Jungle Cruise 1950s
Who's in the mood for some Snoozers™? Nobody is raising their hand, but I don't have anything else for you! Oh well, it's Snoozers for everyone.
Sometimes I feel guilty about relegating so many Jungle Cruise photos to the Sunday spot. It's nothing personal! It's just that a lot of sub-par photos were taken by guests - ranging from "too dark" to "bad composition" to "a big head is in the way". This particular photo is not terrible, but it doesn't show very much beyond a small part of the dock, and (the part I like) the mysterious jungle. You could easily get lost forever!
And (you knew it was going to happen), here's a hippo, surprisingly close to the boat. I don't remember them being this close, so I assume that at some point they were moved back a bit - I wouldn't be surprised if some guests tried to touch the hippo's nose.
16 comments:
If the hippos were that close to the boats today, we'd be able to stick churros in their noses.
#1: I think I see Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn aboard the African Queen floating through that mass of steaming jungle. I can hear the ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk of the boat's engine.
#2: Looking at this hippo, I can definitely see why they're called "river horse". This one looks particularly horsey. Our family went to Disneyland in 1957. I was only four. I screamed and cried throughout the entire ride. Mind you, this was before the Skippers did their jokey spiel. He was constantly shouting, "Look out! That hippo's coming right at us! [BANG! BANG!]". Also, animatronic figures were a new thing then; nobody had heard of them, or seen them, before. Did I mention I was four?... and near-sighted (with no glasses yet)?
Tokyo!, after we stick churros in their noses we can set the churros on fire and use them as road flares to navigate the River at night.
Thanks for stirring up traumatic memories, Major. ;-)
It's Christmas time and I can hear Gayla Peevey singing.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjPm0o04lGE
Ken, Gayla looked a little bit like a young Baby Jane Hudson. I wonder if she also wanted an ice cream?
TM! Brilliant marketing idea that will make millions! Sell the churros in fun holders...like they do with popcorn. Hippo nostril churro holders...HM gargoyle churro holders, and more. I can see them on eBay, now.
Sue
Hippo Nostrils > Matterhorn Nostrils.
Also, hippos are dangerous if their ears are wiggling. You can see the blur in the photo.
No word on what it means if the Matterhorn’s ears wiggle.
I remember a visit with my Grandfather, he was convinced (at first) that the critters were real animals.
Sue, not so loud, they will hear you and start selling those. Collect the whole set.
Major, thanks for these early JC pics.
JG
TokyoMagic!, now I want to see a hippo with a churro in each nostril. This is what Disney means by “wishes”.
JB, hey, that would make a good movie, it’s too bad Bogart and Hepburn never made one like that! Hippos really are known as “river horses”, and amazingly, churros are known as “river carrots”, which makes total sense now that I think about it. Why would your skipper say “Bang! Bang!”? Did he suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome? The poor fellow.
K. Martinez, can you believe that I only heard that song for the first time a few years ago? It was used in a commercial of some kind. You get an award for knowing the singer’s name!
TokyoMagic!, Gayla reminds me of Nelly from “Little House”, but I see the Baby Jane resemblance too. Gayla wanted Frogurt.
Sue, I hate to admit it, but that’s actually a pretty great idea! Especially the HM gargoyles, they’d sell out in minutes. Don’t give your merchandise ideas to Disney for free!
JG, when I got old enough to think about such things, I liked that they bothered to put in the mechanism to make the hippos ears wiggle. They probably used little actuators from the Mercury program. While some of the animals in the Jungle Cruise look plastic, those hippos do look pretty real, I don’t blame your grandpa. And I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve seen the elephant “bathing” under the waterfall presented as a photo of a real elephant on more than one occasion.
@ Ken/Major-
I think I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas was among my first Xmas 45's when I started collecting records, in earnest, in the 1980's. (Logic dictates that should've put the brakes on any future record collecting, but no. Good thing, as I would've never discovered Santa's Too Fat for the Hula Hoop, by The Pixies with Thurl Ravenscroft as Santa Claus-!, from October, 1958 CHECK THIS OUT
Now, as long as you're in the mood, why not watch Gayla in December, 1953, when she was 10, performing the song on The Toast of the Town - the precursor to The Ed Sullivan Show - LOOK HERE.
Needless to say, her name has been seared into that portion of my brain which contains all the trivia involving records, labels, songs, artists, etc., so I'm really well-acquainted with Ms. Gayla.
... churros are known as “river carrots”. Major, I know there's a connection in there somewhere with getting kids who 'don't like the taste of carrots' to eat them, using a variation on this analogy...
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have Genie+ times to keep,
And Indy's next door in his Jeep.
Melissa : unfortunately Disney cannot legal call the Indy Ride Vehicles “JEEP” as that is a Brand trademark. Disney calls them “TROOP TRANSPORTS”. Unfortunately your use is a copyright violation and your will need to be charged a $34.00 fine onto your Genie + account . Once your payment is complete , you will feel a slight burning sensation at the base of your neck.
Thank you for being a part of the magic and we hope you make lots of memories as we continue telling stories both new and old! And to all our treasured guests ; “Disney has upped its standards so up yours”
****1;44 pm : unfortunately The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor is full taking orders today from guests who placed their ice cream orders for today at 9:30 am. Please use the Genie Mobil AP in the future or you really won’t be welcomed in Disneyland anymore.
NO...they were just out of arm's reach. Keep thinking of the days with the real .38s and blanks. Nowadays someone would likely put an actual round in the chamber on their last day of work. Funny how we had a lot of antics on the JC, like even throwing in our Foreman into the river by the dancing natives. But there was a line somewhere that wasn't to be crossed. KS
What, we're not allowed to shoot hippies on the Jungle Cruise anymore? Damn political correctness is out of control!
Mike, I should not have been drinking ginger ale when I read that comment!
@ Melissa-
I'm fairly certain Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening was the poem Billy Sammeth and I took turns reciting [from memory] one afternoon in the auditorium of Brentwood Elementary School, in front of an audience consisting of the Mothers' of our 6th grade class. And who knew, lo these many decades later, the poem would somehow become linked with Genie+. I'm uncertain if Robert Frost was still with us if he'd be cheering or heaving. Unquestionably, though, he'd be approving of Melissa's brilliant adaptation-!
Nanook, I got so excited when I saw you list “Santa’s Too Fat for the Hula Hoop” by The Pixies with Thurl Ravenscroft. THE PIXIES?? Oh, not those Pixies. Collecting old records would be a fun hobby, but I just don’t have the room. As it is I am owned by my hobbies. And yes, there IS a connection with getting kids to eat carrots if they “don’t like the taste”!!
Melissa, there’s nothing like having your life run by a phone app! Maybe that’s the plot of the next Indy movie.
Mike Cozart, funny, I almost wonder if they could use the word “jeep”, not capitalized? It’s not the brand, it’s the historical vehicle. But I know that they would be getting themselves into some dumb lawsuit if they even tried that. If an Indy movie used a 1930s Mercedes, would that mean that Mercedes Benz would show up with their hands out? Where does it end? “Indy ate a Hershey bar, uh oh”. Again, I realize that they do have to be careful with such things. I’m happy to say that I did not use Genie+ at all during my last visit, and things went fine. Maybe I just got lucky.
KS, there’s a vintage postcard where you can see a kid in the back of a Jungle Cruise boat reaching out to try to touch a hippo, and it looks like he is getting darn close! I’m assuming that they have been moved a bit further from the boats these days. Throwing your foreman into the river!! What the!
Melissa, I don’t think you’ll see too many hippies at the park anymore. I miss them.
Nanook, this is all too literary for me. I like cartoons.
Major-
NO, not those Pixies. More like, From Judy Steinfeldt..."I was 1/2 of the Pixies... "We were two, junior high girls who loved to sing. I was the soprano. An entertainment lawyer heard us and started the ball rolling. We auditioned with a song we had written, "My Johnny". That was actually our first record. Our second record is the Santa record and originally was recorded without Thurl. We did all of the vocals. At one point the studio added him, which was brilliant. Santa came out the same Christmas as the Chipmunks". That would be The Chipmunk Song.
TokyoMagic!, there's definitely a Baby Jane Hudson vibe to Gayla. I wonder if she wrote dear daddy a letter.
Nanook, thanks for the new track for Christmas. Have never heard of "Santa's Too Fat for the Hula Hoop" before. All good stuff.
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