The Legend of Tarzan

The film Tarzan of the Apes was released 105 years ago in 1918. The film represented significant milestones in the film industry, and was emblematic of its times. What’s more, it represents the enduring popularity of a fiction icon that, some say, might actually have been based on a real person.
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Script by THG
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[@georgec4917]

I'm 70 and Johnny Weissmuller is the only name I think of when I hear the name Tarzan. Loved watching his movies as a child.

[@jb-vb8un]

used to see JW at the VILLA VERA HOTEL in Acapulco

[@loydjenkins2241]

I'm 63, and I always see Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. No one else quite pulled it off the way he did.

[@mfhberg]

I'm 57 and it's the same for me.

[@deetrvl4life875]

Me too!!🎉

[@cullenshound1979]

Gentlemen, I am only 43. Weissmuller is and always will be Tarzan.

[@boogerie]

In the words of Ray Bradbury: "I love to say it because it upsets everyone terribly-Burroughs is probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world. By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation of boys, Burroughs caused them to go out and decide to become special. That's what we have to do for everyone, give the gift of life with our books. Say to a girl or boy at age ten: Hey, life is fun! Grow tall! I've talked to more biochemists and more astronomers and technologists in various fields, who, when they were ten years old, fell in love with John Carter and Tarzan and decided to become something romantic. Burroughs put us on the moon. All the technologists read Burroughs."

[@charlesbrentner4611]

I remember in a video about pulp fiction Mr. Bradbury talks about having gotten a toy typewriter as a young boy and how the first thing he wrote on it was a continuation of one of the John Carter of Mars books. :)

[@remo1366]

Interesting, I'd say Bradbury did a hell of a job himself.

[@blockmasterscott]

That is so cool, I really enjoyed reading this.

[@ChrisLawton66]

"I love to say it because it upsets everyone terribly" nothing like starting a paragraph that can in no way be substantiated with a fucked up comment. Good 'ol Ray.

[@Delgen1951]

@@lanceash There is a collection of ERB's WWII journalism in book form, well at leastways I do remember reading some of it in a collection but can't remember title, as at the time I was sixteen or so and at the Bradley Library in Columbus GA, deep in the history stacks, and it was an old book at the time, and I am 71 now. I would say try the Library of Congress or the National Archives as very periodicals and book Publisher is required to send two copies of everything they publish to the National Archives and the Library of Congress.

[@whome4642]

I like how Tarzan has long hair like he’s a wild man but for some reason he shaves every day.

[@goodun2974]

It must be difficult to keep a razor or knife sharp enough to shave cleanly with, in a humid jungle environment....

[@johnh.tuomala4379]

I always wondered about that. Tarzan, despite his long hair had no facial or (noticeable) body hair. At first I thought that perhaps he was too young, or else maybe he'd once straddled a tree too forcefully. I later noticed the same thing with Tolkien's Hobbits. Have you ever seen a Hobbit (even when elderly) depicted with a beard, or even a mustache? I haven't. Perhaps it was that Hollywood was still stuck in the era when Good Guys just didn't have facial hair. I grew up watching Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone (Fess Parker in both cases). Aside from the frequent "five o'clock shadow" I don't recall either character having facial hair.

[@segurosincero4057]

Like the actresses who climb out of bed with make up in place.

[@nunyabidniz2868]

It is explained in the books. He finds his father's [hunting/Bowie] knife in the remains of the cabin where his parents died in the jungle. Later on he starts shaving with it as kind of a "bald man's revenge" where since he can't have a nice pelt like the rest of his adoptive tribe of great apes, he may as well be truly hairless and starts shaving his beard to maintain his identity as "the hairless one." I've done the BMR and Bic'd my dome on the daily, but you'd be surprised what a difference even a 1/4" of stubble can make, so now I just keep the baldness cut very short a la' Jason Statham... I also avoid the daily shave by wearing a van dyke beard; it's amazing how infrequently you have to shave the rest of your face when you already have a beard on it.

[@jandrews6254]

Picky picky

[@jliller]

In my part of Florida in the 1930s, an itinerant animal trapper set up a camp in a rural area at the head of navigation on a local river. People started visiting his camp on their boating trips on the river. They were in awe of his rugged man who was seemingly all muscle on his 6'2" 215 lbs frame (and he looked larger), especially because was right after Johnny Weissmuller had become a huge star playing Tarzan on the silver screen. Here was seemingly a real life Tarzan in the jungles of South Florida! Word spread and soon visitors were even coming from Palm Beach. After World War II there was even a Jungle Cruise boat that made a day trip. The trapper, who would really have preferred if just about everyone left him alone, realized he could make a decent income by charging admission to his camp, showing off himself and his animals. For awhile he even wore animal pelts to really lean into the gimmick. Thus, thanks to the literary legacy of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Vince "Trapper" Nelson got to met also sorts of rich and famous individuals, from boxer Gene Tunney to a young JFK, and became a real life Florida legend. His camp is preserved as part of a state park and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[@rebeccaheim8278]

What a quaint piece of history for your local area. Good that he was able to gain from it. Hope he was able to die peacefully where he wanted to be. Thankyou for sharing your story. I find it heartwarming somehow...

[@MightyMezzo]

Sometime around 1970 I saw Johnny Weissmuller on a talk show, telling about being cast as Tarzan. He was informed by the casting director that the studio would have to change his name, it was too long to fit on a marquee. Then, as he told it, someone at MGM said “Weissmuller, Weissmuller… Isn’t he the guy with all those Olympic medals?” And the directive came down: “Keep the name. Put swimming in the movies.”

[@-jeff-]

Truely a swinging tale. From Barsoom to Barbarians E.R.B. deserves to be remembered.

[@Svensk7119]

I read all the Barsoom books! Loved 'em!

[@davidj8658]

Truly

[@Delgen1951]

and he wrote two novels that were sympathetic to the American Indians one of the few written at the time.

[@RetiredSailor60]

Good morning from Ft Worth TX to everyone watching....

[@negativeindustrial]

Hey! I’m in FW too! Currently at 28th and I-35 having breakfast. Good morning

[@RetiredSailor60]

@@negativeindustrial I live near 820 and Rufe Snow Dr

[@RandyTerrell7174]

Back atcha from Kerrville 🤙

[@silverjohn6037]

One of the interesting things about Burroughs, for a man of his time, was the way his characters could always find good and decent people no matter the race, the species or planet.

[@DavidHBurkart]

My initial exposure to Tarzan was the TV series portrayed by Ron Ely in the lead role and his faithful companion Cheetah the Chimpanzee. Loved it as a kid.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I would say that Ron Ely really was my Tarzan. We watched the show every Saturday. I wonder today how they managed some of the animal stunts in that show. There was some pretty impressive lion wrestling going on…

[@DavidHBurkart]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I totally agree. The animal stunts and choreography were a big part of what made the show exceptional.

[@goodun2974]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel , The TV series, however, did not include a sexy, recurring "Jane" character and only lasted 2 seasons. The list of character actors who appeared on the show for 1 or 2 episodes, however, is quite long and varied. Nichelle Nichols from Star Trek was one. I don't remember being particularly impressed with either the TV series or any of the Tarzan movies, although Maureen O'Sullivan had great legs in the Johnny Wiesmuller movies and doubtless helped grab the attention of adolescent boys. Later movie versions would feature popular sex symbols such as Margot Robbie and Andy McDowell, as well as one particularly bad movie starring Bo Derek, and the less said about that one, the better. You mentioned Griffith Park, which I did a search on, and discovered it has a long and occasionally sordid history that might make a good episode for The History Guy. And just what the heck does IMDb stand for anyway? PS, it occurs to me thst I might have watched "Daktari" more than I watched Ron Ely's Tarzan series!

[@tygrkhat4087]

@@goodun2974 IMDb: Internet Movie Database.

[@goodun2974]

@@tygrkhat4087 , Thanks, I had speculated something like that but was too busy researching other subjects. So many things pop into my head, on a daily basis, for me to look up, that if I don't write them down I forget about them!

[@lancerevell5979]

For me, Johnny W. will forever be THE Tarzan. Tarzan swings easily from one media type to another!

[@lakrids-pibe]

My Tarzan was the old 30s moves with Johnny Weißmüller. They were shown on TV when I was a child.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Someone asked Johnny Weissmuller "What did you do with all the money you made in Hollywood?" and he said "Oh, I blew it on boats and good living!"

[@janetdavid2619]

I remember watching Tarzan on TV as a teenager. I’m 72 now but I still remember the night I scared my poor mother half to death because of a Tarzan show. As I remember it, a witch doctor appeared from behind a tree to grab someone. I was so startled by the quick appearance of the witch doctor that I screamed. My mother had been washing clothes in the basement came running up the stairs (to save me). I’m sure I was severely admonished. lol

[@jeffussery4884]

Nobody does the Tarzan yell better than Carol Burnett.

[@timothyhays1817]

As a kid in the 70's the old Tarzan shows led to having a dog being name Tarzan. Mother called him Nazrat.

[@segurosincero4057]

My kind of lady.

[@silverjohn6037]

Was your cat called Alucard;).

[@segurosincero4057]

@@silverjohn6037 count alucard.

[@jameslong9921]

So he was that God Nazrat?

[@grahamcann1761]

One of my favorite "Tarzan" stories is the one that tells of a young man named Forrest, who in 1931wrote a letter to his favorite author, after a teacher lectured a class about how terrible Burroughs books were. Burroughs wrote back that the teacher might be right, but "some fifty million people in the world" didn't seem to agree, and "even writers of garbage-can literature must eat". His letter back also commented on how he'd reviewed an English course his sons were taking in college, and "The selected reading seemed to have been selected for the sole purpose of turning the hearts of young people against books." As always thank you so very much for your videos. I note that (in the 70's) in Jr. High I wasn't a fan of reading, and the books we had to choose from for class assignments didn't help. But then I happened to pick up a copy of "Doc Savage: Red Snow" (#38), and I caught the reading bug. Granted it was a few years before I would tackle Tolkien and Tolstoy, but I did.

[@timmorris8932]

My step-grandfather had a deep passion for Tarzan. I remember being in his home and seeing the books, and the tchotchkes from Africa. When he dies much of that collection came to me. I now have a 10 year old son and I am introducing him to the wonders of "War of the Worlds". "Metropolis", and yes "Tarzan of the Apes". Thank you for posting this informative video. And on my birthday no less.

[@AndrewVelonis]

The aspect of living a carefree primitive life was referenced in one of the Weismuller Tarzan movies. There is a scene near the beginning in which Tarzan's son is asking Jane what gold is and she says something along the lines of "people use it to buy all sorts of silly things"

[@groovydude8863]

I saw Johnny Weissmuller on the Tonight Show/with Johnny Carson. Right before he sat down, he did the Tarzan call/hollar and the whole place erupted (standing ovation) . That might have the best piece of unscripted TV I've ever seen in my life. This was 25-30 years after his last Tarzan movie. Truly, history that needs to be remembered.

[@rebeccaheim8278]

Wow! I had forgotten, but I saw that too! ( for years I was addicted to Johnny's show. Living in Alaska we had cable TV and watched Johnny two weeks later than every one down south. But it came on at 8pm ! So we rarely missed an episode. Sure miss it now... sigh R I P both Johnnys !!!

[@stevedietrich8936]

The best Tarzan yells were from a little gal from Texas . . . Carol Burnett.

[@657449]

It was the same every time she did it. A great entertainer.

[@Delgen1951]

And what is more impressive is that the real Tazan yells are the certain of the sound engineer on the first Johnny Weissmuller movie and used the reversed roar of two different animals to make the sound. Carol Burnett did it for real with only her own voice.

[@DawnOldham]

I loved her Tarzan imitation!!

[@stevesummersell_K4WXX]

As kids, we all tried (poorly) the Tarzan yell ❤

[@beast1624]

More history that deserves to be remembered: "Tarzan Texas" In 1926 Tant and Viola Lindsay moved to the community, which was then called South Plains. They opened a general store and wanted to add a post office, but the U.S. Postal Service informed them there was already a South Plains post office in Texas, so they had to apply under a different community name. Tant Lindsay wrote several possible names on the application, and because he liked reading Tarzan books his wife told him to add that name to his list. Two weeks later the Lindsay's received approval of the Tarzan post office which, in 1983, was serving 500 customers.

[@stevekreitler9349]

It's more or less just a sign on the road now, sadly. I still enjoy seeing it. Some folks opened a truck stop there, calling it Tarzan and Jane, which is doing pretty well.

[@amada5966873]

I'm 39 years old and I can tell you I loved the original novels!!!

[@Ammo08]

My mom told me that her and her sister went to the "movie house" and saw Tarzan when she was about 9, (probably 1927). Her mother and grandmother were horrified that young girls were allowed in such a place, and they had seen a man with almost no clothes on. Shudder....;-)

[@LucienSabre]

My favorite Tarzan movies are, hands down, Disney’s animated version, “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes” and “The Legend of Tarzan” - I’ve seen a few Tarzan movies, but those three…struck a chord within me. 🥰

[@lyndoncmp5751]

The Filmation cartoon from the mid 1970s was the best for me, after the books of course. Nothing beats the books.

[@raymondcaylor6292]

My absolute first memory of watching TV was a Tarzan movie the first day my Mom & Dad got a TV in 1952. Yes, I'm old.

[@bieuxyongson]

I have always loved the Tarzan movies. I first read the John Carter books in the 70s, just out of high school. They were wonderful. Thank you for this great history of the story and Mr. Burroughs.

[@hurricane6014]

Oh my Lord! I just remembered that, when I was a kid during black and white TV, me and the gang used to roam around our little town calling out the Tarzan yodel at the top of our lungs. Those were the days!

[@lindastansbury2067]

Johnny Weissmuller was my Tarzan. My Dad and I loved the Tarzan movies and we watched them together. Thinking back on it now, a steady diet of Tarzan and Westerns and going hunting with Dad and my uncles probably had a great deal to do with why I was a tomboy when I was a kid.

[@danmo43]

Well, 58 years ago or so, I was destined at 10 years old to be America's first and only real Tarzan, living in the forest of North America. Well, that idea didn't quite pan out to the plans of a ten year old. Tarzan has still always been my favorite.

[@rhuephus]

sounds like when Opie wanted to run away from home

[@terryconnelly1682]

Great video! I was born in 1956. In the mid 60's there were cartoons broadcast every Saturday morning. After the cartoons were finished, the Tarzan movies started. J.W. was the only actor I knew about who played Tarzan. It was during the mid 60's that my father asked me if I'd be interested in meeting J.W.. He took me to a Shoney's restaurant, home of the Big Boy, and I met Tarzan. He was bigger than life!

[@williamjones3462]

Titanic, Tarzan, Godzilla. Some themes go on and on and on. There is a community named Tarzan, TX north of Midland. Not a tree in sight and certainly no vines to swing on. What were they thinking? I took a selfie at the sign.

[@minuteman4199]

I loved Tarzan books when I was a kid. I must have been about eight to ten years old and I would have bought them with my pocket money and got them from the local Library. They used to regularly show Tarzan movies on Saturday morning TV. Johnny Weismuller was the best Tarzan. This would have been in the early to mid 70s. It's shocking to think that when I was a kid those movies were only as old as a movie like "Back To The Future" is now!!

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson. The stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs shaped fantasy and science fiction for the better.

[@CarnivoreRonin]

I am a huge E.R.B. fan. I found a hardcover book in a used bookstore a few months ago called "Tarzan of the Movies: A Pictorial History of More Than Fifty Years of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Legendary Hero" It was published in 1968 and is great!

[@angelachouinard4581]

Congratulations! And thanks for letting us know there are still good used bookstores out there. Most of the ones I've known are now history that deserves to be remembered

[@timlinnabary8296]

And let’s not forget the Tonto, Tarzan, Frankenstein Sing-alongs of Saturday Night Live fame. History that deserves to be remembered!😁

[@brianew]

I loved when they sang Christmas songs.

[@jlpjlp1953]

Edgar Rice Burroughs, by way of Tarzan and John Carter, taught me how to enjoy reading. Yes, Burroughs represented many of the attitudes of his times, but he could also be remarkably open-minded. And he told a heck of a good adventure story!

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Hey History Guy 👋🤓 What does Tarzan and you have in common? You're a couple of Swingers! Waka Waka!

[@garyedwards3269]

I grew up watching Tarzan movies, TV shows and reading the ERB novels in high school. I was inspired by artists like Frank Frazetta and Neal Adams who depicted Tarzan and 'John Carter of Mars' so well. Thanks THG for delving into the rich history of Tarzan. Its an extraordinary escapist fantasy that lets one slam the door on civilization for hours at a time...plus it's overdue for a Hollywood remake. I was impressed with Hollywood's latest film about John Carter and it makes me wonder if there could ever be a Tarzan-John Carter crossover. (But who could possibly write such an epic tale?)

[@goodun2974]

You might have been the only one who was impressed with that John Carter movie because it was quite a box office flop.

[@MagusMarquillin]

@@goodun2974 I was impressed with it myself. Lots of great movies are box office flops, that only says it didn't find a huge enough audience to pay for it in the short time it's in theaters and there can be many reasons for that - in this case Disney very little to advertise it.

[@goodun2974]

@@MagusMarquillin , my wife and I are used to being teased about our predilection for oddball, sometimes surrealist movies, foreign films and stuff with captions. My wife is a nurse and worked with lots of highly educated nurses, often with Masters degrees, who absoluteky refused to watch a foreign fim that would require them to read and follow the dialog via captions. Some of them being very religious (my wife and I are not), they were pissed off about going to see The Passion of the Christ and realizing that it was in Aramaic (incorrectly, BTW, it should have been in Greek) and they'd have to read the captions! 🤣

[@DTavona]

No, I quite liked it. It was written and directed very much like a superhero movie before such movies really became popular. Disney didn't understand it, and the man who had approved the film was ousted midway through its creation, and the new head didn't like it, so it got crappy marketing. If you watch it and think, this is a cool, superhero movie about the hero that inspired adventure series and serials and even led the way for the likes of Star Wars, your opinion might be changed. Besides, while the critics universally panned it, most viewer reviews gave the movie a much better rating, giving it a solid B swashbuckler in space, or rather, on Mars. Many of those pundits write the opinion their employer tells them to.

[@williamharris8367]

@@goodun2974 I have a graduate degree too (albeit not in nursing), and I also avoid movies with subtitles. I much prefer movies where I can just relax and enjoy the action sequences unencumbered by an overly complicated plot (or dialogue in a language that I do not understand). Reading complex text certainly has its place, and sitting in a theatre is not it.

[@lydiaderhake2532]

I just read Tarzan of the Apes for the first time and found your channel today. You have no idea how excited I am to watch this!!!!

[@pendrew]

Blockbuster superhero movie? Some things never change.

[@davidkugel]

My mother was a big fan of ERB. She had collected over 70 of his novels in the form of Ace paperbacks. Some of them sold for 25 cents. I mailed the books to the Tarzana Musem in CA after she passed away three years ago. My favorites were the At the Earth's Core series.

[@WillWilsonII]

Earlier today I saw a clip of Muhammad Ali talking about how Tarzan was the king of the jungle and could talk to animals but the people who were already there couldn't?!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Yup. White English nobleman better in the jungle than the people who live there. There is definitely a jingoism to the idea.

[@goodun2974]

"Dr Doolittle" also had that ability. White people have special magic? Seems to be a Eurocentric mindset at play here...

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

@@goodun2974 I don’t think that anyone would deny that Tarzan is written from a Eurocentric mindset

[@goodun2974]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel , Some literary critics see Jonathan Swift's "Gullivers Travels" as a refutation of Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" who survives being shipwrecked through sheer intelligence and force of will, and save a black man from being enslaved or possibly eaten by cannibals. It's the ever-popular Great White Savior/Merciful Master or Bwana mentality, in full display.

[@goodun2974]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel , as a historian yourself, I am sure you have had ample examples of the things that people will deny despite overwhelming evidence. Anytime you do a Civil War historical video, a couple of people who believe in the "lost cause" narrative will pipe in with their 2 cents. I've seen you try and set them straight; probably to no avail. Anyway, when it comes to more mythological or legendary subjects such as Tarzan, the idea of people being raised by wild animals, and the Great White European Explorer tales, people who read those stories or watch those films and TV shows as kids don't necessarily or automatically reexamine them from a different perspective as adults.

[@robertweldon7909]

6/16/2024 When I was somewhere around ten, one summers day, my mom walked into the house with large box. In that box were a lot of books, none of which I can remember except for four novels about Tarzan. These where my introduction to my life long love of ADENTURE stories. I can no longer remember which four stories they were, but I will always be glad I did. At one time (in the 1980's) I owned more than 200 classic adventure stories, and had read all but five, and was reading one of them. Great job, I wish I had found this video much sooner. It's history I can directly relate to. ;-)

[@007JHS]

I think we have all seen at least one Tarzan movie.. I did read the books.. Johnny Weismuller seems to be recognised as the archetypal Tarzan.

[@glennlariva6896]

Thanks for a great briefing on E.R.B. and his writings. This brings back so many pleasant memories.

[@laserman3631]

The Mars series with John Carter captivated me as a young boy. My first serious reading and I still remember the books at 73.

[@muricaforever2978]

An excellent video as always! And a great shoutout at 8:25 to one of my favorites of ERB, "The Cave Girl" which has a subplot where the hero, Waldo Smith-Jones rescues a pirate king from cannibals and his pirates team up with him to win the day at the end. After all, don't all good stories involve pirates? ;-)

[@rhuephus]

yep ... can't forget those pesky pirates

[@finddeniro]

Local Sheriff deputy's Never arrested Tarzan !

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

6:40 The old time adage! ""I NEEDED THE MONEY!""

[@RutlandRick]

I discovered ERB and Tarzan while immobilized in the hospital with a broken leg - skiing accident. I loved the Martian series, too. For me, Tarzan was a comeback story. Walking around on crutches for an entire summer helped me to build upper body strength to offset the inevitable weight gain. I was relegated to score keeper for my Little League baseball team as they earned a first place in the ir north side league. I will always remember the coach telling me to get in their and bat at the end of our game against the south side champs. It was the same day Dr. Rust told me I could start putting weight on it. I stroked the second pitched ball I had seen that year, hitting the center field fence in the middle. I repeated that in the last inning. Maybe the pitcher had eased up on me after watching me limp into the batter's box. Our coach instructed me to steal to get me off the base path. I think I grew four or five inches that year, putting on a lot of pounds. The pounds and upper body strength came in hand that fall when I played flag football as a lineman. My younger brother played center on an opposing team, while I played nose tackle. My favorite play was the bull rush that allowed me to dump my brother on his quarterback.

[@walterfechter8080]

"Tarzan" and "Superman" were (and remain) my two favorite fictional heroes.

[@mikewhitcomb6558]

I grew up in Woodland Hills, right next door to Tarzana. At one point, when i was in high school, my dad came close to buying a house that had been part of ERB's estate, with an unconfirmed story that he had lived in there for a time.

[@catyear75]

When I was little The local channel put Put the Johnny Weissmuller films on every Sunday ...! I NEVER missed it ! He’ll always be Tarzan to me ..!

[@tessat338]

A relative of my husband's was born in 1915. His mother named him, much to his embarrassment, Tarzan, because she thought that it was a romantic name from a book. Then, all through his childhood and as he was growing up, the Tarzan movies came out. He insisted that everyone call him Tex because he lived in Texas. I will never forget during preparations for a funeral when the funeral director asked about one of Tex's children, "And what were his parent's names?" and my husband's mother having to say, "His father's name was Tarzan."

[@rhuephus]

did he call his wife "Jane" or "Cheetah" ???

[@tessat338]

@@rhuephus He was an honest to God cowboy from Texas. He didn't say much. His wife's name was not Jane or Cheetah so no, he didn't call her that. Her daughter told me that she made a pie every day since they lived on a ranch. He quashed any references to the fictional Tarzan, and the fact that his given name was Tarzan was not something that he advertised.

[@shemp308]

As usual, you did an excellent job on the story. You still remind me of one of the greatest teachers I had the pleasure of knowing as a child. James Brummett I right his name in the hope that he sees it. And knows someone remembers him. And I thank you for all your work. I enjoy everything you put online.

[@mcgam2000]

As an avid reader of Edgar Rice Burroughs in my late teens and early twenties, I have read more of his other books than just those of Tarzan. His stories of Pellucidar, and Venus also enchanted me...

[@HadToChangeMyName_YoutubeSucks]

My favorite was Brendan Fraser. Oh wait, that was Tarzan's brother George.

[@danielseelye6005]

Watch out for that 🌴!

[@robertfromtexas2480]

I grew up watching Tarzan movies. I always envied his freedom. Even more so as an adult

[@b1laxson]

I have a Tarzan scar. While a youth watching Tarzan mom brought in cheese and crackers. For perhaps the first time in my life being allowed to cut the cheese (the real cheese!). While slicing through from the TV came a Tarzan "AAAAAOOOAAAAAA", I turned to look and pushed the knife through the cheese into my finger. One of my first gushing blood wounds that left a scar to this day.

[@srquint]

When I was in 5th grade, we were required to read 4 books each 6 week period for an "A", 3 for a "B", 2 for a "C" 1 for a "D" and if none - an "F" was recorded on our report card. For that 1st 6 week period I read "Tarzan of the Apes", and several books by Jules Verne. I received an "F" because these were not considered literature by my teacher. The next term I checked out the skinniest books I could find in our school library - and earned an "A". While I thought I was getting revenge by reading such thin books, looking back on it I discovered I had read some of the great classics during the remaining school year - "The Old Man and the Sea, the Oxbow Incident, and other "Great Works" of literature of sparse pages. The names of those renown authors of these skinny books were unknown to me at the time. I suppose there is a "moral" somewhere in this, but I did also read all of the Tarzan stories and works of Jules Verne for enjoyment rather than for a literature requirement.

[@be6715]

Tarzan, aka, Jonny W. was my first crush, and loved to watch his old movies on T.V. growing up. Later, read the full series of Tarzan books. I never did pick up the other series that E.R.B. wrote, but maybe it is time to explore the other series. E.R.B. probably wasn't 'cool' for a girl to read, but I was enthralled with the stories. Great episode, THG!

[@susantownsend8397]

I grew up on Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan. All made before I was born but they showed up on tv on Saturdays and Sundays in the late 1950s and early 60s.

[@jonrettich4579]

I always appreciate your presentations. I am awed by the illustrations from that time. Would certainly look forward to a series on our wonderful illustrator history especially from the late nineteenth century through the twenties. Thanks

[@jeffstrite8190]

I recently bought a book that contained the entire works of Tarzan (I'm about 2/3s of the way through it)... and I was a bit amazed that it bore little resemblance to the movies I grew up with. The book is still entertaining, but there are times I get overwhelmed by the attention to detail and imagination that described creatures and peoples no one had ever seen (of course, the creatures and peoples never existed except in Burrough's mind).

[@buzzman4860]

Tarzan was one of my biggest influences as a kid. Thanks

[@jb-vb8un]

read many TARZAN & HARDY BOYS books before starting elementary school

[@buzzman4860]

@j b recently found The Hardy Boys The Short Wave mystery in a box. My dad had them all from the 40s and we read them as kids.

[@jjohns941]

In 1970 I purchased a Ballantine Books paperback, Tarzan of the Apes, with a Tarzan Number 1 in the upper right of the cover. I managed to purchase every volume and voraciously read them as I got them. They are quick and enjoyable reads and I still have them. Funny story, in college in 1972, during the final exam of my course called 'Man and Nature', I filled out 5 of the small blue essay question books answering a question of man's relationship with nature, all based on the latest Tarzan book I'd read, Tarzan and the Ant Men. My professor remarked when he gave me an A, that my answer showed how thoroughly I understood the concepts of the course. All from a love of Tarzan.

[@dappermuis5002]

I loved reading Burroughs books. Though never read the venus series and only about 2 or 3 of the Mars one. As a teen. The Library didn't have any more of those. But I was lucky they had all of the Tarzan ones and most of the centre of the Earth ones. Though they only had the first 6 Tarzan books in English and the rest were in Afrikaans. But that didn't stop me 🙂 Out of all of his books, Tarzan was my favourite. And to this day is one of my favourite Characters. Though most of the Tarzan movies or series, I've seen, I never really liked, as most of them had the ' me Tarzan, you Jane' portrayal. And not what was in the books of an intelligent Tarzan.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Yes the films are terrible and an insult to Burroughs books. The mid 1970s Filmation Tarzan Lord of the Jungle cartoon was the only non book Tarzan that was even remotely close to the actual Burroughs Tarzan.

[@conormcmenemie5126]

Another round of applause for THG.

[@scloftin8861]

My dad gave me three books for my 11th birthday: Bullfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology, Edith Hamilton's Greek and Roman Mythology and Tarzan of the Apes. I still have a first hardback edition of Tarzan and the Foreign Legion. Weissmuller was my first Tarzan, but I also like Christopher Lambert's version in Greystoke. I have seen modern reviews of the works that annoy me because they completely forget when the books were written and how, for their time, they are not nearly as culturally obnoxious as they could have been. People are basically treated as they are from Tarzan's experiences, not from cultural prejudices and biases. Thanks for letting me get that out. And they're still some of the best pulp around.

[@josephmatthewclift1985]

Sir - a big thank you for this. Any chance of the history of the Barsoom series and their relation to modern science fiction and inspiring the space programs of the 20th Century?

[@davidbuie3316]

The History Guy is the best thing on KZbin.

[@roberttaylor7637]

Great episode. Thanks for teaching me so many things i never knew.

[@denisecorzette1676]

As a child I loved the television version of Trazan with Ron Ely as Tarzan.

[@arrjay2410]

I was a voracious bookworm when I was young in the late 60s an early 70s. I had consumed the entirety of Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar and Venus series before the age of 15. I go back now and read those stories, discovering sometimes disturbing inaccuracies and 'attitudes'. They're still good adventure stories though.

[@greggi47]

I always like the surprises you offer in choices of topics.

[@Kyfordman1989]

Can you find the most interesting subject to talk about? I always enjoy your videos. Please keep it up.

[@stevedietrich8936]

During my childhood I read, and re-read, two books with a theme similar to the Tarzan story, someone marooned or displaced into a different culture, Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe. Both were published long before the Tarzan book, and I wonder if either would have been the inspiration for Burrough's to write Tarzan.

[@goodun2974]

Two other books about displaced characters thrust into "alien" cultures are Gulliver's Travels (published in 1726, 7 years after Robinson Crusoe), and The Jungle Book (1894). Like the tale of Mowgli, the movie "Nell" with Jodi Foster could be interpreted as another in a long line of Romulus and Remus legends of humans being raised by animals or growing up as feral creatures.

[@mpetersen6]

@@goodun2974 Nell doesn't grow up feral. Simply sheltered by her mother. Who came first H Rider Haggard or ERB. Haggard I think.

[@goodun2974]

@@mpetersen6 , I had nearly forgotten about Haggard. What was that book I read 50 years ago, King Solomon's Mines? Diamonds, a remote isolated tribe and a witch doctor named Gagool....

[@TexasTimeLord]

As a kid I watched reruns of the old TV series and the only part I remember is Tarzan would call the elephants and they would come and trample the bad guys. Good stuff

[@hoosez]

Fantastic episode. Amazing bibliophile lore. Did not know that E.R.B. wrote that many novels. Several of which I own and dearly treasure. Now, I have to track down that 1918 film and give it a watch. ✌

[@davelafferty605]

What a wonderful installment. By the time I was twelve, I had read all four of Burroughs' major series -- Tarzan, Mars, Venus, and Pellucidar -- as well as many of his stand-alone novels. As one commentor noted, ERB made boys want to be special, adventurous, and heroic...quite different from today's milksops who cower in their mother's basements, refusing to hack their own way through life. Modern culture needs more of the likes of John Clayton, John Carter, Carson Napier, and David Innes.

[@billferner6741]

It brings back precious memories. I was in elementary school when my father read me the book. My Mom gave me a swimsuite with a leopard pattern. I felt like Tarzan. Only later I saw the movie with Johnny W., the Olympic champ. But then all the imagination was gone.

[@JamesThomas-gg6il]

I love the connection about who is your Tarzan like who is your bond, James Bond? Johnny Weissmuller and Sean Connery respectfully.

[@WillaHerrera]

The way you said "all of those" at 12:04 was so funny to me. With the look on your face. 🤣

[@KMac329]

Lex Barker also played Tarzan in a series of movies in the early 50s. I believe Oscar Hijuelos based his lead character on Barker in his great novel The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien.

[@brettd3206]

Brings back memories of visiting the hotel that Johnny Weissmuller owned in Acapulco last year. Gorgeous location on cliffs above Acapulco. Hotel Los Flamingos.

[@hardlyb]

I was a big fan of those books when I was a kid. My dad had collected quite a few of them as a boy in the 30's, and - though I've forgotten why - my fourth-gradel teacher read 'Tarzan of the Apes' to us, a few pages each day during the down time between lunch and recess (she had discovered, I suppose, it was futile to try to teach us anything in that half-hour after eating). When they were reissued as paperbacks I bought the ones my dad didn't have (at least those written by Burroughs), but I have admit by then my interest in them had declined, so I'm not sure I read them all.

[@tom4ivo]

I was obsessed with ERB's novels when I was in high school, but rereading his early novels as an adult (after reading hundreds of other authors), I have to agree with his own assessment that his writing skills were poor, at least at first. He did, of course, improve over time, as one does with practice. What set him apart from the other pulp fiction writers who inspired him, was the premise behind his characters. While other pulp writers wrote about detectives, cowboys, and masked mystery men, ERB created the first modern superheroes. Batman is a Tarzan in a concrete jungle, and Superman, the Man of Steel, a visitor from another world who is super strong and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, is a John Carter (of Mars) on Earth. Carter, being from Earth, is literally a visitor from another world to the people of Mars, and his Earthborn muscles outmatch anyone on Mars. As for the article in Men's Adventure magazine*, what's more likely? That ERB read British newspaper accounts of Mildin at a time when wars in Africa dominated the British news (remember, ERB was in the US), as the article purports, or that someone was inspired to invent an origin story long after Tarzan had become popular and ERB had died? *Man's Adventure cover www.philsp.com/data/images/m/mans_adventure_195903.jpg All covers www.philsp.com/mags/mans_adventure.html Article at www.erbzine.com/mag14/1449.html

[@joelborden3242]

The Tarzan books were my young adult fiction as a pre-teen. I owed the Weissmuller movies with Jane and Boy. I still watch on TCM when they roll around

[@gypsyboomer]

I fell in love with the entire genre reading from the closet library of a summer camp. But before Tarzan or John Carter there was the "Mucker", wonderfully inspiring young adult fiction.

[@larryrowe5259]

My dad read Tarzan books released by Ballentine in 1963. I have read all 24 books several times, plus the John Carter Mars series many times at age 71, I still enjoy them.

[@higgme1ster]

Lance Geiger, you are amazing. I have been attuned to synchronicity in everyday life for many decades. Not an hour ago, sitting at the kitchen table, I told my wife that when I mention to her about the possible nuclear war we are facing with an American-Russian standoff in the Ukraine, it is not with total doom and despair. I am also, in the back of my mind, thinking of the opportunity that eventuality could bring, of getting back the possibility of fixing more control of my life. Possibly I read "Alas Babylon" one to many times, I'll admit. But Imagine my shock to hear you say, "...a book review in the New York Times in 1999 noted that in the sublime synthesis of Nature and nurture Tarzan is as timely as he is timeless in Burroughs biographer Scott Griffith told the LA Times that 'Tarzan represents a sort of Freedom a sort of Primal Freedom where a person can return to Nature and not worry about the mortgage payment or the traffic cop or the stoplight.' I think that's Universal Griffith opines 'around the world people want to fantasize about mastering their own environment'." Talk about synchronicity, should I move to the mountains now? ;^)

[@higgme1ster]

www.edparton.com/!!cc/alas-babylon.pdf

[@InformationIsTheEdge]

I grew up with a cartoon Tarzan from the 70s made by Filmtion. They were little morality plays set in the jungle and each was meant to have life lessons in them. Robert Ridgely was the voice of Tarzan but I understand Danton Burroughs, the grandson of Edgar Rice Burroughs actually voiced the Tarzan call.

[@Kristina-gz2wu]

Johnny Weissmuller, Jack Elam, and the Tarzan cartoon that came on after the fantastic 4 on Saturday morning cartoons! These are my favorite Tarzans. Oh, and the guy who played on Greystoke.

[@ruthlewis6678]

I was so enamored with Tarzan that my Mother actually sprang for a subscription for the comic book for me. Between that and the Saturday Evening Post I was in heaven.

[@givingisbetterthantaking..829]

The original artwork, done by Allen St. John, adds alot to the story lines.

[@TheEudaemonicPlague]

When the story about a real Englishman having been raised by apes came up, I felt relief...it was obvious that it never happened. Considering the kinds of things I like to read, if anyone had had such a story, I think I'd have run across it before...not that I'd believe it (stories about people raised by animals lack credibility), but I've been an ERB fan since the late sixties. Most of my copies of his books were at least ten years old when I got them, and only when I was able to get ebooks of them, did I finally get the missing books, despite looking for them any time I went into a used book store. Apparently, some of those novels weren't quite as popular.

[@jknuttel]

Thanks for this, History Guy. I've been a big Tarzan fan since I was very little. I've seen most of the Tarzan movies (sadly, some of the silents are lost) and read most of the novel that ERB wrote. Plus, I did meet two of the many actors who've played Tarzan over the years (Gordon Scott and Denny Miller - sadly, now both deceased). Thanks to this video, I may have the desire to "return to the jungle" with some adventure of the ape-man.

[@vilstef6988]

Johnny Weismuller was my Tarzan. I never saw any of his films in a theater, but one of my local TV stations had a Saturday double feature. Lots of Tarzan films, and feature two with creatures!

[@Axgoodofdunemaul]

Burroughs was right about his writing. Turgid, stilted, repetitive, it sucks. But he had the one great idea, and sometimes that's all it takes. Today "Tarzan" is the most universally recognized fictional character-name on Planet Earth. Go anywhere in the world, some remote village, ask for "Tarzan," and someone among your listeners will know who he is. I grew up reading Burrough's works, which were totally out of print in the 1950s. But luckily I was a US Army brat, with access to dusty army-base libraries full of people's old books, donated during WWII. At age 13, I knew they were schlock, but it was GOOD schlock.

[@mullofoban]

Excellent to see the legend of Tarzan, its' author, and one of its' best personifications of the Ape man get the important credit it deserves. Humans as a group always wish to be superior to the animals around us. Burroughs was one of the first authors to show that the animals often have more to admire rather than criticise and that if we took some of their attributes we could be better human beings. Add the wish fulfilment of the superb body and mind of Tarzan and his incredible adventures and you have one of literatures' greatest creations. Thought provoking video.

[@shellywolfblitzen3328]

My first exposure to Burroughs' actual writing was A Princess Of Mars, which my husband gifted me some time after seeing the movie John Carter at its premier as our first date. I was a little taken aback by the setting of John initially, but when that faded, I really saw a man who was Confederate only due to where he lived, with no interest in furthering the war, who was used by his superiors, who respected all peoples and found ways to connect and empathize, even if he really just wanted to be generally left alone. A man who was raised among deep bias, who used derogatory terms like "savage", but related because he saw himself as a savage of sorts, too. He respected the skill of women warriors and only stepped in when life or death necessary. He loved fighting, but saw no point in war, especially war based on race, and he was continually confronting his biases as he journeyed Mars and its peoples. It was an interesting look into a mind of the time, wrapped in some great scifi and adventure. ...And then I read Thuvia, Maiden of Mars and immediately understood the complaints about sexism lol. To reduce the Thern-kicking warrior that is Thuvia to a stifled, physically weak princess who could do literally nothing but wait around for John's son to sweep her away... lol I was so pissed off. Somehow Chessmen redeemed the series a bit on that end. Not to sound salty or anything 😂 I waited 7yrs to find a copy of that book, to see Thuvia get some more spotlight after Gods Of Mars, and I get *that*.