Dr. Albert Falls, Sr. is a character from the Jungle Cruise attraction who is referenced as a character in the Jungle Cruise film.
History[]
Biography[]
Early adventures[]
Albert Falls was an English explorer and riverboat captain in the 19th century. By the 1880s, Falls became a member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, an aristocratic guild of colonial globetrotters. Within the society, Dr. Falls considered wealthy British colonizer Lord Henry Mystic to be a dear friend.[1] Albert would marry a fellow adventurer named Victoria Marie Falls and together they had a son named Albert Falls Jr..
On the June 5 of 1888, Dr. Falls discovered a series of flooded Cambodian ruins in the Mekong river of Cambodia left by the Khmer Empire. This discovery was made official by senior S.E.A. member Sango Shio.[2] At some point in the Victorian era, Falls made his original headquarters from a boathouse in the Lost Delta region of India. This boathouse was built near an intersection in the river which could access the,"Jungle Rivers of Adventureland", paranormal waters which could access rivers from across the globe.
Mapping the Rivers of Adventure[]
Around the late July of 1891, Dr. Falls went on a 13-day expedition to map the mystical, "Jungle Rivers of Adventureland". Prior to embarking for this journey, he went shopping for provisions from local vendors in the Lost Delta. While leaving in the Delta in the first couple days of his expedition, he found the long-lost Temple of the Forbidden Eye which he pended university approval to excavate with no apparent success.
Around the third/fourth day of his expedition, Falls passed by an ancient Khmer shrine along the Irrawaddy River in Burma, resembling the Cambodian shrine he found years earlier. On the fourth day, he documented a secret Indian elephant bathing pool in Cambodia located behind said Cambodian shrine which connected to a passage to India's Ganges River.
Doctor Falls navigated his way to the Congo Basin of Africa where he was faced with rough waters. On the seventh day of his journey, Falls mapped Schweitzer Falls which he named for himself. From the 8th-10th days he documented the region around the African veldt along the Nile river in North Africa (either in Sudan or Egypt). Falls observed a wide degree of wildlife here, including hippos of a dangerous Hippo Pool he had to quickly pass through. After this, he passed by a nearby primate refuge filled with reclusive chimpanzees before using the Rivers of Adventure to access the Zambezi River and pass under Schweitzer Falls.
Using the Rivers of Adventure, Falls made passage for the Amazon rainforest. While in the Amazon, he documented petroglyphs of piranhas and took part in fishing for the creatures at the end of the seasonal rapids on the 13th day of his journey. After this, Falls returned to the Lost Delta's boathouse with his many new findings.
On the August 12 of 1891, Senior S.E.A. member and photographer Luana Teixeira made his most famous discovery in the form of Schweitzer Falls official. Schweitzer Falls would be deemed, "The 8th wonder of the world", largely due to it holding, "The Backside of Water". The falls were however part of the territory of the Umbala tribe who took to the practice of headhunting to ward off the colonists who claimed Schweitzer Falls.
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In 1903, Dr. Falls traversed the Mbei river of Gabon. This expedition was later commemorated by the Society of Explorers and Adventurers at one of their riverside bases in the Polynesian isles. Also in 1903, Falls became affiliated with the Adventure Trading Company whom granted him with an, "Elephant Juju" for his expert tracking abilities. This juju was modelled after stone artwork of elephants found in the Cambodian ruins that Falls had discovered in 1888.
On the April 8th of 1911, Dr. Falls founded the Jungle Navigation Company to transport cargo and passengers throughout the world's jungles. The boathouse from which Falls launched his 13-day expedition became the Jungle Navigation Company's original headquarters. This same year, Albert's son Albert had a daughter named Alberta, making Albert and Victoria grandparents. While Dr. Albert officially ran the JNC, it was often headed by Victoria while Albert was off adventuring. Also in 1911, a portrait was made of Dr. Falls in a boat passing Schweitzer Falls by painter Joseph Warren.
Search for the Tears of the Moon[]
Prior to 1916, Dr. Albert Falls was member of the Royal Anthropological and Diverse Adventures Society, a misogynistic British imperial society. From this society, Dr. Albert Falls lead an expedition in the Amazon rainforest to try and find the mythical, "Tears of the Moon" tree which could cure all maladies. Possibly connected to this event was Frank Wolff, secretly a cursed conquistador bound to the Amazon rainforest as punishment the crimes of his superior Lope de Aguirre. Frank acted as an employee for the Jungle Navigation Company in Porto Velho along the Amazon river where he ran a charlatan Jungle Cruise attraction aboard his boat, La Quila.
Falls' expedition was unsuccessful though he did claim a sacred arrowhead from the peaceful Indigenous Puka Michuna tribe and return it to the Royal anthropological society, believing it to be the key to locating the tree. In 1916 during World War I, the society and high-ranking member Sir James Hobbs-Coddington planned on selling this arrowhead to the the mad Prince Joachim of the German Empire though it was stolen by outcast adventurer Lily Houghton before they had the chance.
Later adventures[]
At some point after 1916, a freed Frank Wolff gifted Dr. Albert Falls with a map of different routes in the Rivers of Adventure with the words, " To Albert, Here's to many more adventures of a life-time- F.W.". This map would be passed on in the Falls family and apparently connected to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers.
At some point, Albert and Victoria made the JNC's headquarters in their jungle mansion which also held a secret meeting-place for the S.E.A.. In 1919, an eight-year-old Alberta was sent to live with Dr. Albert and Victoria while her father was making a lecture-circuit. Alberta fell in-love with the jungle and wished to never leave it with her parents obliging and letting Dr. Albert and Victoria raise the girl. Albert and Alberta often went on adventures together with Albert having taken her to New Zealand where she adopted a pet kakapo named Kamaka and another journey to Mystic Point, a colony in Papua New Guinea made by fellow S.E.A. member Lord Henry Mystic.
On the August 19 of 1921, Albert was awarded with the, "Hightower Spirit of Adventure Award" by fellow S.E.A. member Captain Mary Oceaneer. This award was named for the evil Harrison Hightower III who was a S.E.A. member active in the 19th century before being killed by the African god Shiriki Utundu as punishment for his crimes. On the March 6 of 1928, Falls was declared businessman of the year by acting president Samuel Taylor III of the Adventureland Chamber of Commerce.[3][4] At an unknown point in time, Doctor Falls had an address near the Bay of Bengal. Falls also wrote several books including, "A Small Village With A Large Heart" and "Rockefeller, Hippo, Pet, Family", the latter implied a connection to the family of infamous business tycoon, John D. Rockefeller.
Disappearance[]
In the year 1928, Dr. Albert Falls mysteriously disappeared. While the events of his disappearance are unknown, he was later declared dead with Alberta succeeding him as president of the JNC. The Falls family launched a search for the doctor which lasted for at-least a decade to unknown avail. The Society of Explorers and Adventurers worked with the Falls family on this quest, with Captain Mary Oceaneer seemingly leading the search by 1938.[5] It is believed (with room for some doubt) that Albert actually survived and lived into the 1940s under mysterious circumstances.
Development history[]
Creation[]
Dr. Albert Falls was created by Jungle Cruise cast-members as a one-off joke. In the original incarnation of the Jungle Cruise, Schweitzer Falls were named for the historic theologist and physician Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) .[6] The line often came with the phrasing, "Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who has done so much for the people of Africa", implying it was the Indigenous population who named the falls for the doctor.
When the Jungle Cruise shifted to an improvised comedic tone, cast-members subverted the joke by claiming that the falls were named instead for, "Dr. Albert Falls". In the 1990s, the Albert Falls gag was made part of the Jungle Cruise's official script. In 2015, Falls was reimagined as an actual character in the park's backstory for the Skipper Canteen. Unlike Schweitzer who was implied to have been simply namesake for the Falls due to assisting the people of Africa, Falls was characterized as a colonial British explorer influenced by real-world colonizers from Europe's subjugation of Africa and who was characterized as having claimed the African Falls from the native population and named them for himself.
Dr. Falls takes many influences from Dr. Schweitzer such as baring the same moustache. The Tropical Hideaway references Falls having gone on a 1903 mission to Gabon, mirroring how Schweitzer opened the Principal of the Theological College in the same year in-addition to Schweitzer's connections to Gabon. However, Albert Schweitzer was a 20th century Alsatian philosopher and physician who worked for peace and civil-rights while Dr. Albert Falls was a 19th century British colonizer and capitalist who established colonial powers in British occupied regions.
Controversy & colonialism[]
Falls' character is emblematic of several revisionist-history elements, fitting in the Jungle Cruise's long and notorious history for stereotyping and glamorized depictions of colonialism. He steals land in the region where he constructs his mansion, company bases, and the headhunter territory where he claimed, "Schweitzer Falls" and named it after himself. This is sometimes justified with the, "White saviour" trope and Terra Nullius myth of stolen land having been uninhabited prior to its theft which are highly anti-historic and frequently used for pro-colonial propaganda. Falls is also often shown wearing a pith helmet, an icon of colonialism while being a member of the textually sexist and antagonistic Royal Anthropological and Diverse Adventures Society and colonial Society of Explorers and Adventurers which includes many actively villainous members. Falls is also seemingly influenced by the real-life Sir Morton Stanley, a Victorian explorer who named the Indigenous feature of Boyoma Falls after himself and who aided the tyrant King Leopold II in taking-over and committing atrocities in the Congo.
Appearances[]
Attractions[]
Adventure Trading Company[]
Dr. Falls was mentioned by Priyanka Manhas in The Daily Gnus newspaper as having been given an Elephant Juju for his tracking-skills in 1903.
Bengal Barbecue[]
In this restaurant is a photograph showing the characters of Charlie Allnut and Rose Sayer from the film The African Queen (1951) riding the Zambezi Miss past the African veldt on the Nile River. On the pair's boat is a portrait of Dr. Albert Falls.
Club 33[]
In the menus for this restaurant during the Tiki Takeover event were tickets belonging to several Jungle Cruise tickets. One as a 1940 train-ticket from the Missouri Pacific Railway from Chicago to Anaheim belonging to Albert Falls.[7] While presumably (and most likely) referring to Dr. Falls, it might be worth noting that the tickets did not distinguish a doctorate or, "Sr."/"Jr." meaning it is possible for the tickets to belong to Albert, Jr..
Jungle Cruise[]
Dr. Albert Falls is referenced by skippers while passing Schweitzer Falls. The Daily Gnus newspaper released in 2021 for refurbishments had Alberta speak on her relationship with her grandfather.[8] Annotated maps created by Dr. Falls and assembled by Alberta are visible in the queue and aboard the Mekong Maiden. In Alberta's Lost Delta office, the doctor's fez and silhouette are in her possession.[9] In her Amazon office is a crate labelled, "A. Falls Botanical Expedition", and overtop its entrance is a sign reading, "Albert Falls" which she added an, "A" to, to spell her own name. In the Walt Disney World version of the attraction is a crate labelled, "A. Falls Botanical Expedition", a crate addressed to, "Dr. A. Falls near Bengal Bay" and a map gifted to the doctor by Frank Wolff.
Magic of Disney Animation[]
In Minnie Mouse's dressing room is a poster for a film titled, "The Jungle Cruise" starring herself and Mickey Mouse (while imitating the film The African Queen that inspired the attraction). On the poster, Trader Sam can be seen next to a crate labelled, "Dr. Albert Falls" which has two skulls resting on it. The Jungle Navigation Company and various skippers are also mentioned in the credits as having assisted in production.[10]
Skipper Canteen[]
There are many allusions to Dr. Albert Falls throughout the Skipper Canteen. Objects belonging to him appear in the Falls family parlour along with a portrait of him. In the library are several of his books including, "A Small Village With A Large Heart" and "Rockefeller, Hippo, Pet, Family". In the entrance to the S.E.A. meeting hall is a fez with his name underneath of it. Additionally in the Mess Hall is a series of plaques for the, "Doctor Albert Falls Memorial Award for Jungle Excellence".[11]
Trader Sam's[]
In both Trader Sam's bars, the description for the drink Schweitzer Falls as having been Dr. Falls' favourite drink.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
In Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar is a bronze-bust depicting the doctor, next to the genie's lamp from Aladdin (1992).[12]
Tropical Hideaway[]
An oar and plaque from the S.E.A. commemorating Falls' 1903 expedition on the Mbei river of Gabon is mounted in this restaurant.
Film[]
Jungle Cruise (film)[]
A spearhead labelled, "A. Falls" appears in the collection of an all men's science society. This artifact was recovered by Falls on an unsuccessful mission to locate the Tears of the Moon. The item is stolen by Lily Houghton who uses it to navigate her way to the Tears of the Moon.
Video-games[]
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures[]
Skipper Al B. Lost brings up the, "Famous explorer, Dr. Albert Falls" while passing this game's version of Schweitzer Falls.
Paraphernalia[]
Jungle Cruise Adventure Game[]
The obstacle cards for Schweitzer Falls, the Backside of Water and (erroneously) Inspiration Falls all make reference to Dr. Albert Falls, repeating jokes from the attraction.
Other appearances[]
Destination D[]
A live performed Dr. Albert Falls appeared as master-of-ceremonies for this event.[13]
Trivia[]
- A continuity-issue occurs in the Skipper Canteen and Adventure Trading Company as the Skipper Canteen states that Falls discovered Schweitzer Falls in 1903 while the Skipper Canteen states it occurred in 1891.
- The original portrait of Falls in the Skipper Canteen depicted a real-world New Jersey state governor.
- Dr. Albert Falls shares his surname with the character of Captain Rowan D. Falls from Phantom Manor. Like Dr. Albert, Rowan was a 19th century riverboat captain; here having been the captain of the Mark Twain Riverboat during the early-half of the 1800s. Rowan D. Falls was murdered prior to 1860 by serial-killer and Big Thunder Mining Company founder Henry Ravenswood after Rowan courted his daughter Mélanie.
- Lord Henry Mystic's reference on Dr. Falls' map is ironic as it says that Lord Mystic gave Dr. Falls the advice to, "Look but not touch" while exploring ancient ruins, while Lord Henry Mystic is a prolific collector of amorally acquired ancient artifacts.
- Falls having founded the Jungle Navigation Company in 1911 might be a tribute to imagineer Harper Goff who was born the same year.
- The Falls couple being named Victoria & Albert is likely a reference to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Gallery[]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/new-map-sits-at-the-entrance-to-the-queue-on-jungle-cruise-news-photo/1327854113
- ↑ https://jungleskipper.com/sea/members/dr-albert-falls#&gid=1&pid=certificate-of-offical-discovery-cambodian-shrine-dr-albert-falls-a1
- ↑ https://www.themouseforless.com/blog_world/vegetarian-review-skipper-canteen/
- ↑ https://www.themouseforless.com/blog_world/vegetarian-review-skipper-canteen/
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2021/08/29/jungle-cruise-changes-now-complete-at-magic-kingdom-photos-video/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU4LZcpl0pY
- ↑ https://jungleskipper.com/news/even-more-s.e.a.references-inside-club-33
- ↑ https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/03/jungle-cruise-adds-new-characters-mischievous-wildlife-and-skipper-humor-to-classic-attraction/
- ↑ https://www.buzzfeed.com/crystalro/jungle-cruise-disneyland-easter-eggs
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2013/09/27/new-minnie-mouse-meet-greet-at-disney-s-hollywood-studios-exudes-old-world-glamour-detailed-queue-a-delight-for-disney-fans/
- ↑ https://damouse.com/2015/12/16/da-mouse-first-taste-skipper-canteen-opens-at-magic-kingdoms-adventureland/#jp-carousel-36317
- ↑ https://jefflangedvd.com/2011/09/trader-sams-enchanted-tiki-bar-at-the-disneyland-hotel-tour-of-decorations-and-effects-photos-and-video/
- ↑ https://www.yesterland.com/destinationd2016.html