The film contains the zeuhl song "Tarzoon's March", which was written and performed by Teddy Lasry of the band Magma, featuring lyrics sung in Kobaïan, although most viewers(citation needed) presume the lyrics are sung in German.
A 15-minute pilot was shown at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, and the film was finished by September 1975. The following year, the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs sued the producer of Tarzoon and 20th Century Fox, the film's distributor in France, for alleged plagiarism. The estate lost the case after the French court determined the film was a legitimate parody.[1]
In 1978, the film was imported into the United States by International Harmony and Stuart S. Shapiro. Shapiro recalls telling customs that the film was a work in progress and it would be edited to be suitable for theatrical release in the U.S. He did not remember any problems bringing the film into the country.[1] The distributor encountered problems finding theaters willing to show the X rated version of the film. The film ended up making a profit in San Francisco, but was largely unsuccessful in other towns. Much of its success was credited to International Harmony's ad campaign created by writer Edwin Heaven who, similar to Cinemation with Fritz the Cat, used the film's disadvantage (rated X) to its marketing advantage; radio ads and giant posters plastered all over San Francisco proclaimed: "YOU'RE GOING TO LAUGH YOUR X OFF!" [1]
Eventually, the film was reedited and dubbed. After several changes, the distributor persuaded the MPAA to change the film's rating to an R.[1] The R-rated version of the film featured new dialogue performed by American actors and comedians such as John Belushi, Adolph Caesar, Brian Doyle-Murray, Judy Graubart, Bill Murray and Johnny Weissmuller Jr.
The Burroughs estate filed another lawsuit demanding that the name of the film be changed when their lawyer found a New York State statute covering disillusion of trademark. They argued that Tarzan was a wholesome trademark and that the current product degraded the character's name. A judge agreed. The suit was filed three weeks into the film's New York run.[1] The title was shortened to Shame of the Jungle, and the "Tarzoon" character name was altered by cutting the name out of the soundtrack negative and splicing it back into the soundtrack upside down.[1] According to Shapiro, this version of the film did not do as well at the box office since audiences were attracted to the "Tarzoon" name.[1]