Happy 101st Anniversary, Tarzan!

My original plan for Tarzan 101 was to take the month of October off so I could focus on the Halloween Countdown, but once we finally got here, it seemed silly not to talk about Tarzan in the very month of his anniversary. That's why I've been ramping up the 101 posts lately and here we are.

If anyone knows for sure which date the October 1912 All-Story hit the stands, they haven't shared it with me, but that was the issue that featured the first installment of Edgar Rice Burroughs' new novel about an English baby adopted by African apes.

I've had such a blast going through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration and I hope you've enjoyed this series of posts. Thanks so much to Griffin for writing the awesome book and to Titan Books for sending me a copy. It was a perfect way to celebrate the centennial, even if I did it a year late. And thanks to you guys for reading and sharing your own Tarzan experiences with me. You can be sure it won't be the last time the ape man comes up on this blog.

[UPDATE: The awesome @ERBurroughsFan tells me that the Oct. 1912 issue of The All-Story was copyrighted and put on sale on Sept. 10, 1912. So I'm way late, but really grateful for the info.]

Tarzan 101 | Further Reading

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

The final chapter in Griffin's book is a bibliography of other books that interested fans can go to for more information. The granddaddy of these is the 820-page Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Man Who Created Tarzan, written by Irwin Porges with the cooperation of Burroughs' family and access to their exhaustive archive of Burroughs' letters, photos, and other memorabilia. It was published in 1975, the year in which Burroughs would have celebrated his 100th birthday.

There are a ton of other books that get shout outs by Griffin - far too many to list here - so I'll send you to Griffin's book if you're interested in the entire list. Porges' biography is worth singling out though, so I wanted to make sure it got a post.

Taran 101 | Burroughs' Later Years

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Two months after he finished writing his final novel, Tarzan and the Foreign Legion, in 1944, Burroughs' first wife Emma passed away from a stroke. He was still a war correspondent at the time, but got leave from the army - as did his and Emma's son, Hulbert - to return to California to be with the rest of the family and settle Emma's affairs. It was Christmastime and the first time Burroughs had celebrated the holiday with his entire family in 11 years.

In February 1945, he returned to duty in Hawaii and embarked on a final army tour shortly after Germany surrendered in May. On one leg of that tour, he was piloted by swashbuckling film legend Tyrone Power who was serving in the Marine Corps at the time.

After the war with Japan ended in August, it took Burroughs another couple of months to prepare and move back to California. Sadly, his health was already failing and he suffered from various heart ailments as well as Parkinson's disease. He started a new Tarzan novel in California, but only got 15,000 words into it before giving it up.

Sol Lesser was making Tarzan movies at the time and Burroughs stayed in contact with the productions. He got to see Tarzan and the Leopard Woman and one of his last outings was to the set of Tarzan and the Slave Girl. Ultimately though, his health declined to the point that he was confined to a wheelchair and he spent his final days watching TV (a new invention in the late '40s and Burroughs loved watching sports on it) and receiving visits from family and friends.

He died of heart failure in bed on Sunday morning, 19 March 1950, reading the Sunday Tarzan strip in the paper. His ashes were buried under a large tree in front of the ERB, Inc. office.

Tarzan 101 | Edgar Rice Burroughs' Fantastic Worlds

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Griffin's chapter on Burroughs' non-Tarzan stories is probably also the longest and with good reason: There's a lot to cover. Griffin highlights the best of the many other series and standalone stories that Burroughs wrote, with short summaries of each. I'm going to condense it into an easy list, but as usual, Griffin's version has more details than mine.

Before I do that, though, I want to point out that Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. is adapting some of the most famous of them (plus Tarzan) as weekly webcomics on the ERB site. There's a subscription of $2 a month, but you get about 24 pages of comics/month for that and the first few pages are free.

I should also mention that Griffin includes a whole other chapter called "The Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs." It's simply a list, so I won't reproduce it, but it's complete and also includes all the movies, TV and radio shows, Broadway productions, and comics.

Martian novels

Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and Warlord of Mars: The original John Carter trilogy in which the hero goes to Mars, meets its various inhabitants, and fights against the cult of a horrific goddess.

Thuvia, Maid of Mars: John Carter's son, Carthoris, rescues and woos a Martian woman.

Chessmen of Mars: Carter's daughter, Tara, and her husband are forced to battle as living chess pieces in an arena.

The Mastermind of Mars: A new earthman, Ulysses Paxton, arrives on Mars and battles an evil scientist.

A Fighting Man of Mars: Another hero fights another mad scientist to rescue another princess.

Swords of Mars: John Carter returns to combat an assassins guild.

Synthetic Men of Mars: The villain from Mastermind creates more trouble and has to be defeated by yet another Martian hero.

Llana of Gathol: Combines four novelettes featuring Carter and his granddaughter, Llana as they try to stop a megalomaniac.

John Carter of Mars: Combines two novellas in which Carter meets a giant and travels to Jupiter.

Venusian novels

Pirates of Venus, Lost on Venus, Carson of Venus, and Escape on Venus: A more humorous approach than the Martian series as Carson Napier accidentally ends up on the wrong planet and chases a princess and fights monsters in an attempt to rescue her.

Lunarian novels

The Moon Maid, The Moon Men, and The Red Hawk: Set in the future, humans try to take Earth back from alien invaders.

The Time novels

The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, and Out of Time's Abyss: Burroughs' other lost land besides Pellucidar, which Griffin covered in an earlier chapter due to its crossover with Tarzan. But though Pellucidar and TLTTF are Burroughs' most famous lost worlds, they're not his only ones.

Miscellaneous fantasies

The Lost Continent: Burroughs' third lost land is set in a future in which the world has been devastated by a long war.

Jungle Girl: A doctor discovers a lost civilization, and a princess of course.

The Cave Girl: An ill-equipped smartie-pants is marooned on an island and learns to survive with the help of a primitive woman.

The Monster Men: A Tarzan/Frankenstein hybrid in which a mad scientist creates a heroic giant.

The Lad and the Lion: Another Tarzan-esque tale where a young man tries to survive in North Africa with a lion companion.

Beyond the Farthest Star: Burroughs' final space story wasn't as romanticized as the Martian or Venusian ones. A WWII pilot finds himself on an alien world beleaguered by its own war.

The Mucker trilogy

The Mucker and Return of the Mucker: An anti-hero from the slums of Chicago fights samurai warriors on an island.

The Oakdale Affair: Continues the story by following the Mucker's hobo companion in a murder mystery.

Real-life novels

The Efficiency Expert: A dude becomes an efficiency expert with no prior experience.

The Girl from Farris: A romance between a wealthy businessman and a poor woman.

Marcia of the Doorstep: Burroughs' attempt at the Great American Novel, but with island marooning, a Western ranch, and a Hollywood stunt pilot.

The Girl from Hollywood: A thinly disguised homage to life on Burroughs' ranch and how it was way better than Tinsel Town.

Baltic romances

The Rider: Inspired by books like A Prisoner of Zenda, Burroughs wrote this story of mistaken identity between a dashing highwayman and prince.

The Mad King: Another mix-up between an adventurer and a royal.

Historical romances

The Outlaw of Torn: Medieval English adventure.

I Am a Barbarian: Fun times in Caligula's Rome.

Westerns

The War Chief and Apache Devil: Highlight the perspective of the Apaches during their wars with the U.S. cavalry.

The Bandit of Hell's Bend: A more conventional Western.

The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County: Adventure on a New Mexico dude ranch.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan of the World Wide Web

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Griffin's chapter on Tarzan's Internet fandom includes information on the founders of important sites, especially Bill Hillman of the massive (and massively useful) ERBzine, but it's probably most useful for me to just give links and send you to Griffin's book if you're curious about background. There's plenty to explore.

Official Sites
Official Edgar Rice Burroughs site
Tarzan.com
Tarzan.org

Burroughs Family
John Coleman Burroughs
Danton Burroughs

Fandom
ERBzine
Burroughs Bibliophiles
Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship Listserver
ERBmania!

Movies
Tarzan Movie Guide
Tarzan.cc
Johnny Weissmuller

Humor
The Barsoomian Blade: A Tabloid Paper of Mars

Tarzan 101 | Fan Conventions

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

About half of Griffin's chapter on Tarzan conventions is a lengthy quote from Tarzan of the Apes in which Burroughs describes the Dum-Dum ceremony held by the apes to mark important events. The other half though is full of great information about the real-world legacy of that celebration.

The Burroughs Bibliophiles started their version of the Dum Dum to coincide with the annual World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon). It was at the 18th WorldCon in 1960 that the Bibliophiles held their first meeting and they continued meeting that way for the next 24 years, only meeting at other conventions when WorldCon was held outside the United States.

When Bibliophiles founder Vern Coriell's health became too poor to allow him to continue leading the club in 1984, the Bibliophiles and the Dum Dum went on hiatus, but Burroughs fans didn't give up meeting. British fan (and pen pal of Burroughs) Frank Shonfeld started the Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship, originally a network of letter-writers, and ECOF held its first, formal meeting in Toronto in August 1984.

Though ECOF continues meeting to this day (this year's was in May in Morris, Illinois), when George McWhorter restarted the Burroughs Bibliophiles he also reinstituted the annual Dum Dum, though as a separate event from WorldCon. ERBzine has a wonderful timeline of meeting dates and locations that even includes some short anecdotes from various gatherings. This year's Dum Dum was held in Louisville, Kentucky on August 8-11.

One of the major activities at the Dum Dum each year is bestowing awards. The Golden Lion Award is commonly given to professional creators and actors who've contributed in some way to Burroughs' legacy. The Edgar Rice Burroughs Achievement Award is given to prominent fans for their efforts in keeping alive the author's memory. The Dum Dum has also honored significant contributors to Burroughsdom like Hal Foster, Frank Frazetta, Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Crabbe, Harlan Ellison, and Philip Jose Farmer.

Tarzan 101 | Fans and Fan Publishing

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

We've talked before about some of the children's fan clubs that sprang up around Tarzan over the years, but grown-ups also appreciate the ape man and have organized groups and publications in celebration of that passion.

The earliest successful endeavor was started by Vernell Coriell, a childhood member of the Tarzan Clans youth club who didn't give up his fandom in adulthood. He corresponded with other fans like the legendary Forrest J. Ackerman and Ray Bradbury, and in 1948 launched the first Burroughs fanzine, The Burroughs Bulletin, with the writer's blessing.

It was through the Bulletin that readers organized the first all-ages fan club/literary society, The Burroughs Bibliophiles. The group held its first meeting at the 1960 Worldcon in Pittsburgh. The Bulletin remains in publication today and the Bibliophiles still exist, though they went dormant in the '80s when Coriell's health prevented his being as active as he had been.

Fortunately, a new leader emerged. Librarian George T. McWhorter had founded the Edgar Rice Burroughs Memorial Collection in 1976 and continued adding to it, including buying Coriell's large Burroughs collection when Coriell died in 1987. Then, three years after Coriell's death, McWhorter also assumed publication of the Bulletin and resurrected the Bibliophiles.

Though the quarterly Bulletin and its monthly spin-off publication, the Gridley Wave, are the grandparents of Burroughs fanzines, they're certainly not the only publications dedicated to Burroughs' work. ERBania has been around since 1956 and Hugo Award-winning ERBDom started publication in 1960. Griffin includes a list of dozens of other Burroughs-focused publications, including Edgar Rice Burroughs News Dateline, Tarzine, The Burroughs Newsbeat, and The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. ERB, Inc.'s official Tarzan website also has an excellent list of clubs and publications with contact information for each.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan the Global Phenomenon

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Burroughs' descriptive prose, fantasy setting, and focus on action made Tarzan easily translatable into other languages and the novels quickly became internationally popular during the author's lifetime. Griffin gives details about many of the translations, including Burroughs' rocky relationship with Germany following the anti-German Tarzan the Untamed. Tarzan also had some problems in Soviet Russia, but that was because the government was upset that the novels were more popular than Marx. As of Griffin's writing, Tarzan had been published in 32 languages, including Esperanto and Braille.

The Tarzan films also proved popular globally, but what's most interesting to me are the various spin-offs and adaptations created specifically for other countries. Italy, China, and India have all created their own movie versions of the character. France had its own Tarzan comics in WWII. Argentina and Australia both created radio versions of the character. We've also previously talked about Tarzan's influence on Japanese fitness and Australian glue. One of the most fascinating phenomena though has been the unauthorized Tarzan novels written by Israeli and Arab authors in which the ape man has served each group in fighting the other. As Griffin writes, "Tarzan's appeal crosses the most widely divergent political and ideological lines."

Tarzan 101 | Authorized Sequels

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

There have been countless unauthorized stories and fanfictions about Tarzan over the decades, but Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. has put its stamp of approval on only ten novels so far featuring the ape man written by someone other than Burroughs. Griffin actually only mentions nine, but another has been published since Griffin's book and I've included it below.

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold by Fritz Leiber (1966)

The first authorized, non-Burroughs Tarzan book was actually the novelization of the Mike Henry movie, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold. Like any good novelization, Hugo-winner Leiber (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) included several elements from Clare Huggaker's original script that didn't make it into the movie, including a carwash fight and using submachinegun bolos to bring down a helicopter.

Tarzan Alive by Philip José Farmer (1972)

An Adventureblog reader emailed to ask if I would consider doing a separate blog post on Tarzan Alive, that's how important this book is to Tarzan fans. I'm looking for an angle of attack on that, but in the meantime, Tarzan Alive (subtitled: "The Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke") was written by another Hugo-winner (multiple times, in addition to a couple of Nebulas, a Locas, and various Lifetime Achievements).

Farmer's best known works are his World of Tiers and Riverworld series, but he's probably most famous for his Wold Newton theory, the idea that all the greatest adventure heroes (from Captain Blood and Sherlock Holmes to James Bond and Nero Wolfe) not only live in the same universe, but are mostly related to each other. Farmer first presented that idea in Tarzan Alive and continued it in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life.

Tarzan Alive is written as if Tarzan was an actual, historical person whom Burroughs fictionalized in order to protect the ape man's privacy. Farmer takes the role of a biographer who looks into other branches of the Clayton family tree while also exploring the factual possibility of Burroughs' ideas.

Bunduki by J.T. Edson (1975)

Edson was mostly known for Westerns when he approached ERB, Inc. about using Tarzan in one of his novels. A fan of crossovers and Farmer's Wold Newton idea, Edson loved including historical (Wyatt Earp, for instance) and other people's fictional characters (hello, Marshal Dillon) in his stories. He also created a complicated genealogy that connected many of his own characters, including James Allenvale "Bunduki" Gunn, cousin of the hero of Edson's Rockabye Country series.

Bunduki also happens to be married to Dawn Drummond-Clayton, Tarzan's great-granddaughter and the grandniece of Bulldog Drummond. Bunduki met Dawn when his parents were killed in the Mau Mau Uprising (an historical conflict that took place in Kenya in the '50s) and he was adopted by Tarzan and Jane. During the novel, Bunduki and Dawn are abducted by aliens and taken to the world of Zillikian, located on the other side of the sun in the same orbit as Earth.

Edson wrote four more novels in the series (Bunduki and Dawn, Sacrifice for the Quagga God, Fearless Master of the Jungle, and the unpublished Amazons of Zillikian) as well as four short story prequels set on Earth, but his ERB, Inc. contracted having ended, he left out any references to Tarzan in them.

Tarzan: The Lost Adventure by Joe Lansdale (1995)

The only book on this list that I've read (so far), The Lost Adventure was originally serialized by Dark Horse Comics in four volumes. Based on an unfinished manuscript by Burroughs, the editions had covers by Arthur Suydam and interior illustrations by Thomas Yeates, Charles Vess, Gary Gianni, and Michael Kaluta.

Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep) didn't just finish Burroughs' story, but rewrote it in his own voice. That said, it's got an authentic Burroughs feel to it with two groups invading the jungle to look for a lost city. The good group is led by a professor and his daughter, and there's an evil group of deserters from the French Foreign Legion. Jad-bal-ja and Nkima also make appearances.

The whole story has since been collected in one volume.

Tarzan: The Epic Adventures by R.A. Salvatore (1996)

Salvatore (TSR's Forgotten Realms series) wrote the novelization of the pilot for the Tarzan: The Epic Adventures TV show. The pilot itself was a loose retelling of Burroughs' The Return of Tarzan mixed with a trip to Pellucidar.

The Dark Heart of Time by Philip José Farmer (1999)

Not a sequel to Tarzan Alive, Farmer's second Tarzan book is all about Burroughs' fictional character. It's set between Tarzan the Untamed and Tarzan the Terrible and reveals additional details about Tarzan's search for Jane in those books.

Though this was his only other official Tarzan novel, Farmer also wrote unauthorized stories in which Tarzan met Sherlock Holmes ("The Adventure of the Peerless Peer") and Doc Savage (the Nine trilogy: A Feast Unknown, Lord of the Trees, and The Mad Goblin).

Another unauthorized book, the time travel story called Time's Last Gift, references the Wold Newton universe while also serving as a prequel to Farmer's trilogy about prehistoric Opar (Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, and The Song of Kwasin).

Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy by Andy Briggs (2011)

I know Briggs as the writer on the last couple of issues of the comics adaptation of Kong: King of Skull Island, but I'm curious about his authorized reboot of the Tarzan legend for the Young Adult audience. I talked briefly with him about it when it was announced a couple of years ago, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. In The Greystoke Legacy, he reimagines Tarzan as a modern teenager stranded in the jungle. With a strong environmental theme, the book recasts Jane as the daughter of the boss at an illegal logging camp.

Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior by Andy Briggs (2012)

The sequel to Greystoke Legacy has young Jane digging into Tarzan's past while the ape boy tracks Nikolas Rokoff, a hunter who's poached a baby gorilla.

Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell (2012)

Maxwell (The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn) is best known for her historical novels, but she turned her research to early Twentieth Century Africa for this retelling of Tarzan's story from Jane's perspective.

Tarzan: The Savage Lands by Andy Briggs (2013)

The third in Brigg's YA series introduces Opar and La to the updated series.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan the Collectible

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

One of the things that's struck me most in Griffin's book is learning what an impressive businessman Burroughs was. As Griffin points out, a lot of people think of the Davy Crockett coonskin cap fad in the '50s as the birth of heavy licensing and merchandising, but the phenomenon predates that by a couple or three decades. Superman was a notable example, but the strategies implemented for that craze were developed by Stephen Slesinger while under contract to Burroughs.

For a while, Burroughs didn't mind people making money off Tarzan without paying him. He was flattered and even produced Tarzan manuscripts on unlicensed Tarzan paper. As the trend continued though, he began to be concerned about the dilution of the brand.

One example of that was Hollywood cowboy star Ken Maynard, who requested permission to name his horse Tarzan. Burroughs granted it, but grew annoyed when MGM began using the horse's name in movie and serial titles.



The first official licensed Tarzan product was a 1922 stuffed monkey that was produced by Davis & Voetsch, a toy company in New York. Sadly, I couldn't find a photo of the doll, but the picture at the top of this post is from a 1932 promotion for the Tarzan of the Apes radio show. Three different sponsors distributed over 400,000 of the clay figurines manufactured by the Gem Clay Forming Company.

The photo of the clay figures came from a cool Tarzan Appreciation thread on the Universal Monster Army message board, and there are a lot more awesome toys and collectibles to be seen there. Another great gallery of Tarzan merchandise can be found on the Plaid Stallions site.

One of my favorite pieces (not that I own it) is this 1939 board game by Parker Brothers with art by Burroughs' son, John Coleman Burroughs. The pictures come from the Flickr photostream of someone named Morbius19.





I sucked at models as a kid, so I never owned this one either, but Aurora models were ubiquitous in the late '60s and early '70s and I certainly remember seeing this one around.



Someone on the Gear Page forum demonstrated how cool it could look completed (and added an awesome customization that you can see in the link).



Speaking of models, Tarzan was also licensed to sell models that weren't even related to him, as my pal Sleestak reminds us with this ad:



In fact, Tarzan's name has been licensed for all sorts of things that aren't directly about him. From this Japanese fitness magazine...



...to Australian glue.



Griffin's book of course has many, many more examples and photos. Curious if anyone reading this has favorite pieces of Tarzan merchandise, whether you actually own it or would just like to.

Tarzan 101 | Edgar Rice Burroughs' Bookplate and Doodad

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Beneath the dust jacket of Griffin's book is a red hardcover emblazoned with a blue sigil, sort of like a stylized "T" that's been turned into a sword or spear. I first assumed that it stood for Tarzan, but apparently not. No one seems to know exactly what the "doodad" (as Burroughs called it) represents, but the author created it while scribbling in the sand on a family fishing trip in 1924. He and his sons each had their own variations with the circle appearing in different places in relation to the central "spear." That way that they could leave signs to each other during outdoor expeditions to indicate which direction they'd travelled.

Eventually ERB's version ended up on the spines of his novels published by ERB, Inc. and he even put it on the tail of his private airplane, also named Doodad.

Less mysterious is the iconography behind this customized bookplate that artist Studley Burroughs created for his uncle:



Studley explained the design in a letter (which Griffin reprints): Tarzan's there, of course, holding up Mars (identified by its two moons). Behind him are representations of other Burroughs characters and at Tarzan's feet are a crossed pen and sword, representing Burroughs' love for writing and the military. The heraldic shield is divided into four sections, each representing a different part of Burroughs' life: his time in the Calvary, his life in the American West, his return to the civilized East, and finally his literary career.

Tarzan 101 | Edgar Rice Burroughs, Incorporated

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Burroughs was a savvy businessman as well as a talented author. In 1923 he incorporated himself, gave stock to his family members, and started drawing a salary from the new company. He set up shop on Ventura Boulevard and the Spanish-style bungalow is still the headquarters of the corporation today. I got the photo above from the Black Gate site, which includes a report on Ryan Harvey's visit to ERB, Inc. earlier this year. Harvey's post is full of great information and well worth reading.

It was through ERB, Inc. that Burroughs eventually made his film deals and even published his own books. The endeavor was successful enough to get Burroughs and his family through the Great Depression with his finances intact.

During Burroughs' lifetime, the company had two full-time secretaries. Burroughs hired Ralph Rothmund in 1927 and added Mildred Bernard Jensen in 1931. The company's been run by Burroughs' family since Rothmund retired in 1963.

Though Burroughs died in 1950 (his ashes are buried beneath the mulberry tree in the photo, though a walnut tree was there at the time of his death), his company still manages the licenses for films, books, comics, toys, and everything else based on his work.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzana

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Edgar Rice Burroughs had always been interested in having movies made from his novels, so in 1919 he moved his family from Illinois to Southern California to be near Hollywood. Because he loved the outdoors - and because the Tarzan books were making him a lot of money - he bought a 540-acre estate in the West San Fernando Valley and renamed it "Tarzana" after his cash cow. The previous owner had been Los Angeles Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis and the property included orchards, goats, and a 4500-square-foot mansion.

Burroughs fictionalized his family's life on the estate in the novel The Girl from Hollywood, which contrasted the home he'd built with the evils of Los Angeles. But sadly, the ranch became too expensive for Burroughs to operate and he began leasing and selling chunks of it off. He tried building an artists' colony, drilling for oil, and forming a country club, but in 1924 the Burroughs family left the mansion and moved into a bungalow near the author's office. Seven years later, the decrepit mansion was destroyed.

In 1928 though, local residents voted to name their town after the famous ranch and the Tarzana Post Office came into being in 1930. Today, Tarzana is an affluent suburb of LA, but still holds onto historic elements like the country club and a large park that preserves the wild outdoors Burroughs fell in love with when he bought the place.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan of the Stage

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Tarzan has had two major stage adaptations. In 1920, Arthur Gibbons bought the rights to turn Burroughs' first novel into a British play starring Ronald Adair as Tarzan and Ivy Carlton as Jane. Tarzan of the Apes played in the provinces for about a year, but never hit London before it was closed due to labor strikes in the English theater industry.

In Fall of 1921, George Broadhurst brought the play (and Adair) to Broadway, adding live lions and re-casting Jane with Ethel Dwyer. Unfortunately, the U.S. version only played for a couple of weeks. Tarzan would be finished with the stage for the next 85 years.

Following its success at adapting Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King into Tony-winning Broadway shows, Disney took a shot at giving Tarzan the same treatment. Bob Crowley designed and directed the show, with Phil Collins returning to create an expanded score and David Henry Hwang (M Butterfly) writing the book. Hwang's version changed some of the irritating qualities of the cartoon, changing Terk into a mentor for Tarzan and eliminating Tantor altogether. For staging reasons, the film's elephant stampede and baboon chase were also retooled (changing the baboons into a giant spider, for instance).

The show starred American Idol participant Josh Strickland as Tarzan and Broadway vet Jenn Gambatese as Jane. But though it was nominated for a Tony (Best Lighting Design of a Musical), like it's non-musical predecessor, it didn't inspire huge ticket sales and closed after about a year. However, it continues to be produced in regional theaters all over the United States.

It did much better in Europe, inspiring versions in the Netherlands and Germany. Both countries ran reality show contests to cast their Tarzans. In the Netherlands it was Wie Wordt Tarzan? (Who Is Going to Be Tarzan?) and in Germany it was Ich Tarzan, Du Jane!. The Dutch version ran for two years and became the most successful musical in that country's history. The German version is also a huge hit and has been running since 2008.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan of the Television

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

We already discussed Sol Lesser's unsuccessful attempt to create a Tarzan TV show with Gordon Scott, and briefly mentioned that Sy Weintraub was the one to finally make that happen. Here then is a rundown of the four live-action series and two cartoons about everyone's favorite jungle hero.

Tarzan (1966-68; 57 episodes)

When Weintraub's film Tarzan, Mike Henry turned down the opportunity to carry the role to TV, Weintraub went back to someone who'd tested earlier for the film role, Ron Ely. Unlike Lesser's proposed series (which featured Tarzan, Jane, and Boy in their jungle treehouse), Weintraub's made Tarzan a solo act, but more fully embraced Burroughs' literate, articulate version of the character. There was no Boy, per se, but child actor Manuel Padilla Jr - who'd been in the first two Mike Henry movies as two different characters - returned for the TV show as a third, an orphan named Jai.

Like the Batman TV series from the same time, Tarzan attracted a lot of celebrity guest stars. Famous people who appeared on the show include Helen Hayes, James Earl Jones, Ethel Merman, George Kennedy, and Diana Ross. Former Tarzan Jock Mahoney even showed up to play a bad guy.

Apparently the show was expensive to produce, so it only lasted two seasons, but that was enough to give Ely the longest running time playing Tarzan.

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976-84; 36 episodes)

Filmation produced this Saturday morning cartoon version that was extremely faithful to Burroughs' novels in, as Griffin puts it, both "spirit and details." I caught a few episodes of Ron Ely's Tarzan in syndication as a kid, but my Tarzan was Filmation's version. Really wish it was available on home video.

Tarzán (1991-94; 75 episodes)

Producers Max and Micheline Keller bought the rights to a Tarzan show in the late '80s and created a pilot called Tarzan in Manhattan. It has Tarzan (Joe Lara) visiting New York City to rescue Cheeta from Jan-Michael Vincent, who wants to use the chimpanzee for medical research. While there, Tarzan meets computer-wiz/taxi-driver Jane (Kim Crosby) and her dad Archie (Tony Curtis), a grizzled private eye. Naturally, Tarzan saves Cheeta and decides to stay in the city to fight crime with Jane and her dad. Perhaps fortunately, it didn't get picked up.

The Kellers didn't give up though and came up with another take: a half-hour syndicated series starring Wolf Larson. This one was set in the jungle and Larson played a grunty version of the ape man complete with treehouse. Jane (Lydie Denier) was a French environmentalist who helped him defend the jungle from invaders looking to exploit its environment. The show made Larson the guy with the second longest running time after Ely (who, like Jock Mahoney in his show, showed up to play a bad guy in Larson's).

Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (1996-97; 20 episodes)

The Kellers got one more syndicated series out of the ape man with Tarzan in Manhattan's Joe Lara returning to the role. Also set in the jungle, Epic Adventures went for the fantasy feel of Burroughs' books and featured elements like Pellucidar, Opar, the Forbidden City, and the Lost Empire. A lot of Burroughs characters also showed up, like D'Arnot, Nicholai Rokoff, Countess Olga de Coude, Paulvitch, Achmet Zek, Mugambi, the Leopard Men, and of course La of Opar.

The Legend of Tarzan (2001-03; 39 episodes)

Based on Disney's Tarzan movie, this cartoon also went to Burroughs' novels for its inspiration and offered Disney versions of La, Samuel Philander, One-Punch Mulligan, and even Edgar Rice Burroughs himself.

Tarzan (2003; 8 episodes)

Really don't know why people keep wanting to stick Tarzan in New York City (well, I do; I just wish they'd realize it's a dumb idea for a series), but that's what Warner Brothers did for this version with Travis Fimmel as Tarzan and Sarah Wayne Callies as Jane. It was best known though for being where Lucy Lawless and Mitch Pileggi landed after Xena and The X-Files, respectively. They played Tarzan's aunt and uncle who battled over custody of him and his inheritance. Sounds thrilling.

Tarzan 101 | Walt Disney's Tarzan

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

I'm not sure why Disney's Tarzan gets a whole chapter to itself, but Griffin does pack in a lot of information about it, starting with its place in the general Disney animation renaissance of the '90s and ending with the direct-to-DVD sequels, Tarzan & Jane (2002) and Tarzan II (2005).

He does include some interesting facts that I didn't know though, like how the lead animator on the Tarzan character was Glen Keane, son of Family Circus' Bil Keane. It wasn't Glen's first work for Disney (he'd also been lead animator for Ariel, the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas), but he was on sabbatical at the time in France and only worked on Tarzan under the condition that he could do it from Disney's campus in Paris.

Griffin also points out some cool features in the background design. The gorillas' environment, for example, was designed to be comforting, with "soft curves, muted color, and diffused sunlight." The humans' camp, on the other hand, had bright, direct sunlight and was surrounded by "tall, straight bamboo, suggesting the skyscrapers of a cityscape."

I also didn't realize that Phil Collins' songs were originally intended to be sung by the cast. I always figured that the intention was to recreate Elton John's success with The Lion King, but apparently Disney didn't sign Collins on as the singer until after they heard his demo tracks.

Griffin also confirms something I'd already noticed about Disney's Tarzan: that its great strength is its ability to show Tarzan interacting with his ape family in a believable, powerful way. That's something that had only been tried twice before - in Tarzan of the Apes (1918) and Greystoke (1983) - and never completely successfully. Tarzan's adoptive mother Kala is a vital character in his origin story and the Disney version is the only one to show how important she was to the ape man. My initial impulse when Disney's Tarzan comes up is to dismiss it (Terk and Tantor are annoying characters and the story grows trite once the humans show up), but it's a worthwhile adaptation if only for the scenes of Tarzan as a young boy.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan of the Films: Miscellaneous

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Griffin actually calls this chapter, "Contemporary Films," but since the first film discussed was contemporary with the start of Sy Weintraub's era, I feel like "Miscellaneous" is a better description.

Tarzan the Ape Man (1959)

As the official Tarzan films were transitioning from Sol Lesser to Weintraub, MGM realized that there was a clause in their original contract that allowed them to remake 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man. So they did, casting Denny Miller as a wholesome, blonde Tarzan and Joanna Barnes as Jane.

Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981)

MGM remade Tarzan the Ape Man again in 1981, this time with Bo Derek (who'd become a pop icon the previous year in 10) and her husband John. Thanks to the success of 10, MGM had signed the Dereks to a three-picture contract with Tarzan being the first of them. True to the plot of the '32 film, the movie's told from Jane's perspective, but Miles O'Keeffe's Tarzan is even less verbal than Weissmuller's. Knowing what the attraction was for Bo Derek fans, the film focuses on the steamy romance between Jane and the silent Tarzan.

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1983)

Though Greystoke was released two years after the Dereks' movie, it had been in the works since 1971, a few years after Weintraub's last Tarzan film. Producer Stanley S. Canter picked up the option, but had a hard time getting the film made. The original version of the screenplay was an extremely faithful adaptation of the first Tarzan novel, but it was rewritten to keep elements of Burroughs' story, but ultimately go its own way.

Christopher Lambert played Tarzan, though he's never called that in the movie (he's John Clayton instead). Andie MacDowell played Jane, but famously had her lines dubbed by Glenn Close. Ian Holm plays D'Arnot, which makes me want to watch it again right now. Rick Baker created the ape costumes.

Tarzan and the Lost City (1998)

It's impossible to tell from watching it that Lost City is a sequel to Greystoke, but that's how it was born. Canter immediately started planning it after the success of Greystoke, wanting this time to combine elements from Burroughs' novels, The Return of Tarzan and Tarzan the Untamed, where Tarzan tracks a kidnapped Jane through the war-torn jungle.

Like with Greystoke though, it took over a decade to get it off the ground and neither Christopher Lambert nor director Hugh Hudson cared to be involved. Eventually, Canter signed on Carl Schenkel to direct and Casper Van Dien played Tarzan. Jane March played Jane and - true to the original intention for the plot - got abducted so that Tarzan could pursue her.

This was the first - and so far, only - Tarzan film shot entirely on location in Africa (South Africa, to be precise).

Tarzan (1999)

Just kidding. For some reason, Griffin gives a whole, separate chapter to Disney's adaptation, so we'll look at that next week.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan of the Films: The Sy Weintraub Era

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

Sol Lesser's inability to get a Tarzan TV show going may have contributed to his weariness with the series, or maybe it was just that after 25 years and 16 films it was time to be done. Whatever the reason, he sold his option to Sy Weintraub in 1958, including the last two films on Gordon Scott's contract.

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959)

Weintraub wasn't interested in Tarzan as a kiddie series. The first thing he did was get rid of Jane and Boy and relaunch as a gritty, realistic adventure: sort of a Western, but set in the jungle. He also saw how difficult chimpanzees can be to work with when surrounded by the distractions of filming in the wild, so he lost Cheeta too.

The plot is standard Tarzan fare - wicked treasure hunters come to the jungle and cause trouble - but the new Tarzan, though played by a familiar actor, was much more serious and dangerous in the way he handled them. Besides just being a really excellent Tarzan movie, Greatest Adventure is probably best known as one of Sean Connery's earliest roles as one of the villains.

Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)

Weintraub liked to reuse good actors, so he apparently asked Connery back for Magnificent, but the actor had to turn him down because he was signed up for "some spy picture." It wouldn't be the last time James Bond had an effect on the ape man's films.

Magnificent really made good on the "jungle Western" idea with a plot right out of 3:10 to Yuma or Ride Lonesome. The story has Tarzan trying to escort a bad guy to justice while the villain's family (the Banton Gang, no less) attempt to liberate their kinsman.

Tarzan Goes to India (1962)

Gordon Scott left the series after Magnificent to go star in Italian sword-and-sandal films, so Weintraub replaced him with the bad guy from Magnificent, stuntman Jock Mahoney.

Starting with this film, Tarzan's adventures go global and Tarzan becomes more of an international troubleshooter. This was probably too early to be a direct ripoff of Dr. No, also released in 1962, but filming in exotic locations around the world was already a trend in the early '60s thanks to movies like Spartacus, El Cid, Hatari, and Lawrence of Arabia. Don't worry though, ripping off Bond would come soon enough.

Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963)

Mahoney plays the ape man again, this time visiting Thailand to escort a young prince to his new throne.

Tarzan in the Valley of Gold (1966)

Like Lesser, Weintraub had visions of television dancing in his head. Unfortunately for Jock Mahoney, Weintraub didn't think the 44-year-old actor would go over with TV audiences, so the producer hired Los Angeles Rams linebacker Mike Henry to take his place as the ape man.

By now, Bond Fever was in full effect all over the world, and the Tarzan movies reflected this. I reviewed Valley of Gold for Flick Attack a while ago and talk about this some. I can imagine there are some fun-hating purists who take issue with Tazan's killing villains with hand-grenade bolas and giant bottles of Coke, but they're probably not reading this blog, so: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Tarzan and the Great River (1967)

Mike Henry is back, this time combining Tarzan and James Bond with the African Queen and Heart of Darkness. I loved this one and reviewed it for Flick Attack as well. As I said there, it's not as over-the-top awesome as Valley of Gold, but makes up for that by having some great characters and interesting relationships.

Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968)

Sadly, I haven't seen this one yet, but I can't imagine not liking it. Judging from the first two, the Mike Henry Tarzan films are my favorites. Unfortunately, shooting three of them back-to-back without any breaks exhausted Henry and he gave up the role after this.

Henry's leaving is bittersweet, because I like him, but it also opened the door for the next Tarzan who would become the one I grew up. Unlike Sol Lesser, Sy Weintraub's efforts to get Tarzan on television succeeded and the producer gave up making movies. But we'll save that for next week.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan of the Films: The Sol Lesser Era

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

I like how Griffin separates the Tarzan movies into chapters for each era, but as I mentioned last week, that format does present a problem with the years when MGM and Sol Lesser were competing with each other. It's difficult to figure out from Griffin's book how many times MGM's option lapsed and for what reasons, but in Griffin's defense, Internet research doesn't make the picture much clearer.

We know that MGM's initial deal with Burroughs was only for two films, concluding with Tarzan and His Mate in 1934. So that's the first time their option lapsed. Then, in his chapter on Sol Lesser, Griffin says that it happened again after their third movie, 1936's Tarzan's Escape. What he doesn't say is why.

The best information I can find is from an article on the Lesser film Tarzan's Revenge at Turner Classic Movies: "According to The New York Times, after MGM had so much trouble making the previous Tarzan film, Tarzan Escapes, which starred Johnny Weissmuller, Sol Lesser made Burroughs a better offer than he had with MGM for the rights to use the character. Burroughs, reportedly, was to get a sum at the start of production and also share in the profits." That doesn't explain much, but it does suggest that MGM may have had a negative attitude following Tarzan Escapes.

If you'll remember, Tarzan Escapes was the film where MGM decided partway through to turn the Tarzan films into a kids' series. There were other production problems too (including a change in director), so it's easy to imagine MGM's growing frustrated and deciding to either end the series or put it on pause for a while. I haven't been able to learn definitively which of those it was or how Sol Lesser's rights figure into it.

Lesser originally bought options for five films. He made Tarzan the Fearless in 1933 and Tarzan's Revenge in 1938. The other three he sold to MGM who made Tarzan Finds a Son, Tarzan's Secret Treasure, and Tarzan's New York Adventure. So how did MGM get the right to make Tarzan Escapes? Did Burroughs negotiate a one-off contract for them? That's as close as I can figure, but I can't confirm it.

The feature film version of Tarzan the Fearless contains the first four chapters of the serial, but they've been edited-all-to-hell and are nearly unwatchable, which is too bad, because it looks fun and, hey, Buster Crabbe. Tarzan's Revenge is almost unwatchable too, but that's just because it sucks. If you're interested though, both films can be purchased in a single collection on DVD.

Once we're past Tarzan's New York Adventure, figuring out the history of Tarzan films is smooth sailing. With Maureen O'Sullivan interested in leaving the series and MGM's running out of story ideas, the studio relinquished the rights and Lesser stepped in, picking up Johnny Weissmuller and Johnny Sheffield's contracts as well. Predictably, Maureen O'Sullivan didn't return, but Lesser held her spot open for a couple of films and wrote Jane out in a way that could be undone later.

Here's the rundown of the rest of Lesser's Tarzan films. The first six with Johnny Weismuller are collected together in a DVD box set:

Tarzan Triumphs (1943)

A propaganda film with Tarzan and Boy helping a lost city fight Nazis. Eventually. There's some analogy to the U.S.'s wanting to stay out of WWII, which leads to a genuinely thrilling moment when Tarzan finally decides to go to war.

Jane is written out as being in England to visit her sick mother, which makes it creepy when Tarzan flirts with another woman, but all in all, it's a great adventure film.

Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)

Jane's still in England (stuck there because of the war), but the film makes the most of it by having that be the catalyst for the plot. Jane's working in a hospital that could use a jungle remedy for its patients. Tarzan crosses a desert to find the right plants, but gets pulled into some intrigue surrounding a shiek and a European racketeer. It's a fun spy movie and a huge change of pace for the series.

Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)

By this time, Lesser had given up on O'Sullivan's ever coming back, so he cast Brenda Joyce as a new, blonde Jane.

Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)

Acquanetta leads a leopard cult.

Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)

Tarzan vs. unscrupulous trappers.

Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948)

Weissmuller's last time playing Tarzan and Lesser's first time using location shooting (in Mexico). As you can see from the titles above, Lesser liked having Tarzan team up with or face off against women. This time it's Linda Christian (who played the Vesper character - renamed Valerie Mathis - in the Barry Nelson Casino Royale on American TV) as a young woman who's being forced by an oppressive high priest to marry someone she doesn't want to.

After Mermaids, Lesser decided not to renew Johnny Weissmuller's contract (Griffin implies that it may have been because of Weissmuller's age). Johnny Sheffield also left the series to star in the Bomba the Jungle Boy movies, while Weissmuller would go on to play comic strip hero Jungle Jim (who was created by Flash Gordon's creator, Alex Raymond).

Lesser cast Lex Barker for the next five films, collected in a box set on DVD:

Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949)

Inspired by the novel Tarzan's Quest, Tarzan's Magic Fountain has the ape man protecting a fountain of youth from outsiders. Though the Tarzan was new, Brenda Joyce played Jane one last time, creating some continuity with the last few Weissmuller films. From this point on, Tarzan would have a different Jane every time. Magic Fountain also features a cameo by silent film Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln, who also played a roustabout in Tarzan's New York Adventure.

Tarzan and the Slave Girls (1950)

Vanessa Brown plays Jane and gets kidnapped with some other women as "brides" for a villainous tribe.

Tarzan's Peril (1951)

The first Tarzan film shot on location in East Africa features the ape man fighting some gunrunners. Jane is played by Virginia Huston in this one, but stays offscreen for most of it. Lesser wanted this one to be shown in Technicolor, but some of the location footage was ruined and the film had to be released in black-and-white.

Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952)

This time Jane is Dorothy Hart as Tarzan battles a couple of treasure hunters. Again.

Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)

Raymond Burr plays in this as one of a couple of ivory poachers working for a powerful woman. Joyce MacKenzie played Jane.

Lex Barker felt he was getting typecast, so with his contract completed he declined to sign on for any more Tarzan films. Lesser hired bodybuilder Gordon Scott to replace him for the next six films, though Lesser would only produce three of them. The entire Gordon Scott collection is of course available on DVD.

Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955)

Jack Elam is one of a couple of evil animal trappers in the final black-and-white Tarzan film. This one has no Jane, but Vera Miles plays a nurse and potential romantic interest.

Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)

RKO had distributed Lesser's Tarzan films up to here, but starting with Lost Safari, MGM agreed to do it. Like Magic Fountain, Lost Safari borrowed elements from Burroughs' novel, Tarzan's Quest, specifically the part about Tarzan's leading a diverse group of travelers through the jungle when their plane crashes. It was shot in color on location in East Africa. Jane is again absent.

Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) 

Jane returns to the series, now played by Eve Brent. Lesser also added a new adopted son, named Tantu and played by Ricky Sorensen. Lesser put the family back together in hopes of taking Tarzan to TV. He filmed a pilot, which became the 1958 TV movie, Tarzan and the Trappers (with Sorensen now called Boy), but sadly, no one wanted it.

Disappointed by his inability to get Tarzan on TV, Lesser sold the series - including Scott's contract - to producers Sy Weintraub and Harvey Hayutin. And that's where we'll pick up next week.

Tarzan 101 | Tarzan of the Films: Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises

Celebrating Tarzan's 101st anniversary by walking through Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration.

MGM's Tarzan films did a lot for the character's popularity, but they were a mixed blessing. While Burroughs had insisted that the studio create an original story for Tarzan of the Apes, he perhaps didn't count on their also dramatically changing the character and certainly didn't foresee that theirs would become the more popular version. The MGM films overshadowed the novels in terms of public appeal and Johnny Weissmuller became the Tarzan for most people. Naturally, that irked Burroughs.

To explain what he did about it, I need to clarify something I wrote last week about MGM's interest in the series. I said that MGM "thought they exhausted themselves after Tarzan Escapes and [...] let their rights elapse [...], but changed their minds and kept going." That's not entirely accurate. Since Griffin separates each film "era" into its own chapter, it's difficult to see how MGM, Sol Lesser, and Burroughs' activities affected each other, and some details fall through the cracks between chapters. So I got the information about MGM's letting its rights lapse from Wikipedia (shame on me), which claims that:

MGM had originally let the film rights elapse after Tarzan Escapes feeling there was little more mileage in the series [emphasis mine]. Independent producer Sol Lesser obtained the rights to make five Tarzan movies, but the first of these, Tarzan's Revenge, proved to be a flop. The blame was placed on audiences unwilling to accept Glenn Morris in the role made famous by Johnny Weissmuller. (Lesser had been unable to obtain Weissmuller's services as he remained under contract at MGM.) Ironically, this opened MGM's eyes to the continuing power of Weissmuller as Tarzan and they bought out Lesser's interest in the next three films, and restarted their series.

That's almost entirely crap. It's much more complicated than that and Wikipedia is combining various events into one story. I'm getting ahead of myself by sharing some of Lesser's story, but it helps understand what Burroughs did since all of this went on at the same time. Here's what happened as far as I can reconstruct it.

According to ERBzine, MGM’s initial contract with Burroughs was signed in 1931 and was for just two pictures, starting with 1932's Tarzan of the Apes. Griffin's section on Sol Lesser (which we'll cover next week) adds that Lesser had bought out an old contract from a couple of producers who'd signed a five-picture deal with Burroughs, but never produced any films. For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, Lesser was apparently entitled to make his film or films first, but either MGM paid him to delay production or he allowed MGM to go ahead, knowing that their budget and publicity machine would create more interest in Tarzan movies, including - he hoped - his own. No one's really sure which and possibly it was both.

Lesser's first film wasn't 1938's Tarzan's Revenge as Wikipedia claims, but a 1933 serial, Tarzan the Fearless starring Buster Crabbe. It did indeed fail, and we'll look next week at why that was. We'll also look at Lesser's second Tarzan film, Tarzan's Revenge and why it also failed.

In 1934, MGM released its second film, Tarzan and His Mate, completing its contract, and here's where we get to Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises. Burroughs took advantage of the end of MGM's contract by forming his own movie studio and releasing a 12-episode Tarzan serial that was more faithful to the literary version. His buddy Ashton Dearholt produced and directed 1935's The New Adventures of Tarzan and also played the villain. Herman Brix played Tarzan. I reviewed it several years ago in three parts and liked it a lot, especially the character of Ula Vale, a heroic woman who gets pulled into the story, stays involved because it's the right thing to do, and even rescues Tarzan a few times. Brix makes an excellent Tarzan and while New Adventures isn't completely faithful to Burroughs' novels, it gets really close. It's well worth checking out.

Unfortunately for Burroughs' new studio, he was in desperate need of cash. Most of New Adventures was shot in Guatemala, which was more expensive than anyone foresaw. Burroughs was also in the process of divorcing his first wife and marrying his second, so he was strapped financially. To get immediate money, he re-optioned MGM's contract for a third movie, Tarzan Escapes.

He also got some dough ($25-50,000 per film) for approving the sale of some of Sol Lesser's options to MGM, but I'm not clear on the timeline for that. ERBzine says it was during the production of New Adventures, so around 1934-35, but Turner Classic Movies suggests that it was later, after the failure of Tarzan's Revenge in 1938. Regardless of when it happened, Lesser sold the three unused films from his original five-picture contract to MGM, who turned them into Tarzan Finds a Son, Tarzan's Secret Treasure, and Tarzan's New York Adventure.

Whether or not MGM already had the last three film options when New Adventures came out, it certainly didn't want want to dilute audience interest in 1936's Tarzan's Escape. So, MGM flexed its muscles and kept New Adventures out of the top-tier theaters in the United States. It did well in Europe, but Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises wouldn't make another Tarzan film and only released three more pictures, all in 1936: a crime drama (The Drag-Net), a Western (The Phantom of Santa Fe), and an Alaskan wilderness adventure (Tundra).

We'll pick up the MGM-Burroughs-Lesser saga next week with 1938 and a closer look at Tarzan's Revenge.