02Tarzan, son of the apes, is one of the most famous literary characters. Twenty-four novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs are dedicated to the Lord of the Jungle, as well as official sequels by Fritz Leiber, Joe Lansdale, Philip José Farmer, Robin Maxwell and Will Murray. In addition, Tarzan was the main character of a radio program, a newspaper comics section, numerous comic books, a host of television series and a myriad of films.
However, much is not known about this semi-mythical man. Burroughs' novels are full of curious, incredible details that are rarely shown on screen. Well, since the new film “The Legend of Tarzan” is coming out in July 2016, it’s time to remember the same Tarzan who appeared before the reader on the pages of the original novels.
- 1 Origin of the name
- 2 Tarzan was not raised by gorillas
- 3 Lost Civilizations
- 4 British Lord
- 5 The hero does not live in a tree house at all
- 6 Edgar Rice Burroughs Killed Jane
- 7 Tarzan Auditioned For The Role Of Tarzan
- 8 Monkey Man Has Martial Arts
- 9 Tarzan and Jane are immortal
- 10 The hero flew to the center of the Earth
Origin of the name
"Father" of Tarzan
In the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs, apes speak their own unique language. In primate dialect, "tar" means "white" and "zan" means "skin." Put two words together and voila! - get "Tarzan". In the book, Kala, Tarzan's foster ape mother, calls him exactly that - for his pale, smooth skin.
However, this name did not come to Burroughs’ mind out of the blue. In 1910, while living in Chicago, he fell in love with the Southern California community of Tarzana and even purchased land there. A few years later, the writer thought about a name for a boy raised by apes, and remembered Tarzan. Burroughs removed the last vowel, and a legend was born.
It is noteworthy that in those days the name Tarzan was unofficial. Actually, the community had no official name- until in 1930 it was given the status of a populated area and a post office was built in it. This gave rise to the myth that the town was named after the famous foster monkey, although in fact the opposite is true.
Tarzan wasn't raised by gorillas.
Turns out Kala didn't look like that.
Everyone knows that Tarzan was raised by gorillas. That's his story, right? Unfortunately, this is a common misconception. Moreover, it is so widespread that it even went into films.
In fact, Tarzan was raised by monkeys unknown to science. They resemble gorillas in strength and size, but differ in other respects. These primates walk mostly upright, hunt animals, eat meat and use colloquial speech. They call themselves "Mangani". Burroughs describes them as “immense,” “fierce,” and “terrible.” He adds that “they are close relatives of gorillas, but are smarter than them.” Thanks to their intelligence and strength, the Mangani are “the most fearsome of all human ancestors.”
Mangani gorillas are called “Bolgani”. And believe it or not, Tarzan fights with these huge primates. In Tarzan of the Apes, Burroughs describes Tarzan's first encounter with a large gorilla:
Before he had time to take even a few steps towards the thicket, a huge figure stepped forward from the low, gloomy thicket. At first Tarzan decided that it was one of his people, but the next moment he realized: a Bolgani, a hefty gorilla.
How close! You can’t escape anymore... You’ll have to fight for your life. These huge beasts were the mortal enemies of his tribe. Little Tarzan knew that both tribes had never asked or given mercy.
Lost Civilizations
Burroughs was a master at inventing lost worlds
Fantasy stories about Africa had been written before Edgar Rice Burroughs, and they undoubtedly influenced him. An important contribution to such literature was made by Henry Rider Haggard, who vividly described lost cities in his numerous novels (She, King Solomon's Mines, and others).
Burroughs began writing forty years later than Haggard, but even by that time a huge part of Africa still remained unexplored and had not been mapped. The so-called dark continent could well be hiding unknown civilizations from people, and Burroughs allowed his imagination to run wild. For the adventures of Tarzan, Burroughs composed more than a dozen such worlds.
For example, Opar is the ruins of an ancient outpost of Atlantis. They are inhabited by ape-like men and the most beautiful women. Countless riches are hidden in Opar: gold bars and gems. Tarzan makes raids there to replenish his own treasury. There is an assumption that the name “Opar” was inspired by the image of the rich biblical city of Ophir.
Another world - City of God, one of Burroughs' most extraordinary creations. The ruler of this settlement is a British geneticist who calls himself “God”, who managed to place his mind in the body of a gorilla. He also endowed the tribe of gorillas under his control with human intelligence, instilling in them the personalities of Henry VIII and the members of his royal court. Perhaps it was this all-powerful primate that became the prototype of the gorilla Grod, a supervillain from DC Comics.
We have, of course, listed only a small fraction of the worlds imagined by Burroughs. In the novel Tarzan and the Ant-Men, our hero discovers two warring cities inhabited by 46-centimeter people. In Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, there is a whole valley with crusaders who were brought there back in the 12th century. And in Tarzan Triumphant a city of religious fanatics suffering from epilepsy is described - they consider their seizures to be a divine gift.
There is also Pal-ul-don, the city of dinosaurs, and let's not forget about the lost city of madmen who breed and eat lions and worship parrots and monkeys. The population of the cities of Kaya and Zuli is controlled by a sorcerer with the help of a mysterious gem. And the castle, built in the Portuguese style, is inhabited by descendants of conquistadors and local Africans. This is the only one lost World in Tarzan's Africa, where people in power are not white-skinned.
British lord
Is this what civilized Tarzan looked like?
Although Tarzan spends most of his life flying on vines through the jungle, he is in fact a British lord. If you've seen the 1984 film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, you'll already be aware of the backstory. However, Tarzan's aristocratic background is described in the first novel.
Tarzan's parents, John and Alice Clayton, bore the titles Lord and Lady Greystoke. In the first book they die, and Tarzan claims his rights to the inheritance only at the end of the novel “Tarzan's Return to the Jungle.” However, “lord” is not actually a title, but an English form of address for a duke, marquess, earl, viscount or baron. So what title does Tarzan have? Burroughs reveals this secret in the nineteenth chapter of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, in the scene where the knight of Nimmr meets Tarzan:
“My name is Tarzan,” said the ape-man.
-What is your title? asked Sir Bertram.
Tarzan was puzzled by the knight's strange manners and clothing. However, he looked quite friendly and clearly considered himself an important person. Means, high position Tarzan should command the respect of Sir Bertram.
“Viscount,” admitted the ape-man, calm as always.
It turns out that Tarzan, named after his father, should be fully called John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke. However, in the book Tarzan Lives, an unofficial “biography” of the lord of the jungle, Philip José Farmer notes that the title of Viscount began to be used in England only in the 15th century. In other words, this title was unknown to the Knights of Nimmr. Farmer suggests that Tarzan bore the more ancient title of earl. Although this is not the official version, the film Greystoke supports it.
The hero does not live in a tree house at all
Another myth about Tarzan
Since the thirties of the last century, when Tarzan was played by Johnny Weissmuller, we are often shown in films the home of Tarzan and Jane: a simple but well-designed tree house. Oddly enough, this is not the case in the books. Tarzan's house, built in english style, first described in Burroughs' novel The Eternal Lover, where Tarzan is given minor role:
In the south of Uziri, the land of the Waziri, lies a rocky mountain range, at the foot of which lies a wide plain. Antelopes, zebras, giraffes, rhinoceroses and elephants are found in abundance here, and here - each in its own way - lions, leopards and hyenas hunt fat, fat antelopes, zebras and giraffes. There are also buffalos here - violent, ferocious animals, which, according to Clayton, are more terrible than the lion himself.
These were truly heavenly places for hunters, and almost every day another detachment left the spacious, squat Greystoke bungalow and went in search of prey and adventure.
We learn more details about housing from the novel “Son of Tarzan.” According to Burroughs, Tarzan lives in “a bungalow overgrown with flowers, behind which are visible the barns and outbuildings of a good African farm.”
When Tarzan is not distracted by fights with wild animals and searches for lost cities, he behaves like a homebody. Marvelous.
Edgar Rice Burroughs killed Jane
Beautiful couple awaited a tragic end
The first actress to play Jane Porter was Enid Markey in the film Tarzan of the Apes. Miss Markey, as luck would have it, was a brunette, which went against Burroughs' ideas about Jane. In his novels, Jane is blonde (and not English; she's from Maryland). Moreover, Burrows couldn't stand Markie's acting. Moreover, apparently, he couldn’t stand it so much that in the very next novel he got rid of Jane.
In the first chapter of Tarzan the Indomitable, our hero returns home after a long absence. Trouble awaits him there: the First has begun World War, German soldiers looted and burned his house, killing many servants and friends. And the worst thing is that Jane was killed.
Here's how Burroughs describes it:
Tarzan stood there for a long time and looked at the lifeless body, burnt beyond recognition, then picked it up in his arms. He turned it over and saw the terrible marks of death. At that very moment he was drawn into the deepest pool of sadness, horror and hatred.
And Tarzan did not need evidence in the form of a broken German rifle in the back room or a bloody uniform cap on the floor - he already knew who was guilty of this terrible, senseless crime.
For a moment, a desperate hope suddenly awoke in Tarzan that this blackened dead body was not his wife, but then his eyes saw the familiar rings on his fingers, and the last weak ray of hope left his soul.
This tragic scene prompts Tarzan to take merciless revenge. The ape man hunts down and exterminates all the German soldiers - it doesn’t matter to him whether they are involved in what happened. This is a kind of death of Tarzan, whose actions have always been distinguished by nobility.
Of course, Jane didn't die. The story was published gradually, with a continuation, and before the release last chapter Burroughs changed Jane's fate - although no one knows why. At the end, Tarzan finds out that Jane was not actually killed, but kidnapped. The body he found belonged to a maid: she was burned beyond recognition in order to convince the ape-man that in front of him was a dead wife. The reason for such an ingenious hoax remained unrevealed and left a significant hole in the plot. But fans of the novel didn’t care.
Jane is back.
Tarzan auditioned for the role of Tarzan
Why not Tarzan? But Burroughs was against it
Edgar Rice Burroughs had a difficult relationship with Hollywood. He loved the filming and the extra money, but hated the changes the films brought to his character. Burroughs especially disliked Elmo Lincoln, the first movie Tarzan who was afraid of heights. In addition, Lincoln was a beefy man, with a chest measuring 132 centimeters in girth, unlike the book Tarzan - lean and athletic.
The author was also dissatisfied with the most famous Tarzan actor, Johnny Weissmuller (pictured). Burroughs wanted his hero to express himself clearly and clearly, but Weissmuller’s ape-man couldn’t really put together two words in English.
The writer got his revenge in the novel “Tarzan and the Lion Man”, where our hero saves African jungle film crew. Along the way, Burroughs makes fun of actors, directors and the film industry as a whole. He delivers the fatal blow in the final chapter. Tarzan arrives in Hollywood and is introduced to the director in charge of casting.
The casting director gave Clayton an appraising look.
- You look good to me. I'll take you to Mr. Goldin. He is the director of the film. Do you have any experience?
— As Tarzan?
- Not really. I mean, were they in a movie? — the director laughed.
- Well, maybe you can do it. You don't have to be Barrymore to play Tarzan. Let's go up to Mr. Goldin's office.
They had to wait in the reception area, then the secretary let them in.
- Hello, Ben! — the director greeted the director of the film. - I think I found who I need. This is Mr. Clayton, Mr. Goldin.
- Whose role?
- For the role of Tarzan.
- Yeah. Mm…
Goldin looked at Clayton with a critical eye, then put his palms forward and waved them, as if chasing away a fly.
“Wrong type,” he barked. - Absolutely not the same.
Monkey Man knows martial arts
Kung fu won't hurt in the jungle
If a person is strong and agile enough to not run away from a fight with huge primates, he does not need additional skills. Not needed, but they are there. According to Joe Lansdale's novel Tarzan's Forgotten Adventure, the ape man once studied kung fu at the Shaolin Temple. However, in our article we will limit ourselves to the works of Burroughs.
So did Edgar Rice give Tarzan prowess in martial arts? In Tarzan and His Beasts, Burroughs describes this in general outline:
With a dull growl, the beast rushed at Tarzan, but in the lair civilized people the ape-man, among other things, learned about certain skillful methods of combat unknown to the forest people.
If a few years ago Tarzan would have responded to a ferocious throw with no less ferocious force, now he dodged the enemy’s frontal attack and dealt him a powerful right blow to the very stomach.
Apparently, Tarzan learned to box and probably learned the wisdom of hand-to-hand combat. Perhaps he even mastered Savate - French kickboxing - after all, Tarzan was introduced to civilization by the Frenchman, Paul d'Arnaud. But what about martial arts? Only one thing is known for sure: jiu-jitsu. In Tarzan the Untamed, Burroughs writes:
The girl saw that the monkey man was not at all ready to attack. Now he will collapse dead! The giant primate was already hanging over his opponent, stretching his paws towards him, but then Tarzan made a movement, and it was so lightning fast that it would have put even the Lightning Ara to shame. Swift, like the head of a Gista snake, left hand The human-beast lunged forward and grabbed the enemy's left wrist. A sharp turn, and the primate's right hand is pinched under right hand enemy. It was the jujitsu grip that Tarzan had learned from civilized men—a grip capable of easily breaking large bones; a capture that rendered the formidable primate completely helpless.
Tarzan and Jane are immortal
Immortal family?
In Tarzan's Search, the ape man comes into conflict with a hostile Kavuru tribe who are terrorizing the jungle and kidnapping women. They even kidnapped Jane. It turns out that the Kavuru are immortal: they created a pill that gives eternal youth. In chapter twenty-eight, the tribe's high priest explains to Jane:
“You will serve the only purpose for which women are fit.” A man can achieve godliness only in solitude. The woman weakens him and destroys him. Look at me! Look at my priests! Do you think we're all young? This is wrong. Hundreds of rains have come and gone since the last neophyte entered our holy order. How did we gain such immortality? Through a woman. We all took a vow of celibacy. And this vow was sealed with the blood of women; We will be punished with our own blood if we violate it. For a Kavuru priest to succumb to a woman's lure is disastrous.
“And yet I don’t understand,” Jane shook her head.
- You will understand. A long time ago I learned the secret of immortal youth. It lies in an elixir that is brewed from many ingredients: pollen of some plants, roots of others, cerebrospinal fluid of a leopard and, most importantly, from the cervical glands and blood of women - young women. Now I understand?
Tarzan saved Jane, and they returned home with a box of magic pills, which they distributed to their friends. They even treated Tarzan's monkey companion, Nkima. Therefore, of course, it is strange that Tarzan and Jane did not save a couple of immortal tablets for their son Korak and his wife Meriam. However, they weren’t in this book, so the dog goes with them.
The hero flew to the center of the Earth
Wherever fate has taken Tarzan!
In addition to the Tarzan books, Burroughs penned other books, including the Pellucidar series. Its heroes, adventurers David Innis and Abner Perry, built an experimental drilling rig and discovered a cavity inside the Earth. Moreover, this cavity was illuminated by its own internal sun. Amazing world inhabited by dinosaurs primitive people and many intelligent non-human races.
In the novel The Adventures of Tarzan in the Center of the Earth, the ape man and his companions go in search of Innis and Perry. The wealthy Tarzan finances the construction of a special airship called the O-220. On this aircraft they dive into a giant hole at the North Pole, go through a tunnel and find themselves in the center of the Earth.
The idea of a hollow Earth is a real pseudoscientific idea that was put forward in the eighteenth century. It is unclear whether Burroughs seriously believed in it, but it was remarkably useful for his writings. And not only in novels about Earth. In “Moon Girl,” the Moon is also described as hollow and inhabited from the inside by ancient civilizations.
Despite a lot of film adaptations, the figure of Tarzan is still more mysterious than we can imagine. I wonder if the creators of the new film will be able to reveal his character from a new, unknown side?
In 1937, the cartoon “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was released. To pay for its creation, Walt Disney had to mortgage own house. As a result, the budget for the cartoon amounted to a record amount for those times: 1 million 488 thousand 423 dollars. Snow White grossed $416 million at the box office, and Disney won an Oscar for it that same year. The most interesting thing is that at the award ceremony he was awarded as many as 8 statuettes: one regular and seven small ones.
Walt Disney came up with the image of Mickey Mouse while watching his pet mouse on the farm.
At first they wanted to name the famous Disney mouse Mortimer. But Walt Disney's wife ridiculed this name and called it too pretentious. I had to urgently rename the character Mickey. Interestingly, Mickey Mouse was voiced by Walt Disney himself.
Fun fact: Mickey and Minnie Mouse were married and real life. Wayne Allwine, who voiced Mickey, married Russi Taylor, who voiced Minnie, in 1991.
Disney's Aladdin was based on Tom Cruise, and the Genie was based on Robbie Williams.
In 2007, Scrooge McDuck became an honorary citizen of the Scottish city of Glasgow. Interesting fact: in the same year he entered the list of the richest fictional characters, published in Forbes magazine, number 1.
All Disney creative Group While working on the cartoon “The Lion King”, she visited the African savannah to make the characters’ images as believable as possible.
Interesting fact: after the release of The Lion King, Walt Disney was sued... for defamation of hyenas!
Pumbaa became the first Disney cartoon character, who farted shamelessly on the screen.
There is a scene in the cartoon "Hercules" where main character posing for a painting on a vase. Moreover, he is dressed in a lion's skin. If you look closely, you can see that this skin belongs to Scar, negative hero from The Lion King. The explanation is simple: Andres Deja, the animator who worked on both cartoons, just decided to be a little mischievous.
Disney's Hercules is based on myths Ancient Greece, that's why all his heroes ancient greek names: Pegasus, Hades, Zeus, etc. There is only one exception - Hercules himself, because... his name is ancient Roman.
The only main character Disney cartoons The one who hasn't said a word is Dumbo the elephant.
The most expensive cartoon"Tarzan", created in 1995, is considered the world's favorite. Its creation cost the producers $145 million.
The famous song from the cartoon “Plasticine Crow” at first did not have its own special sound. The “cartoonishness” of the song was due to the fact that its original version did not fit into the allotted 5 minutes, and the recording was sped up. It turned out just great!
Actor Oleg Anofriev voiced all the male characters in the cartoon " The Bremen Town Musicians" Initially, it was planned that other actors would take part in the voice acting, for example, Oleg Yankovsky and Zinovy Gerdt, but they were unable to arrive at the studio on time. Therefore, Anofriev had to take the rap for everyone at once. Interestingly, the actor even tried to play the role of the Princess, but was unable to give the desired timbre. As a result, the Princess was voiced by singer Elmira Zherzdeva.
The wolf from “Well, wait a minute!” voiced by Anatoly Papanov, although this should have been done by Vladimir Vysotsky. Vysotsky was prohibited from voicing the wolf by a special decision of the artistic council.
Russian-speaking fans of the animated series “Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers” know the mouse-inventor as Gadget. However, in the original version her name is Gadget!
Creator " spongebob» was studying sea creatures in college and worked as a cook at a seafood establishment.
Interesting fact: the actors who voiced the characters from “Shrek” never saw each other while working on the cartoon. Each character's remarks were recorded separately.
Executive Producer of the animated film “Toy Story” – Steve Jobs himself!
Hello everyone, I was surfing the Internet and found an interesting article. I decided to post it here. In general, best-selling cartoons are released into the world every day, both in the foreign film industry and in the domestic one. Let's take a look with 17 interesting facts about cartoons.
Interesting fact 1: The very first cartoon character is considered to be Gertie the dinosaur. It appeared on screens back in 1910. 
Fun Fact 2: In 1937 cartoon came out "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". To pay for its creation, Walt Disney I had to mortgage my own house. As a result, the budget for the cartoon amounted to a record amount for those times: 1 million 488 thousand 423 dollars. Snow White grossed $416 million at the box office, and Disney won an Oscar for it that same year. The most interesting thing is that at the award ceremony he was awarded as many as 8 statuettes: one regular and seven small ones. 
Interesting fact 3: At first they wanted to name the famous Disney mouse Mortimer. But Walt Disney's wife ridiculed this name and called it too pretentious. I had to urgently rename the character Mickey. Interesting what he said Mickey Mouse Walt Disney himself. 
Interesting fact 4: Mickey and Minnie Mouse were married in real life. Wayne Allwine, who voiced Mickey, married Russi Taylor, who voiced Minnie, in 1991. 
Interesting fact 5: Disney's Aladdin was based on Tom Cruise, and the Genie was based on Robbie Williams.
Interesting fact 6: The entire Disney creative team while working on the cartoon " Lion King"visited the African savannah to make the characters’ images as believable as possible
Interesting fact 7: after the release of the cartoon "The Lion King" at Walt Disney World sued for defamation of hyenas! 
Fun Fact 8: Pumbaa became the first Disney cartoon character to shamelessly fart on screen. :D 
Interesting fact 9: In the cartoon " Hercules"There is a scene where the main character poses for a painting on a vase. Moreover, he is dressed in a lion's skin. If you look closely, you will notice that this skin belongs to Scar, the negative hero from The Lion King. The explanation is simple: Andres Deja, the animator who worked on both cartoons, just decided to be a little mischievous. 
Interesting fact 10: The Disney cartoon “Hercules” is based on the myths of Ancient Greece, so all its characters have ancient Greek names: Pegasus, Hades, Zeus, etc. There is only one exception, Hercules himself, because... his name is ancient Roman.
Interesting fact 11: The only main character in Disney cartoons who never said a word is Dumbo the elephant. 
Interesting fact 12: The most expensive cartoon in the world is considered to be “ Tarzan", created in 1995. Its creation cost the producers $145 million. 
Interesting fact 13: The famous song from the cartoon “Plasticine Crow” at first did not have its own special sound. The “cartoonishness” of the song was due to the fact that its original version did not fit into the allotted 5 minutes, and the recording was sped up. It turned out just great! 
Interesting fact 14: Actor Oleg Anofriev voiced all the male characters in the cartoon “ The Bremen Town Musicians" Initially, it was planned that other actors would take part in the voice acting, for example, Oleg Yankovsky and Zinovy Gerdt, but they were unable to arrive at the studio on time. Therefore, Anofriev had to take the rap for everyone at once. Interestingly, the actor even tried to play the role of the Princess, but was unable to give the desired timbre. As a result, the Princess was voiced by singer Elmira Zherzdeva.
Interesting fact 15: Wolf from “Well, wait a minute!” voiced by Anatoly Papanov, although this should have been done by Vladimir Vysotsky. Vysotsky was prohibited from voicing the wolf by a special decision of the artistic council. 
Interesting fact 16: Russian-speaking fans of the animated series " Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers“They know the mouse-inventor as Gadget. However, in the original version her name is Gadget! 
Interesting fact 17: Toy Story executive producer Steve Jobs himself! 
Thank you all for your attention, bye everyone!)
Tarzan, the son of the apes, is one of the most famous literary characters. Twenty-four novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs are dedicated to the Lord of the Jungle, as well as official sequels by Fritz Leiber, Joe Lansdale, Philip José Farmer, Robin Maxwell and Will Murray. In addition, Tarzan was the main character of a radio program, a newspaper comics section, numerous comic books, a host of television series and a myriad of films.
However, much is not known about this semi-mythical man. Burroughs' novels are full of curious, incredible details that are rarely shown on screen. Well, since the new film “The Legend of Tarzan” is coming out in July 2016, it’s time to remember the same Tarzan who appeared before the reader on the pages of the original novels.
Origin of the name
"Father" of Tarzan
In the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs, apes speak their own unique language. In primate dialect, "tar" means "white" and "zan" means "skin." Put two words together and voila! - get "Tarzan". In the book, Kala, Tarzan's foster ape mother, calls him exactly that - for his pale, smooth skin.
However, this name did not come to Burroughs’ mind out of the blue. In 1910, while living in Chicago, he fell in love with the Southern California community of Tarzana and even purchased land there. A few years later, the writer thought about a name for a boy raised by apes, and remembered Tarzan. Burroughs removed the last vowel, and a legend was born.
It is noteworthy that in those days the name Tarzan was unofficial. In fact, the community did not have any official name at all - until in 1930 it was given the status of a settlement and a post office was built in it. This gave rise to the myth that the town was named after the famous foster monkey, although in fact the opposite is true.
Tarzan wasn't raised by gorillas.
Turns out Kala didn't look like that.
Everyone knows that Tarzan was raised by gorillas. That's his story, right? Unfortunately, this is a common misconception. Moreover, it is so widespread that it even went into films.
In fact, Tarzan was raised by monkeys unknown to science. They resemble gorillas in strength and size, but differ in other respects. These primates walk mostly upright, hunt animals, eat meat, and use spoken language. They call themselves "Mangani". Burroughs describes them as “immense,” “fierce,” and “terrible.” He adds that “they are close relatives of gorillas, but they are smarter than them.” Thanks to their intelligence and strength, the Mangani are “the most fearsome of all human ancestors.”
Mangani gorillas are called “Bolgani”. And believe it or not, Tarzan fights with these huge primates. In Tarzan of the Apes, Burroughs describes Tarzan's first encounter with a large gorilla:
Before he had time to take even a few steps towards the thicket, a huge figure stepped forward from the low, gloomy thicket. At first Tarzan decided that it was one of his people, but the next moment he realized: a Bolgani, a hefty gorilla.
How close! You can’t escape anymore... You’ll have to fight for your life. These huge beasts were the mortal enemies of his tribe. Little Tarzan knew that both tribes had never asked or given mercy.
Lost Civilizations
Burroughs was a master at inventing lost worlds
Fantasy stories about Africa had been written before Edgar Rice Burroughs, and they undoubtedly influenced him. An important contribution to such literature was made by Henry Rider Haggard, who vividly described lost cities in his numerous novels (She, King Solomon's Mines, and others).
Burroughs began writing forty years later than Haggard, but even by that time a huge part of Africa still remained unexplored and had not been mapped. The so-called dark continent could well be hiding unknown civilizations from people, and Burroughs allowed his imagination to run wild. For the adventures of Tarzan, Burroughs composed more than a dozen such worlds.
For example, Opar is the ruins of an ancient outpost of Atlantis. They are inhabited by monkey-like men and beautiful women. There are countless riches hidden in Opar: gold bars and precious stones. Tarzan makes raids there to replenish his own treasury. There is an assumption that the name “Opar” was inspired by the image of the rich biblical city of Ophir.
Another world is City of God, one of Burroughs' most extraordinary creations. The ruler of this settlement is a British geneticist who calls himself “God”, who managed to place his mind in the body of a gorilla. He also endowed the tribe of gorillas under his control with human intelligence, instilling in them the personalities of Henry VIII and the members of his royal court. Perhaps it was this all-powerful primate that became the prototype of the gorilla Grod, a supervillain from DC Comics.
We have, of course, listed only a small fraction of the worlds imagined by Burroughs. In the novel Tarzan and the Ant-Men, our hero discovers two warring cities inhabited by 46-centimeter people. In Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, there is a whole valley with crusaders who were brought there back in the 12th century. And Tarzan Triumphant describes a city of religious fanatics suffering from epilepsy - they consider their seizures to be a divine gift.
There is also Pal-ul-don, the city of dinosaurs, and let's not forget about the lost city of madmen who breed and eat lions and worship parrots and monkeys. The population of the cities of Kaya and Zuli is controlled by a sorcerer with the help of a mysterious gem. And the castle, built in the Portuguese style, is inhabited by descendants of conquistadors and local Africans. This is the only lost world in Tarzan's Africa where non-white people are in power.
British lord
Is this what civilized Tarzan looked like?
Although Tarzan spends most of his life flying on vines through the jungle, he is in fact a British lord. If you've seen the 1984 film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, you'll already be aware of the backstory. However, Tarzan's aristocratic background is described in the first novel.
Tarzan's parents, John and Alice Clayton, bore the titles Lord and Lady Greystoke. In the first book they die, and Tarzan claims his rights to the inheritance only at the end of the novel “Tarzan's Return to the Jungle.” However, “lord” is not actually a title, but an English form of address for a duke, marquess, earl, viscount or baron. So what title does Tarzan have? Burroughs reveals this secret in the nineteenth chapter of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, in the scene where the knight of Nimmr meets Tarzan:
“My name is Tarzan,” said the ape-man.
-What is your title? asked Sir Bertram.
Tarzan was puzzled by the knight's strange manners and clothing. However, he looked quite friendly and clearly considered himself an important person. This means that Tarzan's high position should earn Sir Bertram respect.
“Viscount,” admitted the ape-man, calm as always.
It turns out that Tarzan, named after his father, should be fully called John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke. However, in the book Tarzan Lives, an unofficial “biography” of the lord of the jungle, Philip José Farmer notes that the title of Viscount began to be used in England only in the 15th century. In other words, this title was unknown to the Knights of Nimmr. Farmer suggests that Tarzan bore the more ancient title of earl. Although this is not the official version, the film Greystoke supports it.
The hero does not live in a tree house at all
Another myth about Tarzan
Since the thirties of the last century, when Tarzan was played by Johnny Weissmuller, we are often shown in films the home of Tarzan and Jane: a simple but well-designed tree house. Oddly enough, this is not the case in the books. Tarzan's house, built in the English style, was first described in Burroughs's novel The Eternal Lover, where Tarzan plays a minor role:
In the south of Uziri, the land of the Waziri, lies a rocky mountain range, at the foot of which lies a wide plain. Antelopes, zebras, giraffes, rhinoceroses and elephants are found in abundance here, and here, each in its own way, lions, leopards and hyenas hunt fat, fat antelopes, zebras and giraffes. There are also buffaloes - violent, ferocious animals, which, according to Clayton, are more terrible than the lion himself.
These were truly heavenly places for hunters, and almost every day another detachment left the spacious, squat Greystoke bungalow and went in search of prey and adventure.
We learn more details about housing from the novel “Son of Tarzan.” According to Burroughs, Tarzan lives in “a bungalow overgrown with flowers, behind which are visible the barns and outbuildings of a good African farm.”
When Tarzan is not distracted by fights with wild animals and searches for lost cities, he behaves like a homebody. Marvelous.
Edgar Rice Burroughs killed Jane
A beautiful couple met a tragic end
The first actress to play Jane Porter was Enid Markey in the film Tarzan of the Apes. Miss Markey, as luck would have it, was a brunette, which went against Burroughs' ideas about Jane. In his novels, Jane is blonde (and not English; she's from Maryland). Moreover, Burrows couldn't stand Markie's acting. Moreover, apparently, he couldn’t stand it so much that in the very next novel he got rid of Jane.
In the first chapter of Tarzan the Indomitable, our hero returns home after a long absence. Trouble awaits him there: the First World War began, German soldiers plundered and burned his house, killing many servants and friends. And the worst thing is that Jane was killed.
Here's how Burroughs describes it:
Tarzan stood there for a long time and looked at the lifeless body, burnt beyond recognition, then picked it up in his arms. He turned it over and saw the terrible marks of death. At that very moment he was drawn into the deepest pool of sadness, horror and hatred.
And Tarzan did not need evidence in the form of a broken German rifle in the back room or a bloody uniform cap on the floor - he already knew who was guilty of this terrible, senseless crime.
For a moment, a desperate hope suddenly awoke in Tarzan that this blackened dead body was not his wife, but then his eyes saw the familiar rings on his fingers, and the last weak ray of hope left his soul.
This tragic scene prompts Tarzan to take merciless revenge. The ape man hunts down and exterminates all the German soldiers - it doesn’t matter to him whether they are involved in what happened. This is a kind of death of Tarzan, whose actions have always been distinguished by nobility.
Of course, Jane didn't die. The story was published gradually, with a continuation, and before the release of the last chapter, Burroughs changed Jane's fate - although no one knows why. At the end, Tarzan finds out that Jane was not actually killed, but kidnapped. The body he found belonged to a maid: she was burned beyond recognition in order to convince the ape-man that in front of him was a dead wife. The reason for such an ingenious hoax remained unrevealed and left a significant hole in the plot. But fans of the novel didn’t care.
Jane is back.
Tarzan auditioned for the role of Tarzan
Why not Tarzan? But Burroughs was against it
Edgar Rice Burroughs had a difficult relationship with Hollywood. He loved the filming and the extra money, but hated the changes the films brought to his character. Burroughs especially disliked Elmo Lincoln, the first movie Tarzan who was afraid of heights. In addition, Lincoln was a beefy man, with a chest measuring 132 centimeters in girth, unlike the book Tarzan - lean and athletic.
The author was also dissatisfied with the most famous Tarzan actor, Johnny Weissmuller (pictured). Burroughs wanted his hero to express himself clearly and clearly, but Weissmuller’s ape-man couldn’t really put together two words in English.
The writer got his revenge in the novel “Tarzan and the Lion Man,” where our hero saves a film crew in the African jungle. Along the way, Burroughs makes fun of actors, directors and the film industry as a whole. He delivers the fatal blow in the final chapter. Tarzan arrives in Hollywood and is introduced to the director in charge of casting.
The casting director gave Clayton an appraising look.
- You look good to me. I'll take you to Mr. Goldin. He is the director of the film. Do you have any experience?
— As Tarzan?
- Not really. I mean, were they in a movie? — the director laughed.
- Well, maybe you can do it. You don't have to be Barrymore to play Tarzan. Let's go up to Mr. Goldin's office.
They had to wait in the reception area, then the secretary let them in.
- Hello, Ben! — the director greeted the director of the film. - I think I found who I need. This is Mr. Clayton, Mr. Goldin.
- Whose role?
- For the role of Tarzan.
- Yeah. Mm…
Goldin looked at Clayton with a critical eye, then put his palms forward and waved them, as if chasing away a fly.
“Wrong type,” he barked. - Absolutely not the same.
Monkey Man knows martial arts
Kung fu won't hurt in the jungle
If a person is strong and agile enough to not run away from a fight with huge primates, he does not need additional skills. Not needed, but they are there. According to Joe Lansdale's novel Tarzan's Forgotten Adventure, the ape man once studied kung fu at the Shaolin Temple. However, in our article we will limit ourselves to the works of Burroughs.
So did Edgar Rice give Tarzan prowess in martial arts? In Tarzan and His Beasts, Burroughs describes this in general terms:
With a dull growl, the beast rushed at Tarzan, but in the lair of civilized people, the ape-man, among other things, learned about certain skillful methods of combat unknown to the forest people.
If a few years ago Tarzan would have responded to a ferocious throw with no less ferocious force, now he dodged the enemy’s frontal attack and dealt him a powerful right blow to the very stomach.
Apparently, Tarzan learned to box and probably learned the wisdom of hand-to-hand combat. Perhaps he even mastered Savate - French kickboxing - after all, Tarzan was introduced to civilization by the Frenchman, Paul d'Arnaud. What about martial arts? Only one thing is known for sure: jiu-jitsu. In Tarzan the Untamed, Burroughs writes:
The girl saw that the monkey man was not at all ready to attack. Now he will collapse dead! The giant primate was already hanging over his opponent, stretching his paws towards him, but then Tarzan made a movement, and it was so lightning fast that it would have put even the Lightning Ara to shame. Swiftly, like the head of a Gista snake, the left hand of the man-beast darted forward and grabbed the enemy's left wrist. A sharp turn, and the primate's right hand is clamped under the opponent's right hand. It was the jujitsu grip that Tarzan had learned from civilized men—a grip that could easily break large bones; a capture that rendered the formidable primate completely helpless.
Tarzan and Jane are immortal
Immortal family?
In Tarzan's Search, the ape man comes into conflict with a hostile Kavuru tribe who are terrorizing the jungle and kidnapping women. They even kidnapped Jane. It turns out that the Kavuru are immortal: they created a pill that gives eternal youth. In chapter twenty-eight, the tribe's high priest explains to Jane:
“You will serve the only purpose for which women are fit.” A man can achieve godliness only in solitude. The woman weakens him and destroys him. Look at me! Look at my priests! Do you think we're all young? This is wrong. Hundreds of rains have come and gone since the last neophyte entered our holy order. How did we gain such immortality? Through a woman. We all took a vow of celibacy. And this vow was sealed with the blood of women; We will be punished with our own blood if we violate it. For a Kavuru priest to succumb to a woman's lure is disastrous.
“And yet I don’t understand,” Jane shook her head.
- You will understand. A long time ago I learned the secret of immortal youth. It lies in an elixir that is brewed from many ingredients: pollen of some plants, roots of others, cerebrospinal fluid of a leopard and, most importantly, from the cervical glands and blood of women - young women. Now I understand?
Tarzan saved Jane, and they returned home with a box of magic pills, which they distributed to their friends. They even treated Tarzan's monkey companion, Nkima. Therefore, of course, it is strange that Tarzan and Jane did not save a couple of immortal tablets for their son Korak and his wife Meriam. However, they weren’t in this book, so the dog goes with them.
The hero flew to the center of the Earth
Wherever fate has taken Tarzan!
In addition to the Tarzan books, Burroughs penned other books, including the Pellucidar series. Its heroes, adventurers David Innis and Abner Perry, built an experimental drilling rig and discovered a cavity inside the Earth. Moreover, this cavity was illuminated by its own internal sun. The amazing world was inhabited by dinosaurs, primitive people and many intelligent non-human races.
In the novel The Adventures of Tarzan in the Center of the Earth, the ape man and his companions go in search of Innis and Perry. The wealthy Tarzan finances the construction of a special airship called the O-220. On this aircraft they dive into a giant hole at the North Pole, go through a tunnel and find themselves in the center of the Earth.
The idea of a hollow Earth is a real pseudoscientific idea that was put forward in the eighteenth century. It is unclear whether Burroughs seriously believed in it, but it was remarkably useful for his writings. And not only in novels about Earth. In “Moon Girl,” the Moon is also described as hollow and inhabited from the inside by ancient civilizations.
Despite a lot of film adaptations, the figure of Tarzan is still more mysterious than we can imagine. I wonder if the creators of the new film will be able to reveal his character from a new, unknown side?
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