The pygmy tribe is an unseen group of characters from the Jungle Cruise.
Description[]
This was a tribe of diminutive Indigenous Africans who inhabited the Congo basin of Africa. They made their base in a camp along the Congo river where they had a watch-tower and several war canoes.
History[]
Background[]
During the 1930s, this tribe was apparently allied with the Jungle Navigation Company. They allowed JNC skippers to stop at their camp on their routes through the Congo.
Development history[]
Creation & Changes[]
The tribe is a group of unseen characters from the removed Pygmy camp scene. The camp was absent leading to the skipper finding a giant python nearby the camp. References to the characters was removed in 2021 due to the racism embedded in the scene which was replaced with the campy humoured shop, "Boats & Baits".
Racism[]
The term pygmy is a pejorative term given to Indigenous tribes of the Congo by European colonists. This term refers to a creature from Greek pseudo-scientific texts claimed to be an inhuman race of dwarfs who live outside of Greece.
While the removal of the stereotypes tribe was generally well received, the execution of it was controversial. Namely were claims of the altered attraction adhering to a form of white settler propaganda known as Terra nullius which is historically used to portray Indigenous territories in jungle region as open for colonization due to being allegedly devoid of civilization. This implication was likewise enhanced due to the same refurbishment romanticizing several characters emblematic of white colonial figures including Dr. Albert Falls and the Society of Explorers and Adventurers.
Appearances[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Albert Awol mentions one of their used war-canoes being a prize in the, "Name the croc" contest. Following the event's cancellation, Awol says, " For sale: late-model war canoe. Hand-carved wood interior. Dual paddled and naturally air-conditioned. Interested parties should respond through the grapevine".
Trivia[]
- The figureheads on the tribe's boats were in the likeness of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.
- The camp scene has been compared to Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness (1899).[1]