What do a birdwatcher, an entomologist, a wildlife painter, and a photographer all have in common?? They all boarded a skipper lead jungle cruise along the rivers of “de-nile”
(Photo from disneyparksblog.com )
With the Jungle Cruise movie opening on Friday and the newly renovated ride opening 2 weeks ago, I thought it would be fun to do a little deep dive into the ride.
When the park opened in 1955, Jungle Cruise was the only ride that ran the whole day without breaking down. The original 7 boats were named by Walt’s brother-in-law, Bill Cottrell, and most are still in use today: Congo Queen, Swanee Lady, Amazon Belle, Ganges Gal, Nile Princess, Mekong Maiden, and Irrawaddi Woman. They were also among the first and the biggest vehicles to be built out of (a new concept then) fiberglass.
The new story behind the ride is about Alberta Falls; the granddaughter of Dr Albert Falls, a member of the famed Society of Explorers and Adventurers. After Dr Falls mysterious disappearance, Alberta takes over the family shipping business. With the aid of her Skippers, they start offering “jungle cruises” to help keep the business afloat.
At the end of your cruise, in classic Disney style, you’ll find the souvenir shop. But this particular “gift shop” is managed by Trader Sam. Though Alberta put him in charge of the Lost and Found, he knew an opportunity to make money when he saw it! They don’t call him Trader Sam for nothing!
Now let’s take a little peek into Trader Sam’s history. He is the son of Trader Bill- a trader of shrunken heads, and a canibalistic warrior. Who knew?? Sam had an interest in traveling the world and there are early references to him during the golden age of piracy. Sam supposedly traded a spyglass from Blackbeard and maybe had an interest in his daughter Angelica…
Sam was rumored to run a pub that was frequented by Jack Sparrows mother and Captain Jack himself. After Jack’s mother’s death, her head was transformed into a shrunken head and was eventually passed to Sam. He would take her with him whenever he would open a new bar to honor her. Sam also was familiar with Professor Archimede’s and his daughter Jane, having possibly taken a photograph of them during the beginning of their expedition to the Congo. Another close friend around this time was a drunkard lighthouse-keeper named Lampie in the seaside American town of Passamaquoddy. At some point prior to 1912 he saved the life of one Anna Mary Jones and became close with her family, even becoming a frequent contact of her son Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. The list goes on. You name a Disney film that took place in the late 1800’s to the roaring 20’s and Sam had some connection to it, or so the fandom implies.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the newly renovated ride, and the upcoming movie release. Are you as excited to see the changes in person and look for hidden Easter eggs in the movie because I am?
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