Summary

• Tarzan has been adapted to film many times, starting with a silent film in 1918 and continuing with a new movie nearly every year until the 1970s.
• The first Tarzan movie in 1932 started the franchise of films, with different actors playing Tarzan throughout the years.
• Despite mixed critical reception, Tarzan movies have had varying degrees of financial success, with Disney’s animated Tarzan film being the most memorable and winning an Oscar. The Legend of Tarzan (2016) was a box office bomb but gained popularity on Netflix.

Though most people are familiar with Disney’s Tarzan and the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan, the classic story has been adapted to film dozens of times. The character was conceived by writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, who published the first Tarzan novel in 1914. From there, he wrote several sequels, and it wasn’t long before the first movie was made about the infant English lord raised by apes. From there, a new version of Tarzan appeared on the screen decade after decade, turning Burroughs’ books into several movies.

Something is fascinating about the idea of a boy raised by animals. In the classic story of Tarzan, which has been adapted in both live-action and animated films, an English lord and his wife, John and Alice Clayton, become stranded with their infant son after their shipwreck off the coast of Africa. After Alice and John die, their young son, John Clayton III, becomes abandoned. Fortunately, he is taken in by a female ape, who raises and cares for him as her own. It has become a tale as old as time, and the story has been repeated and expanded into several films carrying the name Tarzan.

Every Tarzan Movie In Order Of Release Date

The First Tarzan Movie Arrived In 1918

The first Tarzan movie was brought to the screen only four years after Burroughs published his first novel, Tarzan of the Apes in 1912. This was a silent film and a handful of films of the same format followed. Burroughs and several co-authors went on to publish 24 sequels over the years, and this led to plenty of storylines for movies and TV shows over the years that followed. Seven of the next Tarzan movies were in the silent era and when sound came into Hollywood movies, it created a new era for the franchise.

In 1932, Johnny Weissmüller took the lead role in the first Tarzan movie produced with sound, beginning a film franchise. A new movie following the character was released nearly every year until 1970. After 1970, the franchise remained dormant for over a decade. However, 1981 saw the character’s return, and a couple of Tarzan movies have been released every decade since, including both animated movies and live-action movies following the legendary action hero.

The Silent Tarzan Movies (1918 – 1929)

Adapting The First Tarzan Novels By Edgar Rice Burroughs

The silent Tarzan movies were the first to bring the ape-man to the screen, though he wouldn’t have a voice for more than a decade later. The first film released in 1918 was a book-faithful adaptation of Burroughs’ story, with actor Elmo Lincoln serving as the first adult Tarzan on screen. Lincoln returned for two more films before actors P. Dempsey Tabler and James Pierce took their turns playing the classic character. The last silent Tarzan movie, Tarzan the Tiger (1929), was dubbed over with sound before its release, but it is still typically lumped in with the others since it was initially filmed without sound.

For the Tarzan silent movies, the first one — Tarzan of the Apes — was based on Edgar Burroughs’s first novel. The second and third movies are both considered “lost films” and cover the second half of the first novel and the first half of the novel, The Return of Tarzan, respectively. Tarzan and the Golden Lion is based on the novel of the same name and has Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) in the cast. The other four movies are part of a silent serials film series, with Tarzan the Mighty being the only one that is an original story not based on a novel.

• Tarzan of the Apes (1918)
• The Romance of Tarzan (1918)
• The Revenge of Tarzan (1920)
• The Son of Tarzan (1920)
• Adventures of Tarzan (1921)
• Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927)
• Tarzan the Mighty (1928)
• Tarzan the Tiger (1929)

The Tarzan Franchise Films (1932 – 1970)

From Johnny Weissmuller To Mike Henry

The longest batch of Tarzan movies was released over a span of 40 years, with a new film arriving almost yearly. The first and most popular of these, Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), started Tarzan’s story over again and included the iconic dialogue between the titular ape man and Jane when they first met (something repeated through many popular adaptations). From here, 33 more Tarzan films were released, each taking Tarzan on a new adventure.

The actors who played the lead character throughout this franchise were Johnny Weissmuller, Lex Barker, Gordon Scott, Jock Mahoney, Mike Henry, and Ron Ely. The first Tarzan talkie movie that MGM made was Tarzan the Ape Man, which like the first silent film, was based on the first Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, Tarzan of the Apes. Unlike the silent era movies that adapted Burroughs’s books, the movies that followed that first movie were mostly original stories that were only based on characters from the novels.

• Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
• Tarzan the Fearless (1933)
• Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
• The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935)
• Tarzan Escapes (1936)
• Tarzan’s Revenge (1938)
• Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
• Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941)
• Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942)
• Tarzan Triumphs (1943)
• Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943)
• Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)
• Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)
• Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)
• Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948)
• Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (1949)
• Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950)
• Tarzan’s Peril (1951)
• Tarzan’s Savage Fury (1952)
• Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)
• Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955)
• Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)
• Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958)
• Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959)
• Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)
• Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)
• Tarzan and the Trappers (1960)
• Tarzan Goes to India (1962)
• Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963)
• Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)
• Tarzan and the Great River (1967)
• Tarzan’s Jungle Rebellion (1967)
• Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968)
• Tarzan’s Deadly Silence (1970)

Tarzan The Ape Man (1981)

Starring Miles O’Keeffe & Bo Derek As Tarzan & Jane

In 1981, Tarzan’s story was again reset to the beginning with Tarzan and the Ape Man. The movie was directed by John Derek and starred Miles O’Keeffe as Tarzan, Bo Derek (the director’s wife) as Jane Porter, and Richard Harris as her father. The 1981 version of Tarzan the Ape Man is often regarded as the worst of the movies based on Burroughs’ iconic character with a 10% Rotten Tomatoes score and an audience rating of a low 18%.

Despite this, the film managed a successful stint at the box office, bringing in $36.5 million in the United States and Canada. As with the first silent film and the initial franchise movie, this adapted the first Burroughs novel, Tarzan of the Apes, but made one big change by making Jane the point-of-view character, which is likely because her husband directed the movie as a showcase for his beautiful wife, who was coming off the box office success of the Dustin Hoffman movie 10 from two years before.

GreyStoke: The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord Of the Apes (1984)

The First Tarzan Movie To Receive Oscar Nominations

This 1984 film is widely considered one of the best of the Tarzan movies. Directed by Hugh Hudson and starring Christopher Lambert (Highlander) as Tarzan and Andie MacDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Jane, the movie sits at 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and is yet another adaptation of the original Burroughs novel, Tarzan and the Ape Man. The movie is much more loyal to the original novel, with a script by Robert Towne, who earned an Oscar nomination. The movie also used Burroughs’s idea that Tarzan is smarter than other movies interpreted him to be.

GreyStoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes was nominated for three Oscars during the 57th Academy Awards, making it the first Tarzan adaptation to be nominated. Despite the impressive critical reception, this Tarzan movie grossed only slightly more than its 1981 predecessor, bringing in $45.9 million. In some interesting trivia, the name “Tarzan” is never used in the movie, and he is never called by this name by any of the characters.

Tarzan & The Lost City (1998)

A Box Office Bomb Starring Casper Van Dien

Over a decade after the success of the 1984 Tarzan movie, another movie hit the theaters, and this was one a huge commercial failure. Tarzan and the Lost City was directed by Carl Schenkel and starred Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) as Tarzan and Jane March (The Lover) as Jane Porter. This film was approached like a sequel to the original Tarzan story, but the unique premise didn’t impress critics or fans. Made with a budget of $20 million, the movie only brought in $2.2 million at the box office, seemingly dooming future live-action Tarzan movies.

Even more critically lambasted than the 1981 Tarzan the Ape Man, Tarzan and the Lost City has the lowest box office numbers in the modern-day for the franchise. It also has a rock-bottom Rotten Tomatoes score of 6% from critics and 23% from the audience. The movie was based on an original idea based on the characters, just like most of the sequels in the original franchise films, but this one fell flat, with reviews blasting the script and extremely low production values for an adventure film.

Tarzan Of The Apes (1999)

The First Animated Tarzan Movie

Tarzan of the Apes is a 1999 animated film that is often overlooked. It was a direct-to-video release produced by Diane Eskenazi and Darcy Wright and released by Sony Wonder, the movie studio’s animation branch at the time. The voice cast for Tarzan of the Apes was never credited, and since the film didn’t hit theaters, it isn’t easy to quantify its financial success. Additionally, since it was released just before the highly popular Tarzan movie by Disney, this animated film went largely unnoticed by audiences.

The movie is another adaptation of the first Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, Tarzan of the Apes, which is the origin story of the adventurer. The main change here from the next animated movie released by Disney is that it seems that chimpanzees raise Tarzan in this movie, rather than gorillas in the Disney Animation movie release. The release was questionable, as it was released as part of the Sony Wonder Enchanted Tales series two years after it was made, but that made its release coincide with the Disney movie, resulting in this one falling through the cracks.

Disney’s Animated Tarzan Movies (1999-2005)

The First Tarzan Movie To Win An Oscar

Perhaps the most memorable movie based on Burroughs’ novels, Disney’s animated film Tarzan is regarded as a House of Mouse classic. Kevin Lima and Chris Buck direct the movie, which stars Tony Goldwyn as Tarzan and Minnie Driver as Jane Porter, with several other prominent stars, such as Rosie O’Donnell, Glenn Close, Brian Blessed, and Lance Henriksen, lending their voices to the supporting characters. Tarzan is also memorable for its soundtrack from Phil Collins, which earned the film an Academy Award.

Disney’s 1999 animated film is the first and only
Tarzan
movie to win an Oscar.

Disney’s Tarzan was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, Tarzan & Jane (2002), which explored the couple’s life together in Africa after the original film’s end, and Tarzan II, set during the character’s childhood. Both films are regarded as disappointments, although they were part of Disney Animatrion’s slate of straight-to-video sequels to its popular theatrical releases. Much like most of the other sequels, these two were also original stories that were based on just the characters from the novels.

• Tarzan (1999)
• Tarzan & Jane (2002)
• Tarzan II (2005)

The Legend Of Tarzan (2016)

Alexander Skarsgård As Tarzan & Margot Robbie As Jane

The Legend of Tarzan is the most recent film adaptation based on Burroughs’ novels. Directed by David Yates and starring Alexander Skarsgård as Tarzan and Margot Robbie as Jane, the 2016 movie is another that explores Tarzan’s story after his initial departure from Africa. The movie was not based on a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs and just used his characters to create a new story. The plot sees Tarzan in London when someone convinces him to go back to Africa to investigate wrongdoing in his old home.

The Legend of Tarzan is considered a box office disappointment, only managing $126.6 million domestically and $356.7 million internationally, with a budget of $180 million. Margot Robbie also received some praise for her performance, picking up a Jupiter Awards nomination in Germany for her role as Jane. The movie found new life on Netflix, coming out at the top of the streaming ratings for the week of January 15, 2024, proving there is always room for more Tarzan movies in the future.