Favorite Things: Jungle Cruise

The Jungle Cruise is one of the classic Disney attractions. It's been around since the opening of Disneyland in 1955 (In fact, it was the only attraction in Adventureland back then). While it continues to be a favorite today, the Jungle Cruise is the subject of relatively little merchandise compared to its thrill ride cousins.

I have a handful of items in my personal collection. One of my favorite things from Jungle Cruise is the serigraph cel of the Trapped Safari scene, with the Fab 5 standing in for the hunting party. I especially enjoy that the boat depicted on the cel is of the original, candy-striped variety. I also have a plastic model of one of those original boats. The real boats on the Jungle Cruise have all been replaced with craft sporting a more rugged, realistic look. I like the new boats, but it makes me smile to have examples of the classic boats.

A particularly unique item is this trivet from Tokyo Disneyland. The merchandise selection in Japan is quite different from what we're accustomed to seeing in the domestic parks. Many items are smaller and more practical in nature, but they also take the opportunity to feature art from attractions that don't get represented as frequently.

Of course, my fondness for the Jungle Cruise is bolstered by the fact that I was once a skipper there. You can read about some of my experiences and see a picture of me piloting a boat here, and don't forget to check back tomorrow for more of my favorite things.

Into a World of Adventure

The gateway to Adventureland at Disneyland leads to an exotic realm of mystery and romance. Adventureland represents a 1930s riverside port town in some far-off corner of the world. Here, the jungle dominates the skyline, and exciting discoveries are around every corner.

Adventureland wasn't always so spectacular, though. When Disneyland opened, it was by far the smallest land, with only a single attraction: The Jungle Cruise. Even the landscape was a work in progress. Imagineering Landscape Architect Bill Evans had begun turning orange grove into jungle almost a year before the park opened, but everything was still fairly small in 1955. Today, the natural canopy over the attraction extends more than 100 feet into the air, creating a complete sense of being thousands of miles from the streets of Anaheim.

According to the story, the Jungle Navigation Company carries freight and passengers along the rivers of the region. Many of the goods they bring are taken straight from the docks and sold by vendors on the street (although, apparently the most rare and exotic items are available elsewhere).

Walking through Adventureland, it looks like Disney simply carved into an existing rainforest. It's hard to imagine that everything you see was put here by the Imagineers... almost everything, that is. A handful of specimens remain from the days before the park was built. There's the stand of eucalyptus trees (once a wind break for the orange grove) that forms a visual barrier between the back side of Main Street and the Jungle Cruise. Then, there's the Dominguez Palm.

The Dominguez family once lived on part of the property that became Disneyland, and this Canary Island date palm was planted here in 1896 as a gift to the family. To find the tree, head to the far right of the Jungle Cruise queue building, near the Indiana Jones Adventure Fastpass Distribution. It's the largest tree in the area, extending well above its neighbors. If you look closely, you'll even see that the two-story Jungle Cruise boathouse (added in 1994) was built around the tree to preserve it.

The Dominguez home was moved from this site to an area behind the Main Street Opera House and served as offices for many years. A member of the Dominguez family even stuck around. Ron Dominguez got a job at Disneyland as a ticket taker and stayed for nearly 40 years, retiring as Executive Vice President of the park. The window dedicated to him on Main Street, U.S.A. pays tribute to his unique place in Disneyland history:

Orange Grove Property Mgt.

"We'll Care for Your Property

As If It Were Our Own"

Ron Dominguez - Owner

Credit Where Credit's Due

The Jungle Cruise attractions in the Disney Parks transport Guests down exotic rivers of the world on a wacky, wild adventure. Many details go into the telling of the Jungle Cruise story, but perhaps none is as important as the landscape. Over the years, Imagineers have taken a California orange grove, Florida swamp and Asian landfill and converted them into lush, tropical environments.

Most of these efforts were conducted or directed by Disney Legend and Imagineering Master Landscape Architect Bill Evans. A tribute to him stands outside the entrance of the Jungle Cruise in the Magic Kingdom:

This ficus nitida (also known as a Chinese Banyan tree) sits crated on the Jungle Cruise dock, ready for transport. The crate bears the label, "Evans Exotic Plant Exporters, Ltd."

Bill's family nursery business in L.A. was popular among the Hollywood elite, due to the wide variety of exotic plants he was able to import and propagate. In the early '50s, when Walt Disney was creating his backyard railroad, he hired the Evans nursery to do the landscape design. A year later, Walt asked Bill to come work on Disneyland.

Bill stayed with Imagineering, ultimately working on every Disney Park through Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1998.

Today, few may know his name (my son, Evan, thinks the crate refers to him), but many enjoy and appreciate the legacy Bill Evans left behind.

What's in a (NAME)

Before departing Adventureland (for now anyway), we should pay a visit to one of the area's most infamous residents, Chief Namee of the Jungle Cruise. The jungle's head salesman really knows how to cut a deal. Today's special: Three of his heads for one of yours! No matter which way you slice it, he comes out ahead!

Most passengers on the Jungle Navigation Co.'s launches are on to the Chief's game. What many folks can't figure out, though, is how he got his unusual name. Long time Disney Parks fans may remember that he used to be called something else entirely: Trader Sam (a name the character retains at Disneyland).

The story of the change dates back to 1991. In preparation for the 20th anniversary of the Magic Kingdom, groups of Cast Members and Imagineers came together in an effort dubbed "Team 20." Their goal was to find ways to refresh some of the park's classic attractions. In Frontierland, this resulted in the return of the original Country Bear Jamboree show (Vacation Hoedown had been playing since 1986). In Adventureland, it was an opportunity to rewrite the script for the Jungle Cruise, injecting new lines and humor.

I was fortunate enough to be a Jungle Skipper at that time (it was my very first Disney job; that's me in the picture above). Through Team 20, the Skippers were asked to submit all the various jokes and other lines we liked to use on the boats, but which weren't in the script. While many of them were understandably nixed for reasons ranging from legal issues to the fact that they broke the story or time period of the attraction, many others were adopted. Today, the official Jungle Cruise script offers several optional lines for the Skippers to use at each show scene, and some of the best (like the "back side of water") actually came from the Skippers themselves.

So back to Trader Sam. It was decided that he should receive a new name in the show, since Sam didn't seem to fit him. When it came time for the first Skipper read-through of the script, however, a name had not yet been determined. The line on the page simply said:

Just ahead is Chief (NAME).

As we went through the show, each Skipper took a turn delivering a line from the script, so we could all get a feel for it. When it came to the Chief, the poor fellow whose turn it was apparently didn't grasp the fact that (NAME) was meant to be a placeholder. Instead, he attempted to pronounce the word. His delivery of "Chief Nah-Mee" was so priceless, it became an instant hit with the Skippers. From there on out, no other suggestions came close. So in the end, the name, uh... Namee stuck.

Swiss Family Referenced on...

Downstream from the Swiss Family Treehouse is the loading dock for the steamers of the Jungle Navigation Company. Apparently, the Robinsons have been employing their services, shipping items to acquaintances far and wide. Pay close attention to these crates on the right as you exit the Jungle Cruise. You'll discover another bit of Hidden Disney:

Thomas Kirk, Esq. - Actor Tommy Kirk appeared as middle son Ernst Robinson in Swiss Family Robinson. He was a Disney regular, also starring in such films as Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (M. Jones Cartographers).

Island of Bora Danno - This is a reference to the eldest Robinson boy, Fritz, played by James MacArthur. MacArthur starred in the Disney movies Kidnapped, The Light in the Forest, and Third Man on the Mountain (inspiration for the Matterhorn at Disneyland). But it was his role as Danny Williams on the TV series "Hawaii Five-O" that brought him his greatest fame. As costar Jack Lord's Detective Steve McGarrett would say, "Book 'em, Danno."

Kenneth Annakin Director of Imports - Ken Annakin directed Swiss Family Robinson, as well as the Disney films The Sword and the Rose and Third Man on the Mountain.

Wyss Supply Company - This line refers to Johann Wyss, author of the 1812 book Swiss Family Robinson, upon which the film was based.

Colony of New Guinea - New Guinea, an island colony north of Australia, was the original destination of the Robinson family and their ill-fated ship, Swallow.

Future Skippers Apply Here

Nearby the booking office and docks of the Jungle Navigation Company is another, somewhat less prominent, Adventureland business - Shrunken Ned's Junior Jungle Boats.

Ned operates a driving school of sorts, training prospective skippers on the ins and outs of navigating a jungle steamer - albeit a much smaller one than those in use on the Jungle Cruise itself. There are plenty of fun and "treacherous" obstacles here to test a pilot's mettle, preparing them for future encounters with charging hippos and the backside of water.

Some of the crates in the area even identify Ned's Skipper Training School.

Editor's Challenge: Can anyone identify the significance of the "Est. 1854" reference? I can't seem to find anything on it. It's possible that the date was selected at random by the graphic designer, but nearly every detail of this sort in the Disney Parks is there for a reason. Anyone know (or have a good guess)?

Cruise at Your Own Risk

The Jungle Navigation Company operates touring cruises down the exotic rivers of Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom, but one would be advised to think twice before boarding. At least, consider the name of your boat or fellow passengers. This board posted near the off-loading dock of the Jungle Cruise attraction identifies missing persons and entire missing craft. With names like these, though, it's no surprise what fate awaited them.