Annette Funnicello on the Jungle Cruise

Rest in peace.

Jungle Cruise Movie News!

Just spotted the first news about the Jungle Cruise movie that I've seen in quite a while. Unsurprisingly, that news is that the movie ain't happening. At least for now. I'll let you decide for yourself whether that's good news or bad.

John of the Jungle contest

For years I've wanted a photo of John Lasseter from his years as a Jungle Cruise Skipper (we've got a couple from when he returned as a guest skipper during Disneyland's 50th anniversary over here), but have never had any luck. I feel a little less bad about that now that I've learned that Lasseter himself doesn't have any pictures of himself as a young skipper either!

He'd like one so much, in fact, that if you can bring him one, you'll win a trip to the Disneyland resort to attend the opening of Carsland in 2012. Here's John making the announcement:



So get digging through those old vacation photos from 1977 and 1978, folks. If you find one, be sure to send a copy our way too.

Here's the contest's website, www.johnofthejungle.com

Disney's other flying elephant

Apparently jeadlous of Dumbo, one of the African Bull elephants (or maybe his mother-in-law) of the World Famous Jungle Cruise decided he would like to try his hand at flying too. He needed a little extra help (and we don't mean from a magic feather). Here's the video, via the official Disney Park's Blog:



He'll be back after a few weeks vacation (refurbishment).

Family Circus on the Jungle Cruise: And you thought the skippers jokes were bad

In August of 1978, the Family Circus clan visited Disneyland. On August 5, they rode the world-famous Jungle Cruise. Here they are:



Ha ha. Oh, Family Circus... is there a joke in there? No, that's the whole thing. Uh... OK.

This was just one of a long series (including two installments in which one of the kids note that one of the parents enjoy the bench ride most of all. But those count as two different jokes, because they're two different parents). You can see the whole "hilarious" series posted by KentB3 over on mousebuzz.com.

1961's Queen of the Jungle

Artist and Disney designer Kevin Kidney has an entertaining post over on his blog today featuring fashion photos from 1961 featuring ladies modeling all over Disneyland. You'll have to follow the link to see all of them, but I had to share the Jungle Cruise picture here, featuring a lovely young woman who is not keeping her arms, legs, or ANYTHING inside of the boat (except maybe her pants):

That's right, wave goodbye to all the beautiful people back on the dock.

I hear that the skipper on duty thought it was only fair that if he showed her the backside of water, she should show him her backside too.

Funny to think that in 1961 this was probably the least amount of clothing anyone had ever worn on a Jungle Cruise boat (at least during operating hours). Today it's pretty much the average amount. Maybe a little more.

Jungle Cruise movie clarification

Wow. I'm seeing a LOT of articles about the new Jungle Cruise movie announcement reporting that Tim Allen will be starring as the skipper and Tom Hanks will play a family man on board, which is what I speculated on this blog on Wednesday.

That may turn out to be true, but for now, this is all that's officially been stated by Disney:

"The Walt Disney Studios is excited to be in development with Mandeville Films and writer Roger S.H. Schulman on a feature film based on the Jungle Cruise, one of the most iconic attractions in Disney theme park history. The film will pair up Tim Allen and Tom Hanks in their first live-action project, after their previous collaborations in the Toy Story trilogy.‬”

So.. thanks for reading, everybody! Please note I only said I was speculating! For all we know, the previously-reported storyline has been thrown own post-Dick Cook's firing and the new screenwriter being hired. For now, we don't know what roles Hanks and Allen will be playing.

Anyway, thanks for mentioning this site is where you got the info, no one!

Movie news: the latest buzz (and Woody) on the Jungle Cruise film!

Looks like Disney is trying once again to get a Jungle Cruise movie going, and they already have the stars in mind they'd like to headline the thing: Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.

Obviously that's a team already well-known in Disney circles as the lead voices in the blockbuster Toy Story series of Pixar features. I can't help but wonder if Toy Story's original director and former Jungle Cruise skipper John Lasseter is behind the push for the pair of actors.

No word beyond the preference of stars about what this latest attempt to make a Jungle Cruise movie would entail, but those stars, along with the resume of new screenwriter Roger S.H. Schulman certainly suggests there will be plenty of humor in the movie. I'm glad to hear it, given that the ride has been - for most of its life now - a predominantly humorous affair.

Now just for pure speculation - who will these guys be playing? A pair of rival Jungle Cruise skippers? That could be fun, but my early guess has Allen as the skipper and Hanks an uptight passenger, probably with his family in tow. That's just me guessing, though. It'll be fun to learn more if this happens!

Your own Jr. Jungle Cruise boat

Remember the those adorable Jr Jungle Cruise boats you used to be able to remote control in a tiny pool around the Disneyland hotel?

One of them is up on eBay right now. I'm only even telling you because I've decided the opening price is a leeeetle too high for me.

Oh so tempted even so!

55th Anniversary Collectibles

Remember that collectible based on the concept art for the Jungle Cruise I mentioned a couple of weeks ago? Well, we've got a picture now:



She's a beauty, ain't she? And I'm delighted it's named the Amazon Belle, since that was the boat I got to spiel on during my Disney Dream Jobs trip.

But wait - there's more. Also to commemorate Disneyland (and the Jungle Cruise's) 55th anniversary is a miniature Jungle Cruise skipper, wearing one of the earliest of the many costumes those castmembers have worn over the years:



Both piece are by the amazing Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily

Because the full-sized ones are too big for your bath tub

Collector alert! Yesterday, the official Disney Parks Blog featured designers Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily, makers of Disney park-related keepsakes and collectibles.

Buried in the story is this nuggets, of interest to Jungle Cruise fans:

Jody: We’re releasing many exciting 55th Anniversary collectibles throughout this summer, including true replicas of Walt Disney’s personal Main Street vehicle, Harper Goff’s first concept for the Jungle Cruise boats, and the classic Fantasyland Pirate Ship that we all fondly remember.

Here are a couple examples of Goff's Jungle Cruise drawings to give you some idea of what the product should look like:



Kidney and Daily previously created replicas of the original 1955 Jungle Cruise ships, released during Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration. The one I own is undoubtedly one of my favorite Disney collectibles. Here's what those looked like:



Now Kevin and Jody just need to do a replica of the current boats and our fleet will be complete!

My Jungle Cruise fanart

I'm doing a series of drawings based on my favorite Disney attractions and had to begin, of course, with the world-famous Jungle Cruise! Here it is, a mishmash of favorite scenes, elements of the past, present, California, and Florida:



A larger version also be seen on my personal website or a WAY larger version at My DeviantArt account.

The Celestial Simian

There's a nice photo of Bob the Monkey God at Disneyland over on the official Disney Parks Blog today.

The real among the fake

Hey, it's April Fools day, but today we're linking to a story about something real. The OC Register posted a great story this week about the world-famous Jungle Cruise at Disneyland and how very real and authentic its jungle foliage is.

That wasn't the way it was back in 1955 when the Jungle River of Adventureland first opened, but today's Jungle Cruise features plants features such an authentic jungle that, according to the article, it even functions in some ways like one:

While the landscaping crews work in the jungle every day, they try to leave it alone except for pruning the higher trees, and making sure the plants do not interfere with the animatronic animals that guests see.

They even leave most of the fallen leaves on the ground to let the nutrients naturally return to the soil, just like in the jungles of the Amazon or Africa.

“The humidity has even attracted aerial roots from the ficus trees,” Hedges said.

Here's the video from the OC Register too:



It's a pretty interesting story. One of the things you often hear Disney-haters moan about is, "it's all fake." Well, that never bothered me anyway, but it's also nice to see the great lengths the Disney crews go to make the illusion as real as possible.

Gnu commercial

The latest Disneyland special ticket offer commercial stars the animals of The Jungle Cruise. The offer only applies to South-California residents, but we can all enjoy the commercial:



I'm not sure why the skipper is welcoming the guests mid-way through the attraction, but it's a pretty delightful commercial.

Oh hey, here's a similar (almost identical) version for Floridians:

Weird Al's "Skipper Dan"

I'm currently in a location where I'm unable to listen to or watch the following video (no, not the jungle), but apparently it's a video for Weird Al's new song... about a Jungle Cruise skipper. So, I have no idea if it's funny or not, complimentary to the ride, gently teasing, or outright insulting. I'll find out a little later today, but you can find out right now:

Skipper Dan

Souvenier shots

Looks like I was correct in my previous post, guessing that the "Adventureland Safari Gun" was a Jungle Cruise-related project. One of the site's loyal readers was the winning bidder, and e-mailed me a shots of a couple of the pictures you can see while looking in through the gun:


This one is clearly a photo take from our favorite attraction!


And this one obviously depicts the attraction in cartoon form. Don't miss the plastic python and hit that other boat!

Thanks to nifty Nick for sending in these pictures. Hope you enjoy shooting hippos at home!

Souvenier shooter

How times change. Today, Jungle Cruise skippers fire into the air to scare off advancing hippos, but once upon a time, not only did the Skippers shoot hippos, the guests were encouraged to do the same!

Check out this interesting item currently up on eBay, for a Walt Disney's Adventureland Safari Tru-Vue Picture Gun.

From the description:

Here is a really nice vintage souvenir from Walt Disney's Adventureland Safari from the 1950's or 1960's. It is a Sawyer's Tru-Vue Picture Gun. It is similar to a view master, in which you look through a viewer at pictures. However, when you pull the trigger, you advance the pictures. Each picture depicts a scene of a target which you are to pretend you are shooting at. When you pull the trigger to advance the picture, the next picture shows the results of your shot.

Walt Disney's Adventureland Safari certainly sounds like code for "Jungle Cruise" (which judging by the old "Jungle River" posters and old footage I've seen that simply refer to the attraction as "Adventureland," seems not to have had its familiar title at opening.) I asked the seller if the pictures appeared to be real animals or Disneyland artificial. He responded: " Some are photos, but most are cartoons. There is a Hippo & an Alligator in 2 photo sequences. Those look like attractions at the park. The rest are cartoons featuring 2 pictures sequences of a native, an eagle, a snake, a lion, a cheetha, a warthog, a rhino, a lemur, a leopard, a gorilla, and an elephant."

Jungle Cruise skippers on world-traveling adventure - for real this time!

Tomorrow, the eight finest currently-serving Jungle Cruise skippers will converge on the Tokyo Disneyland resort - two from Disneyland, two from Walt Disney World, two from Hong Kong, and two from the host resort. The California park is proudly promoting its Adventureland embassadors, but it took some digging to find out who would be representing Florida's skips.

Thanks to some helpful fans of the site within Disney World, I can now pass on this article that was originally posted on WDW's interior site:


Beth Schafer and Alex Williams.

Beth Schafer and Alex Williams, Jungle Cruise skippers, were chosen to travel to Tokyo Disney Resort Feb. 26-March 6, as part of Tokyo's "Cast 25 Dreams" program.

The Oriental Land Company, which operates Tokyo Disney Resort, is making 25 dreams come true for their Cast Members as part of the resort's 25th anniversary celebration. One unusual dream request came from an Operations supervisor at Tokyo Disneyland Park who wanted to bring together the top Jungle Cruise skippers from around the world to share best practices.

"I want Jungle Cruise Skippers worldwide to gather at Tokyo Disneyland, and I'd like to experience all the Jungle Cruises that are located around the world," requested Kenichi Ito. "I also want to create an occasion where we can meet and get to know the skippers from around the world."

The visit will include a two-day tour of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, a meet-and-greet with Tokyo skippers, and a chance to reenact their own Jungle Cruise spiel alongside their Jungle Cruise video.

To be selected for this trip, Cast Members at each site with a Jungle Cruise attraction (Hong Kong Disneyland, Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort), auditioned before panel of judges, performing their best Jungle Cruise spiel. Beth and Alex will represent the Walt Disney World Resort.

They say they're excited to meet other skippers from around the world and share best practices.

"I think the coolest thing about getting to do this is really learning how their operation works to see what we can bring back for our Guests," Beth said.

Alex agrees and says he was happily surprised to have the opportunity to meet Cast Members from other parts of the world.

"This is a once in a lifetime experience - all these different cultures and different people brought together by such a unique and amazing attraction like the Jungle Cruise."

Here's the release from Disneyland about its winning skippers:


Mickey Wright and Kevin Lively.

Two Disneyland Resort Jungle Cruise Skippers 'Spiel' Their Way to Tokyo Disney Resort
ANAHEIM, CALIF., February 16, 2009 – Earlier this year, Jungle Cruise skippers all around the world were preparing their funniest material for a chance at representing their respective Disney Parks in Tokyo this month. Since the attraction debuted at Disneyland in 1955, the skipper role has always been one of interaction and fun, telling the story of the Jungle Cruise through silly jokes.

As part of Tokyo Disney Resort’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, a total of eight Jungle Cruise skippers from Disneyland Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney World Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort have been chosen to represent their resorts during a nine-day excursion to Tokyo Disney where they will participate in a unique dream opportunity.

In conjunction with the milestone anniversary, the Oriental Land Company, the Japanese company that owns and operates the resort, made 25 dreams come true for Cast Members. The Jungle Cruise skipper dream is one of the most unique being fulfilled. The request came from Kenichi Ito, a supervisor for Jungle Cruise, who dreamt to have Jungle Cruise skippers worldwide gather at Tokyo Disneyland and create an occasion where they could exchange best practices and, of course, best jokes!

In Anaheim, Jungle Cruise skippers Kevin Lively and Mickey Wright were chosen as representatives of the original attraction.

At the Disneyland Resort, the competition began in January with 60 skippers. On Feb. 6, six finalists took to the jungle delivering their finest skipper antics to a panel of surprise celebrity judges including - Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios John Lasseter and his wife, Nancy, Executive Vice President and Walt Disney Imagineering Ambassador Marty Sklar, Senior Vice President of Walt Disney Imagineering Tony Baxter, and Walt Disney Imagineering Senior Director and Concept Writer Kevin Rafferty.

Each finalist had one shot to deliver his or her spiel to the judges. Rain poured down throughout the skippers’ spiels making for a well-themed trip through the rainforest. Although conditions were soggy, the skippers were cool, calm and collected while delivering punch line after punch line.

“All the skippers were terrific, every single one,” said Sklar. “They were all able to use their own unique style during their performances to make the jokes funny every time. We had a tough time deciding the winners.”

The excursion takes place Feb. 27 through Mar. 6, and will include a two-day tour of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, Jungle Cruise skipper training on the Tokyo attraction, and the opportunity to present their personal spiel’s to the group.

The OC Register also has this story about the Disneyland skippers including video interviews with the winners.

Congratulations to Skippers Beth, Alex, Kevin, and Mickey and to the skippers from Hong Kong and Tokyo. Enjoy your adventure together!

When gorillas retire

When people reach retirement age, many of them like to move to a warmer climate. But what about gorillas? According to this article at the Disney and More blog, the original Jungle Cruise gorillas may have opted, instead, to go somewhere much colder instead.

Also they got a dramatic makeover on the way.