Tropical Imports (location)

Tropical Imports
attractions	Adventure Trading Company Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries Jungle Cruise (attraction) Jungle River Cruise: Curse of the Emerald Trinity Skipper Canteen (cameo)
Type	Shop
Inhabitants	Trader Sam Louie Majors Monkeys Jungle Navigation Company
Visitors	Skippers Guests (Jungle Cruise)

Tropical Imports also known as Trader Sam's is a fictional shop which is setting for the dining-service Tropical Imports in Disneyland's Adventureland.

Description

Tropical Imports is a structure located somewhere in the Wilds of Adventureland, a supernatural conglomerate of jungles across the world, brought together by the Rivers of Adventure. The region which Tropical Imports occupied is unknown though the building was seemingly originally a middle-eastern market-place which was left in ruin and retrofitted with wooden beams. The building also appeared to be built into the boathouse of the Jungle Navigation Company, located in the Lost Delta of India.

Tropical Imports served as a trading-post which supplied food such as the upside-down pineapple parfaits and provisions such as netting and quinine to fight malaria. The business also stated that they, "Buy and sell the rare and exotic". In addition to this, the shop had some connection to the colonial Jungle Navigation Company and was used for parking of their customers', "prams, buggies, strollers and perambulators".

History

Background

Tropical Imports was a business established by the December of 1931 and which was run by, "Trader Sam", a cannibalistic magic-user and shrunken head salesman from the Amazon rainforest. The business was frequently affiliated with the Jungle Navigation Company, a British colonial business that Tropical Imports supplied while relying on for cargo transport. The services of Tropical Imports were advertised in the early 1930s in The Daily Colonial Journal newspaper.

In 1935, the building was visited by archaeologist Indiana Jones who was searching for the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in the region. While searching for the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, Indiana Jones was attacked by an enemy called Desert Hawk, whom he had some history with, over the map. The two initially fought on the upper levels of the boathouse, where they used oars to battle. After this, Indy knocked the villain out with a crate and told onlookers, "When he wakes up, tell him Indy won!". Both Jones and Desert Hawk left shortly after, with Jones eventually finding the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

Around 1936, Trader Sam had a subordinate named Louie Majors in the shop during a time when Sam was also managing a trading-post in the Amazon and a bar in a Polynesian village. Around this time, the shop received a new shipment of quinine for the skippers of the Jungle Navigation Company, an event reported on by Nigel Greenwater of the Global Broadcasting Service. Majors was in the shop when it was overrun by a group of monkeys, which Majors dealt with by compromising with the simians and leaving them food along with safety poles. This event was reported on by journalist “Tiki” Teemu Ojanen of The Daily Gnus newspaper.

In the winter of 1938, the Jungle Navigation Company lost their Christmas Tree in the jungle. The skippers proceeded to build a makeshift tree from bamboo and jungle leaves which they erected atop Tropical Imports.

Jungle Cruise appearances

Adventure Trading Company

There were advertisements for Tropical Imports inside the Daily Gnus newspaper. There was also an article by journalist "Tiki" Teemu Ojanen titled, "Monkey Business at Tropical Imports" where employee Louie Majors spoke on monkeys ransacking the building. A Jungle Navigation Company board mentioned the company transporting a shipment of apples from Tropical Imports to, "Forbidden Landing" and transporting fragile cargo from Milan, Italy to the roof of Tropical Imports.

Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries

Glyphs appeared on the boathouse and Tropical Imports which combined with glyphs across Adventureland, revealed the message, "To survive the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, beware the eyes of Mara". In Random Acts of Indy, Indiana Jones fought the villain Desert Hawk on the upper levels of the boathouse and Tropical Imports, using oars to fight.

Jungle Cruise

In Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, Nigel Greenwater refers to the shop as, "Trader Sam's", implicating it as being run by Jungle Cruise character Trader Sam and receiving a new shipment of quinine. In the shop's area on the map of the Rivers of Adventure is a quote presumably from the journal of Dr. Albert Falls which reads, "Last chance for provisions: local vendors, open all season, good prices". There is a message towards the end of the attraction advertising, "Don't forget to stop Tropical Imports curios for the curious lowest prices best selection all items guaranteed authentic English spoken". This was later replaced with an advertisement for the Tropical Hideaway. A removed audio tranmsission in the queue came from Tropical Imports saying a new shipment of canned goods, linens, ship's canvas, gunpowder and special orders was ready.

Jungle River Cruise: Curse of the Emerald Trinity

There was an advertisement for Tropical Imports in the Daily Colonial Journal's edition explaining the history of Prof. Garrett Reed.

Skipper Canteen

The shop is photographed on the front-page of the Daily Gnus paper framed in this restaurant's restrooms.

Other connections

Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye

There is a crate atop Tropical Imports addressed to Delhi, India coming from the Lost Delta, which being sent by Indiana Jones to British Colonial Affairs.

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

One of the monkey drummer tikis from the Enchanted Tiki Room sits atop the building.

Trivia

• The middle-eastern implied history of Tropical Imports might connect it to Agrabah from the film Aladdin.
• The glass elephant in a crate atop the shop comes from Disneyland Paris' Penny Arcade and has the name Penny the elephant.
• The shop being reported as getting ransacked by monkeys in the Daily Gnus mirrors Trader Sam's Gift Shop getting raided in the 2021 refurbishment of the Jungle Cruise.
• Prior to the 2020s, the message on the side of the market read, "MARKET; FRESH FRUIT PROVISIONS ~ DRINKS IMPORTED SNACKS" though this was later changed to, "Please, deposit all prams, buggies, strollers and perambulators inside. The Jungle Navigation Company".

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