You all know the Jungle Cruise! Maybe a little too well, like me. Which is why I am sharing three photos today rather than the standard two - Jungle Cruise photos tend to be very "samey", although these are bright and clear and colorful at least.
The Sacred Indian Elephant Bathing Pool was added to the attraction in 1972. Indian elephants love to swim! And who can blame them? The Bathing Pool looks like the place to be on a hot tropical day. This scene couldn't help but impress, with at least a dozen pachyderms splashing and spraying.
The "Trapped Safari" was added in 1964 (along with the next scene, the African Veldt); I have to admit that I like the recent(ish) change that has the guy at the top now moved to the bottom. HE'S going to get the point!
And there's the Veldt, a popular scene with guests. It seems that everyone took a picture of this one! The animals are all looking on as their friend is eaten by lions, but that doesn't stop the giraffes from working on lunch. "What? I'm hungry!". No class, man, no class.
The "thick skinned" critter on the right seems to be wedged between those two boulders. But she(?) doesn't seem to mind. I suppose it's like a lawn chair, or pool chair, as the case may be. She looks very happy! The elephant next to her looks to be wedged between rocks as well. Maybe this is a form of pachyderm spa treatment. Not sure, but I think I count 13 of 'em (well, you did say "at least a dozen"). Is the sun-dappled big one in the back with its back to us the 'repurposed' mammoth from the '64 NYWF?
ReplyDeleteWell it's about time the 'great white hunter' has his turn at the bottom of the pole! Now he's gonna get what's coming to him! Zooming in, the faces of the porters look pretty creepy!
I think we've seen some photos (one of them just a few days ago) where the giraffes don't have 'lunch' hanging down from their mouths. The antelopes don't look too concerned. One of them is even eating lunch, like the giraffes. As long as it's a different species being devoured by the lions, they don't care.
Better than average Jungle Cruise photos! Thanks, Major.
All the Veldt animals are thinking the same thing: "Lions are dangerous, but zebras are jerks, so it's kinda a wash..."
ReplyDeleteI’m mildly surprised to learn that the elephant bathing pool was added in 1972. It seems like it has been there always.
ReplyDeleteTo prove that I had some memory of the Park before 1964, I do remember laughing at the new Trapped Safari scene. So, knowing it was new means I had seen the JC before it was added. And I agree, Major, the new scene is an improvement on the Marc Davis original. Putting a cruise boat crew up the tree helps heighten the sense of peril for guests in a ride that has become more a series of jokes without risks, and it’s a great lead in to the next new scene of the half sunken boat, more danger!
I guess my point is that, for some reason, the Jungle Cruise milieu has been more adaptable to new scenes and changes in route etc. without feeling like it’s been heavily changed. I seem to feel personally insulted by the slightest change in Pirates or HM, but these JC amendments are fine, even improvements. Not sure why that is, but it’s how I see it…
Thanks for these pics today, Major. Unusually good for the JC.
JG
Yeah, either those four surviving zebras are the biggest jerks on the veldt, or the dead one was incredibly unpopular. Or both. "Sure, go ahead and eat Steve; none of us ever liked him anyway. Remember that Star Trek episode where one alien was black and white and the other one was white and black? Well, guess which one Steve was? That's right! Ever read Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery?'" And those giraffes aren't eating lunch. They're disguising themselves with leafy fake mustaches so they can deny being at the zebra execution if anybody asks about it later.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the cruise!
Thanks for the jungle cruise major. I am disappointed that I didn't see the back side of anyone's head that we're so accustomed to.
ReplyDeleteZach
JB, it is true that some of the animals are in odd poses or positions, but most people don’t think about it when passing in the boats. Some of the elephants are kind of hard to discern in the shadows, they look like rocks with trunks. I have heard that the one on the bank is from the World’s Fair, I guess I choose to believe it! I’m sure the exaggerated faces on the porters was done so they would “read” in a few seconds. Kind of like the faces of the characters in Pirates of the Caribbean or even the Haunted Mansion. I think you’re right, I don’t remember the giraffes having stuff in their mouths in many similar photos, maybe I’ll go back and check. Sure I will!
ReplyDeleteStu29573, I guess you can’t blame zebras for being jerks when so many other animals want to eat them. It’s hard to be chill about it.
JG, ugh, I am sure that is a typo, and that the Bathing Pool was added in 1962, not 1972. (Checking on Google, yes, it was 1962). I’d forgotten that there is a cruise boat near the “trapped safari”, or else I was too busy looking at TikTok. I agree, it does imply that WE are in just as much danger. I’m not crazy about all the Jungle Cruise changes, but understand why they are necessary. I was surprised to learn that the piranha attack had been removed, I always liked that!
Melissa, you didn’t consider that the dead zebra was the juiciest! Yum, so succulent. The others wore too much cologne. I loved that Star Trek episode! I’m sure some people found it “preachy”, but they can go to heck. Plus… Frank Gorshin! I did read “The Lottery”, I love the part where the main character wins and buys a mansion and a yacht. Maybe we are talking about different stories? Giraffes need to learn about how a bucket hat makes you totally unrecognizable.
zach, ha, good point! I have to give this photographer credit for having “headless” photos!
So, I just added The Lottery to my library For Later list. The giraffes remind me of how I eat spaghetti.
ReplyDeleteZach
I recall the change in 1972 being that our elephants began wearing their trunks for modesty....... ;) KS
ReplyDeletezach, in my younger years I learned to never get spaghetti on a date. Ditto ribs.
ReplyDeleteKS, I am just grateful that children do not have to see elephants without their trunks!
KS, I am just grateful that children do not have to see elephants without their trunks!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was studying to be a music teacher, there was this song we used to do that was full of such corny animal puns, a Jungle Cruise Skipper cringe would so hard they'd fall off the boat. Kindergarteners groaned. The first verse was all about elephants holding their trunks up when they go swimming so they won't fall down. Decades later, I still get it stuck in my head whenever I see a picture of the Jungle Cruise.
That boy lion is rocking an Elvis-worthy pompadour. I wonder how many cans of Aqua Net the Imagineers used?
I don't know how I forgot to check in to GDB late last night.....or rather, in the wee hours of the morning.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I don't generally think of the giraffes as chowing down while this horrendous homicidal scene was taking place. However, I believe in one of the Disneyland "Progress Reports" (which aired on TV before the park opened), Walt showed us the early giraffe mechanisms/animatronics of just the neck and the heads, and they were eating. Unless I am thinking of a later "Wonderful World of Color" episode, when giraffes were added to the attraction, but I seem to remember the footage being in black and white. Weren't there a couple giraffes in the Jungle Cruise when the attraction opened?
Thanks for the Jungle Cruise pics, Major!