"Tarzán" (1991) TV series 1991-1994

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Gérard Hameline

Writer:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

23 December 1991 (France)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

In this program, Tarzan had no formal education and spoke in broken English. Jane was a French environmental...

Plot Keywords:

Tarzan | Jungle | Character Name In Title

Cast

Wolf Larson	...	Tarzan (42 episodes, 1991-1994)
Lydie Denier	...	Jane Porter (42 episodes, 1991-1994)
Sean Roberge	...	Roger Taft, Jr. (42 episodes, 1991-1994)
William S. Taylor	...	Dan Miller (17 episodes, 1993-1994)

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

France | Canada | Mexico

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Balenciaga Productions

Trivia:

Wolf Larson beat out Joe Lara for the role of Tarzan. Lara had previously starred in the made-for-TV movie Tarzan in Manhattan (1989) (TV) and would later go on to play the title role again in the series "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures" (1996).

Goofs:

Factual errors: One of the species that Jane is attempting to protect is the Green Iguana. However, Green Iguanas can only be found in Central and South America, not in Africa.

Quotes:

Roger: You know, someday, you're going to have to start reading something other than airplane manuals.
Dan: Okay, Great Wizard of the Book.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Tarzan: The Legacy of Edgar Rice Burroughs (1996) (TV)

Not as bad as it's made out to be ...

I've been a Tarzan fan since I was 11 and leaped out of bed on Sunday mornings to watch Johnny Weissmuller movies on TV. Granted, beefy Wolf Larson is not nearly the Tarzan that Weissmuller was, but let's face it--he's a blonde, 6'5" hunk of muscle with a part that doesn't require a tremendous amount of acting skill. Actually, Larson handled the role pretty well. Strangest to me is why they chose to give the character Jane (Lydie Denier!) such a heavy French accent (I've never heard of a frenchman named "Porter" ...) However, Larson and Denier look great together.

Malick Bowens playing Simon Govier is an excellent actor who is given almost nothing interesting to do (Simon reads from his journal at the opening of every episode, giving the viewer a brief plot summary). Bowens merely exists to put an African in Africa ... there don't seem to be any others around. Roger Taft, the comic relief played by Sean Roberge, is a sweet character with some truly terrible dialogue. Cheta the chimp is amusing, as is to be expected. Ron Ely's cameo, as villain Gordon Shaw, is probably one of the most interesting entries in this series.

Overall, the show was entertaining, even if it won't be consider a masterpiece by die-hard Tarzan fans, or anyone, for that matter. My biggest flaw with it was the lack of an obvious romance between Tarzan and Jane, although I never got to see the 2nd or 3rd seasons, because my local station stopped carrying it. Perhaps things heated up in the following seasons.