Warning: this article contains spoilers.
Disney has released The Legend of Tarzan (2016), which follows the ape-mans’ adventure back to the jungle after his adjustment to civilization. Upon first glance at the trailer, the film seems to stay more true to the original character of Tarzan and the world in which he lives, unlike the first Disney film of the character.
In the Disney animated film, Tarzan (1999), Tarzan is portrayed as a good-natured, humorous, very easy-going man in a jungle filled with friendlyanimals, with the exception of the unthinking Sabor and the uptight silverback Kerchak.
The 1999 film did very little glory to the original character and world of Tarzan, who first appeared in Edgar Rice Burroughs book "Tarzan of the Apes", published in 1912. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan is very different from Disneys’ Tarzan; Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan is sadistic, self-taught and very, very strong. He becomes king of the apes by force, by personally killing Kerchak, in the original American pulp as opposed to by inheritance, Kerchak passing the responsibility to him with his dying breath, in the Disney film.
I find the character of Tarzan very worthwhile, and I mean the original, not the Disney-fied version of him. Yes, he is a feral man, but his wilderness does not keep him from using his human-level of intelligence. He teaches himself how to read. He teaches himself how to open a door. He does many things that the other animals he interacts with could never hope to accomplish.
Eventually, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan leaves the forest and joins civilization. He uses the skills he developed in the jungle to survive the civilized world. The strength he gained in the jungle allows him to not only survive getting shot twice in "The Return of Tarzan", but he brushes the gunshots off like they’re nothing.
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan is authentic. He survives in a place that will kill him the moment he lets his guard down.
Unlike Disneys’ 1999 Tarzan, he is self-sufficient. He isn’t saved by the good will of his friends, he is saved by recruiting unthinking animals and using them to hunt his enemies ("The Beasts of Tarzan"). I don’t mean the animals disrupting their poaching operation, I mean killing and eating the hunters.
Unlike Disneys’ 1999 Tarzan, he doesn’t have a general sense of goodwill towards all things. If he gives anything the benefit of the doubt, he will get eaten. His rivals, his own adopted ape “father” Tublat, and the ape leader, Kerchak will kill him if he allows them to get too close to him, not to mention the predators in the jungle that he learns to kill when they try to kill him. The 1999 Tarzan lives in a jungle generally free of danger. In my opinion, that’s not authentic. It’s certainly less interesting to me now having read the book.
With this in mind, as someone who has read Tarzan of the Apes, I certainly hope I see more of the original portrayed in "The Legend of Tarzan".
