The Sounds of Jungle Love, also by Warners, was a one-off cartoon about a love triangle between three anthropomorphic jungle animals: a gorilla, a hippopotamus and a zebra (the latter of whom has an afro and a prominent mustache). The cartoon premiered in mid-1953.
The 1954 version of Tarzan and the Mermaids featured the hero, based on the animated movie, encountering living mermaids and being kidnapped by a villainess, who turns out to be a mermaid herself. The cartoon was a financial success.
In 1954, Disney took over the rights to the Tarzan character (previously licensed by David O. Selznick), which had been assigned to RKO Pictures. Disney's feature film version of the Tarzan of the Apes series was the first adaptation of Tarzan, an adaptation of the original Tarzan novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
In 1955, MGM released Tarzan and the She-Devil, a feature-length film starring Jane Russell as Jane Parker and Glenn Ford as Tarzan. The plot involved Tarzan, Jane and Tarzan's new fiancee Elizabeth, being abducted by the evil Lady Kalima, who holds them in a mysterious jungle castle. On June 14, 1955, the film was rereleased in the United States in black and white with all scenes of Jane Russell's cleavage and buttocks completely blacked out. The movie did very well at the box office, especially in the South. This was also the year that MGM started production on a Saturday morning cartoon series, The New Adventures of Tarzan. This series lasted only one season and only ran six segments before cancellation.
In 1957, Hanna-Barbera Productions produced a Tarzan series titled Johnny Jupiter, which ran for one season. Johnny Jupiter (a blond haired boy and his parents, with grey eyes) becomes a friend of Tarzan (who has dark brown eyes). Another black and white Johnny Jupiter feature entitled I Understand, I See and I Love, also produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1958, did poorly. In 1960, a new Saturday morning series called The Mighty Jungle, based on MGM's Tarzan and the She-Devil, was broadcast on NBC. It lasted only a few months. In the mid-1960s, NBC aired a Tarzan feature on Saturday mornings entitled Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. It lasted only one season.
The Tarzan comic strip made its debut in the United States on March 10, 1962. Created by Hal Foster (1892–1982), the strip was initially drawn by Dick Giordano (1915–2009). Foster's son Harold, who later co-created Mandrake the Magician with his father, drew the strip from the beginning of its run until 1987, and the final version was drawn by Bob Burden from 1987 to 1995.
Actors who have portrayed Tarzan on film or television include Gordon Scott (the 1950s Adventures of Superman); Denny Miller (Tarzan the Magnificent) and John Carradine (Tarzan's Three Challenges) (1960s), Adam West (Tarzan and the Super 7), Bobby Clark (Tarzan and the Leopard Men) and Bo Svenson (Tarzan in the Great City), and David Boreanaz (Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle) (TV series, 2001–2004).
Other film versions include Tarzan's Fight for Life, which was released in 1944, Tarzan and the Mermaids, released in 1949, and Tarzan and the She-Devil, released in 1955. The film Tarzan's New York Adventure was released in 1978.
Saturday morning cartoons
Hanna-Barbera Productions produced a cartoon series based on the Tarzan films and comic strips, featuring the new (human) hero Johnny West, in 1957. They are set after the original Tarzan movies and the original comic strip.
In 1961, Hal Seeger and Joe Ruby created a cartoon version of Tarzan with Wally Walrus, to be aired on ABC's Bozo the Clown series, which aired on Saturday mornings. When it premiered in September 1961, the show was titled The New Adventures of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. This show was short lived, and was cancelled after only five months. Another cartoon based on the novel Tarzan of the Apes was produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1964. This cartoon, entitled Tarzan and the Super 7, was a pilot for a full-length animated series. However, this show too was cancelled after only one season.
Comics
In 1981 the first Tarzan comic book story was published: Tarzan the Tiger! by Walter Simonson and Frank Frazetta. Marvel Comics published Tarzan in 1981, a part of their Tarzan series, which lasted for eight years.
Novels
Between 1970 and 2000, dozens of Tarzan novels were written for children. These novels have different names and titles, but are similar in basic content to the films based on Tarzan.
In 1979, a book titled The Return of Tarzan, by John M. Roberts, was published.
Marvel Comics has published stories based on the Tarzan comic books, Tarzan and the Greystoke Kids (1984–1985) and Tarzan and the Comics (2000–2001).
Television
In 2005, Tarzan was licensed to TLC Media Group. In late 2006, TLC pulled the Tarzan series and canceled plans for a Tarzan film series with an all-star cast, which include Bruce Willis.
Tarzan returned to television in 2008, when Warner Bros. launched a new series, called Tarzan: The Legend Begins (and the follow-up series is titled Tarzan: The New Adventures, which debuted in 2009). Tarzan is portrayed by Jelus Walters. Walters (who was also the series' executive producer) stars as Dr. John Parker, a United States Marine and ex-marine named Tarzan after surviving a plane crash in equatorial Africa. Dr. John Parker is brought to England for the medical attention needed after being in a coma for several months. While in a coma, he has had amnesia, which has prevented him from recalling his past life. He befriends his beautiful companion, Jane, and together they investigate a dark force that is controlling all those around him. His memory returns when he and Jane uncover that his father's friend has been keeping him away from Parker. A great friendship forms between Parker and Jane, and they eventually fall in love.
In 2010, the rights to the Tarzan series were bought by Lionsgate Television (a joint venture between Lionsgate and CBS Studios International) and The Asylum. Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (also known as Lord of the Jungle), a film series based on the Tarzan novels, began airing in 2013 on Spike TV. The series ran for three seasons with 12 episodes per season. As of 2018, the movies and novels are now owned by Entertainment One.
Radio
In the mid-1940s, a Tarzan radio serial was broadcast over Mutual, the most widely heard radio network at that time. In 1945, one of the actors on this show was John Carroll, who later voiced Tarzan on the 1950s Adventures of Superman radio program and television series.
In 1949, NBC ran a 10-minute Tarzan radio series on Saturday mornings. This series ran for three years, and introduced a new character named Alan-a-Dale (played by Eddie Parker). This show's supporting cast included a girl named Jane (played by Susan Olsen) and a jungle boy named Tantor (played by Paul Page). NBC ran the series after the Tarzan cartoon show aired on Saturday mornings. The show's announcer, who was called on to tell viewers about any Tarzan merchandise or memorabilia, would make a Tarzan's five-syllable call out: Tar-zan! Tar-zan! Tar-zan! Tar-zan! Tar-zan! Tar-zan! Tar-zan!
In 1951, the character of Tarzan was featured in a short-lived American Broadcasting Company (ABC) radio program, starring Robert Lowery.
Theatre
In 1999, NBC began producing a television series based on Tarzan. However, the show was canceled after 13 episodes. Another television series, called Jane and Tarzan, premiered in 2001. This was another version of Tarzan produced by NBC that was shown on Saturday mornings.
The novel Tarzan and the Beast was adapted into a play by Frank Dunlop, which ran in London in June 1987. The play starred Daniel Day-Lewis. This play was staged on Broadway in December 1988 and later released on audio tape.
Another theatrical adaptation was staged in 2004, called Tarzan of the Apes, written and directed by Daniel Sonenberg.
Film
The first film adaptation of Tarzan was a silent film released in 1918, with dialogue scenes added for American release. This silent film is lost. The first feature-length film adaptation of Tarzan was released in 1918, with Vitagraph Studios producing the film. The movie had a novel storyline about a man who leaves his son behind with his native African tribe while he explores the East Africa coast and finds himself lost in a jungle, captured by natives, and rescued by natives.
The second silent Tarzan feature, Tarzan the Tiger (1929), featured a story line in which Tarzan
