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A Few Facts You Didn't Know About Tarzan

A look at the original story "Tarzan of The Apes." Tarzan is related to Clayton?

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A Few Facts You Didn't Know About Tarzan

Wait, Tarzan's name is Clayton?

With "The Legend of Tarzan" set to come out July 1, all "Tarzan" fans are excited to scramble to the theater and watch the live-action movie. As a huge fan of the Disney movie, "Tarzan," I am ecstatic about its upcoming release. I've spent too much time re-watching the trailers just because I'm that obsessed with it. Here's the catch: Tarzan's name is John Clayton. Clayton...sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's because it's this guy:

The lesser-known villain Clayton shares Tarzan's name? Apparently. Tarzan's father John Clayton, Lord Graystroke, was Clayton's uncle. Of course, this took place in the book.

As that spark my interest, I picked up the book "Tarzan of The Apes" by Edgar R. Burroughs and was delightfully surprised. Well, if you consider a ten-fold explosion of violence and harsh reality a delight.

(Disclaimer: The next portion may contain spoilers, or it may not depending on how heavily the screenwriters relied on this certain book.)

A bullet-point list that may ruin your childhood movie:

1. Kerchak and Kala aren't mates:

Kerchak is certainly the head of their tribe, but Kala's mate is Tublat (which means Broken-nose).

2. Kerchak indirectly kills Kala's child:

Kala's child dies, not because of Sabor, but bcause of one of Kerchak's fits of blind rage. She was late in escaping Kerchak's very physical and very much fatal anger and she desperately leaped onto a branch only to have her child fall to its death.

3. Kerchak kills John Clayton, Tarzan's father:

He had a "shiny stick" and had killed a member of their tribe. He was a threat that had to be taken care of.

4. Tarzan's mother suffered from a psychological disorder:

Tarzan's mother dies a year after he is born after being severely traumatized by an incident with a great ape. She was never the same after the event and her health deteriorated.

5. Tarzan wasn't accepted by his tribe:

Tarzan is constantly threatened by the males in the tribe, but Kala's fierce protectiveness keeps them away until he later on earns their respect.

6. Tarzan kills Tublat:

After Tublat tries to attack Kala in his own fit of anger, Tarzan steps in. After this event the males respected Tarzan, or at least knew to not mess with him as before.

7. Tarzan was literate before any contact with other humans.

Tarzan teaches himself how to read in English with books he found in his parent's cabin. He leaves a message to Jane insisting he loves her and will care for her before they even met. He also realizes he is a "man," and not an "ape."

8. Kala dies:

Kala is killed by a human character named Kulonga. Tarzan hunts him down to avenge her, but he expresses excitement meeting another human. Too bad he had to kill him.

9. Tarzan terrorizes a village:

Upon hunting down Kulonga, Tarzan finds his village and begins to harass the villagers. He deems them more savage than his own tribe, and he takes what he wants from them. He is never seen by the villagers so he is deemed an evil spirit.

10. Tarzan kidnaps Jane:

After saving Jane from Terkoz, a son of Tublat, he's confused by Jane's sudden rebuttal after an intense lip-locking moment. I'd say it was the heat of the moment. Tarzan does what is instinctive to him and takes Jane deeper into the jungle, but takes her back to her people the day after or so. Coincidentally, Jane realizes she fell in love with Tarzan during this time.

And finally,

11. Tarzan leaves the jungle for civilization:

Unlike the Disney version, Tarzan doesn't desire to stay with the tribe. With Kala dead, his attachment to the tribe wanes and he craves for human companionship. He leaves the jungle with Jane.


Overall, "Tarzan of The Apes" portrays a bloodier, and more savage story in comparison to Disney's "Tarzan," but let's be honest, Disney obviously couldn't sell "Tarzan" as a family movie if it had followed the book. Even though there are various controversial issues scattered within the book; reading the original story of a Disney movie was an adventure. It gave me a whole new perspective on one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. Perhaps I'll even do an analysis of those issues mentioned before later on. Finally, I'd like to apologize if I ruined "Tarzan" for some of you. Hey, it was too good to not share with people.

If you haven't yet seen the trailer, check it out, because it's beautiful.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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