Among the odd factoids about Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Herculoids is that Zandor's original working name was "Zartan", an obvious variation of Tarzan. So obvious was it in fact, that the name was changed to avoid the legal ire of the Burroughs estate.
But it does put this outer space jungle family into a somewhat different perspective to imagine them as the MGM-RKO Tarzan family unit. Zandor is Tarzan, Tara is Jane, and Dorno makes a fine Boy. It's all rather elegant.
And Igoo, Tundra and the other critters make some better sense as Tantor, Cheetah and other denizens of the Mutia Escarpment translated to the distant planet of Amzot. Gloop and Gleep in particular get the role designated to the trickster Cheetah, the comedy relief. The Beasts of Tarzan...er...Zartan indeed!
It's a fun way to reflect on this outstanding Alex Toth designed cartoon.
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ZANTAR!
ReplyDeleteI Never Put The Correlation With The Herculoids And Tarzan
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Was So Great
Not Only Tarzan
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I never made that connection either. For all these years, the Herculoids has always seemed to me fascinatingly odd but inexplicable -- and I often wondered where the inspiration could have come from. With this one missing detail, the whole thing seems so much clearer. Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteIf you go and read my review of The Herculoids DVDS over at my DVD Late Show site, you'll see I called it as a Tarzan-inspired concept in the first line of the second paragraph - and I also received several notes from folks who had never picked up on the resemblance.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it's always been obvious; but discovering here that Zandor's original name was a blatant anagram of Burroughs' jungle lord truly nails it.
I appreciate the kind thoughts guys, but the idea is not original to me. I found it online somewhere. It was not something that crossed my mind until I found the name change.
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I remember the Herculoids from Cartoon Network if my memory serves me right. By the way, great blog man. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
www.artbyarion.blogspot.com