Esquire pays homage to Tarzan

I suppose all the hype around the upcoming “John Carter of Mars” movie from Disney/Pixar has reminded people that Edgar Rice Burroughs had a more famous character: Tarzan. For some reason, Carter never attracted quite the audience that Tarzan did, and I cannot quite put my finger on why. I’ve read Tarzan books and John Carter books. I’ve watched many Tarzan movies. As a kid I idolized Ron Ely for playing Tarzan (although I couldn’t figure out how he ended up in South America).

So I’m not really surprised to find a very lengthy retrospective on the Tarzan literary, cinematic, and broadcast tradition from The L.A. Times and Esquire.

You just don’t see in-depth literary coverage of John Carter like you see for Tarzan. I think that’s a shame, as I feel there is plenty of depth in John Carter’s world. The characters are classic sword-and-sandal warriors. Their emotions are plainly visible and lack the depth of angst-laden, constantly-in-turmoil lost souls but their adventures are the stuff of male imagination: lost civilizations, rolling landscapes, mysterious technologies, unusual creatures, and naturally beautiful women who don’t throw themselves at just anyone. It takes a real man to earn their love.

These stories have influenced everything in science fiction and fantasy today, one way or another. Some authors have rebelled against the sexist stereotypes and gone completely in the opposite direction. Some authors have tried to update the age-old vision of the brawny warrior with his trusty sword. Now he is a nerdy guy with a computer, or maybe he’s a business man who has lost his passion and can only find it in an alternate world where the girl is stronger than him.

The basic concept of boy meets girl, boy realizes he’s in another place, boy beats the crap out of everything that comes between him and girl has accrued a few layers of theoretical exposition that attempts to draw the reader deeper into the characters’ souls. Frankly, I don’t give a damn, my dears. That is not what pulp science fiction is all about. Maybe putrid science fiction dwells on the innermost thoughts of the character. The pulps are about decisive action, drawing lines between good and evil, and standing up for what is right even if it means losing the girl of your dreams.

Tarzan became a complex character for a variety of reasons, the chief of which (in my opinion) was simply the fact that so many other writers (screenwriters) had a hand in developing the character. There is an anecdote about how Edgar Rice Burroughs approached a brawny athlete at a party and screamed out, “Tarzan! You’re Tarzan!” I’m sure the guy looked the part but his movies bombed badly.

Rule of thumb: one-writer characters are more likely to be shallow.

Now, that’s not always true. But action/adventure characters tend to evolve more when multiple hands lead them their their adventures. Sometimes that approach is a disaster in itself. The original vision that made the characters so interesting is lost or subverted for less desirable point of view. But I think that television and the film franchise experience has taught audiences to appreciate the depth of a character that is built up through a combination of change and continuity.

We can probably expect something similar for John Carter, but truth be told it will be a long, long time before Carter’s history and character parallel the depth and scope of Tarzan’s.

I’m sure ERB wouldn’t have it any other way, if he were forced to choose between the two characters.

John Carter of Mars cast updates, rumors

The confirmed cast for Disney/Pixar’s “John Carter of Mars” is growing. Andrew Stanton is producing/directing the (mostly) live action movie, for which principal photography should begin in a few more weeks.

According to The Hollywood Reporter and IMDB, we know the cast lineup so far is:

Taylor Kitsch starring as John Carter, Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkus, Mark Strong as Matai Shang, Dominic West as Sab Than, Thomas Hayden Church as Tal Hajus, James Purefoy as Kantos Kan, Daryl Sabara as Edgar Rice Burroughs (yes, he DOES appear in the books), Samantha Morton as Sola, and Polly Walker as Sarkoja.

Some weird, bizarre, stupid Website that manufactures gossip alleges that Taylor Kitsch is doing cocaine on-set — which I think is pretty amazing since, as I noted above, principal photography has yet to begin. I suppose if Taylor is sitting alone out there in the fields of Utah he might be asking for companions to be brought to his studio but in Utah? If you’re going to make up stuff about people, you should get your timing right. Anyway, I only mention this in the event that people start to pick up on the rumor. It’s false, fake, not real, and totally bogus. Besides, it’s simply not true.

More reputable Web sites (like SciFi Wire), however, are starting to speculate (based on the character list) that the first three books may be compressed into one movie. Now, I have no inside information and I suppose there is every possibility that the first movie will depart from the literary canon in numerous ways — but, frankly, these characters could just be cameos intended to set up for the next two movies (that we’ve already heard are being considered). It’s too soon for people to be jumping up and down, putting on their Purist Panic hats.

Here is a quick breakdown of how A Princess of Mars, the first book in the series, goes:

John Carter is a U.S. Civil War veteran who fought on the losing side. He goes to Arizona to seek his fortune and runs afoul of some Apache warriors and a bear. Dying in a cave, he finds his spirit transported to a new body on Mars, where because of its lower gravity he has superhuman strength compared to the native humanoids. At first captured by the towering, four-armed Green Men, Carter is taught/befriended by Sola, the daughter of one of their princes. Sola confides to Carter that her birth was very unusual in that she knows who her parents are

While in captivity Carter meets Dejah Thoris, a princess of the Red Men (who but for their very red skin look like Earth’s humans). Carter falls in love with her. They are tormented by Tal Hajus, ruler of the tribe of Green Men who have captured them, but Carter gradually wins the friendship and respect of Tars Tarkus, Sola’s father, who becomes Carter’s greatest friend and ally on Barsoom (Mars). Sola herself is tormented by the evil Sarkoja, who was responsible for the death of Sola’s mother and who raised Sola as a slave.

Sab Than is a prince among the Red Men who wants to marry Dejah Thoris. Kantos Kan is an officer in the Navy of Helium, Dejah Thoris’ country, and he is very loyal to her family. Kantos Kan becomes one of Carter’s chief allies and closest friends on Barsoom.

Matia Shang is the Jeddak of the Therns, the White Men of Barsoom. They also serve as the planet’s priestly caste, protecting an ancient, deadly secret about the planet that they have abused for untold millennia to their own advantage. Shang eventually becomes an unwanted suitor for Dejah Thoris and one of John Carter’s most hated enemies.

So how will all this play out in Stanton’s movie(s)? I don’t know and I won’t pretend to know. I’m waiting for more information.

We have an ongoing John Carter of Mars discussion at SF-Fandom. Please feel free to join in.

John Carter of Mars cast shaping up nicely

Willem Dafoe joins Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins in the Disney live-action film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. The Hollywood Reporter and other news sites broke the news this weekend that Dafoe had signed on to play the giant green man of Barsoom.

Tars Tarkus befriends John Carter, who appears on Mars mysteriously after “dying” in a cave on Earth. The Green Men are completely hostile to the more human-like Red Men of Barsoom (Mars) and to each other. Carter nonetheless proves he is worthy of Tars Tarkus’ trust and friendship and together the two go on to tame the warlike civilizations of the dying planet.

Some people wonder how Disney intends to portray the Green Men. Will they be reduced in stature? Will they have only two arms instead of four? I hope not. I think Disney has proven it has the technology to turn Willem Dafoe and a host of other actors into very tall, four-armed warriors. Whether Dafoe will turn to motion-capture technology to portray his character is an open question, but I think that’s a real option.

And it sounds to me like Disney is hoping to turn this movie into a franchise. Dafoe appeared in all three “Spider-man” movies so he is no stranger to fantasy film franchise work.

“John Carter of Mars” is scheduled for release in 2012, which would coincide with the 100th anniversary of the original publication of “A Princess of Mars”, the story that introduced John Carter, Dejah Thoris, and Tars Tarkus.