The Messed Up Origins of Tarzan | Disney Explained - Jon Solo 

Makes friends with the *elements* Tarzan, you're the avatar.

Comment and like on this if ur frogs are gay

I love the disney movie for how "realistic" the gorillas are portrayed. Not as violent bloodthirsty beasts but as peaceful and gentle society with a charismatic and protective leader. Also the way tarzan is built and the way he moves around is literally how a human would most likely do if raised by apes.

I actually had this Tarzan graphic novel as a kid that had 100% story drawn out from the original 1912 novel. Very graphic and bloody and I appreciated the story a lot.

Tarzan was one of the most popular fictional characters of his day and perhaps of all time. He's iconic well beyond the Disney movie.

I wonder how Tarzan never grew a beard, he lived in the jungle for his whole life and never learned to shaved.

The fact that no one has successfully adapted the entire Tarzan series into movies or tv is astounding

The original story sounds like it would make for an amazing open world survival game.

I swear when he revealed Clayton to be Tarzan’s cousin & Tarzan to be the rightful inheritance to Clayton’s wealth I spazzed tf out! 😂 it’s like I’m watching a soap opera 🍿🤫👀 😂

I loveeeee how you tell stories

I read Tarzan myself. Although the book was indeed a a good read, as an African American, I found it VERY disturbing in many ways and you really candy coated a lot of Tarzan's interaction with the Africans. I didn't see much cannibalism among their own people... or at all for that matter. However, it is seen from bones outside the village that they were cannibal. As in most cultures, these were probably the bones of captive enemies, probably not their own tribesmen. Tarzan does indeed kill M'bonga's son for killing his ape mother, but his treatment of M'bonga's people goes FAR beyond mere pranks. He habitually murders them for (not only their weapons, ornaments and clothes) but for fun. This even AFTER they begin to leave offerings of the same stuff to appease the believed angry spirit. Tarzan really terrorizes M'bonga's people and there's nothing funny about it. In book two, after returning to Africa, he even looks for M'bonga's people again for a bit of murder and thievery, but is disappointed to find they've finally abandoned the cursed place and cannot be found. So what does Tarzan do? He goes looking for them, of course. He finally finds a native hunter who he immediately notices is NOT of the same people of M'bonga's tribe, but is still black... so he begins to stalk him. Fortunately for the native, although at first Tarzan is looking forward to dropping a noose over the man's head and lynching him (his usual method of murder and terror) he now has a bit of conscious about it after having lived in Europe. He now begins to see his behavior (even towards a black man) as murder and robbery. His mind is finally made up when a lion jumps out and attacks the hunter and instinctively he rushes to the man's aid. To his shame and mortification, the grateful hunter takes him to his village and he is given freely everything he would have taken by murder and thievery. Oh, and the apes Tarzan lived with were NOT gorillas but a similar species called the "Great Apes" or "Mangani". The author makes a clear distinction between the two antagonistic groups.

Jon: *made friends with the elements* Me: HE KNEW THE AVATAR !?

"makes friends with the elements" Water Earth Fire Air Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony, But then, everything changed when kerchak attacked. Only Tarzan, master of all four elements, could stop him. But when the jungle needed him most, He fell in love with a British girl and vanished.

I’m here before “the thieves” make a video strongly influenced by this one (not to be confused with stealing. They definitely don’t steal. Definitely)

Tarzan in the book also feels superior to almost everyone and everything around him, including the apes who raised him, to an uncomfortable degree. He is also basically a Gary Stu, being impossibly good at everything. He learns how to use definitive pronouns CORRECTLY from books, which definitely impossible to do without outside help, and knows how to spell his own name, despite not knowing what sounds the letters he writes should make. And Tarzan is described as a, "forest god," every other page. (I don't mind if an author develops a crush on his character, but I don't want to have to hear about it all the bloody time!)

The 1984 movie Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, does a great retelling of the Tarzan story, showing D'Arnot teaching Tarzan how to communicate. It's a great movie!

This feels like a missed opportunity to be wearing a loincloth Jon.

“Makes friends with the elements.” 😂😂

You forgot the part where tarzan hangs black tribesmen to steal their arrows and for fun

What’s crazy is the fact that the book plot was actually better than the movies and a set of books written over 100 years ago has enough material to make a series!

One other thing Burroughs made clear in his book was that the apes that raised Tarzan were NOT gorillas. He referred to them as Mangani, or great apes, a made up species that was actually somewhat more evolved than the gorillas of the jungle. Also, William Clayton was not at all the villain in the first book, he was just Tarzan's civilized cousin, who later gets engaged to Jane (who really loved Tarzan) and claimed the title of Lord Greystoke in John Clayton (aka Tarzan's) absence. Tarzan later discovers his claim but nobly steps aside, thinking Jane would better off with William, and goes to France with Paul D'Arnot. (SPOILER ALERT) In the second book, RETURN OF TARZAN, William dies heroically while trying to protect Jane from the Beast Men of Opar. This video should be about everything Disney got wrong about Tarzan.

Good review. One correction: the creatures that raised Tarzan were not gorillas. The series makes it clear several times that they were a different, heretofore undiscovered species alternatively called, "Great Apes," and "Anthropoid Apes." The novel was written about 50 years after, "The Origin of Species," and Burroughs was playing with the idea of evolution. Burroughs' Great Apes had a rudimentary language, which makes Tarzan's transition more believable. In their language they refer to themselves as, "Mangani," and to the gorillas as, "Bolgani:" not the same species.

They should make a gritty high budget series out of the Tarzan books, this sounds great.

And when Tarzan meets Jane, it is one of the cutest/funniest things

I prefer George of the Jungle starring Brendan Fraser

Thanks for watching, the love, and the support #SoloFam! So happy we reached our LIKE goal this week!! :D

I remember watching a movie that came out in 1984 called "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes". It's a live action depiction of the story that I think you might be interested in if you enjoy the story as it shows what it might be like if Tarzan were found and brought back to civilization.

The story of Tarzan is inspired by the story of Jane's life which was based on real life

Tarzan the prankster lol I can see it now..

I read one of the Tarzan books while in jail. Also read books like To Kill a Mockingbird, Zoo, and The Protector. All good books

I just finished listening to the audiobook. Absolutely loved it. I'm a language nerd and I laughed out loud when d'Arnot taught Tarzan French phonology through English vocabulary. Whenever Tarzan came across an English word he would read it aloud in French. As an example, when he saw the word 'man' in English he would say the French equivalent 'homme', thus associating the French sounds with the English letters. Basically, Tarzan could read and write in English but he couldn't speak it. Whereas he could speak French but he could not read or write it. Absolutely hilarious.

imagine disney didnt own all the rights to everything ever and this could make for a decent but gritty netflix series.

I'd love to see a open world game based on Tarzan!

"Teaching himself to weed and wright" Me: *WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE* "He makes friends with the elements" Me: *WHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* Thanks for the laughs John :D

I literally shrieked every time you said “dee arnot”

I can understand why this book was so popular

11:20 That was smooth

Could you possibly do 'The Emperors New Groove' (if there is one XD) it would be so funny

I never knew Tarzan had such an interesting origin story.

“Long hair, wears a loincloth” Me: Kars is that you?

Woah! The original story was awesome! I hope they someday make a film adaption that closely resembles the book (I loved the Disney cartoon, of course...I mean, Phil Collins).

Wow i want to read the book now! Great video jon!

There is a recent Live action of Tarzan that is not Disney, and I absolutely loved it since it followed the books closer. They did it in a retro faction so its more of a Tarzan Sequel that retells the first book through the incidents they encounter. Facing the chief of the tribe who's son killed his mother and so Tarzan killed the son, and so on. I'm disappointed that it didn't get as much of the recognition it deserved because it was amazingly done and absolutely a great watch.

I just want to clarify that Tarzan wasn't raised by gorillas but unknown ape species. Gorillas were their enemies. Sometimes I found Victorian style of books a little bit hilarious. For example, after killing the first man (black cannibalist) Tarzan was ready to eat his flesh but he couldn't because some strange force told him not to do it. So, Tarzan just knew western moral code though he saw the villagers eating human flesh.

Hahah i love making friends with the elements. Luv ya Jon

Just read book last year. Tarzan murdered the Africans for fun. His preferred method was hanging. You seemed to downplay this.

The first time I read the word TARZAN, was in the philosophical novel _Hay ibn Yaqdhan_ (Alive son of Vigilant ) of Andalusian philosopher *Ibn Tufayl* who lived in the 13th century Ce. That word was the name of the island where the main character of the novel was raised by a female deer, after loosing his family in shipwreck to which he was the only survival.

Can we please talk about the fact that Tarzan, who's never heard a human voice in his life untill Jane and her father show up, and yet, in the movie, Tarzan speaks with an American accent. If he's learning to speak English from British people, shouldn't he have a British accent?

the book ending can sorta count as a happy ending in a way. one of those odd endings where the moral is about giving up selfish desires to help loved ones be happy.

Hi Jon can you please do Peter Pan. I always wanted to know what messed up origins await in that story.. 😁 if you do that I will be very grateful.

I love the way you tell your stories Jon. I also appreciate how much time and effort you put into researching everything. I'm a huge history buff and always look forward to watching your vids! 😎😀😁 plz keep posting more stories! Stay safe!

I read the first book almost 20 years ago and funny enough there are two things I remember most about it. One is the heartbreak of Kala carrying her dead baby for a while before finding Tarzan and, seeing an infant that is alive, switches her dead baby for Tarzan. Tarzan even finds the tiny skeleton of the dead ape in the cradle. And the second is that Tarzan's famous speech to Jane was actually written to her on a leaf, since he couldn't talk.

That's insane I grew up watching Tarzan loved it but the book is way more interesting nd has a lot more detail 💯🤙🏽

Awesome video Jon. 25 books eh that’s some reading right there

I can't express how much I love Tarzan. It's my all time favorite movie in the world and you certainly did it justice with this video. I thought I was crazy how in the movie, Terk it a female and Tarzan's bff but in the book, Terk is an enemy. I never knew how batshit wild Kerjack was. I dislike how in many of the comments, people are painted Tarzan to be a bad person. I understand that murder isn't great, but come on! They killed his mother. Are you telling me that no one would do something equally insane if someone even touched their mom? Those villagers had it coming and it has nothing to do with race. Tarzan couldn't have the ability to be racist when he was raised in a jungle by apes. Clayton being related to him is just wild af to me and I love how much of a badass his parents were. I loved this so much that I'm gonna watch Tarzan now and make it my business to read all the books. Thank you so much for making my night with this 🥰

“you know what’s even crazier?” love that transition into gaining that coin

Please do the messed up origins of Moana

the messed up origins of hunchback of notre dame

I used to have a 1914 edition of Tarzan along with a 1905 edition of the Elder Eddas. Great books!

In the book, I thought it was interesting that Tarzan had trouble eating another ape (or was it human?) due to realizing their similarities. It's been years since I've read the book, but it's so much darker than the movies.

Please do the Hunchback of Notre Dame

Love the vid,can't wait for the next messed up origins their my fav

Nobody: Litteraly Nobody: Not a single soul: Jon Solo:DeE-aRnOt

idk if its a coincidence or not but with some long slightly messy hair and a few years in the jungle you could honestly have the looks of a perfect tarzan. i think thats a compliment

Jon Shot first.... Real smooth and classy!

Oh my gosh every time you upload I don’t even care what I’m doing but I’ll drop it to watch your video!☺️

I love listening to your version of the origins of stories. I just found your channel a couple of weeks ago, and have been playing catch up as often as I can. I personally prefer the Tarzan movie starring Alexander Skarsgard, I like the eye candy..I mean that version. I grew up watching Ron Ely playing Tarzan on Saturdays, and always enjoyed the upright moral messages.

I loved these books when i was a child, and also watched several of the old movies (I'm 40, so this was waaay before the disney adaptation). I don't think i read all of them, but it's a pretty extensive universe, with all those books ;)

My dad said Tarzan was a African story which was told to he as a kid but it was totally different from this story.

*Roller coaster indeed*

As a kid, reading Rice Burroughs's original books, Tarzan was an exhilarating vine swing through the deep forest. The young mind somehow does not register the inherent white superiority and dark savage tropes (which you start recognizing as you grow older and worldwise). The story of Tarzan is brutal, unforgiving, littered with literal skeletons of all of Tarzan's parents. There is intrigue when seeing Tarzan's written communication with Jane's party unfold, joy when tarzan finally encounters Jane, a slight sadness when Tarzan returns to 'civilization' reclaims his title of Lord Greystoke, only to learn that the duplicitous world of civilized humans is not his cup of tea... It's a rollercoaster ride.

I didn't think much of Tarzan before this video, now I see him as a certified badass.

Hi jon i luv ur channel ur the best youtuber ever

Cool, keep up the good work, I can't wait to see what messed up orgin is next!☺

Watching these videos and listening to you tell the original stories does the same thing as when I’m reading a book: My imagination makes little movies of the stories playing in my head. 👍🏽 Subscribed! 😊😊

I've read many of the Tarzan books, some of them several times. Some people will definitely take offense at this, but the beliefs of society in the era these books were written seem to be racist and sexist, and classist. Right? I mean, the protagonist is essentially a superman, a seeming demi-god. And he's a white, male, heterosexual, Noble-born, manly-man who kills wild predators and cannibal savages with primitive weapons. You can't get more anti-woke if you tried. Hitler must have loved this stuff, right? Here's the flip side. Tarzan hates modern civilization and frequently decries how modern man lies, cheats, molests, predates, brutalizes members of their own race, while this behavior is unseen in the animal kingdom. So he is a-humanist. He believes animals are the purer of the two types of creatures. Tarzan does persecute black men, but only those that hunt other humans for sport, torturing them then slaughtering them and eating them. PAUL (not William) D'Arnot was one such victim-to-be of the cannibals. Tarzan hates and punishes cannibals, but he has saved and befriended blacks who are good. The Waziri, for instance. Tarzan hates slavery and attempts to wipe out the trade in blacks as carried out by the Arab slavers. Tarzan also persecutes and prosecutes via jungle justice white men that break the law of innate right and wrong. And he is far from a vengeance-machine, letting the Russian rogues free numerous times before they met their respective demise, which Tarzan did not mete out. Tarzan is a member (by birth) of the white, privileged ruling class of England, but has no love for the title, the culture of hypocrisy, and the stuffiness of that society. In fact when things in the civilized world quickly go south, his acquired civilization is quickly shed like a thin veneer. Tarzan is a faithful lover, friend, and protector of justice, even though on occasion he is tempted to the lips and beds of other women, is placed in compromising situations, and falls on the wrong side of the written law. Tarzan, as written by Edgar Rice Burroughs over a century ago, is a complex, and one might say an ideal example of how a white noble man should act these days. He is above personal politics, does what is right, and does not respect or condemn people based on race, creed, or caste, but on their actions. Maybe we should overlook the veneer of Tarzan as he is often portrayed, and follow his example - interacting with our fellows honestly, and judging others by their actions.

I want to read all the books now...

I would love to see this version!

This is like the only video that actually made me wanna get the app they are promoting

He’s my favorite character in the Disney movies and iv grew up doin stuff Tarzan did and this story makes me like him even more!💪🏼

Lol friend's with the elements.

Absolutely amazing this series. I love how you tell the story ♥️

I devoured these books when I was young. Had forgotten some details since that was a long time ago. So happy that they are still being read and appreciated and enjoyed. Great entertainment. Wish the movies would have followed the books a bit better. Tarzan with Johnny Weismuller was fun, but really disappointing to someone who had read the books. I don't know if you read any other ERB books other than Tarzan. He did know how to weave a good yarn.

I just learned that tarzan just turned 24 today

So I used to get so upset when I watch the live version Tarzan because of all the changes like his mother dying and actual people in the village other than Jane and the people she brought, but I see they went a little more accurate to the origin of Tarzan now that I’ve seen this so thank you 😊

Great video. Was really good. Would really like to you u do Pocahontas. Or Frozen

We all know your delightfully douchy ad drops are neccessary evils and after all this bingeing, a good one slipped the cracks 🥳🤣 Marvelous elocution Solo!! Sneaky whippersnapper, best one by far👏 On Topic Thought; Thrilled to see the utter depth of Tarzan properly being spoken on. So few know how heavily chronicled the tale gets. Keep'em coming🧡

I came back to this video from the short you made it hooked me and it was easy to get to the link, good way to direct some views back to an older video while making new content as well

Ive read 13 of the books and if u watch the legand of Tarzan it starts where the 1st book ended

After reading Princess of Mars (Disney's John Carter) by the same author, I realized that Edgar Rice Burroughs must have been familiar with the old story, "King of Tars", and that he was consciously utilizing the theme of the noble person transported to survive in the savage world liberally. I say "consciously" because you have the obvious and repeated naming parallels employed by the author; Tarzan, Tars Tarkas, and Princess of Mars. Working my way through Tarzan right now.

I'm sooooo obsessed with all your stories

Well done Bro. Thank you for the episode…👍🏼😎👍🏼

Makes friends with elements. Tarzan is shaman !

Jon Solo please do Peter Pan I ask on every one of your origin vids it's really dark I would love to see it

I Really appreciate all of your hard work & your adorable jokes. You are very insightful. & all around AWESOME .

You’re the first person to plug audible to have me join. You’re awesome and your story telling is absolutely amazing!!!!

I loved the Tarzan series as a kid!!!

Terkoz the male version of Terk

I grew up watching the old black and white Tarzan movies they were awesome

That short hooked me so quickly