''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' is an American animated series created by the

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

studio for Saturday mornings on CBS, starting in 1976. This was the first animated series about the jungle hero. There are 36 episodes produced over four seasons.

Opening-credits narration

"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!"

Storyline

In many ways, the series is the most faithful of all screen-based adaptations of

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, ...

's Tarzan and featured a number of " lost cities" from the original novels. The

rotoscoped Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced o ...

animation is based upon the work of Burrough's favorite Tarzan artist,

Burne Hogarth Burne Hogarth (born Spinoza Bernard Ginsburg, December 25, 1911 – January 28, 1996) was an American artist and educator, best known for his work on the ''Tarzan'' newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books for artists. Early life ...

. In the series,

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

is depicted as intelligent and well-spoken – not the simple-minded ("Tarzan... Jane") caricature of many films. His sidekick is N'kima the monkey, as in the novels ("

Cheeta Cheeta (sometimes billed as Cheetah, Cheta, and Chita) is a chimpanzee character that appeared in numerous Hollywood Tarzan films of the 1930s–1960s, as well as the 1966–1968 television series, as the ape sidekick of the title character, Tarza ...

" the chimpanzee was the creation of movie producers). It uses much of Burroughs'

Mangani ''Mangani'' is the name of a fictional species of great apes in the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and of the invented language used by these apes. In the invented language, ''Mangani'' (meaning "great-ape") is the apes' word for their own ...

language (though some of the words used, particularly for animals not encountered in the novels, do not appear in Burroughs' Mangani lexicons, and so were presumably newly invented for the show).

Characters

(voiced by

Robert Ridgely Robert Ridgely (December 24, 1931 – February 8, 1997) was an American actor, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work. Biography Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Ridgely worked as a cabaret entertainer.Staff"Robert Ridgely, 6 ...

for speaking voice and Danton Burroughs for

Tarzan yell The Tarzan yell or Tarzan's jungle call is the distinctive, ululating yell of the character Tarzan as portrayed by actor Johnny Weissmuller in the films based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs starting with ''Tarzan the Ape Man'' ( ...

) – The main protagonist. * N'kima (voiced by

Lou Scheimer Louis Scheimer (October 19, 1928 – October 17, 2013) was an American producer and voice actor who was one of the original founders of Filmation. He was also credited as an executive producer of many of its cartoons. Early life and education ...

) – Tarzan's ''manu'' (

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

) companion. *

Jad-bal-ja Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly comics. Character Jad-bal-ja serves as a companion to Tarzan, to whom he is attached as a d ...

– A golden-furred, dark-maned lion raised and trained by Tarzan. *

Tantor ''Tantor'' is a generic name for elephants in ''Mangani'', the fictional language of the great apes in the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. In Burroughs's works a number of elephants appear under the name of ''Tantor'', most notably one pa ...

– African Elephants that are friendly towards Tarzan, and will also come to his aid if summoned. * Queen Nemone (voiced by

Joan Gerber Joan Gerber (July 29, 1935 – August 22, 2011) was an American voice actress who provided voices for a variety of cartoons. Her most challenging voice role was "all the children in a Japanese train wreck" for a '' Godzilla'' television episode ...

in the first appearance, Hettie Lynn Hurtes in the third appearance) – The ruler of Zandor who has had encounters with Tarzan. ** Tomas (voiced by

Alan Oppenheimer Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s, and he has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New Yor ...

) – Queen Nemone's prime minister who does her bidding. ** Belthar – Queen Nemone's pet lion. * Phobeg (voiced by

Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...

in the first appearance,

in the third appearance) – The strongest man in Zandor and member of Zandor's

Royal Guard A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular arm ...

s. In Phobeg's first appearance, Tarzan must fight him in a tournament. Tarzan managed to defeat him and Phobeg later frees him and Thia. Phobeg has since remained a secret ally of Tarzan when it comes to Queen Nemone's plots. In "Tarzan and the Soul Stealer", it is shown that Phobeg has a son named Tiborgh who assists his father in working in Zandor's Royal Guards. *

Jane Porter Jane Porter (3 December 1775 – 24 May 1850) was an English historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her bestselling novels, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' (1803) and ''The Scottish Chiefs'' (1810) are seen as among the earliest historical ...

(voiced by

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Career Live-action appearances Gary worked as a voice-over artist in animation and also appeared in two live-action films, 1977's ''Joyride T ...

) – Tarzan's love interest in the original novels, she only appeared once during the Filmation series. In "Tarzan and Jane", she and her father were part of an archaeological expedition looking for the lost city of Cowloon and were accompanied back to civilization by Tarzan.

Fictional races

– A type of great ape. They are intelligent, with their own spoken language (which Tarzan knows), are Tarzan's friends and family, and will come to his aid if summoned. Named Mangani include Terkoz (voiced by

) and Tor. Kala was only seen in the intro of this cartoon. * Bolmangani – A race of gorilla-men. They take monkeys, normal gorillas, and other animals to be used as slaves in plots to enhance their city and to take over the entire jungle. They have fought Tarzan many times and have been thwarted by him. They try to get revenge on him so thwarting their plots. * Donlumangani – A race of short humanoid primates that live in the snowy mountains. They are nicknamed the Ice People. * Monkey People – A race of creatures that are part human, part monkey.

Other animals

Almost all of the animals in the Filmation series are referred to using the ''Mangani''-language names that Tarzan knows them by. * Argus – A giant

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

* Bazansi – A

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

* Bolgani – A

Gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

* Borta – A

Common Warthog The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today th ...

* Buto – A

Black Rhinoceros The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

Dimetrodon ''Dimetrodon'' ( or ,) meaning "two measures of teeth,” is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian), around 295–272 million years ago (Mya). It is a member of the family Sphenacodont ...

– a reptile from the inner world of

Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...

and the land of Pal-ul-don * Dango – A

Spotted Hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...

* Duro – A

Hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two exta ...

* Eta-pamba - A

Kangaroo rat Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus ''Dipodomys'', are native to arid areas of western North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, but developed ...

* Gimla – A

Crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant me ...

* Gordo – An aquatic beast resembling a

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', ' lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their ...

* Gorgos – An African Buffalo * Gryf – A

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

-like creature in Pal-ul-don that is described by Tarzan as "ancient". It resembles a

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one ...

with the dorsal plates and spiked tail of a

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fou ...

and teeth like a

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...

. * Handal – A

hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by t ...

* Histah – An

African Rock Python The Central African rock python (''Python sebae'') is a species of large constrictor snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of 11 living species in the genus ''Python''. Africa's largest snake ...

* Lukota – A giant

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

* Manu – A monkey. N'kima is one. * Nita – A

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...

* Numa – A

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

* Pacco - A

Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

* Plesa – A fish * Sabor – A lioness * Sheeta – A large jungle cat * Tandor - The

name for the

Woolly Mammoth The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus s ...

* Tangani – A

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ...

* Tarbogani – A white gorilla * Tar-Sheeta – A large white

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

that lives in the snowy mountains * Thipdar - The

name for the

Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (); from Ancient Greek (''pteron'', "wing") and (''anodon'', "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of . They lived during the late Cr ...

* Zabor - The

name for the

* Zupisa – A great

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

Episode list

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 ''The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour'' is an animated television series produced by Filmation that aired on CBS during the early 1980s. The series consisted of reruns of ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' paired with new episodes of Filmation's ver ...

''), and the "sixth season" ('' The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour'') were all Tarzan reruns aired with other series.

Season 1: 1976

Season 2: 1977

Aired as part of '' The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour''.

Season 3: 1978

Aired as part of '' Tarzan and the Super 7'', season one.

Season 4: 1979

Aired as part of '' Tarzan and the Super 7'', season two.

Cast

–

Jack Bannon John James Bannon (June 14, 1940 – October 25, 2017) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Art Donovan on ''Lou Grant'', a role he played for the duration of the series, from 1977 to 1982. Early life Bannon was born on June ...

– * Erika Carroll – *

– Phobeg (1st time) * Robert Chapel – * Gerald Clark – *

–

, Dr. Jessica Randolph, Fana the Huntress, Rowanda, Queen Tara * Joanie Gerber – Queen Nemone (1st Time) *

Barry Gordon Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatello ...

– Bjorn * Hettie Lynn Hurtes – Thia, Queen Nemone (3rd Time) *

– Tomos, Orbin, Phobeg (3rd Time) * Jane Webb –

Formats

*''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' (September 11, 1976 – September 3, 1977, CBS) *'' The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour'' (September 10, 1977 – September 2, 1978, CBS) *'' Tarzan and the Super 7'' (September 9, 1978 – September 6, 1980, CBS) *''

'' (September 13, 1980 – September 5, 1981, CBS) *'' The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour'' (September 12, 1981 – September 11, 1982, CBS)

Home media

The series does not appear in the

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

library, and the rights are owned by the Edgar Rice Burroughs company.

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

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. Ironically, Warner has released most of the Tarzan franchise it owns either through its Turner Broadcasting subsidiary or in-house. The first season of the series was released on DVD on June 14, 2016 as part of its 40th anniversary.

References

External links

''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle''
at SkoolDays.com * * ** ** ** **

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarzan, Lord Of The Jungle 1976 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series CBS original programming 1970s American animated television series Animated Tarzan television series Animated television series about orphans Television series by Filmation Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios