Released in 1995 by a now-defunct studio (often misattributed to low-budget houses like Cal Vista or Video X Pix), Tarzan: Shame of Jane is exactly what the title implies: a tongue-in-cheek, adults-only retelling of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic.
For collectors of weird animation history, this is a must-see (once). For fans of actual Tarzan lore, it’s an affront. For everyone else? It’s a 70-minute time capsule of a moment when the jungle got very, very weird.
But even by those standards, is a head-scratcher.
Have you ever seen Tarzan: Shame of Jane ? Or am I the only one who endured this fever dream? Let me know in the comments—preferably with a therapist’s note. Disclaimer: This film is for adult audiences only and is not affiliated with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate or any major animation studio.
Before you rush to Google, let me save you the trouble: No, this is not a lost Disney sequel. It’s not a Filmation classic, nor is it related to the 1999 animated Tarzan . Instead, Shame of Jane occupies a strange, forgotten corner of the adult animated parody boom—specifically, the “erotic parody” boom that followed the success of Ralph Bakshi and the underground comix movement.
Is it entertaining? In a so-bad-it’s-hilarious way, absolutely. The dialogue is pure cheese (“Jane shame. Tarzan no shame. Tarzan… free.”). The musical interludes are bizarre Casio-keyboard ballads. And the voice acting ranges from “overly dramatic” to “sounds like they recorded this in a closet between sandwiches.”
