"The last thing I remember was traveling up the Great River with my father. He had just given me my special necklace when... [boat hitting rocks and capsizing]. I was rescued by Montaro, a noble descendant of a lost warrior tribe. Endlessly searching for my lost father, Montaro, Tico and my jaguar, Ghost, help me guard the jungle from those who dwell within it. I grew up by the laws of nature and the animals of the jungle became my friends. I am Jana of the Jungle!"From Hanna Barbera
Jana of the Jungle is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series created by Doug Wildey and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions which aired on NBC from September 9, 1978, to December 2, 1978. It was originally broadcast as a half-hour segment of The Godzilla Power Hour (1978) and its later expanded form The Godzilla Super 90 (1978–79).
Jana (voiced by B.J. Ward) is essentially a female version of Tarzan who traveled to the rain forests of South America in search of her lost father (whom she never finds). Her father vanished in a boating accident when she was still a child, but the introduction shows that he survived. She has long blonde hair, wears a dress made of unspecified animal skin and a necklace which doubles as a throwable weapon and makes a high-pitched resonating sound when thrown (somewhat similar to the chakram that would be the weapon of choice for the later, live-action Xena, Warrior Princess) given to her by her father before the boating accident.
Jana's friends Dr. Ben Cooper (voiced by Michael Bell), a young wildlife biologist who maintained the preserve started by Jana's father and helped in her continuing search for her father; and Montaro (voiced by Ted Cassidy), a descendant of a lost warrior tribe armed with a supernatural weapon known as the Staff of Power that can cause earthquake shockwaves when it strikes the ground. Montaro rescued Jana from the boating accident in which her father disappeared.
The Godzilla Power Hour (September 9, 1978 – October 28, 1978, NBC Saturday 9:30-10:30 AM) The Godzilla Super 90 (November 4, 1978 – September 1, 1979, NBC Saturday 9:00-10:30 AM)
A total of 13 original episodes of Jana of the Jungle were produced in 1978, with the first eight broadcast as part of the second half of The Godzilla Power Hour from September 9 to October 28. In November 1978, when The Godzilla Power Hour was expanded to 90 minutes (with the addition of Jonny Quest reruns) and re-titled The Godzilla Super 90, the five remaining episodes of Jana of the Jungle continued on this new format until December 2. The Jana character also made a cameo appearance piloting a rocket-car in an episode of Yogi's Space Race in 1978.
Jana of the Jungle resurfaced in 1985 as part of USA Cartoon Express which is the last time any of the original 13 episodes were shown on television. This is one of the very few Hanna-Barbera series that has yet to be seen on either Cartoon Network or Boomerang; however, one of the episodes, "The Cordillera Volcano", was available for a limited time on WB's Hanna-Barbera online stream.
In January 2007, Dynamite Entertainment launched a comic book, with plot by Frank Cho and script by Doug Murray, called Jungle Girl, featuring a blond female character called Jana. She is a Tarzanesque heroine who lives in some kind of "Lost World", a jungle inhabited by dinosaurs and cavemen.
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