Jean-Paul "Picha" Walravens (

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, 2 July 1942) is a Belgian cartoonist, comics artist, animator and film director. He is most famous for his adult animated films, such as '' Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle''.Picha entry
Lambiek's ''Comiclopedia''. Retrieved March 3, 2020.

Biography

Jean-Paul Walravens, quickly fascinated by drawing, studied at the Institute of Fine Arts Saint-Luc. In 1960, he contributed his work as a

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

for many newspapers and magazines around the world including '' National Lampoon'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. During this period, he adopted the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Picha. A passion for drawing led Picha to the world of comics. He is the author of several books, as ''

Picha at Club Med Jean-Paul "Picha" Walravens (Brussels, Belgium, 2 July 1942) is a Belgian cartoonist, comics artist, animator and film director. He is most famous for his adult animated films, such as '' Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle''.

'' (1971) or ''

Persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'' (1975). After this period, he went on to animation. In 1975, he co-directed the film '' Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle'', a raunchy parody of the

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

stories by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

. The film was a huge success in its home country

and in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but ran through troubles with the Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate when the estate sued the creators of the film for plagiarism. The estate lost the case when the creators stated that the film was a parody. However, when the film was released in the U.S., the estate demanded that the film title and main character "Tarzoon" be changed due to the film's nature degrading the Tarzan name. In 1979, the now R-rated film was released under the title ''Shame Of The Jungle'', and was rewritten by ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' writers

Anne Beatts Anne Beatts (February 25, 1947 – April 7, 2021) was an American comedy writer. Early life Beatts was born in Buffalo, New York, to Sheila Elizabeth Jean (Sherriff-Scott) and Patrick Murray Threipland Beatts. She has described her parents as "b ...

and

Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) was an American writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to ''National Lampoon'' magazine, and was the ...

and was dubbed by

John Belushi John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his ca ...

, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr.,

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...

, and several others. Despite these efforts, the film was a critical and financial flop. Picha's next film was the 1980 film '' The Missing Link''. Though it wasn't as successful as ''Tarzoon'', the film was entered into the

1980 Cannes Film Festival The 33rd Cannes Film Festival was held between 9 and 23 May 1980. The Palme d'Or went to the '' All That Jazz'' by Bob Fosse and ''Kagemusha'' by Akira Kurosawa. The festival opened with '' Fantastica'', directed by Gilles Carle and closed with ' ...

. Picha also adapted the film into a comic strip. In 1984, the film was released into the U.S. under the title '' B.C. Rock''. Major changes to the film included newly written dialogue by the comedy duo The Funny Boys (

Jim Vallely James Vallely (born August 30, 1954) is an American television producer, and screenwriter. He was a writer and consulting producerDunphy, John"E.B. native wins Emmy for best comedy writing" ''East Brunswick Sentinel'', September 29, 2005. Acce ...

and

Jonathan Schmock Jonathan Schmock (born February 26, 1956) is an American actor, television director, producer, writer and editorial cartoonist. He has worked on numerous film and television projects including ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', where he played the ma ...

), recut footage, different voices, different instrumental score, the absence of the narrator (with the main character telling the story), and nearly all the songs written and performed by

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

have been replaced by songs by other artists (including Steel Breeze,

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

, and

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

) in order to attract a wider audience. Unfortunately, the film was poorly promoted on video and faded into obscurity. However, this version manages to have a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

to this day. Picha's future work would never be released in American theaters or any home video format. Picha's next film was 1987's ''

The Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the Expansion of the universe, universe expanded from an initial state of high Energy density, density and temperature. Various Physical cosmology, cosmological models of the Big Ba ...

''. After the small success of the film, Picha left the movie industry to concentrate on writing for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. Picha's television works included ''Zoo Olympics'' (1990–1991), ''Zoo Cup'' (1992–1993), and ''Buddy Buddy... A Dog's life'' (1995). In 2007, Picha made a comeback with '' Snow White: The Sequel'', a parody of fairy tales, which most animated films were doing at the time.

Filmography

Films

*''Cartoon Circus'' (1972) *''Tarzoon, la honte de la jungle'' ('' Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle'') (1975, directed with

Boris Szulzinger Boris Szulzinger is a Belgian author, filmmaker and film producer. He is known for ''The Lonely Killers'' (1972) and '' Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle'' (1975, directed with Picha). He was the founder of the group ''Cinédit'' with Boris Lehman. ...

) *''Le Chainon manquant'' ('' The Missing Link'') (1980) *''Le Big-Bang'' (''

'') (1987, directed with

) *''Blanche-Neige, la suite'' ('' Snow White: The Sequel'') (2007)

Television series

* ''Zoo Olympics'' (1992) * ''Zoo Cup'' (1994) * ''Buddy Buddy... A Dog's Life'' (originally titled ''Les Jules, chienne de vie..'' in French) (1997)

References

Notes

Sources consulted

* ''Mon oncle d'Amérique est belge,'' documentary film on Picha by Eric Figon and Françoise Walravens (1996)

External links

*
Picha
' at

The Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

{{Authority control (arts) 1942 births Belgian animators Belgian caricaturists Belgian cartoonists Belgian comics artists Belgian erotic artists Belgian film directors Belgian film producers Belgian humorists Belgian parodists Parody film directors Belgian television directors Living people Belgian satirists Belgian animated film directors Belgian animated film producers Artists from Brussels