The uninformed merely suspect that Sheena (1984) was little more than a jungle Fantasy film that grew out of some creepy old man's mind of what men wanted to see in an alternate take of the Tarzan mythos, but that would be far from the truth.
In reality, Sheena -- aka Sheena: Queen Of The Jungle -- grew out of the minds of comic book storytellers Will Eisner and Jerry Iger when they created the property for her very own ongoing story from the Golden Age Of Comics. Truth be told, peeps: Sheena is an older character than is Wonder Woman, so let's just agree that she's been around. Also, it bears mentioning that -- historically -- Sheena was the first comic book character to ever be given her own book, so there's more to her than meets the eye. Besides the books, she was brought to life in a live action TV series in the 1955-1956 season starring model Irish McCalla as the Queen herself.
But back to the movie ...
Directed by John Guillerman, this 80's incarnation cast former Charlie's Angels star Tanya Roberts as the orphan raised in the wild to eventually serve as the land's protector. Ted Wass, Donovan Scott, and Clifton Jones were also hired for key roles in the script from David Newman and Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Here's the plot summary as provided by IMDB.com:
"Sheena grew up in the African wild, raised by a mystical witch woman. When her foster mother is framed for a murder Sheena is forced to flee, helped by her ability to talk to animals and her knowledge of the jungle."
In reality, Sheena -- aka Sheena: Queen Of The Jungle -- grew out of the minds of comic book storytellers Will Eisner and Jerry Iger when they created the property for her very own ongoing story from the Golden Age Of Comics. Truth be told, peeps: Sheena is an older character than is Wonder Woman, so let's just agree that she's been around. Also, it bears mentioning that -- historically -- Sheena was the first comic book character to ever be given her own book, so there's more to her than meets the eye. Besides the books, she was brought to life in a live action TV series in the 1955-1956 season starring model Irish McCalla as the Queen herself.
But back to the movie ...
Directed by John Guillerman, this 80's incarnation cast former Charlie's Angels star Tanya Roberts as the orphan raised in the wild to eventually serve as the land's protector. Ted Wass, Donovan Scott, and Clifton Jones were also hired for key roles in the script from David Newman and Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Here's the plot summary as provided by IMDB.com:
"Sheena grew up in the African wild, raised by a mystical witch woman. When her foster mother is framed for a murder Sheena is forced to flee, helped by her ability to talk to animals and her knowledge of the jungle."
Alas, reviews were not as flattering as Roberts was in the bikini -- I'm only human, folks -- so the feature came and went pretty quickly.
It bears mentioning that the property could be considered ripe for another adaptation at some point in the future. It did enjoy a bit of popularity in the early 2000's when actress Gena Lee Nolin gave it new life in a syndicated TV version.
-- EZ
It bears mentioning that the property could be considered ripe for another adaptation at some point in the future. It did enjoy a bit of popularity in the early 2000's when actress Gena Lee Nolin gave it new life in a syndicated TV version.
-- EZ
RSS Feed