Skip Dockmonkey also known as Skipper Skip or more simply as Skip is a character originating from the Jungle Cruise themed missions of the Adventure Trading Company.
History[]
Biography[]
Background[]
Skip Dockmonkey was a skipper working for the Jungle Navigation Company in the 1930s. At some point in time, Skip encountered the Adventure Trading Company who gave him a Pirahnahahaha Juju for his sense of humour. Skip had a reputation for being a jokester who was often reckless and incompetent. Skip also worked as a journalist for the Daily Gnus newspaper though some of his published articles seemed to be biased.
Lost Juju incident[]
Around 1935/1936, Skip was reportedly involved in an incident that wrecked the boathouse of the Jungle Navigation Company in the Lost Delta of India Said event connected to the loss of the boats the Mekong Maiden and Magdalena Maiden and extensive patchwork being performed on the docks.[1] As a journalist for the Daily Gnus, Skip wrote an article on this event titled, "JUNGLE NAVIGATION COMPANY LOSES TWO BOATS" while in an interview with Dateline Adventureland, he denied any responsibility in the accident.[2]
Around the 1935/1936, Skip was given the task of delivering a cargo of Elephant Jujus for the Adventure Trading Company. However, Skip lost this shipment resulting in him getting fired by the Jungle Navigation Company. A group of young adventurers hoping to earn jujus from the Trading Company later made a deal with Skip to help him get rehired. Skip would give the adventurers a Pirahnahahaha Juju in return for them using his Jungle Handbook for River Navigation to use humour with his managers to get him his job back.
Management career[]
Skip was successfully and given his job at the company back. Around 1938, he was given a position at the recently opened Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen. By the 1940s/1950s, Skip raised to the position of manager in the JNC. Skip was made manager of employee and affiliate Trader Sam, namely in Sam's running of Polynesian bars. This would continue into the 1960s (if not 1980s) with Trader Sam's bar in a village along the Seven Seas Lagoon. At some point, Skip became considered the company's, "Head Mechanic & Drink Slinger".
Development history[]
Skip was developed to be a live-performed character in the Adventure Trading Company interactive-game, made to play-test for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. His name was an obvious play on, "Skipper", the term used for cast-members of the Jungle Cruise. Skip's wreckage resulting in patchwork on Jungle Cruise boats and reconstruction of their boathouse was a retroactive in-universe explanation for the Jungle Cruise's boathouse being remodelled in a 1994/1995 refurbishment which brought a more realistic aesthetic to tie-into Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Skip's article on the missing Mekong Maiden and Magdalena Maiden referenced the boats of the same name which were decommissioned from Disneyland's Jungle Cruise in a 1997 refurbishment (though the Maiden would be reintegrated in 2021 as a part of the Primate refuge scene in Disneyland's Jungle Cruise).
Jungle Cruise appearances[]
Adventure Trading Company[]
Skip first appeared as a character in this interactive attraction. An article of his was in the Daily Gnus newspaper. Skip's negligence was reported in the same newspaper by fellow journalist Carla Quest. The Pirahnahahaha Juju mission had guests assist Skip in getting his job at the JNC back.
Skipper Canteen[]
In the mess hall of the Skipper Canteen is a locked bulletin board with a key inside. On the key is a note from Skip which reads, "I'm putting the spare key for the notice board cabinet here for safe keeping- Skip".[3] The menus also feature a meal item named for Skip called, "Skip's Beefy Baked Pasta".[4]
Trader Sam's[]
The menu introductions at both Trader Sam bars are written by Skip.[5]
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
Suspended from the ceiling is a megaphone with Skip's name written on it.[6]
Trivia[]
The original boathouse which Skip destroyed
- Skip's signature from the Trader Sam's bars is modelled after the signature of Walt Disney.
- In the Trader Sam's bars, Skip uses the greeting of, "Kungaloosh!". This is a greeting taken from the defunct Adventurers Club of Walt Disney World's Pleasure Island.
- Skip having destroyed the JNC's dock resulting in a reconstructing references a refurbishment which took place on the docks in 2016.[7] His article describing the mysterious absence of the Magdalena Maiden and Mekong Maiden is a reference to how both of those boats are boats from Disneyland's Jungle Cruise which were put out of use.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1888833644766222/permalink/1903682073281379
- ↑ https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/08/dateline-adventureland-hunting-for-laughs-with-skip-and-birdwatching-with-tiki-kiki/
- ↑ https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2015/12/13/first-look-jungle-navigation-co-ltd-skipper-canteen-restaurant-in-disney-world-yep-the-jungle-cruise-restaurant/
- ↑ https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2016/08/18/whats-new-around-walt-disney-world-august-18-2016/
- ↑ https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2015/04/12/review-trader-sams-grog-grotto-and-tiki-terrace-at-disney-worlds-polynesian-village-resort/
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2011/09/25/detailed-look-at-trader-sams-enchanted-tiki-bar-disneyland-hotel-from-august-2011/4/
- ↑ https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/disneylands-jungle-cruise-gets-a-new-dock/