Yesterworld: The History & Evolution of The Jungle Cruise

Explore the Origins of Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise and it’s evolution & changes since first debuting in 1955. From the abandoned animatronics, drastically changed (or removed altogether) show scenes, and even a few mysteries along the way.

Check out Rob at Midway To Main Street’s channel!:

Special thanks to FastPassFacts for creating the Jungle Cruise Boat & Skipper graphics for the Intro! Check them out and make sure to subscribe!

Sources:

Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks

VIdeos Used:

[richardperhai]

One of my earliest jobs was as a skipper on the Jungle Cruise. Its been 45 years and I can still do the spiel. It will never go away. I roughly estimate I gave the spiel around 15, 000 times.

[broodwars]

I'm surprised you didn't bring up the original design flaw of the Jungle Cruise, something that severely hurt it on day 1: the animatronics were apparently powered by a water pressure system that was also shared...by the nearby bathrooms. So any time someone used the bathrooms, the animatronics stopped moving. This was an issue that was rapidly addressed once found, but it apparently made Opening Day a nightmare.

I remember reading about this in a biography on Walt Disney when I was growing up, but for some reason the Internet seems to have completely forgotten about this issue because I can't find it cited in a moderate Google search.

[jillybellies]

I've been on the hong kong version, its pretty fun actually. One interesting part is when you get in the line you actually have to choose from one of three, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. Depending which one you get in decides what language your skipper will be speaking. Was a pretty clever idea since a lot of the ride relies on joke telling.

[ScarletSerenade]

YW: "Featuring a lion... roasting over a fire pit. Boy, that's dark."
Simba: "Dad?"
Me: "NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE."

[QuesoGr]

Hippo: *yawns*
Tour guide: "So you have chosen death"

[CmotDribbler]

You didn’t mention how and when the jokes got added in, and the significance of them that is so important they got their own song “skipper dan”

[StoryMemories]

If you love vintage tiki, you might enjoy some of this Disney related trivia fact…

By June of 1959, Exotica was the number one album on the charts and it stayed there for over four consecutive weeks. Soon it was used as background music by choreographers for aquacades, ice shows and became a frequent favorite of Chinese and Polynesian restaurants. Even Disneyland started using it for the entrance to its Jungle River Boat ride (The jungle Cruise). But, perhaps the most unusual place Exotica was heard was on the U.S.S. Nautilus where it became the crew's favorite record during their historic journey as the first submarine to go beneath the North Pole.

[zakarypalacios]

I honestly enjoy the cheesy jokes that are told throughout the ride

[wstine]

"Ok, guys, we're finally ready to encounter something wild...."

::sign reads "Coming Soon: JUNGLE CRUISE: THE MOVIE::

"Well, that explains the Dwayne Johnson animatronic."

[Crystalpoodleblack]

I thought of them telling Walt Disney that he couldn’t use live animals on the jungle cruise when I went on the Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s animal Kingdom because if you think about it Kilimanjaro safaris is what he wanted . It is to bad that he didn’t get to see it

[wstine]

"Here comes the head hunter"

::a Micheal Eisner animatronic pops up:::

[AirHandy]

It’s funny how these days, we try to avoid ride spoilers, but back then they just put out video of the whole ride to market it.

[comedyvideo]

Yesterworld, thanks for another GREAT video! Loved it! -- For those asking about when the comedy was officially added into the attraction, it was the summer of 1963. I'm currently finishing my father's biography (Chuck Burnes) which includes the years he worked at Disneyland. (The book should be out in late 2020 or early 2021.) He was with Ringling Bros. during the '50s and early '60s as one of their iconic clowns. He then moved to Hollywood and worked on "The Magic Land of AllaKazam" tv series. Following that he got married and auditioned for The Jungle Cruise ride, as they were looking for actual actors instead of just typical ride operators who could work and 'sell' the new script being created. (Disney, thankfully, understood that timing and showmanship were essential to keeping the entire experience fresh and funny.) It was the beginning of really letting them develop their own jokes and bits as well, many of which were added to the script as time went on. During this period, the costuming was changed to include a Hawaiian style shirt, shorts, and FLIP-FLOPS! The footwear didn't last very long, as they weren't the safest thing to wear jumping in and out of the boats, etc., and they eventually went back to wearing actual shoes. My father quickly moved up thru the ranks and into the Ent. Dept., which at the time only had 6 people in an office on Main Street. In those early days of his time there he was also part of the team that worked the Disney attractions at the World's Fair in NY, in '64 and '65. (Even rode on Walt's private plane at one point!) Thank you again for your terrific videos! Much appreciated! :)

[laurabowles]

I really enjoyed this video! However, you never made it clear when the ride transitioned from being a serious tour of the jungle to the pun-filled version we know today. It seems like the Marc Davis additions in the early 60s added some humor and lightheartedness - would the jokes have been added around this time as well?

[possumsinatrenchcoat]

6:02
"two bull elephants"
"now let's leave the happy couple and head on"
50's disney accidentally said gay rights, you heard it here first folks!

[brycevo]

Honestly the Jungle Cruise is one of my favorite rides in all of Disney, and I will frequently ask my family to make time for this Satirical Safari. I do love that the original was meant to be serious, but it evolved with the changing times.
I can't wait to rewatch the classic Jungle Cruise movie, Congo Queen. And hope the new one is half as good

[betelman]

Thank the gods you got footage of the frogs. I saw them on my first visit and had been trying to explain them to people for years. Started doubting myself for a while.

[welcometomylives]

Man. I don't understand how you can possibly not enjoy pointing out the back side of water. That is absolutely the best part of any sort of Jungle Cruise.

[Spruill]

Damn I really needed this today... Yesterworld always makes the day better.

[scotttudor]

16:04 for whatever reason, extremely young me remembers the skipper shooting at the hippos as it seemed so cool at the time