Photo: Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort
Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise is ready to sail out the past and into today.
The long-running ride is slated to reopen at Disneyland on July 16 afterundergoing a makeover, and the California theme park gave fans a first look at the new changes to the attraction on Friday.
Jungle Cruise follows the captain of a ship, called a skipper, who gives tours along rivers in Asia, Africa, and South America that sometimes go awry.
The ride was changed in a bid to remove culturally and racially insensitive depictions — like Indigenous peoples being portrayed as tourist attractions.
The Jungle Cruise has now been updated with new scenes that guests can tour, including one depicting explorers from around the world and another with chimpanzees taking over a wrecked boat.
Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort
“We’re excited to be building on the story of the Jungle Cruise to include new adventures that stay true to the experience we know and love, while adding more humor, more wildlife, and an interconnected story,” Chris Beatty, creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a statement. “As part of creative development, we’ve also introduced characters from around the world and took a thoughtful approach to ensure accurate representation of cultures in our story.”
Changes to the Jungle Cruise ride in Walt Disney World in Florida are still underway and should be completed later this summer, according to the company.
Jungle Cruise was first unveiled at Disneyland in 1955. Though the ride initially had a more serious tone, it was changed throughout the years with a more playful, tongue-in-cheek storyline with additions like an elephant bathing pool and piranhas in the river.
Other versions of the attraction have since been built in Florida’s Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Afilm adaption of the ridestarringDwayne “The Rock” JohnsonandEmily Bluntis slated to premiere on July 30.
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Disney firstannounced plans to revamp Jungle Cruisein January, saying at the time that its Imagineers have “created a storyline that builds upon what people love the most while addressing negative depictions simultaneously.”
The announcement came a year after the company said it wasdesigning Splash Mountain at both the California and Florida parksto depict scenes fromThe Princess and the Frograther than the problematic 1946 filmSong of the South.
source: people.com
