It was directed by John Guillermin and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., who had previously collaborated on the 1976 remake of King Kong.

While investigating rumors of a mystical "healing earth" whose powers are said to flow forth from the sacred Gudjara Mountain, geologists Philip and Betsy Ames (Michael Shannon and Nancy Paul) are killed in a cave-in, leaving their young daughter, Janet, an orphan.

Janet is adopted by Shaman, a woman of the native Zambouli tribe (Princess Elizabeth of Tooro), and because of a prophecy about the cave-in ("when the sacred mountain cries out"), she is viewed as a child of the gods and renamed Sheena, "Queen of the Jungle".

Outsiders rarely disturb their territory, since that part of Tigora is under the special protection of King Jabalani (Clifton Jones).

Experiencing a vision foretelling the death of the king, Shaman hastens to Tigora's capital of Azan to try to warn him, but is arrested by corrupt police officers working for Zanda.

Otwani's old friend, reporter Vic Casey (Ted Wass) and his cameraman, Fletch Agronsky (Donovan Scott) are in Tigora to do a story on the former football player.

When King Jabalani is killed and Shaman is framed for it, Vic and Fletch realize that they are on to a much bigger story than they had anticipated.

Heading to a remote prison compound to interview Shaman, they bear witness to her rescue by Sheena and her animal friends; "Chango" the elephant, "Marika" the zebra and "Tiki" the chimpanzee.

Otwani obtains the services of Colonel Jorgensen (John Forgeham) and his small army of soldier mercenaries, the Black Berets.

Les Ballets Africains performed the tribal dance sequences,[5] which were choreographed by the troupe's director Italo Zambo.

[6] In 1974, a friend of documentary filmmaker Paul Aratow suggested to him that the comic book Sheena would make a good film.

Aratow thought, "Something went off in my head – I realised that it was a most commercial idea, it had action and a sexy, mythic Earth goddess type who was actually one of the true comic-book heroines.

"[7] Aratow bought the rights, set up a production company with Alan Rinzler, and succeeded in interesting Universal Pictures with Raquel Welch attached to play the lead.

"[9] Feldman had a poster designed illustrating his idea and showed it to Mike Medavoy of United Artists, who agreed to finance a new script.

[7] Eventually in 1980, Columbia Pictures' head of production Frank Price agreed to finance the movie Sheena with a budget from $7 to 10 million.

[11] Newman said he was interested in the concept of the "white goddess... that idea which appears again and again in legend— this 'Miranda' or 'Eve-like' innocent creature who lives in perfect harmony with animals and with the land — a kind of ecological superperson.

He switched things around a bit, added excitement, and speeded up the pace to make it more intense, but he never changed any of David's characters.

"[13] Among those considered for the lead were reportedly Sandahl Bergman, Cheryl Ladd, Sybil Danning, Susan Mechsner, and Christie Brinkley.

[14] Tanya Roberts was then best known for appearing in the last season of Charlie's Angels and for playing the lead in The Beastmaster, as well as posing nude in Playboy.

"[16] The producer said they tested over 2,000 girls adding, "[Farrah] Fawcett and [Cheryl] Ladd were discussed years ago, but they would be ridiculous in the role now.

I think John, who also made King Kong, takes fantastic stories and then grounds them in a reality he finds a lot of time in the geographic locations.

The film's multitude of animals were managed by Hubert Wells, who recalled, "We flew over an elephant, a rhino, five lions, four leopards, four chimpanzees, five horses, and 16 birds.

Wass says Tanya Roberts "was always in great shape, but she made her body even more magnificent by working out... She brought an athleticism to the movie few actresses could match; physically, she was always on the money, and even though there was a lot of pressure on her, she came through.

Calling it a "lighthearted, slightly loony adventure film, there are some good silly gags, and the animals look relaxed even in their dizziest slapstick scenes.

Kael even had some (qualified) kind words for the star: "Tanya Roberts is too tense and earnest for her blond-goddess, queen-of-the-jungle role.

She's pretty funny when she presses her fingers against the center of her forehead, in order to summon legions of waterbucks or swarms of tall birds.

"[24] Neil Gaiman reviewed Sheena, Queen of the Jungle for Imagine magazine, and called it an abomination, and stated that "The dialogue is laughable, the acting appalling, and the special effects outstandingly ordinary.

It looks gorgeous, was beautifully shot on location, has a wonderful score, the script flies along, and Guillermin's direction is excellent.

Tanya Roberts’ method-like intensity takes some getting used to but once you tune in, she's great fun and has the body of an athlete; Ted Wass is an engaging hero, handsome and a bit klutzy, but an ideal partner (as in King Kong, Guillermin never loses sight of the central love story).

Both releases have the same ISBN 0-7678-6822-6 and SKU 0-43396-06535-2 and can be distinguished from each other only by the discs themselves or by the date and "Special Features" list on the back cover.