SHEENA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE (1956-57)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

TUBI is now showing sixteen of the original run of 26 TV episodes, shot cheaply in Mexico and featuring the statuesque Irish McCalla in the role of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. For all that I know, these episodes may be the only ones extant, given that the series was never circulated in many markets, so I may as well review what survives. It's not very likely any of the unavailable episodes deviate from the basic mediocrity of the available ones.

Nevertheless, SHEENA isn't without some significance. By 1956 Hollywood was no longer making either adaptations of comic-book heroes or B-films with continuing characters, except for some of the Tarzan movies. Television had caused those markets to dry up, but the small screen did release a handful of low-budget series that functioned as had the old B-films, only with a much shorter run-time. And a tiny number of these were based in properties from comic books or strips. Superman is the only such series that's well remembered today, but there were also adaptations of Dick Tracy, Jungle Jim, and Sheena. 

Sheena is the first major female continuing character in comic books, getting published for nearly twenty years before her company closed its doors. Both jungle men and jungle girls in comic books at best offered only junky pulp thrills. SHEENA the comic was also junk, but I've found a little more creativity in at least some of the stories, which is more than I can say of most other jungle-serials. And Sheena the heroine is one of the first tough heroines of the medium, knifing crocodiles and outwrestling grown men with the best of the jungle boys.

I can't claim that any of the sixteen episodes are anything but extremely simple adventure-fare, and they don't even offer many fight-thrills. Once in a while, Sheena swings from a tree and kicks some malefactor, and in one episode she knife-kills a croc, possibly her only defeat of a jungle-beast. (Most of them appear in the show courtesy of stock footage.) Even her male confidante, jungle guide Bob Rayburn (Christian Drake) barely does anything more than pot-shot the occasional wild beast. Apparently the budget was too limited to even make possible the limited fight-scenes of TV westerns like LONE RANGER and CISCO KID. The only time any of Sheena's enemies provide a halfway interesting threat is in "The Rival Queen," in which a hypnotist mind-controls a white woman into stirring up trouble with the natives.

In the comics, Sheena has little interest in the world outside the jungle, but she speaks full sentences and is often good at planning strategy against evildoers. In contrast, the show's producers chose to have her talk baby-talk as in the early Tarzan films. She doesn't really command any animals, but in place of a Tarzan-yell, she would occasionally blow a horn at the opening of each episode, as if to announce her sovereignty over all she surveys.

Irish McCalla, while no great actress, gives her limited lines a fit level of brio, and at least she's always treated as a formidable presence, The Black African tribes aren't given any deeper characterization than anyone else, but I didn't think they were overly offensive either. They're certainly not shown as being over-awed by Sheena's Miss Clairol blonde locks, and in general she and Bob always argue for tolerance of tribal customs. All that said, the show's main significance lies in being the first adaptation of a prominent female comics-hero, which is more than other ephemera of the period can claim. Also, it's the only way anyone can ever see a live-action Sheena in her classic leopard-skin attire, since that outfit has been effectively banned in later adaptations, probably to keep from triggering animal rights activists.