Fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs are excited because in 2012, 100 years after his first book (A Princess of Mars) was published, Disney/Pixar will release their “John Carter of Mars” movie. There have been several attempts to bring John Carter of Mars to the big screen over the years, and at least one direct-to-DvD production that comes out in December 2009.
If you are only familiar with ERB’s most famous character, Tarzan of the Apes, you are in for a treat when you pick up a copy of A Princess of Mars. John Carter is a former Confederate soldier from Virginia who seeks his fortune in Arizona after the war. He meets an untimely end in a cave, only to find himself resurrected on another world, Barsoom (Mars to us).
There are many fan sites devoted to John Carter of Mars, some more entertaining than others. Fan fiction, fan art, and even mailing lists. Some Web forums are devoted to pulp author and Edgar Rice Burroughs discussion. Burroughs and authors like H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, E.E. “Doc” Smith, and others wrote for low-cost “pulp” magazines for several decades, laying the foundations for modern science fiction and fantasy.
The pulp authors have inspired many movies since the 1916 adaptation of “Tarzan” starring Elmo Lincoln, who killed a real lion on film (it was very old and dying, but animal rights activists will never love the movie). Recent pulp-style movies include the “Mummy” movies starring Brendan Fraser, “The Shadow” starring Alec Baldwin, and “The Phantom” starring Billy Zane. The most famous pulp-style movies of all time are the Indiana Jones movies starring Harrison Ford.
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