Tarzan may be a classic character, but his story is rooted in colonialism, where white men saved the day. "The Legend of Tarzan" acknowledges the yodeling tree-swinger's past, while updating him for a modern society.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Olley
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When Edgar Rice Burroughs first penned the story of the King of the Jungle who was raised by apes, over a century ago, the Western world was embroiled in colonialism, African stereotypes were the norm, and women had only recently won the right to vote.
Tarzan was a product of his time - even his name, in a jungle language invented by Burroughs - translates as "white skin." He embodied the romantic adventure of that era, but has since become something of an embarrassment on our bookshelves.
While many would likely have gladly seen the jungle boy's story buried away, Tarzan has already been the subject of over 50 authorized films and seven series over the past century and is so deeply rooted in our cultural consciousness that he cannot simply be made to disappear.
"Edgar Rice Burroughs just tapped into a primal myth of humanity," author Scott Tracy Griffin, who wrote "Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration" and the forthcoming book, "Tarzan on Film," told news agency AP. "He is an orphan who is stranded and must find a way to his manhood and to reclaim his legacy."
Tarzan sees slavery with his own eyes
But, as "The Legend of Tarzan" shows, he can be transported into our time and made to reflect modern values of intercultural respect, color blindness and gender equality.
The film, directed by David Yates, premiered on Monday in Los Angeles and opens on Friday (01.07.2016) in the US. It aims to embed the story in a historical context while at the same time discarding some of the most problematic elements. It's also packed with plenty of modern-day action.
The culture that keeps Tarzan alive
The jungle is calling, with Tarzan coming back to the screen once again. Here's a look back at over 100 years of Tarzan cult, complete with the original book, films, music and musicals.
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The Legend of Tarzan - rewritten
The story of Tarzan, the boy raised by apes in the jungle, has been told dozens of times over the past century. The latest attempt is a big-budget Hollywood production with an A-list cast. It makes a concerted effort to rid the plot of the racial and stereotypes that had marred the original. Click through the gallery for a history of the Tarzan story and how it's been adapted over the decades.
Image: picture-alliance/Jonathan Olley/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP
How it all began
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) was the creator of the popular character that jumped from tree to tree and behaved like an ape. His story first appeared in the US pulp publication "All-Story Magazine" in 1912. Burroughs not only created a new world in the middle of the African jungle, but even a special ape language, in which "Tarzan" means "white skin."
Image: Courtesy Everett Collection
Tarzan comics
Following the publication of "Tarzan of the Apes" in the "All-Story Magazine" in 1912, Hal Foster turned the story into a comic in 1928 by adding illustrations. From 1931 onwards, weekly Tarzan comics appeared in Sunday papers all over the US. Over the years, these comics were made by various illustrators. They started being published in Germany in 1954.
Image: picture-alliance/maxppp/Selva/Leemage
Silent and black-in-white
"Tarzan of the Apes" was first adapted into a film by Scott Sidney in 1917. The silent film, telling the story of a human child found in the jungle by apes and raised by them, premiered in January 1918, starring Elmo Lincoln (pictured) as Tarzan. Lincoln also worked as a supporting actor in other Tarzan films in 1942 and 1949.
Image: Imago/EntertainmentPictures
A swimming and yodeling Tarzan
The best known Tarzan actor was probably US swimmer Johnny Weissmuller, winner of five Olympic gold medals. After taking yodeling lessons, Weissmuller also proved to be capable of producing archaic jungle screams. "Tarzan the Ape Man" was the first of a series of 12 movies starring Johnny Weissmuller (r.) and Maureen O'Sullivan (l.).
Image: AP
Underground experimental film
In 1963, US pop artist Andy Warhol created a parody of Tarzan films, entitled "Tarzan and Jane Regained… Sort Of." Searching for his beloved Jane (Naomi Levine), Tarzan (Taylor Mead) is roaming around Los Angeles. In Warhol's experimental movie, Mead's loincloth keeps slipping off.
Image: picture alliance/AP Images/R. Drew
Tarzan, as he really was?
"Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" (1984) presents the old story in a more somber and dramatic fashion than its predecessors. Christopher Lambert plays Tarzan - though that name is never used in the movie, but rather the character's English name, John Clayton. After some years in the jungle, he returns to British civilization in order to claim his inheritance.
Image: picture alliance/Mary Evans Picture Library/Ronald Grant Archiv
Colorful and funny
Tarzan as a protagonist in a Disney film, accompanied by his cheeky ape "big sister," Terk, and his fearful elephant friend Tantor - that's how most kids of the 1990s have come to know Tarzan. Disney's 1999 version differs quite a lot from the original book written by Burroughs. In the US, the film grossed over $171 million, and in Germany, it was seen by more than 5,6 million people.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Moving sounds from the jungle
British singer Phil Collins produced the entire soundtrack of Disney's Tarzan film, as well as the musical that was produced later. Part of that soundtrack was his famous song "You'll be in my heart." Phil Collins recorded the songs in different languages, and his award-winning soundtrack contributed a lot to the enormous success of the movie.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. A. Clary
Vivid jungle world
Personifying Tarzan, Alexander Klaws is swinging through the air. The German actor, former winner of the German television casting show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" (Germany Seeks the Superstar) starred as Tarzan in a musical in Hamburg from 2010 to 2013. The musical adapted from the Disney film with the music by Phil Collins opened on Broadway in 2006.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Tarzan in 3D
The animated film "Tarzan," released in 2013, tells a science-fiction version of the Tarzan story. Here, Tarzan, with the voice of Kellan Lutz (pictured), defends his jungle from the boss of a huge company. The film was shown in movie theaters in both 2D and 3D.
Image: Imago
Sequel with strong pictures
In the new "The Legend of Tarzan," filmed by David Yates (director of four Harry Potter movies), Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) returns to the jungle after a long absence. The film shows Tarzan's life as Lord Greystoke outside of the jungle, as well as his return to his wild African home.This latest Tarzan film adaptation, also starring German actor Christoph Waltz, premiered on June 27.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Olley
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It opens later in Tarzan's life, after he has already married Jane, played by 25-year-old Austrian actress Margot Robbie, and lives in England as parliamentarian Lord Greystoke.
The adult Tarzan (played by Alexander Skarsgard) is invited by Belgian King Leopold II to visit the Congo, but it's George Washington Williams (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who convinces him to go - and investigate reports that Leopold has enslaved the locals.
Williams is not a fictional character: In real life, he was a Civil War veteran and historian who uncovered the atrocities of colonialism in the Congo.
"Even though the enslavement is there, you see it and he's there to right that injustice," Samuel L. Jackson told AP. "He's part of a world where he is integrated into that society and he understands his place in it."
Jackson told AFP that he had visited Washington's grave in England while filming a Tim Burton production there last year: "George is a pretty fascinating guy."
Jane: a modern woman
The presence of racist stereotypes is not the only criticism of the original Tarzan story: It also presents a skewed portrayal of women.
However, that was something actress Margot Robbie, who shot to stardom in Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street," wanted to change. "I've never wanted to play the damsel in distress, and Jane is anything but," she said.
In most of the previous 50-some Tarzan films, Jane would have screamed for Tarzan's help when danger approached - and he would have swung in to save her. But in one memorable scene in "The Legend of Tarzan," Jane has been captured by Leopold II's henchman Leon Rom (played by Christoph Waltz). He demands that she scream for Tarzan; instead, she spits in his face.
"The Legend of Tarzan" opens around the world from June 29 to July 30Image: Warner Bros. Entertainment
"If they don't create the kind of roles that women are going to be able to relate to, then they're not going to enjoy watching them as much," Robbie said of the gender imbalance in Hollywood productions.
When it comes to speaking roles in major films, studies have consistently shown that men outnumber women by up to three to one for speaking parts.
Tarzan meets the zeitgeist
While "The Legend of Tarzan" is the first high-budget effort to update the loin-clothed jungle boy, past adaptations of the story have often mirrored the zeitgeist of the time. In the 1950s, the films were inspired by Westerns, while the 60s saw a James Bond influence.
"Producers have been able to tap into whatever is going on in society and put Tarzan into that," author Scott Tracy Griffin said.
Just how many people from 2016 will buy tickets at the box office for a politically correct Tarzan, however, remains to be seen.
