Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle

I have only vague memories of this show, in it's various incarnations. What I do remember is the great animation (for Filmation, anyway) and the entertaining stories. Despite the prohibitions against violence, Filmation was still able to keep the adventures exciting. The use of rotoscoping, where animation is drawn over film of live action, gave it a more fluid movement. The only real problem was the use of stock footage, to keep the costs down. It tended to make the episodes somewhat repetitive. I do remember that there were many stories about lost civilizations, much like Opar, from the novels. It was a definite change of pace from the typical Saturday-morning fare of the time.

It's too bad that Filmation's work is unavailable in the US (except for recent releases of Fat Albert). They produced many great shows, although many were licensed products and not actually owned by the studio. I would love to have DVD's of Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Zorro, Shazam, Isis, Space Sentinels, The Groovie Goolies, and other shows.

This was my first exposure to Tarzan, along with the old Johnny Weismuller movies, although I remember being confused at the differences between the two versions. I preferred my Tarzan `smart,' meaning speaking perfect English, but I always wondered why the cartoon Tarzan didn't carry a knife (thanks, network censors!) But otherwise it was perfect, the kind of show that made me go out in the backyard and do Tarzan yells until I was hoarse. It also made me seek out the Tarzan novels in my school library, and made me a fan of one of fiction's great heroes.

I really wish someone would show this series again (Cartoon Network, I'm looking at you!) It had adventure, excitement, fine animation, and it made an excellent introduction to the Tarzan legend. I hope I get to see it again someday.

The Jungle; here I was born; and here my parents died when I was but an infant. I would have soon perished too, had I not been found by a kindly she-ape named Kala, who adopted me as her own and taught me the ways of the wild. I learned quickly, and grew stronger each day, and now I share the friendship and trust of all jungle animals.

The jungle is filled with beauty, and danger; and lost cities filled with good, and evil.

This is my domain, and I protect those who come here; for I am Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. This series of TV was sensational. N'Kira, Gomangani. Great. Another series that liked a lot was " Tarzan NBC series " with Ron Ely.

I have fond memories of this series when I was a child. It also prompted me to read the original series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. In some ways, the character is faithful to the books. But there's no explanation of why he's still in the jungle. In the books, Tarzan stopped living alone when he met white people for the first time, had his first romance, and learned English, went to England to become educated. This Tarzan already speaks English, but has no regular contact with civilization, and seems strangely uninterested in women.

And while the stories individually were well written with impressive dialog, they don't make a lot of sense in the aggregate. For one thing - this jungle has Vikings, Romans, Aliens, colonial hunters, mad scientists, etc, but no native black Africans?? Maybe the producers were worried that would offend black viewers?

The other thing that doesn't make sense - how many dozens of lost cities and civilizations can there be, all within a short walking distance of Tarzan's jungle? And, this guy who is supposedly lord of the jungle didn't know about any of them, even though some of them had been there for hundreds or even thousands of years?

Animation looks a little dated and a lot of it is recycled. Still, it was a heck of a show for it's time. Ambitious, imaginative, and full of wonder. Enjoy and just don't take it too seriously!