A second trailer for Tarzan 2016 has been released, along with a bit more detail on the plot and characters. Interesting info on Samuel L. Jackson’s character, who was an historical figure.
Samuel L. Jackson as George Washington Williams.
The real George Washington Williams.
In this incarnation of the series, Tarzan will be re-assimilated into society, where he is asked by the Queen of England to investigate the wrongdoings of a warlord in the Congo with the help of an ex-mercenary. Jackson plays George Washington Williams, an ex-mercenary who teams up with Tarzan to save the Congo from the warlord who controls a massive diamond mine. And Hounsou plays the warlord — a wise old patriarch, as he’s described, who uses the superstitious fears of his people to his own ends, with the help of a witch-doctor.
It’s worth noting that George Washington Williams is a real life historical figure who was a Civil War veteran, and is maybe best known as the author of “History of the Negro Race in America,” widely considered the first objective history of African Americans. In addition to being an author, Williams was also a pastor, attorney and legislator, as the first African American to serve in the Ohio House of Representatives. What was his Congo connection in real life? He is said to have visited the country when it was controlled by Belgian King Leopold II, and was outspoken on the suffering the indigenous people experienced under Leopold’s rule – a humanitarian disaster that saw the death’s of millions, which Williams would report on…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGmop_kBElI
Matthew says
So he wasn’t a mercenary in real life?
Granted, there was that Jackie Chan film were Arthur Conan Doyle was a member of Scotland Yard and a dozen book series about historical figures solving mysteries, but it seems weird.
john maddox roberts says
Not too big a stretch. In the original book, Tarzan’s father, John Clayton, heir to the Greystoke title, was a young Colonial Office official sent out to investigate allegations of mistreatment of the natives. So the son is just following his father’s footsteps.
Matthew says
That’s true. The second book had Tarzan hunting Arab slave traders for the French.
Eccentric Cowboy says
Well then, this is definitely news to me! I’ve never heard of this gentleman before, but you can bet I’ll be looking him up now. And this idea of a Tarzan story sounds almost perfect actually. I confess I’m much more optimistic about it now!
Thanks for giving this fascinating man such a worthy mention. 🙂
lane batot says
Yeah, this effort keeps sounding/looking better and better–a real decent effort that at last is making other than a simpleton “B” movie out of this neglected and misrepresented character! I especially TIRE of the modern “politically correct” types that have vilified Burrough’s Tarzan(as in the BOOKS!) as “racist”–nothing could be FURTHER from the truth! One must consider WHEN the Tarzan novels were written, of course, but Burroughs had some real admirable heroic black African characters at a time when almost no one else did. Much of what he wrote about the “superior white man” was OBVIOUSLY tongue-in-cheek, as in further reading, the blacks and even animals in the books would end up being vastly more admirable and ethical(in their own ways!) than the constantly invading, blundering, greedy, cruel, selfish, overly “civilized” white characters–a LARGE reason why I DEVOURED these books as a kid(and still do in regular rereads!), finding similar comparisons with MY experiences with “savage” animals and “civilized” humans! Some folks just CAN’T “read between the lines”, it seems. And in so many of the modern(if mediocre) films of Tarzan, he is ANYTHING but racist! But this albatross keeps getting hung around his neck–kinda like the anti-“Harry Potter” biblical zealots that have YET to ACTUALLY READ a Harry Potter book!…..
JimC says
I view almost all of the cries of “racism” regarding works written 70 to 100 years ago to be examples of cheap virtue-signalling. “See how wonderful I am, I call out racism!” I have absolutely no problem with seriously engaging with the racial attitudes of that era. It’s unavoidable. I address issues of racial prejudice in my FP book, in regards to Juan Cortina and his border revolt, and in regards to Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham and the Boer Deneys Reitz. Seriously engaging means seeking full understanding, not grandstanding and waving bloody shirts for contemporary political/cultural “points.” Robert E. Howard fans are often confronted with the Howard-was-a-racist business. He was. No question about it. And if someone can’t see past that and therefore won’t read his work, that’s fine. Their choice. But prattling on about it does not confer virtue. Nor does it make someone who continues to enjoy Howard’s works a racist, which is often implied and sometimes stated outright.
lane batot says
….and YEAH, the newest trailer DOES look great–LOTS of critter participation, which is what I have CRAVED and often not seen in past efforts(early Johnny Weissmuller films excepted there!) Of course it is a heckuva lot easier and SAFER to do this now with CGI animals rather than the real thing! And don’t havta glue fake ears on the Asian elephants to try and make them look African, in these “advanced” modern times!
Howard Jones says
This looks pretty interesting, alright. Thanks for the additional information. I have fingers crossed that for the first time in… decades we might actually get a good Trazan depiction on film.
JimC says
And then a good Conan… wait, no… won’t happen.