The first Chinese language Tarzan film, a Singaporean coproduction with both Mainland China and (more directly) Hong Kong, was called The Adventures of A Chinese Tarzan, which was spoken in both Mandarin and Cantonese, but flopped on its release day, the 3rd of December 1939, which was close to both the 1930s’ end and the 1940s’ beginning. Like the second film, it is already not much known outside of the main Sinosphere and may be partially lost. It featured Pang Fei as a pale Tarzan imitation and Zhu Zhou as a Jane expy (albeit usually a Jane Parker expy in this case). It is clearly public domain in pretty much the whole world, even though it’s still lost unofficial Tarzan media.
The second Chinese Tarzan film, simply titled The Chinese Tarzan (but the first one spoken natively in Cantonese, a Sinitic language), was released in 1940. Even though it was perhaps a Hong Kong remake or retelling of that one shown above, it's a bit more faithful to the first Tarzan book. Considered lost or perhaps mostly forgotten forever. Its plot is also quite different from its forebear; it rather has two scientist parents being dead while an Asian Tarzan survives as a young child, resulting in him being adopted by the local jungle animals in order to become their king.
Tarzan In Istanbul is pretty much the first Tarzan movie in Turkey. Released in 1952, it has lots of footage stolen and unofficially copied from various 1930s and 1940s Tarzan films. It even has a sluggish companion novel, which was made for the Castilian Spanish market, where the film itself was once a popular Mockbuster watched by budget conscious Spaniards.
Balci Tamer’s disgusting yet insanely book-accurate portrayal of Tarzan made it possibly one of the most ethnically discriminatory of all time for a good reason. Some parts of the plot representing the film’s beginning are also copied from the Hong Kong Cantonese film shown above, making it a Turkish copy of both a Hong Kong copy and the Weissmuller films.
The Malaysian-Taiwanese Hokkien film Tarzan and The Treasure, which got released in 1965, is perhaps the only surviving one of them all. It kind of helps that it’s a spiritual predecessor to, of all Tarzan related things, the Barry Prima jungle films. It also features the multitalented late Kao Ming as a localised Tarzan Expy raised by jungle animals in the Malaysian Peninsula, after a plane crash killed off his parents when he was very young. It also has a Jane Parker imitation, three feuding ladies and a Boy Expy goofing around.
Tarzan the Mighty Man was released in 1974. Directed and written from a queasy 3-page script by an eccentrically kitschy director, who is still the living king of live action MockBusters outside of PRC, Germany and America. Like Tarzan in Istanbul, it also has had a lot of footage stolen from various old Tarzan films (mostly featuring Johnny Weissmuller), and is itself a mild continuity reboot of Tarzan in Istanbul for some reason. Character actor Yavuz Selekman got his so okay it’s average portrayal of Tarzan after playing a Santo imitation in the so bad it’s bland 3 Mighty Men, due to his uncanny partial resemblance to Joe Kubert’s Tarzan illustrations. His own Tarzan also has a girlfriend named Ayse (pronounced Ayshe) instead of Jane Porter, played by a veteran Turkish actress who’s little known even to young Turkish people today.
The Story of Tarzan and Jane (Ang Kuwento Ni Tarzan At Jane) was released onto tv screens in the 8th of April 2018, about two years and three quarters before the whole core Tarzan canon became public domain in much of the world except Guatemala (until 2026), Spain (until 2031) and the USA (until 2062). It is a second season episode of Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko (2017-23), an incredibly popular Pinoy anthology Teleserye, watched by kids from all over the Philippines and its own diaspora. Featuring the handsome half-Spanish Gil Cuerva as Tarzan and brown eyed beauty Julie Anne San Jose as Jane Porter.
Since it also has a couple of fellow cast members as gorillas (wearing what are essentially unofficial discount Flintstones costumes), it mixed up elements of the Disney instalments and the Weissmuller films, as well as bits of both Greystoke and Tarzan and the Lost City. It’s also thanks to a pretty lady playing someone who is likely an escaped tigress that an early edition of the first novel in the entire ERB Tarzan canon was referenced in the episode.
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