Tarzan

From Muppet Wiki

Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in twenty-three sequels. He is the son of a British Lord and Lady, marooned on the coast of Africa by mutineers. His parents died when he was an infant, and he was raised by Great Apes of a species unknown to science. Kala is his ape mother. Tarzan (White-skin) is his ape name; his English name is John Clayton, Lord Greystoke. As a young adult, he meets Jane, and when she returns to America he leaves the jungle in search of his true love. Tarzan and Jane marry, and he lives with her for a time in England. They have one son, Jack, who takes the ape name Korak. Tarzan is contemptuous of the hypocrisy of civilization, and he and Jane return to Africa where, both being immortal, they still live.

References

• The Man in Time Piece appears as Tarzan, even evoking the classic yodel made famous in the films.

• On episode 120 of The Muppet Show, an unseen Tarzan can be heard swinging through the African Berry Bush jungle backstage.

• On The Muppet Show episode 324, Link Hogthrob and Miss Piggy take on roles not unlike Tarzan and Jane, to sing "True Love." Statler and Waldorf even share an exchange in reference to the famous "me Tarzan, you Jane" line from the films and Link exits the stage swinging on a vine accompanied by a Tarzan call.

• Gonzo and Lily Tomlin star in "Tarzan and Jane" as seen in The Muppets Go to the Movies.

• In 1982, Great Lovers of the Silver Screen Kermit and Piggy, appear in "Moi, Jane!"

• The 1984 Muppet Babies episode "Eight Take-Away One Equals Panic" features the song "Table for One" in which the Muppet Babies try to convince Baby Fozzie that flying solo can be okay. In a brief clip, Baby Rowlf appears as Tarzan.

• The 1995 sticker set Los Teleñecos featured an illustrated Kermit as Tarzan.

• A recurring segment on Sesame Street features kids on a safari who happen upon a letter of the alphabet in the jungle that swings on a vine and yodels like Tarzan.

• Muppets Tonight episode 106 features a preview for "next week's" Great Moments in Elvis History, "Tarzan of Graceland."

• Elmo appears as Tarzan in Elmo's World: Flowers, and in the book Rain Forest Adventure.

• A monster named Curly in Sesame Street Episode 4174 trades a recently acquired Radar for a stuffed monkey he names Tarzan.

• Tarzan appears, partnered with an ape, in an "At the Dance" sketch in issue #1 of The Muppet Show Comic Book's second mini-series, The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson.

• In a Sesame Street sketch, Grover pulls a set of ropes that rings bells, until he pulls the last one, which lets out a Tarzan-yell and a Muppet version of the jungle man slides down to greet him.

• In the 1994 book Imagine... A Wish for Grover, Grover imagines that he lives in the jungle. The illustration shows him doing the Tarzan yell as he swings on vines. In the 2008 video storybook version narrated by Grover (Eric Jacobson), he audibly calls the yell several times in the story.

Gallery

Connections

• John Alexander played the primate leader White Eyes in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
• Ailsa Berk played Tarzan's gorilla mother Kala in Greystoke (1984)
• Paul Brooke played the Reverend Stimson in Greystoke (1984)
• Glenn Close dubbed the voice of Jane in Greystoke (1984) and voiced Kala in Disney's Tarzan (1999)
• Phil Collins composed and performed the songs for Tarzan (1999)
• David Forman played a primate in Greystoke (1984)
• James Fox played Lord Esker in Greystoke (1984)
• Craig Ferguson played Samuel T. Philander on The Legend of Tarzan (2001-2003)
• Richard Griffiths played Captain Billings in Greystoke (1984)
• Geoffrey Holder played Mayko in Tarzan (1966, TV series)
• Ian Holm played Capitaine Phillippe D'Arnot in Greystoke (1984)
• Andie McDowell played Jane on-camera in Greystoke (1984)
• Rosie O'Donnell voiced Terk in Tarzan (1999)
• Deep Roy played a primate in Greystoke (1984)
• Kiran Shah played a primate in Greystoke (1984)
• Frank Welker supplied animal sounds for various Tarzan adaptations, including the 1999 Disney film and the 2003 WB TV series.
• John Wells played Sir Evelyn Blount in Greystoke (1984)
• Fred Willard played Bahruti in The Legend of Tarzan episodes "Tarzan and the Rogue Elephant" and "Tarzan and the Seeds of Destruction"
• Mak Wilson played the ape Figs in Greystoke (1984)