Tarzan

Tarzan, the Lord of the Jungle, has been one of the most enduring heroic figures in American popular culture. Created by writer Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) in 1912, the Tarzan character first appeared in the pulp fiction All-Story Magazine. (Pulp magazines [see entry under 1930s—Print Culture in volume 2] of the era consisted of sensational stories printed on low-quality—that is, pulp—paper.) Tarzan has appeared in more than twenty novels, forty films, several television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) programs, radio (see entry under 1920s—TV and Radio in volume 2) serials, comic strips, cartoons, comic books (see entry under 1930s—Print Culture in volume 2), toys, and thousands of items of merchandise. The character's stories have been translated into more than fifty languages. He is one of the most famous men who never actually lived.

Burroughs had failed at nearly every endeavor he attempted before he devised Tarzan. In the initial tale of the "Lord of the Apes," Burroughs reveals his animalistic jungle man to be, in actuality, John Clayton, the future Lord Greystoke. As a child, Clayton's parents die while on tour of Africa. A female ape named Kala, who calls him Tarzan ("white-skin" in ape language), adopts him. Raised among the apes, he learns to communicate with all the wild beasts. As an adult, Tarzan encounters African natives as well as white people visiting the continent. His most significant relationship is with Jane Porter, an English woman on expedition with her father. A romance blossoms between the jungle man and the civilized lady. The two face many obstacles in both Africa and England, where Tarzan eventually claims his family's inheritance.

Tarzan was an immediate hit with the public, who thrilled to his jungle adventures filled with lost cities, fierce animals, evil poachers, and tribal warfare. Tarzan achieved even greater popularity through his many film appearances. In 1918, Elmo Lincoln (1889–1952) was the first movie Tarzan in Tarzan of the Apes. Numerous muscular actors would also don the hero's signature loincloth over the years. The performer most associated with the role was Johnny Weissmuller (1904–1984), a former five-time gold medal winner in swimming from the 1924 and 1928 Olympics (see entry under 1900s—Sports and Games in volume 1). His powerful physique and great athletic abilities served him well in a dozen Tarzan movies filmed between 1932 and 1948. In film, Tarzan is usually played as a much less well-spoken figure than Burroughs' original character. The famous line of dialogue "Me Tarzan, You Jane" never appeared in a Burroughs tale. The film most closely capturing Burroughs' conception of the character is 1984's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, starring Christopher Lambert (1957–) as Tarzan. A new generation of fans encountered the jungle hero in a 1999 animated Disney (see entry under 1920s—Film and Theater in volume 2) feature film.

When Burne Hogarth (1911–1996), writer of the Tarzan comic strip, was asked in Comics: Between the Panels to account for the jungle man's lasting popularity, he stated: "He is energy, grace, and virtue. He symbolizes the inevitable life source, the earth, the seed, the rain, the harvest, achievement, the triumph of adversity and death."

—Charles Coletta

For More Information

Duin, Steve, and Mike Richardson. Comics: Between the Panels. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 1998.

Edward Rice Burroughs, Inc. Edgar Rice Burroughs: Creator of Tarzan.http://www.tarzan.org (accessed January 16, 2002).

Foster, Hal. Tarzan Vol. 1. New York: Flying Buttress, 1992.

Horn, Maurice, ed. 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics. New York: Random House, 1996.

Taliaferro, John. Tarzan Forever: The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Creator of Tarzan. New York: Scribner, 1999.