Tarzan Movies

The Legend of Tarzan (2016) has been added to the page

The Legend of Tarzan (2016) has been added to the page

Want to know the best Tarzan movies?  How about the worst Tarzan movies?  Curious about Tarzan’s box office grosses or which Tarzan movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Tarzan movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan was born in 1912.  Tarzan went from a magazine publication in 1912, to a novel in 1914, to movies in 1918.  Since then Tarzan has become one of the most recognizable fictional characters of all-time.

This Tarzan Movie Ranking page comes from a request by Tim, Sarah, Kelly67 & Dan (we think).  Overall we ranked 34 Tarzan movies.  Huge Tarzan fans will notice some missing Tarzan projects.  Tarzan serials, Tarzan movies that were made for television and movies that did not get released in theaters in North America were not included.

Christopher Lambert in 1984's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan

Christopher Lambert in 1984’s Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan

Tarzan Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Tarzan Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Tarzan movies by who played Tarzan.
  • Sort Tarzan movies by who played Jane…..if she was in the movie.
  • Sort Tarzan movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Tarzan movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Tarzan movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Tarzan movie won.
  • Sort Tarzan movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
  • Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
Johnny Weissmuller played Tarzan 12 times

Johnny Weissmuller played Tarzan 12 times

Possibly Interesting Facts About Tarzan

1. The Tarzan stories have been translated into more than 56 languages, and reportedly more than 25 million copies of the Tarzan books have been sold worldwide.

2. The first actor to play Tarzan was Elmo Lincoln in 1918’s Tarzan of the Apes

3. Johnny Weissmuller played Tarzan the most times: 12 movies from 1932 to 1948.  To see a list of other Tarzans….check out this page from HubPages’ Glory Miller.  Actors Who Played Tarzan.

4. Maureen O’Sullivan and Brenda Joyce played Jane the most times.  O’Sullivan played Jane 6 times while Joyce played Jane five times.

5. Brenda Joyce is the only actress to appear opposite a different Tarzan.  She starred  opposite Johnny Weissmuller four times. However, her last performance as Jane, in 1949’s Tarzan’s Magic Fountain,  was with Lex Barker as Tarzan

6. Lex Barker played Tarzan 5 times from 1949 to 1953.  Each time a different actress played Jane.

7. Mike Henry played Tarzan 3 times. Henry experienced so many traumas (chimp bites, infections, and that the chimp almost tore off his jaw) that he quit the Tarzan series. Henry would file two law suits  against the Tarzan producers.

8.  The Legend of Tarzan starring Samuel L, Jackson (not as Tarzan) was the first Tarzan movie in 17 years.

9. The art work for the Tarzan movie poster is very impressive.  An excellent movie blog to check out is Tarzan Movie Posters by Steve Lensman.

10. Check out Tarzan‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

But Wait….We Have More Tarzan Movie Stats….Worldwide Adjusted Box Office Grosses

  1. Tarzan (1999) $747.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  2. The Legend of Tarzan (2016) $356.60 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  3. Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) $315.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  4. Tarzan The Ape Man (1932) $302.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  5. Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942) $280.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  6. Tarzan Finds a Son (1939) $251.10 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  7. Tarzan Escapes (1936) $241.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  8. Tarzan Triumphs (1943) $240.60 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  9. Tarzan And His Mate (1934) $233.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  10. Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943) $191.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  11. Tarzan and the Amazons (1945) $182.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  12. Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946) $174.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  13. Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) $159.30 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  14. Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) $114.80 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  15. Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (1949) $103.30 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  16. Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950) $89.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  17. Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957) $85.80 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  18. Tarzan’s Peril (1951) $83.10 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  19. Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958) $70.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  20. Tarzan Goes To India (1962) $65.60 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  21. Tarzan the Ape Man (1959) $58.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  22. Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963) $52.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  23. Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955) $43.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  24. Tarzan’s Savage Fury (1952) $38.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  25. Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953) $26.10 million in adjusted worldwide gross

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53 thoughts on “Tarzan Movies

  1. Added Steve’s latest YouTube video to this page. Our thoughts on the Tarzan movies and his video are also found below.

    Good selection. Good ole ERB and his most famous character Tarzan. I have seen 9 of the movies for sure….though I am sure some of the Tarzan movies have blended into my brain over the years. Favorites include #2 Tarzan The Ape Man….the best of the Johnny W. Tarzan movies. #3 Disney Tarzan….great art work. #4 Greystoke…Lambert makes a good Tarzan. and #16 The Land That Time Forgot….this one had a big impact on me when I saw it in theaters when I was not even double digits yet. Voted up and shared.

    1. Bruce I forgot you had a dedicated Tarzan page with all the stats, good stuff. There are 5 films here I haven’t seen so my tally is 37 out of 42. Favorites are the Weissmuller MGM Tarzans, a few of the other Tarzans including Greystoke, plus The Land That Time Forgot and John Carter.

      Thanks again for the vote, share and comment, always appreciated.

      1. Hey Steve….our Tarzan page has been a pleasant surprise…..when I look at our most popular pages…most were created back in our HubPages days. That of course makes sense, since we started out with the most popular stars. Every once in a while a new subject will soar with my top viewed page eagles. This Tarzan page is one of those pages. 37 movies is pretty darn impressive. I have such found memories of seeing The Land That Time Forget…..it makes me remember the little theater I saw so many of my first movies in. Good stuff as always.

    1. Hey David. Thanks for checking out our Tarzan page. I am unable to find any box office information on Tarzan and the Trappers. It was originally filmed as a pilot for a television show…when the pilot did not get picked up, the producers put together three episodes and called it a movie. It does not seem to have gotten a big push in theaters….if you have some box office on the movie, I will happily include the movie. Good stuff!

  2. Hey steve…well we have 34 movies listed here…pretty sure that is all of the “sound” versions of that story…seems there were a few silent movies that did not make our table. As for cartoons…there are two Disney ones (part one is listed here) the sequel was a direct to dvd version…so it is not here. Looking at wikipedia they list lots of things…but do not give a grand total….I would bet counting television shows it would be over 100. Sorry we do not have a better answer…but thanks for stopping by.

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