Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe Animated TV Series in Development

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 (Tarzana, California) Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., the company founded by the creator of Tarzan® and John Carter of Mars®, and Flying S Films LLC, a Seattle-based studio dedicated to producing unique feature film and episodic properties for a worldwide audience, are excited to announce a partnership to develop an animated television series featuring the sci-fi protagonist Victory Harben™. In the show, Victory will find herself hurled into adventures alongside an array of iconic heroes such as Tarzan®, Jane Porter®, John Carter®, Dejah Thoris®, Carson of Venus®, and other characters inhabiting the rich science fiction and fantasy setting of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe™ (ERB Universe™).

The team at Flying S Films is headed by showrunner Scott Swan and producer Stuart Lowder, with Swan and Taylor Lowder on board to write the series. Rounding out the team is Ray Hansel Morales as line producer and Gene Alexander as executive producer.

Showrunner Scott Swan states, “It is my conviction that the upcoming success of the Victory Harben animated series lies in a deep love and abiding respect for the creations of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The scope, majesty, richness of the ERB Universe, combined with the complexity of the Victory Harben character, will allow us to create a series that captivates new audiences and delights longtime fans.”

“Long before anyone ever conceived of comic book and cinematic universes,” says Wolf Larson, head of ERB Entertainment, the film and television division of ERB, Inc., “Edgar Rice Burroughs created a cosmos of extraordinary worlds and heroes that crossed over in the storylines of his many best-selling novels and series: tales of Tarzan®, Barsoom® (Mars), Amtor™ (Venus), Pellucidar® (the prehistoric world At the Earth’s Core™), The Land That Time Forgot®, and Beyond the Farthest Star™, to name only a few. The Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe is one of the most expansive and rollicking adventure settings ever to appear in popular culture. Now, for the first time, we are thrilled to see the whole interconnected ERB Universe being developed for the screen by the top-notch creative talent at Flying S Films.”

Victory Harben first appeared in a new series of novels, short stories, comic books, and graphic novels published and licensed by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and was recently featured prominently in a collectible card game and other merchandise. The character is the creation of ERB Universe creative director Christopher Paul Carey, who also holds the role of Vice President of Publishing at the company.

“Victory Harben is the perfect gateway to the ERB Universe,” says Jim Sullos, President of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. “She’s smart, likable, and during the course of her adventures will come to find her place in the heroic lineage of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ literary creations. We are extremely pleased with the vision Flying S Films is bringing to the project, and look forward to audiences accompanying Victory on her fantastic escapades and becoming enchanted with Mr. Burroughs’ universe of high adventure.”

ABOUT EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, INC.

From its headquarters in Tarzana, California, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., administers the intellectual property of American author Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950), one of the twentieth century’s most prolific and enduring writers. Mr. Burroughs’ stories have been adapted into 60 films and 250 television episodes, and are featured in comic books, video games, apparel, and other merchandise. Through worldwide ownership of copyrights and trademarks, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., oversees authorized adaptations of his literary works in film, television, radio, publishing, theatrical stage productions, licensing, and merchandising. The company is owned by Mr. Burroughs’ heirs and continues to operate from offices the author built in 1927 on the site of his former Tarzana ranch in the San Fernando Valley.

ABOUT FLYING S FILMS

Flying S Films, headquartered in Edmonds, Washington, is centered on the partnership of Scott Swan and Stuart Lowder. Long-term animation and video game professionals, Scott has been involved with the production of multiple video game titles at EA, Microsoft, and THQ, along with animated films Valiant and Happy Feet. Stuart is best known for his work on Carmen Sandiego games and the animated features Happy Feet, Where the Wild Things Are, Scoob!, and Tom and Jerry.

For more information, please contact:
James Sullos, President, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., jsullos@erburroughs.com
Wolf Larson, Vice President, ERB Entertainment, wolflarson@erburroughs.com
Scott Swan, Showrunner, Flying S Films LLC, sswan@flyingsfilms.com
Stuart Lowder, Producer, Flying S Films LLC, slowder@flyingsfilms.com

Download Press Release PDF: Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe Animated TV Series in Development

Victory Harben art by Alessandro Ranaldi and Bruna Costa © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

© Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Trademarks Edgar Rice Burroughs®, Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe™, ERB Universe™, Victory Harben™, Tarzan®, Jane Porter®, John Carter®, John Carter of Mars®, Dejah Thoris®, Barsoom®, Carson of Venus®, Amtor™, Pellucidar®, At the Earth’s Core™, The Land That Time Forgot®, and Beyond the Farthest Star™ Owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Associated logos, characters, names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks or registered trademarks of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Used by Permission.

Audio: Philip José Farmer announcing the Ancient Opar series, September 1, 1973

DAW Books, 1974 (Cover art: Roy G. Krenkel)

On September 1, 1973, at the fourteenth annual Dum-Dum convention in honor of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Philip José Farmer made an exciting announcement about a new series he was writing: one set in an ancient civilization of which the lost city of Opar was but one far-flung queendom. The convention was held at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and hosted by the Burroughs Bibliophiles in conjunction with the 31st World Science Fiction Convention (TorCon II). Fortunately, an audio recording exists, which you can listen to below.

Farmer was the banquet speaker at the Burroughs convention. He was introduced by Burroughs Bulletin founding editor (and close friend of Phil and his wife Bette) Vern Coriell, who remarked during his introduction that the only reason Phil hadn’t won a Hugo Award that year is because they didn’t have a category for “Biography.”  The previous year, Doubleday had published Phil’s Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke.

As a prelude to this announcement, Farmer discusses Tarzan Alive and his anthology on feral humans, Mother Was a Lovely Beast. The Ancient Opar announcement is at the 10:12 mark.

Listen to Philip José Farmer’s complete banquet address to the Burroughs Bibliophiles here:

 

Some interesting observations about the address:

  • You can hear Phil pronouncing the name “Hadon,” the hero of Hadon of Ancient Opar and Flight to Opar. Just as he indicated in his article “The Khokarsan Language” (available in the Restored Edition of Flight to Opar published by Meteor House in 2015), he pronounces the “a” as “a low central spread vowel (as in Spanish)” and the “o” as “a mid-back rounded vowel (as in Spanish).” In other words: “Hä-dōn.”
  • Phil announces that Richard Corben would illustrate the cover of the first edition of Hadon of Ancient Opar. However, plans must have changed along the way, since Roy G. Krenkel ended up as the final cover artist. Corben later went on to illustrate the 1975 Fokker D-LXIX Press edition of A Feast Unknown.
  • Phil mentions that he envisioned the Ancient Opar series would encompass about ten books. He lived to write only three novels in the series (Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, and The Song of Kwasin), but the tale of Khokarsa continues to unfold in books such as Exiles of Kho, Hadon, King of Opar, and the forthcoming Blood of Ancient Opar.
  • Phil mentions Frank Brueckel and John Harwood’s essay on the history of Opar, which inspired his Ancient Opar series. While the lengthy article was then scheduled to appear in the Burroughs Bulletin, it never did. Many years later, however, the monograph was finally published in the book Heritage of the Flaming God, ed. Alan Hanson and Michael Winger, which is available here.
  • The “Ian” whom Phil calls out to in the audience in regard to the publication of John Flint Roy’s A Guide to Barsoom is publisher Ian Ballantine.
  • My favorite quote from this banquet address is a somewhat prophetic one: “Now I think it’s a measure of a writer’s true importance in the field of literature if the writer generates a tremendous amount of work past his own work.”