Word is spreading that Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, Filmation's distinctive and impressive adaptation of ERB's Ape Man will be coming to dvd at long last. The cover above is hardly the best ad for the collection but I will like getting these adventures which present a literate Tarzan, not the often puzzled grunting variation we had to endure for so many years. This series is likely the most direct from the source material with a kid-friendly version of the Ape Man finding beaucoup lost civilizations. Here is a great review of the series.
The series debuted on CBS in 1976, as the lustrous comic book ad by Neal Adams showcases below.
After the initial series, which is what this new collection presents, the series was paired with other adventure features such as Batman, The Lone Ranger, Zorro and others, and new installments were made over the course of the next several years. Hopefully a second volume give us access to those remaining installments.
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I was a huge Tarzan fan growing up, in large part due to this series and the old Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies. I was a little confused by the different versions: I preferred the Filmation version because he was "smart" (no grunting or broken English), but I wished he could have a knife... which I'm sure was a network standards issue.
ReplyDeleteI am super-stoked to see this series finally coming to DVD!
Couldn't agree more. As good as the Weismuller movies were they did alas install for all time I dread the notion that Tarzan is mostly a mute and probably a dope. Like the old Batman TV series, it's so long ago and has been replaced by many other presentations but the popular culture still seems to see Batmania and dumb Tarzan as touchstones.
DeleteI don't remember missing the knife, but you're right he was forbidden access to his famous blade. Kiddie TV of that era was intended to improve you, and entertainment was just the gravy. Filmation was able to crack the code on that mix nicely.
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