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.
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.
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
- Tarzan (1999) $747.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- The Legend of Tarzan (2016) $356.60 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) $315.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan The Ape Man (1932) $302.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942) $280.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan Finds a Son (1939) $251.10 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan Escapes (1936) $241.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan Triumphs (1943) $240.60 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan And His Mate (1934) $233.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943) $191.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan and the Amazons (1945) $182.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946) $174.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) $159.30 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) $114.80 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (1949) $103.30 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950) $89.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957) $85.80 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Peril (1951) $83.10 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958) $70.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan Goes To India (1962) $65.60 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan the Ape Man (1959) $58.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963) $52.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955) $43.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan’s Savage Fury (1952) $38.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953) $26.10 million in adjusted worldwide gross
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1 Just as Connery is regarded as the definitive bond so Johnny Weissmuller is regarded by film historians as THE screen Tarzan.
2 Johnny’s health was very poor in his declining years and it has been reported that during a hospitalisation phase he lost control of his mental faculties and kept other patients awake at night by repeatedly giving forth with blood-curdling Tarzan yells.
3 Maureen O’Sullivan (Mia Farrow’s mother) who played Jane in Johnny’s early films said in a TV interview that the chimp of those early movies had gender orientation issues.
Hey Bob.
1. I agree with you. Weissmuller is Tarzan. Not thinking anybody will top the amount of times he played Tarzan.
2. That is a shame, about him in his later days.
3. As Seinfeld would say….”Not that there is anything wrong with that.”…lol.
Thanks for your Tarzan trivia and thoughts.
GOOD MORNING CAMPERS !!!
1 Couldn’t agree with you more about 3.
2 Maureen’s point about “issues” was that often there would be s few chimps of both genders on set for jungle scenes and Cheetah could never make up his mind which ones to romance so that a lot of squabbling would break out and she and Johnny and the rest found it hilarious. Mo was still laughing about it 30 years later in that interview.
2 While we are on the subject of Maureen she actually has a soft spot in my heart as she was the leading lady of singer John MacCormack in the only full-length film that he ever made called Song of My Heart (1929).
3 MacCormack is my favourite tenor and although he comes from Ireland he was massive in America in the 20s and 30s; and the marvellous breath control that he was able to exercise in his singing reportedly influenced Sinatra to the point where Frank used to hold his own head under water for long periods in the hope of acquiring Mac’s level of breath control .
4 Mac had a guest spot in Hank Fonda’s Wings of Morning (1937 I think) and he appeared on Bing’s show where he and Crosby milked their joint Irish American connection. Mac did pop and the classics and Bing greatly admired John’s classical voice and Crosby once opined “The difference between John and me is that a lot of people think they can sing like me in the shower – they harbour no such delusion in relation to MacCormack!”
5 Those Tarzan grosses amazed me in that I never realised until I saw your chart that (even with potential updating) many of the early ones particularly in the post Johnny era were such low grossers. However they probably did not cost much to make so I suppose that collectively and with the foreign grosses that you have listed for us a bonus they most likely made a bundle for the studio.
6 As you say Johnny’s end was a sad one. So too was that of Lex Barker who also played Tarzan and who was one of Lana Turner’s husbands. If I recall correctly he dropped dead in the street prematurely in his early 50s
Give my regards to the rest of Team Cogerson.
BOB
Big Tarzan Fan- took the family to see it this weekend, and It was very good! I am not sure what movie the critics watched, but my entire family thought this was a very good interpretation- loved the inclusion of actual historical people and events to frame the story. I do agree with some statements about the cgi not being as good in some scenes- but it did not take away from the enjoyment of the engrossing story. Hope it picks up steam, and they are willing to make more. Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie as Jane have a wealth of on screen chemistry, and Samuel L. Jackson’s character adds history, action and some comedic moments. I will see it again!
Hey George…glad a Tarzan fan found this page. Glad you liked it….it is doing pretty well in North American box offices….$81 million after ten days…..and that us what will get another movie made. Pretty sure it is going to be one the biggest worldwide Tarzan movies ever. Sorry I can not update this pages…but I am currently 100s of miles from my main computer.
Thanks for the mini review….the family is scheduled to see Secret Life of Pets tomorrow….maybe if if is sold out we will see The Legend of Tarzan. Thanks for taking the time to visit our page and to comment on our page.
Saw the new Tarzan and thought it was awesome I think the critics are wrong. But I could be wrong I grew up with Johnny Weissmuller every Saturday morning
Hey Mary….thanks for the mini-review on Tarzan. We are going to the movies tonight….and the 9 year old gets to decide if we are going to be seeing The BFG or The Legend of Tarzan….after your high marks…I am hoping she picks Tarzan…thanks for stopping by and commenting.
A new Tarzan movie is here.
Hey Anonymous….you are 100% correct. I need to update this entire page…and then add the new Tarzan movie. At first I could not figure out why Tarzan was on my trending list….But then I figured it out when I read your comment.
I love your work!
Thank you Jim P. I greatly appreciate that.