Tarzan in three Kosher Musicals!

Warning: the middle eastern political situation is complicated AF. 

Let me introduce you to Israel’s big three family holiday musicals featuring the ever magnificent King of the Apes. The first one of them all was a semi-parodic, somewhat official Israeli musical written by Ephraim Sidon, which predated the more famous Broadway musical by 2 years. 

They are often a relatively feminist take on the first two Tarzan books, featuring a not so heavily dreadlocked (or even bald like in the 2023 spiritual remake) adult Tarzan, a bratty Jane Porter variant in a different outfit, a local Boy/Tartu/Jai equivalent, a kosher spin on both Terkina and Cheeta, a young Tarzan, as well as a bunch of kosher takes on the gorillas who raised the hero! Also starring are actresses who play Mary and the Wonder Woman Warrior Heroine expy, and a pair of actors who play Kosher Archimedes Porter and Kosher Clayton the logger. 

Let’s bear in mind that the actors who first played adult Kosher Tarzan and Jane Porter are Yehuda Levi and Yael Bar Zohar, while the first actor to play Kosher Cheeta is none other than Tal Mosseri. 

The plots are more like a hilarious mishmash of the Weissmuller movies, the Filmation show and Disney instalments! The first difference between them and the other Tarzan musicals is that there are more human characters, in spite of a relatively lower budget. The second difference is that the first one has a 2016 crossover sequel which comes with different songs.  

Most of the fellow differences are for the same sole spiritual (if otherwise unofficial) sequel to Ephraim Sidon’s original Tarzan and Jane. 

The third difference is that in The Warrior Heroine and The Jungle King musical, there is not only a friend of Jane Porter who explores the jungle, but also a more nuanced line between natives who happen to be stereotypical bad guys and natives who happen to misunderstand so much. 

The fourth difference is that said single musical’s own Leopard Tribe is inspired more by the Leopard Men from Tarzan and the Leopard Woman of all things, rather than by fellow Oparians from the books. It’s rather understandable because seniors in most Middle Eastern countries love to debate about the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies.  

The fifth difference is the rather questionable nature of Kosher Kulonga, who is the most stereotypical native shown in that musical, as he sometimes is played by a pink skinned white Jewish guy in a stereotypical outfit. 

The sixth difference is that the Leopard Tribe characters are actually nice but misunderstood people, which is fair enough. They’re also composite characters themselves, likely played by people from both the Afro American convert diaspora and the Eritrean+Ethiopian Jewish diaspora. 

The seventh difference is that Tantor appears as a mentoring ally, while Cheeta is unambiguously described as both a gorilla and a male one, unlike in the movies and tv shows, where the character could be played by both boy and girl chimps. The eighth difference is that (in the 2016 sequel to the original Kosher sensation) there’s also a contrasting main sequel character being more of a chaotic neutral antiheroine. 

The ninth but most minor difference is that Jane’s dad Archimedes Porter allies with Tarzan somewhat more easily than in any other play incarnation featuring him. The tenth difference focuses on the two exclusive villainess characters, who are often bullying brats while their buddies are still villainous like in the Disney movie beforehand. 

The eleventh difference seems to focus on the way that Tarzan meets Jane (in both the Ephraim Sidon original and its spiritual remake) or her own estranged redhead friend (in said first Israeli musical’s spiritual sequel); as they were antagonistic towards each other initially. The twelfth and last one? There’s a girlier spiritual remake simply named after the Disney film-based Broadway musical, which has been released in 2023. 

There are just 3 big Tarzan themed family musicals in Israel, which thankfully do not totally follow the Broadway model for legal reasons. 

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