post

The Bootleg Files: King of the Jungle

BOOTLEG FILES 815: “King of the Jungle” (1933 adventure film starring Buster Crabbe).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:
None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

In 1932, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scored a commercial hit by casting former Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the title role of “Tarzan the Ape Man.” Paramount Pictures thought it could replicate the rival studio’s success, but rather than acquire the rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan character it opted to make a quasi-Tarzan film based on Charles Turley Stoneham’s “The Lion’s Way” – in which a Tarzan-type character was raised in the African jungle by lions rather than apes.
Continue reading

Tarzan (1999)

tarzanEdgar Rice Burroughs’ titular Tarzan has gone through a ton of botched adaptations over the last few decades. Speaking as a fan of the character and story arc, Disney’s “Tarzan” is probably my favorite adaptation of all time. Surely, it suffers from Disney tropes that make it very much a Disney movie, but damn it, it’s also a heart felt tale about a hero fighting for his unofficial family teeming with excellent performances and a haunting soundtrack. Plus, it garners the classic Disney themes of lost parents and a child being forced to grow up very quickly.

Continue reading

Tarzan (1999)

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ titular Tarzan has gone through a ton of botched adaptations over the last few decades. Speaking as a fan of the character and story arc, Disney’s “Tarzan” is probably my favorite adaptation of all time. Surely, it suffers from Disney tropes that make it very much a Disney movie, but damn it, it’s also a heart felt tale about a hero fighting for his unofficial family teeming with excellent performances and a haunting soundtrack. Plus, it garners the classic Disney themes of lost parents and a child being forced to grow up very quickly.

Continue reading