Pins of Adventure: Liki Tikis and Jungle Cruise

[TheTwins]

I thought it'd be fun to do something a bit different with this post. Let's enjoy a classic ride through pins by exploring the database to come up with some often overlooked-but-pintacular gems! And since Adventureland is my personal favorite, why not start on that "mysterious river of adventure," right?

 

Mention “Jungle Cruise” and almost everyone starts laughing! If you enjoy one-liners and puns, then this is probably pretty high on your rides list. It’s one of the most iconic Disney attractions around the world and one that Walt envisioned long before his “Mickey Mouse Park” had even developed into the future Disneyland. Jungle Cruise was an opening-day ride for both Disneyland in 1955 and Magic Kingdom in 1971, and unique versions of the ride also appear at the Hong Kong and Tokyo parks. If you look the ride up online, there’s no shortage of fun with the puns, the spiels and the comic views associated with this ride; and if you search for Jungle Cruise in the PinPics database, you’ll find over two hundred results. Some of the pins can be quite a challenge for completists to add to their collection! Sis and I have known a couple of collectors who stayed complete with this, and that was no small feat. But there’s so much more to this ride than meets the eye . . . or should I say “meets the ear”?

 

 

 

To begin with, I’ll tell you a little secret . . . we haven’t ridden this attraction since 2001! Pirates was closed when we went to the park last year, which meant that the line for Jungle Cruise was backed up into the main walkway. But don’t worry! Even if you're like us and can’t get to the park to experience everything in real life, there’s quite a lot of cinematic and Disney history packed into this attraction, and you can find pins that show some of these neat props. While not technically part of the Jungle Cruise ride, let’s start right outside the entrance with some of my personal Walt Disney World favorites -- the Liki Tikis.

 

 

 

These great statues have always been closely associated with the ride, having been designed by legendary Imagineer Marc Davis as a photo opportunity located near the Jungle Cruise river. A couple of years after Magic Kingdom opened, the wooden Tikis were moved to their prominent position by the top of the stairs leading down to the ride’s dock area. Over time, the wooden statues began to deteriorate and were eventually replaced in the 1990s with fiberglass replicas which spray water and mist. They’re now a beloved area in Adventureland, but (perhaps a bit surprisingly) have only been featured on a few pins! There was a four-pin set released in the WDW Cast Lanyard Series 3 back in 2004/2005, and that was it for a long time. Sis and I were absolutely thrilled when the tikis finally rated another pin design as part of the recent Adventureland mystery set (PP#166030), showing Stitch enjoying the water on a hot day. Honestly, these tikis are so cute that I don't understand why they're not featured on more pins. If anyone knows of others, please share!

 

 

 

After a good photo session with the tikis, it’s time to head down into the queue area to await the arrival of your boat. This building is referred to as the “Amazon River Base” and is filled with Easter Eggs, something that we love looking for at Disney. One funny one is a crate of crocodile-resistant rubber pants labeled “Goff’s Brand”. This references Harper Goff, possibly the most instrumental Imagineer on this particular attraction. Before coming to work for Walt Disney Productions, Goff was an Art Director and set designer for Warner Brothers Studios, where he worked on classic films like Casablanca and Sergeant York. Quite a Renaissance man, he also served as a magazine artist for National Geographic, developed camouflage for the Armed Forces during WWII, appeared as an actor in some small roles, and was an accomplished Banjo player.

 

 

You might be wondering what this has to do with pins, but Goff is credited with many of the iconic Disney designs which we still admire today. One of the most famous is the design for the Jungle Cruise boats. He actually took his inspiration from Humphrey Bogart’s steamboat in the 1951 film, The African Queen. The iconic Disney ride vehicle was one of the first to be featured on a pin and can be found on some pre-Official Pin Trading designs, including PP#75, PP#149 and the real-cloisonne beauty that was featured in the WDW Millennium Pin Catalog, PP#828. (This is one of the top pins on my wants list right now, so if anyone's trading . . . please PM me!)

 

 

 

If your taste runs to the fancier pins, never fear! A more elaborate pin-on-pin design was released at Disneyland in 2000 (PP#1694), and in the following year we got our own LE 5000 pin-on-pin design with Mickey at WDW (PP#6538).

 

 

 

Now, for those of you who have completed your Jungle Cruise collection, here’s a pin you probably don't have but need to get (PP#60753).

 

Yep, I know that’s Minnie and Mickey dressed like Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. This pin was actually released for The Great Movie Ride in Hollywood Studios. “So, what’s it got to do with Jungle Cruise?” you ask. Well, back in the late 1980s, Disney started looking around for a Lockheed Electra plane to use in this scene for the ride. They found one and put the front half into the Casablanca scene, while the back half of the plane was used as a prop in the Studios Backlot Tour. When that closed, the plane was inserted into the landscape of Jungle Cruise, where it’s still seen to this day.

 

 

 

[N.B. There are statements online saying that this plane was actually used in the filming of the real Casablanca finale, but that’s not the case. A real plane wasn’t used in the film, because it was shot on a small soundstage that wasn’t big enough for more than a scaled-down wooden model (hence the use of so many fog machines during the scene), but it is the plane from The Great Movie Ride! Interestingly, Harper Goff was the set designer in 1942 for Casablanca and this memorable scene.]

 

Another fun thing about the WDW Jungle Cruise is that it receives a Christmas overlay in November, being transformed into the festive Jingle Cruise. Brightly wrapped gifts and vintage decor are spread throughout the queue and scenes along the river, and even some of the puns and jokes change around. This is actually the only Magic Kingdom ride where Guests can experience the full overlay during daytime park hours without attending the Christmas Party, so it’s a cool thing to check out if you’re visiting in November or December.
 

 

 

And yes . . . there are even a few pins which feature Jingle Cruise! They haven’t made one in a while, but you can still find some for trade here on PinPics! Check out them out here: https://pinpics.com/pins/?filter_name=jingle cruise

 

 

 

Naturally, Jungle Cruise still features quite heavily in new releases (making it a sort of ever-growing pin collection), but I hope this post shared some older pins that you may not have noticed before. And next time you’re visiting the park, be sure to discover that "River of Adventure", and take time to notice some of the hidden details in this ride that’s truly packed with fun!

 

~ Sarah