Tarzan

Tarzan as he appeared in the 1999 Disney film

**Tarzan** is a literary pulp character from the book *Tarzan of the Apes* (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

## History

### Books

Tarzan was born c. 1888 under the name of **John Clayton II**, and was by birthright the English **Viscount Greystroke**. When he was an infant, his noble parents were marooned in Africa when their ship was mutinied upon. The couple began surviving in the Congo only for his mother to have died from jungle-diseases while his father was killed by the ape Kerchak.

The infant was later adopted by Kala, a member of the Mangani Apes which were a species of hominid unknown to humans that were comparable to chimpanzees and gorillas. When an adolescent Tarzan discovered his parents old home, he taught himself human language and culture. He also became somewhat legendary in the region due to his great feats such as killing the Mangani ape Kerchak whom killed his parents and protecting the animals of the jungle from hunters of the nearby tribe.

In 1909, an 18-year-old Tarzan happened upon a human woman named Jane Porter who was part of another expedition in the jungle. The two went on several adventures together before Jane returned to America to marry one John Clayton, Tarzan's biological cousin. Tarzan travelled to America so that he could win her back only to find that outside the jungle, she seemingly lacked any more romantic or sexual desire for him.

### Disney version

Tarzan was born in the 19th century to a wealthy couple who had their ship burn off the coast of Africa. They survived and built a treehouse in the Congo only to be killed by a leopard called Sabor. The infant Tarzan was later adopted by a gorilla named Kala as her own and raised as a gorilla as part of her husband Kerchak's tribe. In the late-19th century, Tarzan met an expedition of gorilla researchers lead by one Prof. Archimedes Q. Porter.

Tarzan befriended the professor's daughter Jane who took interest in him and would teach him about human culture. Tarzan was later manipulated by the hunter of the expedition, Clayton (his cousin John Clayton in the books) into revealing where the gorillas lived so that Jane might stay longer in the jungle. Following this, Clayton revealed himself to be a poacher and lead a mutiny on the expedition to sell the gorillas to the highest bidder.

Tarzan overcame and defeated Clayton who later died by accidentally hanging himself with vines. Realizing she was in-love with Tarzan, Jane decided to stay in the jungle with Tarzan and her father followed-suit as to not abandon his daughter. The three would come to live amongst the gorillas of the jungle within Tarzan's Treehouse.

By the 1930s, Tarzan would become a prominent figure in pop-culture such as the films *Tarzan and Me* or *Tarzan the Ape Man*, likely from the works of author Edgar Rice Burroughs who had previously met the ape-man. Tarzan and Jane's treehouse was in a region of the Congo which would be frequented by the Jungle Navigation Company, resulting in an influx of humans inhabiting the region despite the gorillas of the area often reeking havoc. Tarzan and Jane were seemingly known shown to host tours of their treehouse for some humans in the Congo basin.

## Appearances and allusions

### Great Movie Ride

Tarzan made an appearance within this attraction as he was portrayed by Johnny Weissmuller from the film *Tarzan the Ape Man* (1932). In it, he swung on a vine overtop the heads of guests while making his distinctive call.

### Jungle Cruise

Tarzan's Treehouse is featured as part of the attraction in Hong Kong Disneyland's Jungle Cruise. In Walt Disney World, Tarzan is referenced twice by Albert Awol in the attraction's queue. He is mentioned as being subject of a film called, "Tarzan and Me" (likely a counterpart to the real-world film Tarzan and his Mate ( 1934)) and Awol also imitates his distinctive call while clearing his throat.

The gorillas from Tarzan hold some connections to those from the Jungle Cruise and might be of the same troop as both presumably live in the same region of the Congo. In Hong Kong Disneyland's version of the Jungle Cruise, a nearby radio plays the song, "Trashin' the camp" which comes from the film Tarzan from a scene where the film's gorillas performed a similar act. One of the gorillas in Disney's Tarzan homages the Jungle Cruise when it examines a rifle by holding its barrel to their face, an action taken from the gorillas of the ride.

### Tarzan's Treehouse

This Disneyland attraction is themed around Tarzan's treehouse from the 1999 Disney film Tarzan. Figures of Tarzan depicting him from different events in the film are featured throughout the treehouse.

## Connections

Several characters from the Tarzan stories have made more direct connections to the Disney Parks mythos.

### Adventure Trading Company

n this game, the Treehouse Juju is earned by finding petroglyphs in the trunk of Tarzan's Treehouse. An article in this newspaper by "Tallahassee” Glover reports on how the Adventure Trading Company's newly found, "Treehouse Juju" can be used to decode the ancient petroglyphs of the treehouse. In this article, José from *Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room* was consulted to little avail with Shrunken Ned also being consulted and responding, "Ah yes, I’ve seen this Juju before, I used to have one. I would wear it around my neck. Bus as you can see, that has become rather hard these days!".