Is Tarzan outdated?

[Apositive]

Someone in one of the FTC threads on Tarzan reMegos described the character as "irrelevant" and in need of reinvention.


My view, as a huge fan of both Tarzan and Edgar Rice Burroughs, is that the character is not irrelevant but perhaps outdated a bit. At the time of Burroughs' writings, the African jungle was seen as a vast mystery......Burroughs expanded on the mythology of apes with his own creatures and added early science fiction and fantasy to the mix.

Burroughs had lost Roman cities and the like in his Africa, how cool was that? Anyone who has read the original novels can attest to his imagination.

Nowadays, when kids learn about the jungle, they learn about colonialism, its inherent horrors and the need to preserve wildlife. The character just doesn't have the same resonance.

I grew up with the CBS/Filmation animated series, which was a lot of fun. I've never seen the Disney animated version- that's just because I don't like Disney.


I read recently that the new Tarzan live action feature is in serious trouble....



What are your thoughts on Tarzan? Chime in......

[enyawd72]

I think characters like Tarzan (and similarly the Lone Ranger) are simply lost on this generation.
For better or worse, we live in an age where cutting edge advanced technology has permeated every single aspect of our lives virtually 24/7.
Extreme athletes who regularly perform mind-blowing stunts, and ultra realistic effects laden video games and movies are the norm.
How can a guy who simply swings from vines in the jungle possibly compete with any of that? I mean, that was the most impressive thing Tarzan did, and now it's been done to death. Heck, it's even old when Spider-Man does it now.
Same thing with the Lone Ranger. He's just a guy wearing a mask with a gun and a horse. Where's his gadgets? His impenetrable body armor? His grappling gun and super cool car?
It's really no different than what's happened with horror movies over the decades. The more audiences see, the less impressed/scared they are, the more they need to see.
Just as the movie monsters of the 1930's have lost their ability to scare, the movie heroes of the 1930's have lost their ability to thrill.
I even think we're starting to see then end of the current super hero craze. All of these gigantic "destroy the entire city" movies are beginning to look and feel the same.

[hedrap]

I said Tarzan's irrelevant.

Dwayne hit a lot of the main points if you just contemporize the idea. It's been done several times already, post-Greystoke and it never works.

The problem is the character is anachronistic. As you mentioned, the cultural emphasis on colonialism makes it impossible to do a period setting using Burrough's source material. It's not common knowledge but studios run scripts pass interests group, who then note aspects of the script that could be considered offensive. Imagine what Tarzan is going through.

So if you move Tarzan into a future context, the odds are they're going to get sued for copyright infringement. If it's robots, that's Magnus Robot Fighter. If it's an alien planet, you're really close to, ironically, John Carter.

Their best bet, crazy as it sounds, would be to make it a sequel to Planet of The Apes. Sort of an inversion of The Caesar story.

[LonnieFisher]

I don't think Tarzan works in this day and age.

[TrekStar]

I don't think Tarzan works in this day and age.

Unfortunately that seems to be the deal today, although he was very very popular between the 1930's
up to the 80's, were in a new age of heroes and I think most people view Tarzan as dare I say, old fashion and
unscientific. Like Batman he technically has no super powers, but Batman has the dark setting vigilante
effect, with a big fan club of the 1966 series and many movies since, with a great erray of villians unlike Tarzan.

[palitoy]

It's great Americana literature, he'll be rebooted and retooled until the day we die. Some will work, other's won't, he's a brand that everyone knows like King Kong, Superman or Dracula.

Nobody has ever truly captured the fantasy elements of the character correctly, it could be a hit the same way the Mummy or Pirates of the Caribbean was, if handled correctly.

However, I also don't base a properties worth on what Hollywood does with it or what the public makes a hit.

[Mikey]

I was never really a fan of Tarzan but I will acknowledge his relevance as the first TRUE modern action hero.

BTW, if they switch the setting from Africa to South America it could still work - at least the raised in the jungle stuff

[Werewolf]

In the early 1900s there was an almost mythical level of fascination with Africa and South America. As time and culture went on we learned there weren't things like lost worlds of Dinosaurs in the Amazon and it's hard to see African Mountain Gorillas a some kind of mythical beast or savage man eater when they are generally gentle and shy and their diet consists of fruits, leaves and termites.

It's kind of like how science fiction movies don't show alien civilizations on our moon or Venus anymore. Audiences know better and that kind of stuff just doesn't work anymore.

[MIB41]

I think the Tarzan license still has viability but more as a children's tale than a high adventure, big budgeted attraction. In fact, the last successful venture was the Disney animated feature which grossed $448 million worldwide back in 1999. That was 16 years ago, so a newly animated (3-D style) feature could likely produce another financial windfall. But developing the story for older audiences to compete with the likes of Batman or Iron Man is a far removed idea right now. He simply doesn't fit with the current sensibilities for modern audiences to influence an investment from big studios. But I've learn to never say never. Licenses that have survived for over 100 years don't tend to get there by accident. Like anything that is enduring, it takes that journey through high points and valleys as fads and trends either make them relevant or obsolete. But a good idea tends to stay a good idea for another generation. So maybe a better way of saying it is the license does not currently appear to be in vogue. But Apositive, if you love the character, that remains proof positive the license still has life to it. Keep the faith. History says his day will come again in one form or another.

[Apositive]

In the Burroughs books, Tarzan wasn't raised by gorillas or chimpanzees but an ape race that was made up.

[Apositive]

I generally find that once people read the Burroughs novel, they gain an appreciation of the character as opposed to those who just know the TV or film adaptations. The series became repetitive but the first few books are well worth reading....

[JediJaida]

I never read the Burroughs books, but from what my dad told me, they were a cracking read. He grew up in the 40's, and had easy access to them, as well as the Black Stallion series, the Conan series, John Carter of Mars, etc.

The so-called science fiction that is being touted these days doesn't really have a lot of imagination in it, and has become formulaic.

I used to love the CBS/Filmation series. It showed a Tarzan that was free of Jane, Boy and Cheetah, and didn't speak in a jungle pidgin language. He came off as well spoken, thoughtful, compassionate and fairly reasonable; up until you started exploiting the animals or the natives. Then he got ticked off.

Bob Ridgely did such a wonderful job of voicing him; I was truly saddened when they cancelled the series, and I feel that that kind of animation cannot be done again today. Sure, technically, it can be done, but when it comes to the imagination, storytelling, acting and directing, THEN it can't be done.

If you were to try to do a Tarzan movie today, it would have to be done very carefully in order to preserve the fantasy elements.

We all know that the Africa we have and the Africa in the Tarzan series are two totally different continents, and that Tarzan's has no basis in reality. That's the beauty of it, isn't it?

Imagine a continent with lost Roman cities; Atlantean outposts; Spanish conquistadors; the Bull Mangani; the Hawk People; all sharing the continent with 'ordinary' Africans.

Come to think of it, there never were any 'ordinary' Africans in any of the cartoons, were there? The series was so focused on aliens, lost Roman cities, etc., they never showed any Africans. Nearly everyone was as white as Tarzan was!

[Hector]

I was never really a fan of Tarzan but I will acknowledge his relevance as the first TRUE modern action hero.

BTW, if they switch the setting from Africa to South America it could still work - at least the raised in the jungle stuff

But there are no wild chimps or gorillas in South America...just boring spider monkeys...

[Mikey]

But there are no wild chimps or gorillas in South America...just boring spider monkeys...

Maybe, but I would also be afraid of the natives in South America ... If the natives in Africa don't like you they might shoot you --- If the South American natives don't like you you may be their next lunch

[LonnieFisher]

Tarzan was a very dated story, and updating to today doesn't really work.