Sunday, December 27, 2020

Scenes From The Jungle, August 1966

I should be home tonight, if all goes according to plan!

The Adventureland jungle seems to go on and on, an endless sea of lush green plants that hides monkeys, bone-crushing snakes, playful elephants, ear-wigglin' hippos, piranhas, giraffes, mysterious ruins of lost civilizations, and even headhunters. I hope we don't accidentally proceed up some unexplored tributary, where we will vanish forever!


We were having fun until the elephant's mother in-law came along. That old battle axe! But I'm sure she means well.




 

14 comments:

"Lou and Sue" said...

You know I LOVE the Jungle Cruise, Major - thank you!

BTW, did anyone see the new Jungle Cruise cookie jar for sale at ShopDisney.com? See HERE. I need it like another hole in the head, but it is cute! Am trying to think of what I could use it for - other than cookies (which I don't need, either) - to justify purchasing it...

Welcome home, Major!

TokyoMagic! said...

The most feared animal in the jungle!

Sue, did you purchase the Jungle Cruise Hallmark ornament this year? I guess it sold out pretty early.

Anonymous said...

I gave my daughter the Jungle Cruise game! I wanted the ornament to go with it, but everybody was sold out... Apparently the game is supposed to actually be pretty good, by the way.

Major Pepperidge said...

Hello, Junior Gorillas! I’m finally able to respond to comments again, after experiencing “technical difficulties” for the last few days! If I can, I’ll try to go back and respond to comments for the last few days.

Lou and Sue, I’ve always thought that cookie jars were fun, but gosh, they’re so big, and heavy, and fragile! Do you think that the Skipper on that cookie jar you linked to is supposed to resemble Walt? Good job on the link by the way, the student has become the master!

TokyoMagic!, do they do a Jungle Cruise Hallmark ornament every year? My sister once bought me a Hallmark “Batcopter” ornament, it’s pretty cool.

Stu29573, everybody knows what’s going on except me! AS USUAL. There was a Jungle Cruise game to go with the ornament? I hope it had lots of shootin’ and ‘splotions.

MRaymond said...

When looking at these pics my mind fills with really bad Jungle Cruise jokes.

I'd like to take this time to point out some of the local flora and fauna.
There's some, right there.

But we're not out of the woods yet, folks...
You can tell by all these trees.

I'm sorry, too much coffee.

Chuck said...

In the second photo, look at how lush that jungle is by 1966. They didn't even need a complete mother-in-law elephant - just the head. Sort of like the wookiees in the Life Day celebration at the end of The Star Wars Holiday Special. (My apologies if anyone has nightmares about Harvey Korman tonight.)

Major, I'll raise my hand and say I didn't know about the Jungle Cruise game, either. But it does look kind of fun: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/303650/disney-jungle-cruise-adventure-game.

I bought a special 2020 ornament for my wife, a light-up dumpster fire. True to this year's spirit, it's still somewhere in the shipping system. Fortunately, I was able to pick up the very last Baby Yoda ornament they had at our local Hallmark store during an emergency stop after work on the evening of the 22nd.

zach said...

Chuck, great ornament find!

I gave the Jungle Cruise game to my son this Christmas. I look forward to playing it when it's safer to gather. We had a Zoom Christmas with the expected but solved technical difficulties.

I hope the troop had a good Christmas holiday.

Thank you, Major

zach

JC Shannon said...

Chuck, I love it, it pretty much sums up this year. The Jungle Cruise is one of my favorite attractions, a little world all it's own. Sue, everyone needs at least one attraction cookie jar to round out their collection. How about a game of extinct attractions? The first one to get the Peoplemover back, wins. I always thought Lionel missed the boat not having a Mine Train layout. Oh, and what about a Skull Rock diorama? Welcome back Major, and thanks.

Nanook said...

@ Sue-
Who knew there was a Jungle Cruise cookie jar-? It appears as if the Skipper is holding a microphone in his right hand. (Such authenticity-!) The cookie
'jar' looks to be the perfect shape for storing lemon squares and brownies. (What are you waiting for-?)

"Lou and Sue" said...

TokyoMagic! No, I didn't purchase the JC ornament this year (I didn't even know about it, silly me), but I wish I had purchased the Tower of Terror ornament - where the backside reveals the three different levels of the ride. Of course I can now buy it on eBay for twice the price...:(

Stu, I'm glad to hear the game is pretty good. When I saw it on ShopDisney.com, I thought it might be lame, so I didn't purchase it. Now, maybe, I'll buy it on eBay for twice the price??

Major, I guess he does look a little like Walt...

MRaymond, there are NO bad Jungle Cruise jokes, in my opinion. Please share more!

Chuck, that's the best ornament for 2020, yet!

Zach, you'll have to report back to us, too, once you play the new JC game. I want to know what you think of it.

JC Shannon, I like your game idea!

Nanook, I'm waiting for all the eBay sellers to buy out all of the ShopDisney.com supply of those cookie jars, then I'll buy one on eBay for twice the price. The story of my life.

Melissa, I just now saw your Disney Christmas tree - how fun!! Thank you for sharing it!

Anonymous said...

That be an African elephant...you can tell by the size of its ears....

50 years ago today I was tooling around the Jungle after being trained a month earlier. Still settling into my role as a half comic half serious skipper. A few more rotations and this shy kid turned into someone who has never stopped talking since. Even today I seem to bark into the speakerphone and enunciate so to overcome the sound of the boat's engine. Funny how things stick with you. While some gave a great flora and fauna spiel...I would take the opportunity to discuss the appropriate F-stops and shutter speeds for those with cameras. Never mind the wildlife! ;) KS

Major Pepperidge said...

MRaymond, it’s hard to NOT think of bad puns when looking at photos of the Jungle Cruise!

Chuck, it wouldn’t be long before they only needed the trunk of the mother-in-law. I don’t get the reference to the Star Wars Holiday Special… I haven’t been able to sit through more than about 10 or 15 minutes of that awful thing. Thanks for the link to the Jungle Cruise game, it does look kind of fun! Love the dumpster fire ornament, what could be more fitting for this year? I’m glad you got your Baby Yoda ornament!

zach, it’s funny, things like getting a haircut or playing a board game with friends or loved ones seems like a wonderful dream now, rather than a normal every-day thing.

Jonathan, long ago I might have chosen Nature’s Wonderland as my favorite, but now that it’s gone, the Jungle Cruise has moved right up! I used to have a cookie jar (given to me) of the Bulldog Cafe from “The Rocketeer”, but it broke during a move. Oh well. You sure have a lot of good toy ideas!

Nanook, is there some reason the Skipper couldn’t hold the microphone in his left hand? Yum, lemon bars, my favorite (not that I’d turn down a brownie).

Lou and Sue, that Tower of Terror ornament sounds pretty neat. Buy one! You deserve it! I’m not much a board game person normally, but they can be fun once in a while. I used to really like “Trivial Pursuit”. But not the Disney edition, which was too hard, even for me!

KS, interesting how being a Skipper turned you into a different person! Maybe the outgoing chatterbox was in there all along. I’ve often thought that the PA systems on the Jungle Cruise boats left much to be desired, sometimes I had a hard time understanding what the Skipper was saying. What was the guest reaction to your photography discussions?

Chuck said...

Major, the budget was so low on THe Star Wars Holiday Special that they couldn't afford to make more than three complete wookiee costumes, but they needed a bunch of wookiees for the finale. To save money, they put them in red robes and only had the heads made.

And I understand your inability to sit through it. My wife and I finally committed an hour and a half (and some change) this year to watch it for the first time in 42 years. I think I'm good for another 42 years.

Anonymous said...

Major...Many times these were reserved for crews that spoke no English! ;)

Otherwise, once a group caught wind of what I was doing, they usually were amused. I never got a complaint on them...I did making a joke about Trader Sam from a studio rep that just happened to be on board once. KS