Readers Describe How they Discovered John Carter: Some great stories – would love to hear more

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• This is somewhat long (so I’ve have been hesitant to post it) but sums up what I have been wanting to say about this movie for quite a while.

  I discovered John Carter all because my mom would not go to a clambake with my dad.  Instead, she took my brother and me to see Star Wars.  It was Labor Day weekend and the movie had been playing all summer, so we were about the only people there.  My brother and I couldn’t believe what we saw, and we sat through it twice.  To this day, we have never stopped talking about it!

  The movie opened up the entire science fiction genre for me (I hadn’t really known it existed) and I began reading everything I could get my hands on, including John Carter of Mars.  I immediately saw where George Lucas got some of his ideas. I began buying the series one book at a time with my allowance money.  They were the ones with the Gino D’Achille cover art.  I read each one carefully so I would not crack the bindings and ruin the covers.  I still have them all.  They look like new except they are really, really yellow with age.

  Fast forward 35+ years, and I was vaguely aware that John Carter of Mars was being made into a movie.  I wasn’t really following the process too closely, until it came out that they were changing the name, to just “John Carter” which I thought was completely idiotic.  I read an Andrew Stanton interview in which he said the marketing showed females wouldn’t be interested in a science fiction movie, so they took Mars out of the title.  For me,  science fiction was about the only genre I found interesting!  After enduring decades of such gender bias crap while in training (“girls aren’t good at math”, “girls can’t think in 3-space”, “orthopaedics is a man’s profession”, etc.), I was really torqued off and decided I wasn’t going to see the movie because Disney and Stanton were being such chauvanistic jerks, they didn’t deserve my money.

  I saw a trailer for “John Carter” when I took my 6-year old daughter to see the “The Phantom Menace in 3-D”.   (I guess I am truly an outlier: I grew up on the original trilogy, yet I like the prequels, in some ways more than the originals.  I especially like the fleshing out of the Jedi philosophy, to the extent that I kept a screen capture of Qui-Gon meditating on his knees during his fight with Darth Maul as a way to help me focus and calm down between big trauma cases).  I was intrigued by the trailer, and decided I would overcome my irritation at the name change and see the movie after all.  (By the way, the marketing on this movie was so lousy that if I hadn’t gone to see “Phantom Menace”, I would have not even known that “John Carter” was finally coming out!)

  A few weeks later, I saw “John Carter” by myself while my husband and daughter saw “The Lorax”.  I was totally blown away.  I had a bit of disequilibrium as the movie didn’t quite follow the books I knew, the “infamous” wife being the main example.  However, the scene with the Warhoons made me cry in the theater, as I think I too, could have taken on an army of Warhoons if I found the bodies of my husband and daughter in our burnt out house!  Later, I saw it again with my husband and daughter, who loved it as well.  Then–“poof”‘–it was gone from the theaters.

  I loved the movie and thought it captured Barsoom.  It motivated me to dig out my “ancient” books and re-read them.  I don’t mind the movie changes to John Carter,  and after having trained in medicine, I found the book John Carter’s enjoyment of dueling and killing people a little bit off-putting.  The more I re-watch the movie, the more I think its John Carter is the same one from the books, if that character had lost his family on Earth.  (On more than one occasion in the books, John Carter states he has no reason for living if he has lost Dejah Thoris–the love of his life.  To me, this is what happened to the movie’s John Carter on Earth before he goes to Barsoom and starts his life over).

  I started going on-line to find out why the movie was tanking so badly, and discovered this site which I have been reading nearly daily.  As others have stated, this movie has made me feel like I did when I was a child after seeing Star Wars: I drive my husband nuts talking about it!  And the soundtrack!  This is the only soundtrack I have listened to over and over, from start to finish, since the one from the original Star Wars.  In fact, my most relaxing moments are endlessing mowing our pasture listening to the soundtrack.  I hope they make the entire trilogy!

• My introduction to John Carter was similar to Dotar Sojat’s — at a military (Air Force) on-base library, decades ago. I grew up in Alaska, with limited entertainment offerings. Since my Dad worked at the base, I could use the library, which I did extensively. One of my discoveries was the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. When I saw the recent movie version, I had a wonderful feeling of rediscovering John Carter.

• I love reading all of these stories. You all feel like old friends sharing coffee and swapping stories around a fire. Permit me to join! I did not know anything about John Carter until it was confirmed in the press that the film was in production- then, I only heard about it because my husband, a long-time ERB fan and collector of fantasy, sci fi, and comics, started talking about it. When we saw the first trailer in theaters together, he squeezed my arm and started bouncing. My husband does not “bounce”. “It’s John Carter!! It’s John Carter!!”, he said. I wasn’t sure what to make of the trailer. It looked like Prince of Persia, which I saw and with which I was not much enamored. However, my husband got advance screening passes and I went with him to see it, not really expecting anything. I laughed. I cried. I tensed up. I breathed sighs of relief. I fired off a million questions under my breath. When it was over, I repeated the Barsoomian phrase “och ohem octais whis Barsoom” over and over in my head for weeks. (I am a linguist and I love fantasy languages). I could not believe the movie “flopped”, because it is the best film I have seen in theaters in a long time. Thank God for project guttenberg- I downloaded and read the first three John Carter books over the course of three days. Then, I googled “john carter sequel” and found the back to Barsoom campaign. I pledge my metal to theirs. This film deserves a sequel, and then another, and then another.

• As someone who was practically raised on movies by my Dad, I was always one of those people who loved to have something new to look forward to every year. When I heard that Andrew Stanton was going to adapt A Princess of Mars for the big screen, something inside me clicked. I remember being at an old friend’s house over ten years ago, marvelling at the army of titles that rested on his bookshelf. Although I found the title a bit cheesy at the time, my friend put his foot down in its defense. “Don’t knock it,” he said sternly. “It’s really good.”
  So last year, I began spelunking in various bookstores, only to find it wasn’t in circulation. When I finally found a copy, I found myself savoring every line and every chapter. All the while getting drawn deeper into a world I had never heard about and yet, never wanted to leave. One book wasn’t enough; I had to have the rest of them. And from the tortured nobility of Tars Tarkas to the cackling laugh of Issus to the innocent fearlessness of Cathoris, the books have remained very treasured gems on my shelf. Best of all was the timeless mystery and white-hot courage of John Carter himself. He didn’t know how old he was; he only knew what mattered. And there was something stirring and meaningful about that.
  The movie just didn’t meet my expectations. It surpassed them COMPLETELY. All of the romance, all of the big-hearted action. IT was ALL THERE.

• When I was 7 or 8 an elderly neighbor was preparing for a weekend yard sale. He knew I liked comics and he was kind enough to give me the 6 or so paperbacks that he had planned to sell. I’ve been a fan ever since. LOVED the movie, hated the “flop” label it was unfairly given. I hope Disney has the good sense to “right the wrong” and make more.

• I love reading all of these! 😀

• I stumbled on JC back in 1972 when I was seven years old. My older brother had a DC Tarzan comic that included ERB’s Mars stories and I remember being frightened by their hideous renditions of the Tharks. Fast forward to 1979: I spot Tars on the cover of a Ballantine paperback and decide to learn more about my childhood boogeymen. When I find out they were written back in 1912, I become a diehard fan as I knew this had to be original material for that time. Not only did I enjoy the fantastic scenes and high speed adventure Burroughs created, but also the way he snuck in his heavy philosophies like his buddy, Frank Baum. Just as Stanton, I would pine for a film version for decades; and when I finally got my wish, I walked out of the theater reborn like JC….except as a seven year old kid.

• I read a few scifi books when I was young, but not ERB. I was really more into music and art. Frank Frazetta paintings were still popular when I was in 9th grade. Some kids had Frazetta posters in their lockers — Death Dealer, Silver Warrior, Conan. There was also the cover of Molly Hatchet’s first album. One Frazetta picture I always remembered was of this muscle bound guy jumping towards a bunch of 4 armed ape things to rescue a half nekkid hot chick. It also had this green tusked monster and I wasn’t sure if he was a good guy or bad because he was so ugly. One kid in math class had an Edgar Rice Burroughs book. It was the one published by Del Ray, the arrowhead shaped design for ERB’s name on the front cover was the image that stuck with me. I didn’t make the connection between the Frazetta pix and ERB books at the time.

  I also watched Cosmos in 1980 and the Mars episode where Carl Sagan talks about Lowell, Wells, ERB and Gustav Holst’s “Mars” from The Planets blasted away on our junky 70s mono TV speaker throughout that episode. Mom got real upset at me watching Cosmos because ol’ Carl was some sorta dang atheist scientist, but that’s another story. I really wish they would’ve used Holst for the first JC trailer. Would’ve been more fitting.

  A few decades later, I saw the first JC trailer by chance somewhere. Something made me look the movie up online and I saw an article referencing ERB. I suddenly remembered the ERB title on the cover of those Del Ray books I saw in high school. Wikipedia filled in the rest of the blanks. This story was published in 1912? I really wanted to see this movie after I learned how old the source material was.

  Read the book before the movie came out. I was really impressed with Michael Giacchino’s score in the movie. I listen to the soundtrack at work now. “Sab Than Pursues the Princess” is a great track. I usually like the combination of large orchestra soundtrack and spacey scifi visuals. I’m glad that Lucas had the sense to get John Williams for Star Wars and not use some 70s Moog sythesizer. I doubt if it would be considered a classic today without a great orchestra soundtrack to keep it grounded.

• It was 47 years ago. I was 15, and I was looking for something to read at a local news stand, and saw “The Mastermind Of Mars,” by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Up until that time, the only thing that I had ever associated with the name Edgar Rice Burroughs was Tarzan in the movies. The introduction looked intriguing, so I bought it. By page 10, I knew that Walter Farley would never again be my favorite author. In the last 47 years, I have read everything that I could find either written by or about Edgar Rice Burroughs, or written in the same genre, and spent not a small amount of time looking forward to the day that John Carter would finally make it to the big screen.

  It was worth waiting for, and a lifetime dream has been realized, whether or not we ever see a sequel, spin off, reboot, or remake. I am eternally grateful to Mr Stanton and everyone involved in the production of “John Carter.”

• At a very early age we would go to my grandparents after church for late lunch, and while waiting for it to be prepared, my brother and I would watch the old RKO Tarzan movies, so I was hooked on those versions. I later read a lot of Verne, Wells, and Kipling – lots of great stories and adventures. Then at some point in the 60s I read some of the Tarzan series, but somehow got sidetracked into the Barsoom tales which enthralled me. Then on to Carson Napier of Venus and some of the other wild stories, including Pellucidar. When I heard that the JCM movie was in the works, I was very hopeful and reread the first 7 or 8 books. I enjoy watching the JCM DVD, although it ventures pretty far from the books. There is much of the ERB Barsoom magic there, but as several of you here have rather adroitly pointed out, there’s so much missing, and you’ve suggested how it could have been realized. All of these discussions have great merit because they could contribute to more and better film version of the Barsoom stories.

• When my grandparents divorced my grandma gave me all my grandpas books . . . I never bothered taking one of the boxes out of the car. Until we had to go shopping, my mother is the ultimate in horrible shopping experiences (3 hours for groceries once).

  I needed to escape . . . BAAAAAAAAAADLY, I picked out a nice looking book. I was familiar with the title from the Tarzan Animated series, I was familiar with the author, and my grandpa told me about John Carter once or twice.

  But more importantly . . . boobies, I was single at the time and Micheal Whelan draws women very attractively. So I sat down on a bench and read the first few chapters of “A Princess of Mars” as my mom shopped . . .

  Now I run the most comprehensive John Carter encyclopedia available online . . . fancy that!

  This was in 2010 by the way, I had just turned twenty . . . It feels like it is something I have known all my life, perhaps because I owned a Bantoom playset when I was a child (without the slightest clue about anything concerning John Carter)

• I came to ERB’s works in the early 60’s. Due to the loss of parent, I was feeling a little off and I also became the target of a local fraternity ( read that as gang ) in my highschool when I was caught in a little love triangle with a girl that the fraternity leader, captain of the football team, had the hots for, so I was keeping a low profile and spent a lot of time alone with books.

  I was walking through our May’s department store book section and these sexy, fantastic, action packed covers on the Ace editions of ERB’s books at that time caught the eyes of this 12 year old boy. Can you believe brand new paperback novels 35 and 40 cents ! I started with John Carter, because it looked the sexiest and most fantastic, but over the course of the next year or so I had read all the Martian, Venus, At the Earth’s Core series and all 22 Tarzan books, also quite a few of the one off novels.

  My addiction to these books kind of out stripped my allowance at the time, so I resorted to shoplifting quite a few of the titles that I needed to read. The Ballentine editions were in print at the same time, with their more classic cover art, if I couldn’t find a title that I needed to continue John’s adventures in the Ace editions I would procure one of those. I still have the first five or six titles in the Martian series, from the Ace editions, in my library. The rest of the series I have in special editions that I recieved as presents.

  I can not overstate how profound an influence these books had on my creative imagination and my personal ideals growing up. I still love them to this day. I started a spec script in the 80’s and even at one poinbt had a phone conversation with ERB’s grandson when I called out to California to ask about who at that time was holding the rights to the property. This was the time of Disney’s first aquisition, I remember being horrified thinking this was going to be a Disney animated cartoon with a cute little princess and cute little 8 legged Thoats. LOL

• My mom started taking my sister and me to the library when I was 9 or 10. After straying from the juvenile section one day to look at all the cool covers in the books in the paperback spinner rack, I picked out “Son of Tarzan”. My mom was certain it would go back to the library unread, but I was adamant about giving it a try. That was when I got hooked on Tarzan. I think I may have actually bought the paperback of “Tarzan of the Apes” after that, and began collecting the series.
  I first encountered Barsoom on the same spinner rack in the library. I saw the Gino d’Achille cover to “Gods of Mars” and wondered what the heck that boat was doing floating in the air. Having learned my lesson reading Tarzan out of order, I searched through the rack to look for a “Mars” title with a “1” up in the corner and finally found “A Princess of Mars” with a scary-looking green monster menacing a guy with a sword who appeared to be protecting a woman I assumed was the princess of the title (yes, I was a sharp one…). I think it took a few trips to the library until I finally took the book home – the brooding quality to the covers was a little unsettling to me at first, I think. Soon, though, I was hooked – adding to my repertoire of hero-play in the backyard. I was on Barsoom! Swinging a plastic sword and jumping around pretending my cocker spaniel was my faithful calot as we battled white apes and plantmen.
  Soon enough I outgrew the backyard play, but never tired of re-reading Burroughs over the years. I lost my Burroughs (and Bradbury!) books in a move, but have been able to rebuild a bit of my collection – collecting the Whelan covers this time.
  Reading Burroughs – especially the Barsoom stories – takes me back to a time when the world was still full of wonder and a certain eagerness to fly. Or at least jump higher than anyone else…

• I discovered The John Carter book series when I was going to college. I read thru the entire series and enjoyed each and every book. Then, after I finished school, got a job, got married, and had kids there wasn’t much time for me to read novels. When I heard a Disney version of John Carter was going to be released, I was elated. I hadn’t read any of the novels in years. However, I remembered the adventure, imagination and just plain good story telling of the novels and was looking forward to the movie.

  When I saw the movie, it met and surpassed all my expectations. The cinematography was breathtaking. The special effects were 1st rate. The story moved quickly and was easily followed. The heroine was absolutely beautiful. And the hero reminded me of myself in my younger days. When the movie ended, I would’ve stayed in my seat for an extra 24 hours if I could’ve had a glimpse of John Carter returning to Mars and seeing the beautiful Princess once again.

  I saw the movie at the theater a 2nd time. I would’ve seen it a 3rd if it hadn’t been pulled out prematurely. I did buy a copy of the bluray disc the first day it was sold. After John Carter was pulled from theaters I kept on having a recurrent thought— I wanted to see the REST of the John Carter story on the big screen.

  I wanted to see him return to Mars, be reunited with his Princess, and save the planet. I then decided to try and actually DO something about it— something I had never considered in the past after watching a movie. So, I searched the internet and then discovered a group of hard-working, dedicated, creative people at the Back to Barsoom facebook group. I then went ahead and joined Facebook for the 1st time in order to join the campaign . I was happy to be allowed to join the group and contribute to the organized effort to bring about production of the next John Carter movie.