The Renaissance of Edgar Rice Burroughs

Fans of science fiction and fantasy books have long enjoyed the exciting stories Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote in the first half of the 20th century. His two most well-known characters are Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. Although Carter was the first hero to appear in ERB’s fiction, Tarzan swept the popular imagination and found his way into numerous comic books, movies, stage and radio plays, and memorabilia. John Carter, though featured in 10 books, never became as popular as Tarzan.

All that may be about to change with the imminent release of three movies based on the John Carter character starting in 2012. The year 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the first publication of “Under the Moons of Mars”, which was later renamed to A Princess of Mars. John Carter fans have been longing to see the character appear on the silver screen for decades. Indeed, several attempts to create a John Carter movie have failed since the 1940s.

But now the Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, under the leadership of Andrew Stanton, have committed to bringing John Carter to life for movie fans. In anticipation, several John Carter of Mars movie fan sites have already appeared on the Web, and more are surely on the way. Interest in the upcoming John Carter of Mars movies has been so intense that hardly a day goes by without new articles appearing across the Web.

Starring Taylor Kitsch as John Carter and Lynn Collins as his love interest, princess Dejah Thoris, “John Carter of Mars” could be as big as or bigger than “Star Wars”, “Harry Potter”, “The Lord of the Rings”, and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. John Carter of Mars fans are starting to show their excitement and pent up frustration. This is one movie franchise that could go on for many years, spawning new adventures and characters in a well-established world. Just like Tarzan. Maybe ERB will experience a brilliant renaissance in the 21st century.