Jane Porter is the deuteragonist of Disney's 1999 film Tarzan, its 2002 sequel Tarzan & Jane and its 2001-03 television series The Legend of Tarzan. She is the love interest, sweetheart and eventual wife of Tarzan.
She has been voiced by Minnie Driver, Olivia d'Abo and Naia Kelly.
Background
Personality
Jane is an intelligent and beautiful young woman. She is shown to be somewhat talkative, yet charming as well as proper. Jane is also shown to have a love for art, and she is not afraid to venture into the jungle to draw the wildlife.
After she married Tarzan, Jane became less ladylike and more like an ape which was stated by Tarzan. Jane seemed to take this as an insult, though later says that she's never heard anything so nice, showing that she isn't offended.
Physical appearance
In Tarzan, Jane is a woman in her early 20's with fair skin and brown hair. When she first appeared in the movie her outfit and personality wasn't adapted to the jungle, but as the film moves on her outfit becomes more revealing as she grows more attached to the jungle to the point that at the end of the movie her appearance is now similar to Tarzan as she now lives in the jungle. When Jane first appeared she was wearing a long yellow dress with white gloves, white boots (with black on the soles, toes and heels, like Mary Jane shoes), white petticoat, white bloomers and her hair was in a bun. Later, when Jane is introducing Tarzan to her father, she wore a yellow shirt with a long green skirt with no shoes, and her hair is let loose. Her next outfit is of a white tank top, with a long, wrapped red skirt, and like her previous oufit her hair is loose and she is barefoot. By the end of the movie, Jane wore only a red tank top that reveals her midriff and a matching short skirt.
In the Legend of Tarzan, Jane is almost always wearing her yellow shirt and green skirt as her main outfit.
Appearances
Tarzan series
Tarzan
Jane in the original film.
Jane is a young woman who travels with her father and their guide, Clayton, to Africa, where they intend to study gorillas. While out walking, Jane steps into a gorilla's nest. She and her father soon find more nests which lead the two to believe that the animals live in family groups. As they continue their journey, Jane sees a baby baboon and begins to draw it in her sketchbook. However, the baboon steals the book from her, and she chases him in attemp to retrieve it. As she chases the baboon, she is unaware that Tarzan is following her quietly.
The baboon finds his own picture and refuses to give it back. Jane finally manages to steal it back, making the baby baboon cry. Jane turns around and sees the baby's angry baboon family and they begin to chase her. As Jane runs she is grabbed by Tarzan and swung up in the air. One of the baboons holds onto her foot, but she manages to kick it off, losing her shoe in the process. Finally after falling through vines, Jane and Tarzan finally land in a tree where the baby and another baboon float down to them. Tarzan speaks to them in monkey talk and takes the picture from Jane and gives it to them much to Jane's surprise.
Tarzan is fascinated by Jane, as he has never seen another human like himself before. Tarzan tells her his name but it takes a bit for Jane to teach him her name. They then hear a gunshot in the distance, fired by Clayton, so Jane asks Tarzan to take her to her camp. Tarzan does so, repeating the gunshot thinking that's what Clayton is.
When they arrive at the camp, Jane sees Tarzan's gorilla friends, but Kerchak and Kala show up and escort Tarzan away. Soon after, Professor Porter and Clayton, who had been looking for Jane, arrive. Jane tells them about seeing gorillas as well as Tarzan the Ape Man rescuing her from the baboons. The next day, Jane draws a picture of Tarzan on the blackboard, while telling her father they can learn things from Tarzan about gorillas and that they should find him. However, Clayton doesn't believe Jane until Tarzan suddenly arrives. Clayton tries to show Tarzan what a gorilla is by drawing one on the blackboard, but Tarzan doesn't understand so Jane decides to teach him about human life (Strangers Like Me). Jane, along with her father, teach Tarzan how to speak English, as well as about human culture. Meanwhile, Tarzan begins to fall in love with Jane.
Soon, a ship arrives to take Jane and her father back to London, and Jane asks Tarzan to come with her to London. In return, Tarzan asks her to stay in Africa with her, but she refuses and runs away crying. Taking advantage of the situation, Clayton tells Tarzan that if Tarzan shows them the gorillas, Jane will stay with him in Africa. While Tarzan's friends Terk and Tantor distract Kerchak, the Leader of the Gorillas, Tarzan shows Jane, Porter, and Clayton the Gorillas. Tarzan also teaches Jane how to speak gorilla. When Jane asks what she said, Tarzan replies "That Jane will stay with Tarzan." Before Jane can reply, Terk and Tantor arrive as does Kerchak, who tries to chase the humans away. Tarzan manages to hold him off while Jane, Porter, and Clayton run away to safety. The incident leads Tarzan to agree to go to London with Jane and her father.
The next day, Jane prepares to head back to London, now accompanied by Tarzan, dressed in a suit that belonged to his deceased father. Before they get on Jane tells Tarzan that he'll see the world. Kings and scientists and famous writers will want to meet him, but Tarzan is happy just to be with Jane. But when Jane and Tarzan climb aboard the ship, they are taken in by the ship's crew. Clayton reveals that he tricked Tarzan into telling him where the gorillas are in order to capture them, take them to London, and sell them for money.
While trapped in the cargo holder Jane apologizes to Tarzan for what happened, but the group is soon rescued by Terk and Tantor. While Tarzan swings in the vines, Jane and her father ride on Tantor, return to the Gorillas' nests, and save them from the crew. While Jane and Tarzan are trying to release Kala from her cage, Clayton shoots Tarzan in the arm. Kerchak steps in the way and takes the second bullet. Clayton goes after Tarzan next, Jane tries to stop Clayton, but he knocks her out. Tarzan fights off Clayton and defeats the evil hunter, who accidently hangs himself as a result of a vine snapping his neck. Jane and her father watch sadly as Kerchak makes Tarzan the new ape leader before dying. The next day Jane tells Tarzan goodbye and gets into the rowboat with her father. As they're being rowed out, Porter tells Jane that she should stay with the man that she deeply cares for and loves. Encouraged, Jane jumps out of the rowboat, and returns to shore, followed by her father. Jane, in gorilla talk, says that she will stay in Africa with them. In the ending, Tarzan and Jane swing and surf through the trees, now ruling as the king and queen of the jungle.
Tarzan & Jane
Jane in Tarzan & Jane.
In Tarzan & Jane, Jane is shown trying to think of a proper gift for Tarzan, as it is their first anniversary. She considers a party, but then remembers a disaster that happened earlier, when her friends visited the island. Her next idea is jewelry, but she then remembers that some diamond prospectors had once tried to take advantage of Tarzan. Her final idea is a night of dancing, but this leads to a memory of a young man named Bobby, one of her childhood friends. He had come to the island earlier, but was revealed to be a German spy during World War I. Disappointed that none of her ideas work, Jane goes home, where she finds that Tarzan has planned a surprise for her.
The Legend of Tarzan
Jane in The Legend of Tarzan.
In the series, The Legend of Tarzan, Jane is married to Tarzan. The young couple, along with Jane's father, live in the treehouse that had been built by Tarzan's late human parents. Throughout the series, Jane is shown to have adjusted quite well to her new life in the jungle with Tarzan, but sometimes begins to miss her old life and England. As a result, she would try to get Tarzan to act more "civilized", which sometimes poses as a problem to Tarzan's morals. Her appearance and human actions often cause some members of Tarzan's Gorilla Troop to both have doubts about her and question Tarzan's "leadership". She is usually the Damsel in Distress of the series, often being kidnapped or held hostage by antagonists so Tarzan can come rescue her.
Other appearances
Kingdom Hearts
Jane appears in Deep Jungle world in Kingdom Hearts. She is on an expedition into the jungle in search of gorillas with hunter Clayton. Like in the film, she befriends Tarzan and his gorilla family and protects them from Clayton and the Heartless.
Jane meets Sora when Tarzan arrives at the camp with him and is rather astonished to see he speaks English. Jane and the others are not pleased with Clayton when he tries to shoot a gorilla. Jane is later captured by Heartless and held hostage at the treehouse while Clayton goes to shoot the gorillas. She is freed and later accompanies Sora, Tarzan, Donald, and Goofy to the Cavern of Hearts, deep within the waterfalls, where Sora seals the world's Keyhole. Jane figures out Tarzan's continuous ape sounds mean "Heart".
What becomes of her and Tarzan after the departure of Sora is unknown but it could be said that their lives became like that of The Legend of Tarzan, despite the fact that Porter and Tantor are absent. Ever since Kingdom Hearts, no one from Tarzan's world is ever mentioned or seen from again.
Disney Parks
Jane is a generally rare walk-around character in the Disney parks, appearing in her yellow dress. She also appears as a figure in the Tarzan's Treehouse walkthrough attraction at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. In World of Color, she and Tarzan made an appearance in the "So Close" montage,before they get replaced by Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in a Tangled segment.
Fantasmic!
Jane appears in the Tokyo DisneySea version of the show, appearing in projected footage swinging on vines with Tarzan during the jungle sequence.
Disney Princess
The magazine announced that Jane as a Disney Princess.
In November 1999, Jane Porter was announced as the newest princess for the Disney Princess franchise by the official magazine from the United Kingdom.[1] In February 2000, she made an another appearance in the magazine, then was never talked about in the franchise.[2] Although Jane had been announced when the franchise was intensified, she was no longer with the other princesses. These are some possible reasons that may have led to the removal of Jane from the franchise:
- Her dress could be confused with Belle's dress.
- She is not an actual princess.
- She was, perhaps, a queen because Tarzan is the King of the Jungle.
It's been stated that Disney is no longer allowed to continue the Tarzan franchise following the released of Tarzan II in 2005 due to a lawsuit issued by the family estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs, which is also why the Deep Jungle world has never appeared in any future Kingdom Hearts games since Chain of Memories. However, the fact that her movie has won an Oscar, and she has animal friends, as well as all of the other princesses may have been reasons she was planned to be in the franchise. Jane will probably never appear on any future Disney Princess merchandise.
Trivia
- Jane is ticklish, as when Tarzan plays with her toes when they first meet, she is shown to be laughing.
- The Brown skirt and top she wore at the end of the first movie is seen only once afterwards. It was at the end of a Legend of Tarzan episode where she was using it as a swimsuit.
- Even though she is the deuteragonist of Tarzan, and the title character's respective love interest, she does not appear until about thirty minutes into the movie. She shares this trait with Megara from Hercules. Interestingly enough, the two are actually both animated by Ken Duncan, hence their similar facial structures.
- Despite becoming friends with the animals in the African jungles like the gorillas, Jane, along with Megara and Kida, are the only three Disney females not to have any sidekicks.
- The evolution of Jane's wardrobe appears to be the complete opposite of Kida's: Jane starts out wearing modest clothing, but gradually starts to wear less clothing over time, revealing her skin more as she does so, while Kida starts out wearing skimpy clothing, but gradually she starts to wear more clothing over time, and more of her skin is covered up.
- Jane bears a resemblance to Belle.
- Jane is similar to Eve from the Book of Genesis. They were both introduced to an exotic paradise featuring a lonely man with animals and become the man's lifetime companion. Jane was in an African jungle. Eve was in the Garden of Eden. Jane wore proper clothes at her arrival in the jungle. Eve was naked in the Garden of Eden until she disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit.
- She is also the first Disney female to wear a sarong, with the second being Kida.
- Like Esmeralda, Jane was originally going to be an official Princess, but was immediately removed shortly after being included.
- In the original novel, she and her father were American, not British. Ironically, Tarzan is the only human in the film with an American accent.
Gallery
References
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