The Chimpanzees are a group of characters in the Jungle Cruise.
Description[]
These chimpanzees inhabited a primate-refuge along the Nile and/or Zambezi river of Africa.
Members[]
- Annette: A chimp who was spotted playing with the butterfly net of Dr. Kon Chunosuke.
- Maggie: A chimp spotted using the magnifying glass of Dr. Chunosuke.
History[]
Background[]
The chimps are inhabitants of a riverside primate-refuge. Around 1891, their presence was documented by Dr. Albert Falls who noted them as hesitant to engage with the human world. At some point following 1916, Jungle Navigation Company boatsman Frank Wolff travelled to, "Chimp Country" during an expedition to map a new route along the Rivers of Adventure.
Around 1935/1936, a boat called the Mekong Maiden was lost on rapids near their vicinity, causing the chimps to overtake it. In 1938, the chimps also hijacked the Kwango Kate following it getting damaged by the nearby Hippo Pool, marooning its passengers in the African Veldt. These piratical chimpanzees were happened upon by at-least one skipper from the Jungle Navigation Company's Amazon River Base before the Kate sank into the Hippo Pool. Another skipper from the company's boathouse in the Lost Delta of India would happen upon the chimps aboard the Mekong Maiden.
Development history[]
The chimpanzees were added to the Jungle Cruise in a 2021 refurbishment to replace the headhunter tribe from the same area of the attraction. The boats which they play with are based on real-life Jungle Cruise boats which were decommissioned by Disney. The gag appears to be copied from Marc Davis' gorilla raiders which the 2021 refurbishment also copied for the controversial Trader Sam's Gift Shop!; with the scene also being more comedy focused than an intense and threatening point in the story. Both the Mekong Maiden and Kwango Kate are boats from the Jungle Cruise attraction which were decommissioned.
Appearances[]
Jungle Cruise[]
The chimpanzees appear in the Africa segment of the attraction. In Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, Nigel Greenwater mentions Reverend Goff of the Jungle Mission leaving for Holland with two chimpanzees and a lion cub.
Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions[]
In the queue is an image of two chimps in a display case labelled, "Friends of the Jungle".[1]
Skipper Canteen[]
In 2023, an illustration of the chimps on the Kate was added to the menus of the Skipper Canteen.[2]
Skipper Society[]
The chimps appear in the design of the Ems Empress drink.
Other connections[]
Jungle Cruise (film)[]
In Disneyland, the chimps have a map of the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise made by Frank Wolff in their possession. In the Magic Kingdom, they have a map of Disneyland's Jungle Cruise made by Dr. Albert Falls.
Trivia[]
- The chimps are nearly identical to the animatronic of, "Cheeta" the chimp from the defunct attraction The Great Movie Ride. It is possible that their figures were recycled in some form. [3]
- In Disneyland, one of the chimps is holding a magnifying-glass in a way to reference the skeletal captain of The Wicked Wench from Pirates of the Caribbean. This as chosen as Disneyland imagineers did not want to use the gross-out humour gag planned for the Magic Kingdom where the chimpanzees would be shown shoving butterflies into their mouth.
- The character of Merlin Jones referenced in the Jungle Cruise had a lab chimp named Stanley.
- Skippers will sometimes make jokes which passive-aggressively make fun of how the imagineers of the 2021 refurbishment just copied the gorilla camp scene for the chimpanzees.
Gallery[]
