Kejo the Silverback

Kejo the Silverback
First appearance	Jungle Cruise (attraction)
Attractions	Adventure Trading Company Jungle Cruise
Designer	Marc Davis
Biographical information
Affiliation	Gorilla raiders
Physical description
Species	Silverback gorilla
Gender	Male

Kejo the Silverback is the official name for a character from the Jungle Cruise.

History

Biography

Kejo was a silverback gorilla who lived in the Congo basin of Africa during the 1930s. Kejo was part of a troop of gorillas which often raided human camps and colonies. Around 1935/1936, the troop raided the camp of a visiting safari group and stole their supplies. Reporter Thompson J. Gazelle of the Daily Gnus newspaper reported on this, claiming them to be the, "Adventureland Gorilla Theatre Company". Gazelle particularly praised Kejo in what he interpreted to be a performance of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Around 1938, the gorillas frequently terrorized the Jungle Navigation Company. In one incident, they stole the company's movie projector, indefinitely postponing their movie night. During this time, they also ransacked a JNC campsite along the Congo river, stealing its supplies and flipping over a jeep. A JNC "Jungle Cruise" tour passed by this camp after planning to stop there for a refuel.

On a later incident, Kejo came into the possession of a crate from the US government's top secret Hangar 51, containing the powerful biblical artifact The Ark of the Covenant. This item was inadvertently left behind by world-famous archaeologist Indiana Jones and later found by the Jungle Navigation Company. Through unknown means, the crate was recovered and delivered back to Hangar 51.

Development history

Kejo's figure was designed by animator Marc Davis for an update of the Jungle Cruise in 1977/1978. Kejo originally appeared fighting with a crocodile. The audio-animatronic crocodile was removed early on, having possibly only appeared in testing. The crocodile was later replaced by a floating crate of bananas for the gorilla to swat at. Kejo received his name in the Adventure Trading Company interactive attraction of 2014, used to play-test for the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

Appearances

Adventure Trading Company

There was a photograph of Kejo in the Daily Gnus newspaper. He was mentioned in the attached article, "Is Hamlet much ado about nothing?".

Jungle Cruise

Kejo appears in Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, swatting at a floating crate on the river with bananas on it.

Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries

The US government crate containing the Ark of the Covenant was located next to Kejo in his apparent possession during this overlay.

Jingle Cruise

During this overlay, Kejo attempted to grab candy-canes.

Trivia

• Imagineer Chris Runco conceived a seemingly unused update the scene which would have shown the gorilla attempting to fish only for a crocodile to burst out of the water.

Gallery