Rosita is a character from Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room who is featured in the Jungle Cruise and Jungle Cruise attractions. She is an audio-animatronic character who is voiced Yeni Alvarez. She also appears in the Jungle Cruise film, portrayed by a bird named Lover.
History[]
Biography[]
Origins[]
Rosita was a white-cockatoo during the latter-end of the 19th century. She might have been capable of human-level intelligence and human-speech due to the magics of the Maori gods. By 1880, Rosita is referenced as having come into the ownership of the evil Big Thunder Mining Company, a business which stole land and extorted gold from Big Thunder Mountain in Arizona. Rosita was used as a mine-canary at the headquarters under the greedy businessman Barnabas T. Bullion though she left this role under unknown circumstances.
Jungle Cruise[]
By 1916, Rosita became the pet cockatoo of the sinister harbourmaster Nilo Nemolato in Porto Velho, Brazil where he ran the successful boating business Nilo's River Adventure. At this point, Rosita seemingly had the sentience and intelligence levels of a common bird, possibly due to being separated from the Enchanted Tiki Room's magics, having not developed them yet/been exposed to the Tiki Room in the timeline, or actively disguising her intelligence. She was kept in the cantina headquarters of Nilo's River Adventure on her own mobile in Nilo's office.
In 1916, her master attempted to repossess the boat La Quila from boatsman Frank Wolff of the Jungle Navigation Company whom owed him money with Rosita repeating the words, "Frank owes me money" at the skipper. Frank would break into Nilo's office where he searched for his belongings, reposessed by the Italian. When encountered by Nilo's River Adventure client Lily Houghton, Frank pretended to be Nemolato with Rosita referring to him as, "Frank Owes Me Money". Following this, Frank covered up Rosita's mobile with a coat to keep her quiet.
After this, Frank managed to escape along with the business of Lily Houghton and her brother MacGregor Houghton before Nilo and Rosita's boathouse was destroyed by the Houghtons' rival, Prince Joachim in a U-boat submarine. Frank later returned to Porto Velho and left the now nearly destroyed La Quila with Nemolato to satisfy his debt to the Italian.
Showgirl Career[]
By the 1930s, Rosita was explicitly capable of sentience and human speech and had contacts as far away as the Lost River Delta of Cusco, Peru. During this time, she was working as one of the showgirl birds in the musical revue of the Enchanted Tiki Room, a Polynesian structure blessed by the Maori gods. At some point, Rosita also befriended the ancient Indigenous barterer called, "Trader Sam" whom she taught a margarita recipe.
By around 1936, Rosita had fled the Tiki Room to become a performing solo act in comedy and musical performance. Many contacts of Rosita had no knowledge of where she had disappeared to, posting missing announcements in The Daily Gnus newspaper and contacting Trader Sam if he knew of her whereabouts. By 1938, Rosita went on a world-tour with the help of the Jungle Navigation Company though she likely continued this career into the 1960s.[1]
Development history[]
Rosita was originally an unseen character from Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. In 2018, she was made an audio-animatronic character for The Tropical Hideaway in Disneyland.
Jungle Cruise appearances[]
Attractions[]
Adventure Trading Company[]
In the Daily Gnus newspapers were community announcements asking for information on Rosita's location.[2]
Jungle Cruise[]
Rosita's audio-animatronic appears at the end of Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, sometimes turning to interact with the boats. In the queue, Skipper Missy can be heard congratulating Rosita for her world-tour over the Global Broadcasting Service and wishing her good luck.
Skipper Canteen[]
On the bulletin-board in the Skipper Canteen's mess hall is a letter from the Lost River Delta, addressed to Rosita in the Enchanted Tiki Room. Said letter is also marked to be returned due to Rosita's absence. A bird juju from the Adventure Trading Company is hanging from the letter.[3]
Trader Sam's[]
In these bars, Rosita is the namesake for the drink, "Rosita's Margarita". The menu descriptions state that Rosita taught the recipe for the drink to Trader Sam.[4] The menus also contain a note, asking about where she might have gone.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
A post-card sent to Sam asks Sam, "Sam, do you know what happened to Rosita? We're trying to settle a bet...Josh".[5]
Trader Sam's Grog Grotto[]
There is a shell mobile in this bar made to resemble the Tiki Room's bird-mobile. One of the shells has, "Rosita" written on it.[6]
Tropical Hideaway[]
In this restaurant, Rosita appears as an audio-animatronic character. She is perched on a net of her belongings while waiting for a Jungle Navigation Company boat to pick her up for a show.
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room[]
Rosita's empty pedestal appears on the bird-mobile. José asks during the show, "I wonder what happened to Rosita".
Film[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Rosita appears in this film as the pet-cockatoo of the sinister Nilo Nemolato, harbourmaster of Porto Velho, Brazil. Her only line in the film is, "Frank owes me money", referring to skipper Frank Wolff owing money to her master. Frank covers her in his coat to make her be quiet while he is conning Lily.
Other connections[]
Jingle Cruise[]
A crate addressed to Nilo Nemolato appeared amongst the cargo nearby the lost passengers of the Kwango Kate.
Other appearances[]
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad[]
A cage in the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the Magic Kingdom contains a bird-cage labelled, "Rosita".[7] Said cage is used by the Big Thunder Mining Company for mine-canary purposes in the town of Tumbleweed, Arizona. It is unknown if this happened before Rosita joined the Tiki Room or if it was part of her absence.
Trivia[]
- Rosita is the only showgirl bird to not have a traditionally French name.
- Rosita jokes about Annette Funicello in her audio, saying she feels like a "Pineapple Princess perched on a net".
- Rosita references the Adventureland Bazaar and the Aladdin's Oasis restaurant in her Tropical Hideaway spiel.
- Rosita has a cane and hat in the tropical hideaway which reference the Tiki Room character of the Barker Bird, the cousin of José who used to appear outside of the Tiki Room.[8]
- Originally, Giamatti wanted a monkey as a pet but a cockatoo was chosen instead due to monkeys being difficult to work with.[9]
- To date there have been several answers to the question of, "what happened to Rosita?" posed by José in the Enchanted Tiki Room. This includes:
- She was caged by the Big Thunder Mining Company in Tumbleweed, Arizona around 1880 (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad).
- She left the Enchanted Tiki Room to become a solo-act (The Tropical Hideaway).
- She became the pet of Nilo Nemolato in Porto Velho, Brazil by 1916 (Jungle Cruise film).
- In the Amazon River Base of Walt Disney World's Jungle Cruise is artwork of a white cockatoo on an advertisement for Jungle Cruise tours of the Amazon. While possibly connected to Rosita, this artwork predates her appearances in the Tropical Hideaway and Jungle Cruise film and also used to show Jivaroan Indigenous peoples on the artwork.
- There are differences between Rosita's concept art and final appearance in the Tropical Hideaway:
- Concept art for the Tropical Hideaway showed Rosita in possession of a stone idol of Genesha, similar to the one overlooking the Sacred Bathing Pool behind Shir Lee's Temple.
- In concept art she had two tribal spears. In the final attraction, she has two tribal oars.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ In Tropical Hideaway, she references the 1960 song ''Pineapple Princess''. The Tiki Room is also often set around the Tiki Craze of the 1960s.
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=871455071077&set=oa.1903682069948046
- ↑ https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g34515-d9718609-i190445317-Jungle_Navigation_Co_Ltd_Skipper_Canteen-Orlando_Florida.html
- ↑ https://eatingwdw.wordpress.com/tag/rositas-margarita/
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2011/09/25/detailed-look-at-trader-sams-enchanted-tiki-bar-disneyland-hotel-from-august-2011/
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2015/03/29/trader-sam-s-grog-grotto-lives-up-to-west-coast-version-with-unique-experiences-drinks-and-decor-150-photos-video/2/
- ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/18718292455
- ↑ https://www.micechat.com/256031-disneyland-barker-bird-of-the-enchanted-tiki-room/
- ↑ https://collider.com/jungle-cruise-movie-paul-giamatti-interview/