DVD Review: Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle: The Complete Season One

DVD Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

Saturday morning was a place where those wanting to be a superhero dressed up in spandex and a mask to hide their identity. One superhero bucked that trend as he fought massive enemies by stripping down to a loin cloth and letting everyone know who he was. Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. The character had been around for decades starting with the from Edgar Rice Burroughs. After dozens of films that regularly ran on Saturday afternoons, it seemed right to animate the character to bring him to the morning hours. The series was about a white baby orphaned in the jungle and raised by apes into a remarkable man. The stories stuck closer to the original novels than the movies. Instead of a weekly battle with English and American hunters and poachers, Tarzan dealt with various civilizations that were hidden deep in the jungles of Africa. Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle: The Complete Season One contains the first 16 episodes.

The series was produced by Filmation so it has the style of animation that worked well on their version of Star Trek and later He-Man. Robert Ridgely does his best to bring power to the voice of Tarzan. After originally aired, the show was double teamed with Filmation’s The New Adventures of Batman in the same way their live action Shazam! and Isis was promoted. Tarzan seemed an odd choice to pair with Batman, but they were both dealing with colorful characters in a treacherous environment. Tarzan was in production for 4 seasons with the first being the only full season. The episodes do more than rehash the previous movies. The episodes remain entertaining and the animated apes are more fun to watch than the recent CGI ones.

Here’s Josie’s review on the boxset:

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The video has a bit of an aged look. You can see the usual debris that gets stuck between animation cells. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. You can hear the Filmation sound effects library clearly.

No bonus features.

Warner Home Video presents Tarzan, The Lord of the Jungle. Starring: Robert Ridgely, Jack Bannon, Erika Carroll & Ted Cassidy. Boxset Contents: 16 Episodes on 2 DVDs. Released: June 14, 2016.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.