I didn't read comic books, growing up. I was more of a science fiction/fantasy novel guy. I loved reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' 'Tarzan' and that kind of stuff.
Not only that, but when I first met Joe, to my intense delight, he showed me that he was a collector. He was collecting some of the early Tarzan pages by Hal Foster, and, later, early Flash Gordons; and I found that we were both absolutely interested in the same type of thing.
How can a guy climb trees, say Me Tarzan, You Jane, and make a million?
The director sent for me for Tarzan. I climbed the tree and walked out on a limb. The next day I was told I was an actor.
Swimming gave me my start, but my pal Tarzan did the real work. He set me up nicely.
Can you imagine - a blond Tarzan?
'A Princess of Mars' may not have exerted the same colossal pull that Tarzan had on the global imagination, but its influence on generations of readers cannot be underestimated.
The way we got Phil Collins for 'Tarzan' was that we heard around the studio that he was looking for a Disney project, and we got him. It seemed like a perfect match. Phil is a great musician.
I sat with the grandson of Edgar Rice Burroughs at the world premiere of 'Tarzan,' and at the end of the film, he was very happy. He told me that we were bringing 'Tarzan' to a whole new generation, and he was very grateful.
From the very, very beginning, we made the decision that 'Tarzan' wasn't going to sing. My co-director, Chris Buck, and I said to each other that we couldn't imagine a half-naked man in the jungle simply bursting into song.
