Tarzan Takeoffs
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Since Edgar Rice Burroughs unveiled his Tarzan creation in the October 1912 issue of All-Story magazine, many different versions have appeared in popular culture.
Tarzan takeoffs were inevitable.
Our hero swings from a vine and shouts a trademark yell.
His athletic prowess compensates for his broken English.
His dedication to and love for his animal neighbors rivals the emotions exhibited by Dr. Doolittle and Aquaman.
In sum, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creation provides rich fodder for creators to capitalize on Tarzan’s popularity, whether seriously or comedically.
Hollywood has produced several homages to the Lord of the Jungle in parody and straight form, the latter category evidencing a thin ‘creative borrowing’ quality with the former containing outrageous humorous angles.
In 1973, Disney mined the character for laughs in The World’s Greatest Athlete, a benign college comedy film. Faced with a bottomless losing pit of sports teams and even poorer prospects, Coach Sam Archer decides to ‘make the dream happen’ for Merrivale College. How? By recruiting a native with superhuman speed and complementary athletic ability that he witnesses first-hand on an African safari vacation with Assistant Coach Milo Jackson.
Africa is home to Nanu, a boy native of college age played by a then fresh face -- Jan-Michael Vincent. Coincidentally, Vincent plays the antagonist, Brightmore, in the 1989 tv-movie Tarzan in Manhattan.
Archer convinces Nanu’s godfather, Gazenga, to let the lad enroll at Merrivale. Nanu’s tutor, Jane, soon becomes his romantic quest.
Dayle Haddon plays Jane.
Nanu constitutes a one-man team at the 50th NCAA Track & Field Championships with the competition of USC, Villanova, BYU, and University of Texas-El Paso. He leads Merrivale to victory! But all good things must come to an end.
Nanu wishes to return to his native land with Jane. What goes around comes around as Archer and Milo take a trip to China where they witness Chin-Yang, a Chinese boy with extraordinary athletic abilities.
Celebrities make cameos in The World’s Greatest Athlete and lend a tongue-in-cheek realism to the story. Howard Cosell, Jim McKay, Bud Palmer, and Frank Gifford showcase their sports casting talents in the film. In particular, Cosell’s performance pokes fun at his perceived persona of arrogance and recalls his appearances as himself on The Odd Couple episodes Big Mouth and Your Mother Wears Army Boots. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire illustrious career!”
Jim McKay, Bud Palmer, and Frank Gifford also appear as themselves in The World’s Greatest Athlete
Bill Toomey, World and Olympic Decathlon Champion, is the film’s Athletic Technical Advisor. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the film’s music.
The World’s Greatest Athlete has deep roots in television. John Amos (Good Times) plays Coach Archer. Tim Conway (McHale’s Navy, The Carol Burnett Show) plays Assistant Coach Milo Jackson.
Conway’s comedy cohort Carol Burnett made her interpretation of Tarzan’s famous yell as identifiable a trademark as tugging on her earlobe. During the opening sequence of The Carol Burnett Show, she bantered with the audience, received Tarzan yell requests from the audience, and gladly obliged.
However, Carol Burnett’s link with Tarzan predates her Emmy-Award winning show.
On November 11, 1962, Burnett guest starred on The Jack Benny Program. She plays Jane in the Jack Plays Tarzan sketch.
Inspired by the Tarzan movie on the Late Show, Burnett and Benny imagine themselves as the jungle couple after twenty years of marriage. It gives Burnett the opportunity to display her trademark yell.
Peter Lupus of Mission: Impossible fame plays an unspeaking Tarzan in the scene before Benny plays him 20 years-older.
Episodic television series of the 1950’s and 1960’s also contributed takeoffs of the jungle-bred hero.
While the era’s prevalent female roles on television signified domestic duties, a syndicated offering contravened the status quo with a sexy and powerful Tarzanesque heroine.
Irish McCalla plays the title role in Sheena, Queen of the Jungle (1955), based on the comic strip of the same name. The comic strip debuted in Jumbo Comics #1 (September 1938). S.M. Iger and Will Eisner created Sheena.
In 1984, Tanya Roberts reprised the role in the film Sheena. Roberts’ television resume includes two hits -- Charlie’s Angels and That 70’s Show.
In addition, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. presents a female Tarzan in the episode The My Friend the Gorilla Affair. TV Guide’s log line summarizes the story.
In Africa, Solo and Illya’s efforts to defeat a mad professor lead them to an encounter with a lady Tarzan, her pet gorilla, a puzzling British sportsman, a horde of red ants and, to top it all off, a herd of dying elephants.
Vitina Marcus plays Girl, the so-called Lady Tarzan.
In two episodes, Gilligan’s Island spoofs Tarzan. Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy features a then unknown Kurt Russell as a teen Tarzan. The 1994 film Exit to Eden shows the episodes lasting impression when sex dominatrix Mistress Lisa reveals her physical attraction to Russell in the episode. Dana Delany (China Beach, Desperate Housewives) plays Mistress Lisa.
Denny Miller, a former film Tarzan himself, pokes fun at the character in Our Vines Have Tender Apes. In this episode, Miller plays ‘Tongo,’ a Tarzan character parody. The castaways learn his true identity, an actor researching a ‘king of the jungle’ movie. Miller also played a surfer on another Gilligan’s Island episode.
Sherwood Schwartz created Gilligan’s Island, the first part of a one-two mega successful television syndication punch. Fans will recognize Miller from Schwartz’ second creation, The Brady Bunch. In the episode Quarterback Sneak, Miller plays Tank Gates, an old college flame of Carol Brady. He calls her Twinkles, her old nickname.
In the 1967-68 television season, two unsold pilots recall Tarzan. Tay-Gar stars Mike Henry who actually played Tarzan in a movie. Harry Ackerman and Bob Claver served as Executive Producer and Producer. They found greater television success behind-the-scenes with Bewitched and The Partridge Family respectively.
Walter of the Jungle features Jonathan Daly in the title role.
Jim Harmon and Donald F. Glut detail attempts to capitalize on Tarzan’s popularity in The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. For example, Otis Adelbert Kline’s novel Jan of the Jungle debuted in a 1931 issue of Argosy. It inspired Universal’s serial Call of the Savage (1935) featuring a teenage Tarzan as the central character.
Universal also produced Jungle Jim (1937), a serial based on King Features’ comic strip. Jungle Jim stars Grant Withers in the title role. Alex Raymond created the Jungle Jim and Flash Gordon strips. Both strips debuted on Sunday, January 7, 1934.
In 1948, the Jungle Jim character resurfaced on the big screen with Johnny Weismuller in the title role, yet another instance of a film Tarzan playing an imitator character. Matt Crowley played Jungle Jim on radio.
Also, Republic a.k.a. ‘King of the Serials’ produced Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) based on William L. Chester’s book of the same name. Two years prior, Blue Book magazine serialized Hawk of the Wilderness. In the story, Tarzan imitator Kioga governs an island north of the Bering Strait rather than the wilds of Africa.
Columbia produced two Tarzan takeoffs, the first being Congo Bill (1948). Action Comics showcased the Congo Bill character, its first appearance taking place in More Fun #56 (June 1940). Olympic hero and former Tarzan actor Buster Crabbe paid homage to the Lord of the Jungle in Columbia’s serial King of the Kongo (1952), notable because it is the last serial depicting a Tarzanesque character.
Crabbe plays Thunda a.k.a. United States Air Force Captain Roger Drum who travels to Africa to expose a group of subversives. Pha, an alluring jungle woman, rules the native group responsible for rescuing Drum after his plane crashes in the jungle. The comic book Thunda provided the story basis.
Coincidentally, Crabbe played a Tarzan type twenty years prior in Paramount’s King of the Jungle (1933). He portrayed Kaspa, the Lion Man, a jungle native raised by lions.
Other films borrow heavily from the Lord of the Apes legend. The Bomba film series premiered with Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949). Johnny Sheffield came full circle in portraying the title character. He played ‘Boy’ in the Tarzan films.
Two MGM shorts gave comic relief. Charlie Chase stars in Nature in the Wrong (1932) as a timid Tarzan wannabe and Jimmy Durante portrays ‘Schnarzan’ in Hollywood Party (1934).
Comic books also serve the Tarzan simulation genre well. Ka-Zar made his comic book debut in Marvel’s X-Men #10 (1964). The character initially appeared in the pulp arena in 1936.
Dell Comics presented two interpretations. Kona first appeared in 1962. Kona #4 (October-December 1962) exhibits a young Tarzanish character in the Kona stories.
Former United States Air Force Colonel Thomas Tawney’s private plane crashes in the Jungle of Vetala, ‘somewhere between India and China.’ Unlocated plane wreckage leads to the presumption that Tawney and his passenger, seven year-old son Forbes, did not survive the crash. Remarkably, though, Forbes survives unharmed. Thoth, leader of the apes, recognizes quasi-extrahuman traits in Forbes as does Naga, the serpent king. Thoth defeats Naga in a battle to control Forbes’ education because both strongly believe Forbes’ survival has a purpose deeply steeped in destiny.
Thoth renames the courageous boy who embraces his new jungle friends, recalling Tarzan’s alliance with the jungle animals. The closing narrative reinforces the friendship between Thoth and his new protege.
Its real beginning, however, did not take place until Forbes was renamed Ana by Thoth, himself, and brought like a lost son might have been brought, to take his place among his forgotten brothers. All too soon was Ana destined to learn what brotherhood meant.
Additionally, Jungle Comics featured several Tarzan-like characters in the 1940s. Kaanga -- Jungle Lord and his companion Ann, Camilla -- Queen of the Empire, and Red Panther evoke the original Lord of the Apes. Also, Tabu -- Wizard of the Jungle Volume 2, #16 (April 1941) contains what now would be a politically incorrect introductory narrative. Tabu, jungle born and bred, combines white man’s wisdom and black man’s witchcraft...he befriends the gentle animals and people...fights the evil...”
In the same issue, two other narrative descriptions succinctly explain the essence of the characters.
Wambi, the Jungle Boy, has power in the jungle and ‘rules over its animals whose language he speaks and who obey him implicitly.’
Fantomah rivals Sheena and Camilla for the crown of Queen of the Jungle. A beautiful jungle princess uses her magic powers to fight dark and ageless evil...the jungle’s heritage.
Finally, Red Panther enjoys a costume similar to the Phantom’s and Jungle Lore describes worldwide legends of the jungle. Jungle Comics also produced stories centering on a lion ruler with a familiar name to fans of The Lion King -- Simba, King of the Beasts. The aforementioned issue contains a Simba story.
Animation imitations of Tarzan round out the takeoffs. George of the Jungle features an inept Tarzanian character. Brendan Fraser played the character in the 1997 live-action film version. Created by Jay Ward, the show’s theme song has a 1960’s go-go beat.
Jana of the Jungle showcased Jana, a beauty born in the jungle.
Tarzan’s influence, popularity, and appeal enjoy global impact. Shame of the Jungle is a 1975 French-Belgian animated film. In 1979, Saturday Night Live writers Anne Beatts and Michael O’Donoghue reworked the film for American audiences as an R-rated cartoon satire with voices including those of Johnny Weissmuller, Jr., John Belushi, and BIll Murray. Years later, Tarzan joined other broken English speaking pop culture icons Tonto and Frankenstein in recurring SNL sketches featuring the trio singing.
A pop culture hero’s popularity, status, and power can be measured by the takeoffs, spinoffs, and parodies it inspires. The numerous pretenders to the throne of the King of the Jungle attest to this theory.