| Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle | |
|---|---|
| Format | Animated Drama |
| Created by | Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters) |
| Directed by | Don Towsley |
| Starring | Robert Ridgely |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 36 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer |
| Producer(s) | Don Christensen |
| Running time | half-hour |
| Production company(s) | Filmation |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 11, 1976 – September 8, 1984 |
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle is an animated series created by the Filmation studio for CBS. There are a total of 36 episodes produced over the first four seasons.
The series does not appear in the Entertainment Rights library, and the rights most likely rest with the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs. However, Warner Home Video has released one episode on DVD, "Tarzan and the Colossus of Zome," on Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Volume 1; Warner Bros.' rights to the series may originate from their ownership of international TV distribution rights in the 1970s and 1980s.
Contents |
The jungle; here I was born; and here my parents died when I was but an infant. I would have soon perished, too, had I not been found by a kindly she-ape named Kala, who adopted me as her own and taught me the ways of the wild. I learned quickly, and grew stronger each day, and now I share the friendship and trust of all jungle animals. The jungle is filled with beauty, and danger; and lost cities filled with good, and evil. This is my domain, and I protect those who come here; for I am Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle.
In many ways this is the most faithful adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan, and featured a number of "lost cities" from the novels. The rotoscoped animation is based upon the work of Burrough's favorite Tarzan artist, Burne Hogarth.
Tarzan is intelligent and well spoken, rather than the "me Tarzan, You Jane" of many films. His sidekick is N’kima the monkey; Cheeta being an invention of the movies. The series uses much of Burroughs’ Mangani language (though some of the words used, particularly for animals not encountered in the novels, do not appear in his Mangani lexicons, and so were presumably newly invented for the program).
Each of the animals featured are referred to by the names that Tarzan refers to them by.
There were 36 total episodes, produced over four seasons.
The first season (premiered September 11, 1976) consisted of 16 half-hour episodes. The second season (premiered September 10, 1977) added six new episodes, and aired with the half-hour series The New Adventures of Batman as the Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour. The third season (premiered September 9, 1978) added six new episodes, and aired with a number of other series as the ninety-minute Tarzan and the Super 7. The fourth season (premiered September 15, 1979) added eight new episodes, and aired as part of the second season of Tarzan and the Super 7.
The "fifth season" (The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour), and the "sixth season" (The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour) were all Tarzan reruns aired with other series.
| Ep. # | Episode title | Airdate | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-01 | Tarzan and the City of Gold | Upon saving a woman named Thia from the Bulgani gorilla tribe, Tarzan learns that she is from Athne the City of Ivory and had been chased away by enemy soldiers from Zandor the City of Gold. While helping Thia back to Athne, Tarzan ends up captured by the Zandorians. While imprisoned, Tarzan meets his cellmate Phobeg who tells him of Queen Nemone who has the two of them fight in the arena. Once Fobeg is freed, Tarzan ends up incarcerated with Thia after harming her prime minister Tomos. However, Fobeg has a plan to free Tarzan and Thia. | |
| 1-02 | Tarzan and the Vikings | A race of jungle vikings (who are descendants of the vikings that were blown to Africa by a north wind sent by Odin) capture Tarzan to be the slave to Corina, the daughter of the Viking Chief Erik. During that time, Tarzan uncovers a plot by the viking Torvald to overthrow Corina's father. | |
| 1-03 | Tarzan and the Golden Lion | Tarzan comes to the aid of Ando, Coney, and the rest of the Monkey People when the Bolmangani are enslaving them. When Tarzan ends up in danger, Jad-bal-ja rallies the elephants to help Tarzan free the captives and teach the Monkey People to stand up to the Bolmangani and their Emperor. | |
| 1-04 | Tarzan and the Forbidden City | Tarzan's old friend Paul Gregory and his daughter return to the jungle. Paul tells Tarzan that he is here looking for his son Brian who disappeared upon finding the Forbidden City of Ushare located in the extinct volcano Tuen Baka. The next day, Tarzan finds out that three men named Magara, Castelle, and Chabalt (whom Paul encountered at the hotel) are also seeking the map to Ushare in order to steal the father of diamonds. When both groups are captured by the soldiers of Ushare, it is up to Tarzan to free them. | |
| 1-05 | Tarzan and the Graveyard of the Elephants | Upon discovering elephant skeletons without their tusks, Tarzan discovers that soldiers led by King Aga of Novard is behind this and his armies are looking for the Graveyard of the Elephants. Tarzan discovers that the Novardians worship the woolly mammoth Bentor (whom they consider a god) and want Tarzan to take them to the Graveyard of the Elephants in order to harvest the tusks there. | |
| 1-06 | Tarzan’s Return to the City of Gold | Upon saving a runaway boy named Orando from Buto, Tarzan learns that he is the sister of Thia from Athne and plans to return him to Athne. Meanwhile, Queen Nemone orders Tomos to lead her soldiers into recapturing Tarzan. Tomos plans to use Orando as bait in order to recapture Tarzan. | |
| 1-07 | Tarzan and the Strange Visitors | Tarzan has an encounter with an anthropologist named June Bennington at the same time when aliens led by Dr. Krolar arrive in their floating city/space station to capture animal specimens to bring to their world. | |
| 1-08 | Tarzan and the Land of the Giants | During a drought, Tarzan comes to the aid of a giant named Yuri when his father Muro has been imprisoned by the tyrant King Odysseus and that the giants live in fear of Buto (who has been said to be a god in the form of a white rhinoceros). To make matters worse, a dangerous storm is heading to the giants' village of Zoran. | |
| 1-09 | Tarzan and the Knights of Nimmr | Upon finding a crashed balloon, Tarzan searches for its pilot which leads him to the Valley of Nimmr where he encounters knights that end up taking him to Queen Grenalda. He soon encounters the balloonist Annie Talbot who is a writer. When the queen falls ill and Sir Mallad has Tarzan imprisoned in the dungeon, Tarzan learns from the Queen's Royal Physician Sir Ronald that Sir Mallad plans to steal the throne from Queen Grenalda. | |
| 1-10 | Tarzan's Rival | Mr. Senti and his scientist creates a robot duplicate of Tarzan in order to blame the real one for the animal mistreatment so that they can steal the Jewels of Opa. Before long, the jungle animals become mistrustful of Tarzan and attack him on sight. Even N'kima and Jad-bal-jah are unable to tell the difference. With both his animal friends turned foes and the nearly invulnerable robot to deal with, Tarzan has his hands full setting things right. | |
| 1-11 | Tarzan and the City of Sorcery | While riding on Tantor, Tarzan saves a boy named Tuck (who mistakens Tarzan as the god Aliat since he resembles him) from Numa the Lion. He learns from Tuck that the sorceress Queen Nubia has turned Tuck's father into a baboon causing Tarzan to go to the city of Rashid to confront Queen Nubia and later learns that her magic is not as she claims it to be which Tarzan plans to expose. | |
| 1-12 | Tarzan at the Earth's Core | Tarzan and N'kima follows a boy named Kimo of Nolangi into a crater that leads him to the Land of Darkness with a plan to unite both tribes upon speaking to King Mavor. With help from King Mavor's daughter Nina, Tarzan plans to help Kimo make peace between both tribes while evading the dangers of the prehistoric land of Pellucidar in order to get King Ovan of Nolangi and King Mavor to understand the peace between the tribes. | |
| 1-13 | Tarzan and the Ice Creature | While working on his garden with N'kima and Tantor, Tarzan sees the mountain of ice about to erupt and has the animals get to safety. The eruption ends up freeing a Yeti-like ice creature Glakor from the volcano as it soon ends up being targeted by Norcross and his assistant Phelps. | |
| 1-14 | Tarzan and the Olympiads | Upon investigating a strange disturbance in the jungle, Tarzan rescues two slaves from Grecian Warriors who come from the city of Olympus. Tarzan learns that the slaves were former tournament champions who were defeated by younger challengers and made slaves by Emperor Cronus. Now Tarzan must go up in three challenges in order to free the slaves and make Emperor Cronus see the error of his ways. | |
| 1-15 | Tarzan's Trial | The UFO that was previously used by Dr. Krolar returns to the jungle where the robots end up capturing Tarzan. He is brought before Commander Dumay who states that Dr. Krolar and Leera aren't on the mission with him. Commander Dumay plans to use his computer to scan Tarzan's memory in order to learn all of Tarzan's abilities and transfer them to him in order to become supreme ruler of the space fleet. | |
| 1-16 | Tarzan, the Hated | The Bolmangani Emperor returns and plans revenge on Tarzan by turning a tribe of Gorillas against Tarzan. The Bolmangani then go to great lengths by having the gorilla tribe abduct a female archaeologist named Lois as bait so that the Bolmangani can rebuild their city in the Opar Region much to the objections of Lois who claims that the ground there is unsafe. |
The following episodes aired as part of "The Batman/Tarzan Hour."
| Ep. # | Episode title | Airdate | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-01 | Tarzan and the Sunken City of Atlantis | Upon saving Zupisa the great whale who had been beached, Tarzan discovers that Lord Cinnabar of Atlantis had enslaved the whales and uses them to power it while King Neptune is in the way. After leading a successful rebellion against the whales' slavery, Tarzan learns that Atlantis will flood unless power is restored and seeks help from Princess Aquila to find another way to power Atlantis. | |
| 2-02 | Tarzan and the Bird People | While hiding out in a cave during a thunderstorm, Tarzan and N'kima come to the aid of Layir of the Bird People who had injured his wing upon going down in the thunderstorm. Tarzan soon learns that the Bird People have been in a feud with the local "Land People." Upon learning about what the Bird People have been doing to the Land People from their chief Tarin, Tarzan visits the Bird People ruler Aviaro who considers the Land People to be primitive. Now Tarzan must find a way to unite both people whatever way possible. | |
| 2-03 | Tarzan and the Colossus of Zome | After saving a small person named Reba from a hawk, Tarzan learns that she comes from Onada which is located on the Isle of Zires and uses Argus to get both of them over the mountains to the Isle of Zires. Once they get Reba back to the Isle of Zires, Reba's father Governor Dumas plans to use Tarzan to fight the Zoman Robot called the Colossus used in the war between the Onadans and the Zomans led by its governor and his scientist Orbin following a disagreement years ago. Unfortunately, the Colossus turns against the Zomans. Now Tarzan must find a way to defeat the Colossus and unite both sides. | |
| 2-04 | Tarzan and the Beast in the Iron Mask | Tarzan and N'kima prepare for a celebration held by the Wazdon Chief Denat in the lost land of Paludon. Upon arrival, he sees that Denat isn't himself and flees the guards. When he infiltrates the tower, he finds a man in an iron mask who is the real Denat and that his evil brother Tanat has assumed his identity and has been having the tribesmen mine for gold in a volcano. Now Tarzan must find the key to the mask which is guarded by a Dimetrodon, free Denat, and help Denat expose Tanat's plot. | |
| 2-05 | Tarzan and the Amazon Princess | Tarzan meets a feral woman named Dorrae who can also communicate with animals and lives in the jungles with the lions Ola and Utu. Tarzan discovers that the locket around her neck belongs to the royalty of the Amazons causing Tarzan to take Dorrae to the Amazons to look into this. Once Tarzan has gotten Dorrae back to Queen Arcad, he is unaware that the Captain of the Guard Rowanda had orchestrated Dorrae's extermination years ago so that she can become the heir to the throne. To make matters worse, the water monster Gordo continuously attacks the tribe to find the egg that went missing from her nest. | |
| 2-06 | Tarzan and the Conquistadors | Tarzan and N'kima find a group of Conquistadors in the jungle where their leader Carlos claims that the treasure of his ancestors are in the mountains where the Donlumangani live. Now Tarzan must enlist the help of Tar-Sheeta to help the Donlumangani prevent the Conquistadors from stealing back their treasure before a cave-in is caused on the Donlumangani's city. |
The following episodes aired as part of "Tarzan and the Super 7"
| Ep. # | Episode title | Airdate | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-01 | Tarzan and the Spider People | After stopping a stampede of elephants, Tarzan learns from Tantor that their stampede was caused by the appearance of giant spiders who have been abducting some of the elephants. When he follows the giant spiders to their lair, he discovers that the giant spiders are actually machines piloted by the workers led by Rachnid who plans to use the elephants for their labor much to the objection of their leader Ziller. | |
| 3-02 | Tarzan and the Space God | Tarzan saves a man named Professor Robert Ragsdale when his plane crashes into a river during a thunderstorm. Tarzan learns from Professor Ragsdale that a watery area in the shape of the Mayan God Kukulkhan is suspected to be where the Mayans disappeared to enabling Tarzan to have Jad-bal-ja to lead them to the lost city where the Cheechineeta Tribe lives. They find some robots working for the Mayans who worship a high priest who claims to be Kukulkhan when in fact that he is actually an alien from another planet. | |
| 3-03 | Tarzan and the Lost World | Tarzan meets Dr. Jessica Randolf who needs his help to look for an orbital satellite that went down in the jungle several days ago. Their search brings them to a crater concealed by magnetic energies which consists of mythological creatures. They learn from a Faun named Puck that the Minotaur has the satellite and that they must get the orbital satellite (which resembles the Minotaur) out of the valley before it explodes. | |
| 3-04 | Tarzan and the Monkey God | While evading Tangani, N'Kima stumbles upon a village where the Mohani mistake him for the monkey god Komanu. When Tarzan arrives, he helps N'Kima and the Mohani deal with the white gorilla Tarbogani who has been raiding the village for food upon being wounded and separated from his gorilla tribe. | |
| 3-05 | Tarzan and the Haunted Forest | Tarzan runs into some loggers cutting down some trees in order to get the wood for their city so that they can feed the machines that do the work. Tarzan learns that they cut down the trees in their land except for a haunted forest. Upon being brought before Queen Tara, Tarzan resists her offer to give up his area upon being told of Queen Tara's plot by her twin sister Mara. Tarzan and Mara flee into the haunted forest where it was actually "haunted" by those who are against Queen Tara's deforestation plots. | |
| 3-06 | Tarzan and the Island of Dr. Morphos | Tarzan witnesses a Mangani with the wings of a bird make off with N'kima. He follows the Mangani/Bird Hybrid to an island in the jungle where he encounters hybrid animals and is soon brought to the scientist Dr. Morphos who created the hybrid animals. He now plans to do his genetic experiments on Tarzan until Tarzan evades him and ends up meeting failed experiments led by Doro that used to be monkeys who help him thwart Dr. Morphos' plot. |
The following episodes were featured as part of "Tarzan and the Super 7's" Season Two.
| Ep. # | Episode title | Airdate | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-01 | Tarzan and the Sifu | During a hot day, Tarzan meets Chang who is the nephew of the Sifu of Tao Ching. Upon arrival in Tao Ching, Tarzan and Chang are taken prisoner by the guards led by Wu Han who has overthrown the Sifu. Wu Han plans to lead Tao Ching's armies in a plot to conquer the other cities in the jungle as well as use the Dragon Pearl to control the Dragon of Tao Ching. | |
| 4-02 | Tarzan and Jane | After dealing with a gorilla named Terkoz, Tarzan meets Jane Porter and her father Professor Archimedes Q. Porter after falling victim to a mutiny during an archaeological expedition to the lost city of Cowloon. As Tarzan helps them to get back to civilization, he also ends up coming to the aid of Cowloon when their guardian beast has broken free. | |
| 4-03 | Tarzan and the Land Beneath the Earth | Tarzan, N'kima, Tantor, and Gorgos end up sucked underground by a forcefield and end up in the underground city of Terrapolis which is inhabited by Mole People. Tarzan learns from Dr. Zolus that they have been using the Makos Trees in order to power their furnace when their own thermal vegetation has been used up. | |
| 4-04 | Tarzan and the Drought | During a drought, Tarzan learns from Coney that Ando and the Monkey People are building a dam in the river in order to save their water supplies. The lack of water ends up driving the animals of the jungle in a frenzied state. Tarzan tries to get Ando to tear down the dam until it comes to a rainstorm that causes the dam to overflow. | |
| 4-05 | Tarzan and the Soul Stealer | Tarzan meets up with Thia again. This time, Zandor and Athne are at war again. Upon arrival and capture, Tarzan learns from Phobeg's son Tiborgh that Queen Nemone had dove deep into the forbidden mystic arts and became a sorceress where one of her magic tricks has turned Phobeg into a lion. Tarzan suspects that Queen Nemone's magic isn't as she claims it to be. | |
| 4-06 | Tarzan and the Future King | Tarzan meets with King Torg of the Red Gorilla Kingdom where Prince Yaru is to inherit the throne of the Red Gorilla Kingdom. Prince Yaru's final test is to return with a branch from the olive tree on Mount Mammoth with no help whatsoever. Yet King Torg's Vizier has other plans which involves seeing that Prince Yaru fails and that the Vizier will get the throne. | |
| 4-07 | Tarzan and the Huntress | After saving a gorilla and her son from the Bolmangani, Tarzan ends up having an encounter with Fana the Huntress and her pet white tiger Pasha. Fana ends up targeting Jad-bal-ja. During Fana's hunt, the Bolmangani Commander Kerlock and his men mistake her as an ally of Tarzan and capture her and Pasha causing Tarzan to come to her rescue. | |
| 4-08 | Tarzan and the White Elephant |
| Preceded by Tarzan (NBC) 1966–1968 |
Tarzan (TV series) Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle 1976–1980 |
Succeeded by Tarzan in Manhattan April 15, 1989 |
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