'Thru Thicket and Thin' is a nutty send-up of jungle pictures

Thru Thin and Thicket, or Who's Zoo in the Jungle (1933)
Starring: Eddie Borden, Dorothy Granger, and James Finlayson
Director: Mark Sandrich
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

A booze-happy reporter (Borden) and an unscrupulous African explorer (Finlayson) compete for the attention of Tarkana, Queen of the Jungle (Granger).

"Thru Thin and Thicket, or Who's Zoo in the Jungle" is a fabulous send-up of the jungle explorer genre of adventure films. From the first mocking of the liberal use of stock nature footage in such pictures, through the final scene of "jungle domestic bliss", this film offers some 20 minutes of absurdist humor with barely a break between gags to let the viewers catch their breath from laughing.

Eddie Borden and James Finlayson (the latter of whom I recognized from his many parts as the frustrated man caught up in Laurel & Hardy antics) are great fun as the smarmy would-be beneficiaries of Tarkana's Innocent Affections... and Dorothy Granger is hilarious as the not-so-innocent wild woman. Everything you expect in a jungle picture is either turned on its head or savagely mocked (or both) in this brief film, including the portrayal of the natives. (And I can't even comment on one of the film's funniest and most startling gags, because even mentioning it will ruin its impact.)

"Thru Thin and Thicket" is one of 13 short films that were produced by members and starred members of the Masquers Club, a private social club for comedians as fund-raising vehicles for charity and to fund a new meeting place in the early 1930s. Several of them are available on DVD, or can be viewed for free online.



And while I'm at it, here are some publicity stills of Dorothy Granger as Tarkana. (The weird contraption she's sitting next to in one is a "radio" that is playing music in a scene.)

It's Earth Day 2016!

In celebration of Earth Day, NUELOW Games has gathered all their "jungle girl" titles together in one discounted bundle! It's available for this weekend only. Check it out, download the great collections of comics and RPG material! You'll feel great about yourself, because the digital format helps you do your part to save the planet, the discounted prices helps you save money, and you get hours and hours of entertainment!

Click here to get the greatest adventures of Fantomah, Rulah, Princess Pantha, and Judy of the Jungle! If you already own some of these NUELOW titles, you can still take advantage of the bundle price on those you don't have!

Here are some sample pages from the included books, so you can get a sense of the greatness you're getting in the NUELOW Earth Day Bundle!

The Earth Day Bundle is only on available through 4/25/2016, so get it now!

Furies of the Jungle by Art Saaf & Karl M.

These illos will be appearing in a forthcoming stock art pack from NUELOW Games. They are adapted from art originally done by Art Saaf for Nedor/Standard Comics in the mid-1940s. The tentative title for the set is "The Deadlier of the Species."

For the record, the blonde is Tygra. an aid worker in Africa who gained super-strength after chugging a severe overdose of an experimental medicine; and the dark-haired one is Princess Pantha, an animal tamer who took to wearing fur bikinis after being stranded in the jungle during a safari than went horribly wrong. NUELOW Games has published two books with Princess Pantha--"The Hunt of M'Gana" and "The Footsteps of Fate"--each of which feature the work of Art Saaf.

A popular topic among gamers and fantasy fans these days seems to be, "how does she not get hurt in skimpy armor?" I don't recall the question ever being asked regarding John Buscema's or Frank Frazetta's portrayal of Conan, but I guess people need things to complain about. And "realism" in fantasy art (limited to female characters, and excluding impossibly large swords) is the latest Big Thing, I suppose.

Well, at least as far as jungle characters in OGL d20 Modern games, I have the answer for you.: They have the Hearty and Untouchable talents from the Jungle Master tree.  and it should be added to the selection available to Strong Heroes, Tough Heroes, Fast Heroes, and Dedicated Heroes. The rest of this post is presented under the Open Game License, and may be reproduced within its terms. The material originally appeared (in a slightly different form) in NUELOW Games' "Judy of the Jungle: The Lords of Memnon". Copyright 2015 Steve Miller.

JUNGLE MASTER TALENT TREE

   Prerequisite: Strength 14, Dexterity 14, Constitution 16

   Beastmaster: You gain a +4 bonus to all Animal Handling skill checks. Animal Handling becomes a permanent class skills. If it was already a class skill, you gain 2 ranks in Animal Handling.

   Hearty: You gain double the amounts of hit points through First Aid and natural healing.

   Silent Death: You gain a +4 bonus to all Move Silently skill checks. You deal +2 damage with melee weapons.

   Terror of the Jungle: You have a +4 bonus to all Buff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks when in a wilderness environment.

  Untouchable: Your Class Defense Bonus increases by +2 when you select this talent. For all even character levels acquired, you gain an additional +1 bonus to you class-based Defense Bonus. The benefit from this talent is negated by using armor or other Defense Bonus-enhancing gear.

For more from NUELOW Games (and me!), visit the blog by clicking here.

'Luana: Jungle Girl' by Frazetta and Manning

In 1968, the promoters of an Italian jungle flick with a cute little Asian actress as a female Tarzan-type character took the unusual step of creating a daily newspaper strip drawn by artist Russ Manning to promote the film. At the time, Manning was the lead artist on the Tarzan daily and Sunday newspaper strips, and to this day, few comic book artists are as closely associated with the character of Tarzan than Manning. This approach undoubtedly created additional interest in the film from fans of Tarzan. In addition to Manning, famed artist Frank Frazetta--who had painted numerous iconic covers for paperback editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels--was hired to produce additional promotional art. (One of Frazetta's pieces can be seen at the top of this post.)

To read the "Luana" strips, click on each one for a larger version. The story isn't all that--with the last three strips being a summary of the movie--but Russ Manning's art is as gorgeous as always.

You can read my review of the "Luana" movie at Movies You (Should Die Before You) See, but you've already seen the worthwhile version with the Manning strips. For some exposure of another jungle-dwelling babe, click here for a little "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle".