Jungle Cruise Wiki
Jungle Cruise Wiki
Advertisement

Annette Joanne Funicello (1942-2013) was an actress and singer in addition to being a former child-star who worked on the original Mickey Mouse Club. She is affiliated with the, "Beach Party" film trend and Polynesian exoticism of the mid 20th century, a trend connected to the development of Adventureland.

History[]

Biography[]

Annette Funicello was a popular singer and actress around the mid 20th century. In 1960, she released a popular album titled, "Hawaiiannette" which contained the song, "Pineapple Princess". Around the 1960s-1980s, she is implied to have been a patron of the Grog Grotto bar in the Great Ceremonial House of a Polynesian Village, run by one Trader Sam who was a fan of her music. Here, she would have been tossed into the sea on at-least one occasion resulting in Trader Sam making the bar's second house-rule, "Never throw Annette into the sea".

Jungle Cruise appearances[]

Trader Sam's[]

Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]

Sam has a sleeve for Hawaiiannette (1960) on display in his bar's cabinet.[1]

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto[]

Rule 2 of Trader Sam's Grog Grotto is, "Never throw Annette into the sea", implicating Annette as having been a customer of Sam's bar.

Tropical Hideaway[]

Rosita references Annette in her spiel, saying she feels like, "A Pineapple Princess perched on a net". This alludes to Anette's 1960 song Pineapple Princess though the reference might be anachronistic given the 1936/1938 setting which Disneyland's Adventureland uses.

Other connections[]

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort[]

In a cabinet of Polynesian gimmicked memorabilia is a cover for Hawaiiannette next to artwork of the Enchanted Tiki Room.[2]

The Great Movie Ride[]

Annette's handprints from the May 1st of 1989 are outside of the Chinese Theatre.[3]

Other appearances[]

Annette's Diner[]

Annette is namesake of this retro-themed diner in Disneyland Paris.

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon[]

A poster for the fictional Beach Party film, "Bikini Beach Blanket Muscle Party Bingo" mentions having an actress named, " Annette Crocochello".[4]

Mickey's House[]

Annette appears as a child in a group photo of the Mickey Mouse Club, framed in Mickey's home.[5]

Muppet*Vision 3D[]

Annette is referenced in the queue for this attraction where the Muppets Studio in Hollywood contains, "A net full a' jello".[6]

Trivia[]

  • In the Jungle Cruise, Annette's frequent co-star Tommy Kirk is referenced in the Amazon River Base as, "Thomas Kirk, Esq.", a cartographer on the fictional island of Bora Danno.[7] He is referenced alongside his actor Merlin Jones from the film The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) which Annette acted in as Merlin's girlfriend Jennifer.
  • One of the chimpanzees is often nicknamed, "Annette" due to holding a butterfly-net.

References[]

Advertisement