From "The African Queen” to the “Jungle Cruise”

 by Chris Lucas

Guest Column

DisneyBizJournal.com

August 3, 2021

 

In 1951, John Huston directed an action adventure film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn about a mismatched duo who clash as they take a creaky old boat up an exotic river while fending off German foes.

 

The African Queen was a smash hit, won the Oscar for Bogart as Best Actor, and was one of Walt Disney’s favorite movies.

When Walt was designing Disneyland in 1954, a river cruise for Adventureland was one of the top items on his list. 

 

The look of the boats and even (slightly) the skippers' uniforms borrowed heavily from this movie and its World War I era setting.

 

Over the years, the attraction took on a more comic tone, with sight gags on the land and in the water and a string of puns from the skippers, but the African Queen motif still persisted even as another layer of storytelling, inspired by Indiana Jones, was added in the 1980s.

The 2021 Jungle Cruise movie is an homage to its seventy year old predecessor, and the attraction has almost come full circle with the newest updates, which is fitting.

 

Have you ever seen The African Queen movie?

 

__________

 

Chris Lucas is the author of Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond.

 

On the PRESS CLUB C Podcast, enjoy Ray’s discussion with Chris Lucas about his career as an actor, author and Disney expert. Tune in right here!

Tantalizing Trailers for “Black Widow” and “Jungle Cruise”

by Ray Keating

News/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 10, 2020

Disney has released two trailers this week, and count me tantalized.

Black Widow is a spy thriller in the Marvel Cinematic Universe opening on May 1^st. The trailer dropped on March 9^th. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. And even given Natasha’s ending in Avengers: Endgame, Disney refers to this movie as “the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Disney’s description includes:

In the film, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. 

Today, March 10^th, Disney debuted a new trailer for Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Disney calls this “a rollicking thrill ride down the Amazon with wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff and intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton.” And at least based on this trailer, who am I to disagree? The movie opens on July 24^th. 

The Disney description goes on:

Lily travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists Frank’s questionable services to guide her downriver on La Quila—his ramshackle-but-charming boat. Lily is determined to uncover an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities—possessing the power to change the future of medicine. Thrust on this epic quest together, the unlikely duo encounters innumerable dangers and supernatural forces, all lurking in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest. But as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for Lily and Frank and their fate—and mankind’s—hangs in the balance.

Based on the trailers, descriptions, and experience, these look like a heck of a lot of fun for the upcoming summer movie season. As for the box office numbers, who knows at this point – especially with the coronavirus situation still to play out?

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.