Walther Elias "Walt" Disney (1901-1966) is the historic animator, voice-actor and businessman who founded the Walt Disney Company. Walt was one of the figures to originally conceive of the Jungle Cruise and Adventureland to be integrated in Disneyland.
History[]
Biography[]
In addition Walt Disney having developed the Jungle Cruise, he has a fictionalized counterpart of the same name within the Jungle Cruise lore.
Jungle Cruise[]
Origins[]
The Jungle Cruise's Walt Disney is a much older being than his real-world counterpart, likely by at-least 20 years if not more and is sometimes implied to be a magic-user. His main home was a fire-house apartment on the Main Street of Marceline, Missouri. Around the turn-of-the-century, Walt was president of W.E.D. Locomotive Works and founding chairman of the Disneyland Casting Agency in the year, "'55" (likely in-universe referring to the year 1855).
In 1908, Walt and his brother Roy travelled to the colony of Mystic Point in Papua New Guinea to attend the public-opening to the colony by British colonizer Lord Henry Mystic. In 1911, he was seemingly part of the Temple and DeNyle families who were amongst the four families which assisted British colonial explorer Dr. Albert Falls in creating the colonial Jungle Navigation Company. Walt was involved in checking Jungle River Boats used by the company in the 1920s alongside one Professor Harper Goff. On the June 10th of 1924, Walt approved a boat for the Jungle Navigation Company called the Congo Queen.
By the 1920s/1930s, Walt was leader of the successful, Walt Disney Company. This company mainly worked in the entertainment industry.
Adventureland[]
By 1936, Walt was an apparent employee of The Daily Gnus, a newspaper distributed in the realm of Adventureland which the Jungle Navigation Company colonized. By 1938, Walt's company had created the Disney Broadcasting Company which broadcast internationally. Also by 1938, Walt wrote a book titled, "True Life Adventures" and he seemingly was connected to the Enchanted Tiki Room of which his casting agency assisted and who used him as the namesake for their musical revues. At some point in time, the Disneyland Casting Agency worked to recruit skippers (presumably for the JNC) through operative, "Trader Sam" and performers for the Tiki Room along with it's Tahitian Terrace expansion through operative José.
Later adventures[]
In 1941, Walt was hired by the US government to go on a Goodwill Tour in Brazil, Argentina and Chile along with his wife Lillian and several company affiliates including: Ted Sears, Norm Ferguson, animator Frank Thomas, Bill Cottrell and Hazel Cottrell. The tour-guide for this expedition was Jungle Navigation Company affiliate and magic-user Trader Sam whom Disney befriended. Disney often travelled to Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar in a Polynesian village where Sam considered him to be his best-customer.
Around the 1960s, Walt was likely a patron of this bar's sister location in a different Polynesian Village along the Seven Seas Lagoon. Sam kept a photograph of Walt holding the tentacle of a giant squid which he kept in his bar, a squid which in the 19th century attacked the Nautilus submarine.
Jungle Cruise appearances[]
Disney Parks[]
Adventureland[]
In Disneyland's Adventureland, there is a plaque on the nature of Adventureland adorned with the silhouette of a Jungle River Boat. The plaque reads: "Here is adventure. Here is romance. Here is mystery. Tropical rivers- silently flowing into the unknown. The unbelievable splendor of exotic flowers...the eerie sound of the jungle...with eyes that are always watching. This is Adventureland. -Walt Disney"[1]. The fictional Disneyoendron tree genus common in Adventureland attractions was in real-life named for Walt Disney by Bill Evans.
Adventure Trading Company[]
Walt's Merry Menagerie comic-strips are in the Daily Gnus newspaper. The Disneyland Hotel was also advertised alongside the Enchanted Tiki Bar to unknown canonicity.
Jungle Cruise[]
Walt's signature of, "W.E.D." is in the queue for Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, approving blue-prints for the boat, "Congo Queen" in 1924.[2] Albert Awol is broadcast by the Disney Broadcasting Company or DBC. In Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, Walt's quote, "Here is adventure. Here is romance. Here is mystery. Tropical rivers- silently flowing into the unknown. The unbelievable splendor of exotic flowers...the eerie sound of the jungle...with eyes that are always watching. This is Adventureland" is located on Dr. Albert Falls' map of the Rivers of Adventure.[3] On a map made by Frank Wolff, Frank says, "Here is adventure. Here is romance. Here is mystery", quoting Walt Disney. Also in the Lost Delta boathouse are posters for, "Adventures by Disney" offering Amazon river cruises in Ecuador.[4]
Magic of Disney Animation[]
Disney Pictures is mentioned as making the fictional Jungle Cruise film starring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.
Main Street Cinema[]
At the Main Street Cinema, Walt is identified as the head of the Disneyland Casting Agency. Said organization is referenced as hiring skippers through Trader Sam (presumably for the Jungle Navigation Company), in addition to recruiting Tahitian Dancers for the Tahitian Terrace and birds for the Enchanted Tiki Room through José.[5] The postings also mention Mark Twain and Professor Tom Morrow who are authors in the Skipper Canteen's library and references the shooting of Third Man on the Mountain (1959), a film directed by Kenneth Annakin who is referenced in the Jungle Cruise.
True-Life Adventures by W.E.D.[6]
Skipper Canteen[]
In the library of the Skipper Canteen is a book titled True Life Adventures by W.E.D.. This references Walt's initials and the True-Life Adventures films which he produced that inspired the Jungle Cruise and Adventureland. Walt's Merry Menagerie comic-strips are pinned to the bulletin-board in the Mess Hall.[7]
Skipper Society[]
There is a Jungle Telegram sent to Alberta Falls from "W.D." on the December 3rd of 1937. It is likely that this is a repurposed/copied prop from Alberta's office in the Jungle Cruise. The message reads:
"To Alberta Falls
I recently had the pleasure of taking one of your Jungle Cruises. I wanted to reach out and commend your crew on their amazing work. I'm a bit of a showman myself and they have inspired me to pursue some ideas of my own. Thank you for the amazing experience -W.D.".[8]
Trader Sam's[]
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
There are several photographs of Disney in this bar. Trader Sam is identified as having met Walt when he was Disney's tour-guide on his 1941 vacation to South America that inspired the film Saludos Amigos (1942).[9] Another photograph mentions Disney having been Sam's best customer. Scribbled onto the photo is a message in Walt Disney's signature reading, "Saludos Sam -Walt".
Trader Sam's Grog Grotto[]
In Trader Sam's Grog Grotto is a photograph of Walt holding the arm of the giant squid which attacked the Nautilus.
Paraphernalia[]
Jungle Cruise Adventure Game[]
In the Jungle Cruise Adventure Game, Walt is shown in his sailor outfit as a member of the Temple and DeNyle families. The hat worn by Walt as a Jungle Cruise skipper is on one of the shelves in the bar.
Other connections[]
Africa (Disney's Animal Kingdom)[]
Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail[]
A note from Sara K. of the Harambe Wildlife Reserve mentions the, "Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund" as an environmental organization connected to Harambe.[10] The Harambe Weekly Journal mentions getting stories from the, "WDI Newsservice Africa", WDI standing for, "Walt Disney Imagineering".[11]
Rafiki's Planet Watch[]
The Walt Disney Company is referenced as being active in Conservation Station.
Disneyland Railroad[]
This railroad has been identified as being run by, "W.E.D. Locomotive Works" with president Walt Disney and general manager Roger E. Broggie.[12] This fictionalized Disney has also been stated to be chief-engineer of the similar Walt Disney World Railroad and the Disneyland Railroad has been affiliated with the business Can-Do Machineworks, also run by Roger Broggie.[13]
Mystic Manor[]
In Mystic Manor is a photograph of Walt and Roy Disney at the public-opening of Mystic Point in the year 1908.
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom[]
Merlin's base was in the Main Street fire station, best known for having been Walt Disney's home on Main Street, U.S.A..
Sunshine Tree Terrace[]
Crates in this service identify W.E.D. Ent., Inc. as running the Bay Lake Produce Company and Sunshine Tree Terrace Brand of citrus of which the Orange Bird is affiliated.[14]
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room[]
Walt is the namesake for this attraction and is mentioned during the opening by José. The Disneyland Casting Agency also worked alongside José and the Enchanted Tiki Room.
Differences from history[]
- The Jungle Cruise counterpart to Walt and Roy were adults in 1908 when their historic counterparts would have been children.
- Walt is shown to be affiliated with many fictitious companies.
Trivia[]
- There is a popular story that Walt was inspired to promote constantly changing the attractions of the Disney Parks by the Jungle Cruise. According to the story, he heard a young boy at Disneyland asking his mother if they could ride the Jungle Cruise again. The mother turned this request down as the two had already ridden the attraction. Due to this, Walt decided to constantly update the park attractions.[15]
- In the Disney Parks, Walt is frequently shown pointing with two fingers. This is actually the result of photo-shopping cigars and cigarettes out of his hands to hide the fact he was a chainsmoker. Artistic depictions of Walt and cast-members frequently use the same two-fingered point to cloak these edits.
- The in-universe Walt Disney has assorted connections to the mythos of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tomorrowland. Both of these Parks entities have assorted connections to the Jungle Cruise via entities including Barnabas T. Bullion, Rosita, Captain Rowan D. Falls and Jason Chandler for Big Thunder, and Tomorrowland figures such as the Nautilus, Professor Tom Morrow, L.C. Clench, the Timekeeper and Ward Kimball.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://babesindisneylandblog.com/fun-fact-friday-disneyland-dedication-speeches/
- ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2021/07/photos-video-new-jungle-cruise-with-cultural-sensitivity-changes-soft-opens-at-disneyland/
- ↑ https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/new-map-sits-at-the-entrance-to-the-queue-on-jungle-cruise-news-photo/1327854113
- ↑ https://dlnewstoday.com/2021/07/photos-video-updated-jungle-cruise-with-all-new-scenes-soft-opens-at-disneyland/
- ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2016/07/now-casting.html
- ↑ https://ziggyknowsdisney.com/skipper-canteen-review-dinner-magic-kingdom/
- ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2019/03/they-are-bowling-balls.html
- ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2024/11/tour-jungle-cruise-skipper-society-lounge-dcl/
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2011/09/25/detailed-look-at-trader-sams-enchanted-tiki-bar-disneyland-hotel-from-august-2011/4/
- ↑ https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/a-walk-through-pangani-forest-exploration-trial/
- ↑ https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/a-walk-through-pangani-forest-exploration-trial/
- ↑ https://www.disney-secrets.com/single-post/2015/05/15/wed-locomotive-works
- ↑ https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/02/windows-on-main-street-u-s-a-at-disneyland-park-roger-broggie/
- ↑ http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/stt2.htm
- ↑ https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/secret-history-disney-rides-jungle-cruise/