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Sandokan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a fictional novel. For a place in Malaysia, see Sandakan. For The Italian camorrista Francesco "Sandokan" Schiavone, see Francesco Schiavone. For Sandokan, a genus of harvestmen, see Sandokanidae.
Sandokan
Sandokan and Marianna "The Pearl of Labuan" on the cover of the novel The Tigers of Mompracem, Alberto Della Valle 1900
Created byEmilio Salgari
Portrayed byKabir Bedi, Steve Reeves
In-universe information
AliasThe Tiger of Malaysia
GenderMale
OccupationPirate, Warrior
SpouseMarianna Guillonk
NationalityBornean

Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century pirate created by Italian author Emilio Salgari. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the hero of 11 adventure novels. Within the series, Sandokan is known throughout the South China Sea as the "Tiger of Malaya".[1]

Sandokan series

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Emilio Salgari wrote several novels telling the adventures of Sandokan and Yanez, two of his most legendary creations. They are introduced in The Tigers of Mompracem, which portrays their struggle against Dutch and British. In many sequels, they fight against James Brooke, a white-skin adventurer, self-appointed as Rajah of Sarawak; they also move to India to smash down the Thugs, a notorious band of stranglers devoted to the goddess Kali.

The original series

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Follow-up works

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Other Sandokan adventures were written by Italian novelist Luigi Motta, Emilio Fancelli, and by Salgari's son, Omar. Paco Ignacio Taibo II has published a recent "Sandokan" novel entitled The Return of the Tigers of Malaysia. Gianni Padoan has edited a series of novels that are declaredly a sci-fi reinterpretation of the Tigers of Malaysia series by Emilio Salgari: I misteri della stella nera (Mondadori 1978), I pirati della galassia (Mondadori 1978), Le tigri di Moonpracer (Mondadori 1979), Alla conquista di Rigel (Mondadori 1980).

Fictional biography

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Sandokan is the son of Kaigadan, the last Prince of Borneo, whose parents were killed by the East India Company in a bid to seize the throne. Having sworn revenge, Sandokan gathers a group of rebels and pirates, the Tigers of Mompracem (now Pulau Kuraman), to regain his Princedom, and adopts the nickname of "Tiger of Malaysia". Stranded in Labuan, Sandokan is recovering of his wounds in the house of Lord James Guillonk, where he meets Marianna, the Lord's niece, aka the "Pearl of Labuan", whom he falls in love with. Sandokan escapes, but reunites with Marianna, and later marries her. After his defeat, Sandokan set his men free from jail, and apparently gives up piracy, and escapes to Java with his wife. Actually, Sandokan and his friend, Yanez De Gomera, keep on help their friend Kammamuri to fight James Brooke, the "Exterminator", the White Rajah of Sarawak, and finally to free Tremal-Naik. Sandokan later has to help Tremal-Naik again, when his daughter is kidnapped by Thugs, Kali-yug's worshippers, a sect of killers commanded by Suyodhana, the "Tiger of India".

Following many battles over a period of years, Sandokan defeats all of his enemies and retires as rajah of Kini Balù (Ambong and Marudu). His friend Yanez is appointed rajah of Assam.

Characteristics

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Sandokan character is inspired by the Spanish naval captain Carlos Cuarteroni Fernández.[2] He is depicted by Salgari as a gallant pirate. He is described as tall, charming, very muscular, slender, and attractive, with cold, black eyes, a fierce and severe look, and a big turban on his head. Unlike his troops, who are described as mostly half-naked, Sandokan always wears fine oriental clothes, generally red silk with embroidered gold, and long, red, leather boots.

Sandokan is a formidable fighter, brave, and ruthless with his enemies, but kind, generous, and faithful to his friends. He has absolute leadership over his men, and is often shown as having no fear, with Yanez playing as a sort of counterweight to his impulsive nature.

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  • Sandokan, also known as the Tiger of Malaysia, a Bornean prince turned pirate
  • Lady Marianna Guillonk, also known as the Pearl of Labuan, Sandokan's Italian-English wife
  • Yanez De Gomera: Sandokan's loyal friend and comrade, Portuguese, Goan
  • James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak, their worst enemy
  • Lord James Guillonk, Marianna's uncle, eager to kill Sandokan
  • Tremal-Naik, Indian from Bengal
  • Kammamuri, Tremal-Naik's servant

Films

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The first Sandokan films were made in 1941 in Italy with Luigi Pavese as Sandokan.

A series of Italian-made films with American leads were filmed in 1964 and released internationally.

A pair of Italian films featuring a character named "Sandok" were filmed based on the character by Salgari.

A 1970 Italian-Spanish film The Tigers of Mompracem was made with Ivan Rassimov as Sandokan

TV miniseries

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Main article: Sandokan (TV series)

In 1976, Indian actor Kabir Bedi played the lead in Sandokan, a six-part miniseries for European television directed by Sergio Sollima. Carole André was cast as Lady Marianna Guillonk, Philippe Leroy played Sandokan's trusted friend and lieutenant Yanez De Gomera. The role of the main antagonist James Brooke was performed by Adolfo Celi.

In 1977, Kabir Bedi reprised his role in the film La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa! (The Tiger Lives Again: Sandokan to the Rescue!). The TV series theme song, "Sandokan", was composed by Oliver Onions (a pseudonym of the De Angelis brothers), and made the top 10 in many European countries, albeit mostly in the translated English version.

A 2004 documentary, Sandokan's Adventure, detailed the making of the series.

Two further television series were made The Return of Sandokan in 1996 and The Son of Sandokan in 1998, with Kabir Bedi again reprising his role.

A new series is in the works at Lux Vide for Rai 1 with Can Yaman in the role of Sandokan.[3]

Animated series

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Sandokan the animated series was released in 1992 by Spanish animation studio BRB International, and broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 and Republic of Ireland on RTE Two. It was later repeated in the UK on certain ITV regions in 1996. This children's animated show, script written by Doug Stone and Dave Mallow, is loosely based on Salgari's novels. In the show, Sandokan (here an anthropomorphized tiger) is an usurped prince, who travels the seas as a pirate seeking to reclaim his rightful throne from the Rajah of Sarawak. The first nine episodes of the series are available in three DVD volumes in the United Kingdom. A condensed version of the series was released as an animated movie, The Princess and the Pirate, in 1995. The swashbuckling story concerns the tale of the deposed prince turned pirate, Sandokan, as he battles the evil maharajah, who killed his parents. In the midst of this local struggle, Sandokan falls in love with Mariana (here an anthropomorphized fox), who is the daughter of a European power, who has naval influence over the area.

Another animated series was released in 1998 from a coproduction among RAI on 1993−94, SEK Studio, and Mondo TV and broadcast in Italy on Rai 1. This series was composed into three parts: Sandokan, la tigre della Malesia (Sandokan, the Tiger of Malaysia, produced in 1998); Sandokan, la tigre ruggisce ancora (Sandokan, the Tiger roars again, 2000); and Sandokan, le due tigri (Sandokan, The Two Tigers, 2004). The adventures of this 26-episode cartoon series are based on the stories of Emilio Salgari. The story takes place in the second half of the 19th century, and is situated in the Malaysian archipelago, Borneo, and India.

References

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  1. ^ Marrone, Gaetana; Puppa, Paolo (2006-12-26). Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies - Google Books. Routledge. ISBN 9781135455309. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  2. ^ "Sandokán era de Cádiz". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  3. ^ Goldbart, Max (2024-06-06). "'Sandokan': First-Look Images Unveiled Of Series Based On Emilio Salgari's Epic". Deadline Hollywood.
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