{"id":27189,"date":"2012-11-14T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=27189"},"modified":"2014-07-12T10:43:32","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T14:43:32","slug":"tarzan-centennial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=27189","title":{"rendered":"The Tarzan Centennial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tarzan<\/a>OK, (vine) swingers: How are you planning to celebrate the Tarzan<\/a> Centennial?<\/p>\n

A phenomenon ever since Tarzan of the Apes<\/em> was first published in All-Story Magazine<\/em>, Edgar Rice Burroughs\u2019 Lord of the Jungle marks a century of dominion over popular culture this year. Fans of Lord Greystoke will no doubt be enjoying the occasion with the conspicuous consumption of all things Tarzan. I have my own plans\u2014which will not<\/em> include making public the photo of me at age seven (or eight? The memory fails, thank God) striking a classic apeman pose while wearing the spotted loincloth my mother made for me.<\/p>\n

That said, I\u2019m eager to share the things I have<\/em> lined up for my lengthy Tarzanathon, and see what my fellow followers of the legendary jungle hero can take from (or add to) my commemorative\u00a0 undertakings.<\/p>\n

Now, yato-eta, van-do-ze yo!<\/em> (\u201cRead, good friend,\u201d in Burroughs\u2019 Mangani language of the great apes):<\/p>\n

Tarzan of the Text<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tarzan<\/a>The November 20th<\/sup> release of the book Tarzan the Centennial Celebration: The Stories, The Movies, The Art<\/em> is surely going to be a must for fans. Endorsed by the Burroughs estate, it will hopefully turn out to be as worthy an addition to the Tarzan library as Gabe Essoe\u2019s previously indispensable Tarzan of the Movies<\/em> (one of my Favorite Movie Books<\/a>). The Essoe tome has been rightly criticized today for providing some faulty information (including the assertion that actor Kamuela C. Searle perished from the frightening injuries he suffered playing Korak in the 1920 serial Son of Tarzan<\/a>), so it will be very interesting to see how well this major publication covers the narrative of Tarzan in cinema.<\/p>\n

Before perusing that volume, however, I\u2019ve plucked one of my many vintage Tarzan hardbacks off the shelf to steam through. It\u2019ll be 1919\u2019s Tarzan the Untamed<\/em>, the much-praised ripsnorter that finds Tarzan dipping his toes into the bloodshed of World War I, vowing to avenge Jane\u2019s murder (!) by launching his own savage assault against the Germans.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Jane, I\u2019ll also take the measure of Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan<\/em> by Robin Maxwell. Indulging in today\u2019s in-vogue conceit of retelling a classic tale from the perspective of a different character (see: Wicked<\/em>), this well-reviewed novel (also endorsed by the Burroughs estate) is actually, according to the pre-release publicity, the first version of the classic Tarzan tale to be penned by a woman.<\/p>\n

No survey of Tarzan literature can be complete without breezing through at least one Tarzan comic book. I\u2019ll be flipping through my giant-size The Return of Tarzan<\/em>, which offers fans a massive canvas emblazoned with some terrific jungle action.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of great Tarzan artists (Burne Hogarth<\/a> was Burroughs\u2019 favorite); I\u2019ve always been partial to Joe Kubert\u2019s work. Kubert brings a rough boldness to the apeman\u2019s world that emphasizes grit and savagery. Kubert\u2019s jungle tales are not pretty, but they are thrilling<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As a musical backdrop for my reading, at some point I will no doubt cue up John Scott\u2019s marvelous score to Hugh Hudson\u2019s ambitious (and underrated except\u00a0to us Tarzan elitists) epic film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes<\/a>.\u00a0Scott’s music is\u00a0a gorgeous mix of lyrical beauty and throbbing grandeur.<\/p>\n

Have a listen to the film’s Overture:<\/p>\n