Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
34 Facts About Tarzan
2.
Tarzan is the son of a British lord and lady who were marooned on the coast of Africa by mutineers.
3.
When Tarzan was an infant, his mother died, and his father was killed by Kerchak, leader of the ape tribe by whom Tarzan was adopted.
4.
Tarzan is contemptuous of what he sees as the hypocrisy of civilization, so Jane and he return to Africa, making their home on an extensive estate in British East Africa that becomes a base for Tarzan's later adventures.
5.
Tarzan's jungle upbringing gives him abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans.
6.
Tarzan uses branches, swings from vines to travel at great speed, and can use his feet like hands, a skill acquired among the anthropoid apes.
7.
Tarzan is a skilled tracker, and uses his exceptional hearing and keen sense of smell to follow prey or avoid predators.
8.
Tarzan is literate in English before he first encounters other English-speaking people.
9.
Tarzan eventually reads every book in his father's portable book collection, and is fully aware of geography, basic world history, and his family tree.
10.
Tarzan is "found" by traveling Frenchman Paul D'Arnot, who teaches him the basics of human speech and returns with him to civilization.
11.
Tarzan has been called one of the best-known literary characters in the world.
12.
In 1972, science-fiction author Philip Jose Farmer wrote Tarzan Alive, a biography of Tarzan using the frame device that he was a real person.
13.
Tarzan closes with a chapter on Tarzan of the Apes because the story's protagonist is, according to her, the ultimate male by the standards of 1912 White Americans.
14.
Bederman, in fact, reminds readers that when Tarzan first introduces himself to Jane, he does so as "Tarzan, the killer of beasts and many black men".
15.
The novel climaxes with Tarzan saving Jane from a black ape rapist.
16.
Tarzan is a white European male who grows up with apes.
17.
Unlike everyone else in his society, Tarzan is the only one who is not clearly part of any social group.
18.
Turgovnick writes that since Tarzan was raised as an ape, he thinks and acts like an ape.
19.
In Tarzan, the jungle is a microcosm for the world in general in 1912 to the early 1930s.
20.
Furthermore, Turgovnick writes that when Tarzan first meets Jane, she is slightly repulsed but fascinated by his animal-like actions.
21.
The first Tarzan films were silent pictures adapted from the original Tarzan novels, which appeared within a few years of the character's creation.
22.
The first actor to portray the adult Tarzan was Elmo Lincoln in 1918's film Tarzan of the Apes.
23.
The Weintraub productions portray a Tarzan that is closer to Burroughs's original concept in the novels: a jungle lord who speaks grammatical English and is well educated and familiar with civilization.
24.
Tarzan was the hero of two popular radio programs in the United States.
25.
The program did not sell, but a different live action Tarzan series produced by Sy Weintraub and starring Ron Ely ran on NBC from 1966 to 1968.
26.
Tarzan was voiced by Robert Ridgely and Danton Burroughs in the animated series from Filmation, titled Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, as well as in the anthology programs that followed:.
27.
Disney's animated series The Legend of Tarzan was a spin-off of the animated Disney film from 1999.
28.
The latest television series was the short-lived live-action Tarzan, which starred male model Travis Fimmel and updated the setting to contemporary New York City, with Jane as a police detective, played by Sarah Wayne Callies.
29.
Tarzan has appeared in many comic books from numerous publishers over the years.
30.
Tarzan is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of chameleon, Calumma tarzan, which is endemic to Madagascar.
31.
Tarzan is often used as a nickname to indicate a similarity between a person's characteristics and that of the fictional character.
32.
Tarzan explained that it originated in her youth when she and a friend watched a Tarzan movie.
33.
Tarzan and Jane is a song and music video by Danish group Toy-Box from their debut album, Fantastic.
34.
Tarzan Boy is the debut single by Italian-based act Baltimora.