The edition of ''The Daily Gnus'' from which many of these unused elements were info-dumped
The Jungle Cruise attraction's 2021 refurbishment came with an overabundance of character biographies and plot threads featured in extended materials and promotional-materials. Very few of these elements wound up being incorporated into the actual attraction nor its refurbishment and when they did, it was often delayed and used in minor details. In online-media, this trope is known as, "All There in the Manual", referring to lore elements and/or plot-threads not featured in the actual text of the work but only used in extended-materials or behind the scenes in ways inaccessible to the audience. Another related trope relevant to the attraction is the, "Advertised Extra" referring to new characters heavily featured in promotional materials only to make no appearances or minor appearances in the actual work.
2021 refurbishment[]
The 2021 refurbishment came with large amounts of infodumping and new characters and plot-threads centred around in promotional-materials.
- Alberta Falls: Alberta Falls was a central character used in promotional-materials for the refurbishment, being the biracial owner of the company to be central in an update which attempted to make the ride less racist. One notable piece of media was an in-universe newspaper interview for The Daily Gnus, going in detail into Alberta Falls' backstory and general biography. In the actual refurbishment, Alberta makes no actual appearance outside of her likeness appearing on portraits in the queue, some of which were recycled artwork from the Skipper Canteen and Daily Gnus. Alberta also is not given any direct plot agency in the ride's new story, only being connected to it via the extended-materials where she organized the missing Jungle Cruise tour off-screen, though this is not information provided in the attraction itself.
- Alberta also brought up various family-members of hers not featured in the attraction outside of a silhouette image of her father. Given the nature of fictional character biographies, these lack of character-integrations are more understandable.
- Disappearance of Dr. Albert Falls: In her aforementioned interview with the Daily Gnus, Alberta spent a paragraph talking about the mysterious disappearance of Jungle Navigation Company founder Dr. Albert Falls in addition to referencing him and his legacy throughout the newspaper. This disappearance was previously foreshadowed in the Skipper Canteen restaurant. and called into question in Club 33's, "Takeover Event" which tied into the Jungle Cruise's updated storyline. Once again, this is a plot-thread which is not referenced in the actual attraction nor part of its narrative outside of an obscured and near illegible post-card from Captain Mary Oceaneer specific to the queue of the Walt Disney World version of the ride.
- Kamaka the Kakapo: Kamaka was a new character created in the 2021 refurbishment, having been first mentioned by Alberta in her Daily Gnus interview where she provided the bird's origin, correlating with imagineers working on the refurbishment posting artwork of cartoon kakapos with descriptions of their personalities. Kamaka does not appear in the attraction or its queue, only making blink-and-you-miss-it easter-egg appearances with an empty cage in the Indian boathouse having green feathers and being snuck into the corner of a mural advertising the Jungle Navigation Company.
- Myrmecoleon: Myrmecoleon or, "Ant-Lions" are mythical creatures originating from medieval-bestiaries. The new character Dr. Kon Chunosuke was identified as an entomologist who came to Adventureland to study the animals. The ant-lions are not referenced nor shown anywhere in the attraction and instead, more giant butterflies from the Amazon rainforest scenes are shown.
- Tarzan: Some posters for the Jungle Cruise's refurbishment featured the character Tarzan from the 1999 Disney film Tarzan, hiding behind an unsuspecting explorer. Neither the character nor story of Tarzan integrated into the attraction outside of easter-eggs which pre-dated the refurbishment.
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