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The Best of Tarzan on Film Collage

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This is a Tarzan collage I made of the best films, movie serials and television series of Tarzan, that are closest to Tarzan as creator Edgar Rice Burroughs intended. Many of them are not very well know. 

The most well known films are unfortunately the watered down Disney "Tarzan" (1999) musical cartoon film pandering strictly to children and the popular Johnny Weissmuller simpleton "Me Tarzan, you Jane" silly comedic films "Tarzan's New York Adventure," etc. (Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan appeared in 12 films, from Tarzan the Ape Man (1931) to Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948)) and Lex Barker continued the Johnny Weissmuller version in 5 films, from Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949) to Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)). Filmmakers jumped on the James Bond craze with Mike Henry's "Tarzan and the Valley of Gold" (1966) as a 1960s civilized suave suited agent man with tie and elegant and carrying a briefcase, etc. which was not Edgar Rice Burroughs' untamed Tarzan and not on my list, either. 

The original silent Tarzan films and movie serials were actually based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan books. I organized the films in the chronology of the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan stories they adapted, rather than the order in which each film was originally filmed and released. I also listed the Burroughs' Tarzan story dates based on the dates in which the stories first appeared in the issues of All-Story magazine, rather then the later collected book publication dates. 

Graystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) is a sound (and color) adaption of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes (1912) with Tarzan as intelligent, speaking proper English, without taking the African jungle Ape Man out of the heart of Tarzan. Burroughs' Tarzan was brought to his family as John Clayton Lord Graystoke, but failed/refused to adapt to civilization, and he returned to his home in the African jungle with the apes, as the Graystoke film adapted. 

The very first Tarzan film, the silent film Tarzan of the Apes (1918) is based the first part on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes (1912), The Romance of Tarzan (1918) is based on the second part of the novel Tarzan of the Apes (1912). Tarzan: Lord of the Louisiana Jungle (2012) is a documentary about the silent film Tarzan of the Apes (1918). 

The silent film The Adventures of Tarzan (1921) movie serial is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels The Return of Tarzan (1915) and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916).

The silent film Tarzan in The Son of Tarzan (1920) movie serial, which focuses on Korak/Jack Clayton (Gordon Griffith), the son of Tarzan/John Clayton, Lord Greystoke and Jane Porter, Lady Greystoke (Karla Schramm), is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel The Son of Tarzan (1915).

The silent film movie serial Tarzan the Mighty (1928) is based on Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1916) by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The silent film movie serial Tarzan the Tiger (1929) is based on Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916) by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The silent film movie serial Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927) is based on the novel Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1922) by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Gordon Scott's speaking depiction of Tarzan is intelligent, speaking proper English for the first time in sound (and color) films in Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959) and Tarzan the Magnificent (1960), as Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs created Tarzan to be, rejecting Johnny Weissmuller's comedic, light-hearted simpleton "Me Tarzan, you Jane" movie version from the 1930s and '40s who could never master the English language. Gordon Scott's Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959) and Tarzan the Magnificent (1960) are considered the two best Tarzan films ever made by many. 

The first Tarzan TV series (1966-1968) starring Ron Ely featured Tarzan as intelligent, speaking proper English, without taking Tarzan out of the African jungle with the apes. Ron Ely did his own Tarzan stunts. 

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976-1977), The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour (1977-1978), Tarzan and the Super 7 (1978-1980) by Filmation is the first animated Tarzan series. The series is a faithful adaptation of many of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan novels. The rotoscoped animation is even based upon the work of Burrough's favorite Tarzan artist, Burne Hogarth, artist of the Tarzan newspaper comic strip from 1937 to 1945, and 1947 to 1950.

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