Monday, December 17, 2018

The Fabulous Jungle Cruise, November 1958

It's a strange thing to go through a batch of old Disneyland slides and discover a group taken aboard the Jungle Cruise. I love the ride, but it is always a disappointment to find that the photographer used up 8 or 9 precious frames on it. It's hard to explain!

Anyway, maybe it's fun to pretend that we're on the boat with these 1958 humans, some who have come from as far as Duarte, or even Camarillo. They have such strange customs, and boy do they talk funny! 

In those early days (before the "African Veldt" scene was added) you'd see non-jungle critters deep in the rain forest. Lions, rhinos, giraffes, and even crunchy zebras like the one sleeping on shore. Those lions are trying to wake him up, but ol' Z had himself quite a night, if you know what I'm saying. Will he have a headache? You bet!


Now this is more like it - a scene that I don't have 320 pictures of already! I only have 10 or so showing this mysterious, abandoned shrine - evidence of a lost civilization. Why did they leave? Maybe because of the giant freakin' spiders, like that one that built a web right where you have to walk through it. Is there anything more yucky than walking through a spider web? Not that I can think of. The mere idea gives me the heebie-jeebies!


9 comments:

K. Martinez said...

If you listen real closely to the second pic you can hear a tiny little voice in distress "please, help me! help me! help meeeeeeee!"

Nice Jungle Cruise pics. Thanks, Major.

Nanook said...

@ Ken-

Just pretend you're Herbert Marshall out to perform your good deed for the day-! (No need for the 'heebie-jeebies').

Melissa said...

I think the nice lion is giving the zebra a bath, just like a mama kitty.

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, I hear so many tiny voices (!), but I almost think I can hear that particular tiny voice. I know these are kind of dull pix, but hey, they can't all be Pulitzer prizewinners.

Nanook, you know you're in trouble when you see Herbert Marshall with a rock.

Melissa, i'll bet that big lion tongue really tickles!

JC Shannon said...

Good times on the Jungle Cruise. I think so many photos are taken on the JC because "No one at home is going to believe this if I don't snap a few photos." A tribute to the Imagineers, for sure. Like the Mine Train, you are immersed in a world of illusion and a picture says it all.
I always suspected Zebras were crunchy. Thanks Major.

Anonymous said...

This is a fine example of the difficulty of taking coherent pictures on the Jungle Cruise.

The commentary is worth the price of admission.

Thanks Major.

JG

Chuck said...

I think the builders of that ancient civilization up and left after they got tired of another boat coming through their place of worship every 90 seconds.

JG, you're right about the quality of the commentary. I may not always have something to say, but I don't mind soaking it all in, sort of like a fly on the wall.

Major Pepperidge said...

Jonathan, you could be right, the old Jungle Cruise must have been quite a wonder back before everyone knew every inch of the ride and had memorized every corny joke. The Mine Train definitely had humor, but it seems like it wasn’t quite as over the top - perhaps that would have changed if it was still around today.

JG, as much as I liked the striped awnings, I have to admit that the more open-air boats afford a much better view.

Chuck, the constant line of boats might get old, but think of the marketing potential! And like you, I often enjoy reading the commentary, even if I don’t personally have much to add.

Anonymous said...

Major, the Indiana Jones re-theming of the JC is one of the best updates in Disneyland. The whole thing just "feels right" and is better than the original IMHO.

JG