The cheapish 1977 film is known as King of the Gorillas (El Rey de Los Gorilas) and is available on Tubi. It is also one of Schlock Maestro Rene Cardona Jr’s lesser known films.
The six main stars are Peggy Bass as Eva, Martin Espinoza as young Kim/Simio (aka Ape Boy), Hugo Stiglitz (Stieglitz) as adult Kim/Simio (aka Ape Man), Aurelio Fernandez Sparrow as young Notoku, Jorge Graham as Toro/Junior and Edith Gonzalez as Betty. Carlos Camacho, Carlos East and Sonia Cavazos all starred as minor characters.
Is it a Tarzan ripoff? Not quite a ripoff of the Tarzan books, even though it is more likely inspired unofficially by the Kaanga comics.
The film’s own story began in 1883 (or more erroneously 1836-38 like in the original Spanish language version) when a toddler named Kim and his parents, from a rather wealthy American family (not quite aristocratic, but still..), were on a tropical expedition into Uganda to write about animals and look out for which stuff to loot from. However, the little boy lost his parents to a cultural conflict between them and the Plant Men, aka seemingly stereotypical village natives, part time cannibals who were hypnotised by their really corrupt chief.
But then he was chased by a nasty bunch of sneering crocodilians, who would try to eat him until a pair of young chimpanzee friends found him crying alone in a rowboat. They told their gorilla neighbour Kira about whatever happened to his own birth parents, but she was busy looking out for crocs and other predators. Later on, she finally adopted the little boy by taking him into her nest, to the chagrin of both her Silverback mate and female friend.
When he became a twelve-year-old (turning thirteen), Kim/Simio the boy finally realised that he was different from the nurturing (but still sometimes dangerous) mountain gorillas who raised him. He made friends with a native boy who happened to be the miserly son of a well meant but nagging (Plant Woman) village housewife and a dead Plant Man, who was killed by a lion. They made a lot of adventures together. Otherwise, most of the Plant Men weren’t amused and just kicked him out.
The hero’s learning growth continued when Kim/Simio rediscovered parts of his own birth society when a bunch of explorers met him. Later on, he found the love of his own life, a young British woman named Eva, who survived another Plant Men conflict! A year later, they birthed a son named Toro/Junior, who is still their beloved only child.
A decade later, Toro/Junior grows into a preteen ready to forage for food while his own feral parents are taking care of him until he becomes an adult. Meanwhile, Kim/Simio finds out about the new logging explorers coming into his adoptive jungle home and isn’t amused about it at all. It’s fair to say that, by visually telling his son about them, he clearly shows off his own anger while barking out loud about their dastardly antics. Many poachers, loggers and circus men taunt poor Toro/Junior and his dad. But Kim/Simio surely finds a way, even as he meets another youngster named Betty and becomes her mentor figure.
Fortunately, the small wild family of three persists through deadly situations and various other kinds of bad luck. The story ends when they’re all back together, safe and sound, as Betty leaves the jungle with her misguided dad in their own terms.
The film is a loveably barmy example of an old Mexican Mockbuster. It helps that, while it’s spiritually a Tarzan story without the Tarzan name slapped upon it (for legal reasons), it’s technically inspired more by a famous Fiction House comic known for its shitty writing quality, and it shows!
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