The Jungle Book Cruise

[Thumper&Bambi]

(I apologize in advance if this thought, idea, NIGHTMARE had been brought up before)

My wife and 3 year old son spent Wed & Thurs at Disneyland (which was pretty crowded for mid week in January) and while we were on the Jungle Cruise I had this horrible thought: Since Disney has had no problem adding Jack Sparrow to our favorite Pirate's ride (and Tom Sawyer's Island) and adding Toy Story characters to It's A Small World, what's to stop them from turning The Jungle Cruise into The Jungle Book Cruise? I can see it now, Mowgli over here, Baloo over there, Kaa hanging from a branch. All in the name of regenerating interest in an old classic movie. Plus, getting slammed with Jungle Book merchandise as soon as you're escorted off the boat.
Sounds crazy, but Disney has shown they don't really care about messing with a classic attraction.

[Stitch626626]

I actually have no problem with them throwing in a few nodes to the film. It's really the only place I see the Jungle Book ever getting utilized in the park and a tiger is a tiger. They could just replace one of a tiger with a more animated-looking one that looks similar to Shere Khan. Or maybe put a King Louie animatronic in the temple. As long as they don't turn it into an outdoor darkride, i wouldn't really mind seeing a few changes like that being made. They don't even have to talk!

Of course, I may be alone on this.

[worldofcolor80]

^^ I agree. Keep moving forward with new stuff. I wasn't happy about small world but it grew on me - now its like a game finding them mixed in with all the regular IASW kids.

TJB is a classic movie and a peferect addition to a classic ride.

[Acpisme]

I agree that the additions would be nice, but at this point they have no incentive to revamp the ride with them. Perhaps if they re-released the film in 3d as they are doing with Beauty and the Beast or perhaps a modern live action version. And it became very popular, like the Pirate films did, then I see them doing that. Just my opinion...

[ohmyjustin]

I'm actually not convinced they'll do this so soon. They might in the future, but with the Disneyland Resort commercial mentioning how famous it is and featuring lots of the animal-tronics, I can't see them investing money into changing the ride.

That being said, I have to say I wouldn't terribly mind some of the changes. I'd hate if there were cartoon-looking animatronics, but I think it'd be awesome if they had featured a few characters from the movie interacting together. They should keep the realism, but having a small nod to TJB wouldn't be bad.

[ttrocc7007]

A couple of years back they actually did something similar with Jungle Cruise by tying it into the then current Indiana Jones picture. Like they've done at Pirates, every couple of seconds the Skipper had to make another mention of "Dr. Indiana Jones." It was mighty annoying.

[clockworkmonkey]

I love The Jungle Book, so allow me to say...

NO FREAKIN' WAY.

Fun and silly as it is, there is still some sense (especially for kids) of going on an exotic adventure. Another movie tie-in would ruin that.

There are certainly plusses and additions that could be made to the JC, but I hope they keep them in the spirit the ride has been in for quite some time now.

[Circa1966]

Contrary to the other posts, I'm with you - that would suck. And I fear that your posting the thought here might mean it winds up in the head of some Imagineer looking for a fast promotion...

(I apologize in advance if this thought, idea, NIGHTMARE had been brought up before)

My wife and 3 year old son spent Wed & Thurs at Disneyland (which was pretty crowded for mid week in January) and while we were on the Jungle Cruise I had this horrible thought: Since Disney has had no problem adding Jack Sparrow to our favorite Pirate's ride (and Tom Sawyer's Island) and adding Toy Story characters to It's A Small World, what's to stop them from turning The Jungle Cruise into The Jungle Book Cruise? I can see it now, Mowgli over here, Baloo over there, Kaa hanging from a branch. All in the name of regenerating interest in an old classic movie. Plus, getting slammed with Jungle Book merchandise as soon as you're escorted off the boat.
Sounds crazy, but Disney has shown they don't really care about messing with a classic attraction.

[disneylandfan95]

This would be absolutely awful.

The Jungle Cruise beautifully achieves what I call "caricatured realism." The animals have a sense of Marc Davis whimsy and character against the realistic, weathered, and exotic backgrounds of Harper Goff.

Animated characters, no matter how subtle, would stand out in an awful way and completely destroy the delicate balance it holds between realistic and whimsical.

[Steve DeGaetano]

I wasn't happy about small world but it grew on me - now its like a game finding them mixed in with all the regular IASW kids.

This was actually one of the biggest criticisms of the SW additions--that they would take away from the original message of peace and harmony among the world's children and turn it into a game.

Of course, proponents of the changes said that would never happen...

[gomezaddams]

It is highly doubtful that any bastardization of the JC is going to happen anytime soon. John Lasseter's resume includes a stint as a JC skipper. If my memory serves me right, I remember reading an article about him and his fondness for that attraction. So don't expect the next JC refurb to include Jungle Book AA's.
With all that being said, it is an awful idea on its own. The highly stylistic Jungle Book animals would clash terribly with the realistic AA's that Disney has worked so hard to achieve. It would also circumvent the storyline of the attraction. Even more importantly, can you just imagine what the JC's skippers would say off script with that particular bit of subject matter at their disposal?

[Mr Wiggins]

This would be absolutely awful.

The Jungle Cruise beautifully achieves what I call "caricatured realism." The animals have a sense of Marc Davis whimsy and character against the realistic, weathered, and exotic backgrounds of Harper Goff.

Animated characters, no matter how subtle, would stand out in an awful way and completely destroy the delicate balance it holds between realistic and whimsical.

Very well said.

[Witches of Morva]

ORDDU: My sisters and I have often thought that the python they have in the Jungle Cruise already looks somewhat like Kaa.

ORWEN: It wouldn't bother me if the Jungle Cruise had characters from The Jungle Book. But we like Disney movies and the tie-in's with attractions--not the Tom Sawyer Island type where they try to merge Pirates with the American Frontier. But The Jungle Book would actually fit with The Jungle Cruise. Maybe they could add Tarzan and Lion King characters while they're at it!

[disneylandfan95]

But The Jungle Book would actually fit with The Jungle Cruise.

No, it doesn't, as I pointed out in my earlier post.

[techskip]

To the topic at hand... no. In my short stints I watched 3 different attempts to conform the JC to a then current movie release. With "The Lion King" WDI learned that handing Skips a box of stuffed Simbas and saying "go hide these in the Jungle" is a bad idea. I STILL smile when old friends say "Search for Simba". The next attempt was George of the Jungle. That one ended with the manager holding his box on the way out. Tarzan was interesting because they selected scenes from Jungle to be in the movie. There was talk of bringing the characters to the river but in the end the sacrifice was the treehouse instead.

every couple of seconds the Skipper had to make another mention of "Dr. Indiana Jones."

Disney made a scavenger hunt out of Adventureland. Guests were supposed to mark a special map with the answers. They also gave the Skips cheesy lines about Dr Jones and Indy.

I had a few friends still on the dock who complained that they couldn't think of anything to say. So I gave them facts about Indiana, Indy Cars, Independent Films, the surname Jones, and an interesting story about how an umbrella doesn't make a rhino sleepy. I know at least one Skip who got in trouble for going off script, his manager couldn't stop laughing about that rhino story. Somehow my name came up but by that time I had already left company. Cheers