Tarzan is a very iconic hero, his adventures are countless and exciting but his companion and love interest, Jane, is often relegated to the typical damsel in distress role. I can't think of any adaptation that features Jane in an active role and much less shows her going full savage. They tried doing something with her in the Disney series but it wasn't enough. Although, I think I found the closest thing to that, at least when it comes to film versions.
1934's Tarzan and His Mate was an adventure movie that served as a direct sequel to Tarzan, the Ape Man, released the year prior, which started a whole series of movies featuring Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. However Jane wasn't as consistent, in this movie she's played by Maureen O'Sullivan.
Jane seems to have liberated herself after meeting the savage jungle man, she dresses in a very revealing loincloth and swims naked, far from the classy civilized lady we knew her as.
Perhaps the most important part of this movie is the stretch of the story where Jane believes Tarzan to be dead and joins the white explorers who want to take her to the city once more. The exciting thing is that Jane isn't shy about taking a gun and shooting her way through enemies during these action sequences.
She also enjoys some time with the animals and the jungle in a previous scene, she's saved by Tarzan in that sequence and when she’s attacked by lions in the climax but at least they tried to spend some time with her alone.
It's a shame Jane seems to be forgotten and repressed in many ways in these stories, at least she seems more sexually confident and free in this iteration. However, I think there's potential for a wild version of Jane to learn the way of the jungle and become a full on action lady.
Watch all of her scenes HERE
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