film ruined by high-tech CGI and lifelike animation.
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