After the success of live-action remakes like Aladdin or The Lion King in 2019, Disney sought a more radical venture with 2021’s Jungle Cruise. Jungle Cruise stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jack Whitehall, and Emily Blunt in an adventure film inspired by Disney’s theme park ride of the same name.
Hoping to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was Pirates Of The Caribbean, Jungle Cruise takes audiences on a river-faring adventure with Johnson’s Frank Wolff and Blunt’s Lily Houghton. On their journey, Wolff and Houghton encounter turbulent river rapids, dangerous foes, and occasional nods to the Disney ride that inspired Jungle Cruise.
10 Like Ride: Wolff’s Vessel Draws Inspiration From The Originals
One of the most obvious similarities between 2021’s Jungle Cruise and the Disney ride is the fact that both heavily feature riverboats. These boats have remarkable similarities – grungy exteriors and expansive canopies to shade passengers going down the river. Although, the former detail is an intentional design choice for the ride on the part of Disney.
Where Jungle Cruise’s boats and the ride’s vessels diverge, however, is in their names. While the ride sports whimsical names like “Amazon Belle” and “Kissimmee Kate,” Wolff’s vessel “La Quila” is actually named after the Incan moon goddess Mama Quilla, an appropriate name given his ceaseless search for the Tears of the Moon.
9 Not Like Ride: The Film Is Exclusive To The Amazon Rainforest
The Jungle Cruise ride was first conceived by Disney Imagineers Harper Goff and Bill Evans. It was originally to be a ride that simulated the experience of traveling through the different rainforests of continents like Asia, Africa, and South America. After release, however, the ride became known for its comedic spiel of bad puns and dad jokes.
Though Jungle Cruise stays true to its comedic roots, its setting is almost exclusively located in the Amazon, a stark departure from the vision Goff and Evans originally set forth for the ride. This makes sense, of course, given that Jungle Cruise’s narrative runs the risk of becoming too convoluted if it attempts to jump between too many vastly different locations.
8 Like Ride: Passengers Are “Entertained” By Animatronic Animals
When audiences are first introduced to Johnson’s Wolff, the jungle skipper is providing the very river tour to his passengers that the actual ride has known for, complete with animatronic animals and terrible jokes. At a certain point, Wolff mischievously triggers his rigged animatronic hippo to pop out the same way it does in the ride.
This, paired with the cringy humor, is part of the charm that makes the Jungle Cruise ride what it is. If passengers aren’t “entertained” by the animatronic animals, then Johnson’s Wolff has one more trick up his sleeve that every fan of the Disney ride knows all too well: the eighth wonder of the world – the backside of water.
7 Not Like Ride: Neither Proxima Nor Any Jaguar Appear On The Actual Ride
Though the Disney ride features a wide array of critters throughout its journey across three continents, there aren’t actually any jaguars that appear at any point (although a tiger does appear in the Asian-inspired temple). That means the adorable Proxima featured in 2021’s Jungle Cruise is an animal exclusive to the film.
Proxima initially appears to be threatening, prowling into the tavern and scaring the customers. Wolff proceeds to wrestle Proxima into submission before she seemingly flees into the jungle. Viewers later find out this is a ruse when Proxima is revealed to be Wolff’s furry partner-in-crime aboard La Quila.
6 Like Ride: Final Showdown Takes Place In An Ancient Temple
Another similarity that Jungle Cruise shares with its real-world counterpart is the Asian-like temple that the actual ride showcases toward the end of the attraction. Though only a brief segment in the ride, the dimly-lit temple features heaps of glittering gold, a swathe of angry cobras, and Wolff’s beloved pet, Proxima.
However, the temple in Jungle Cruise is a good deal more significant, housing both the Tears of the Moon and the film’s ultimate climactic showdown. Located at the fictional waterfalls of La Luna Rota, Wolff and Houghton find themselves at odds with multiple villains at the base of the mythical tree.
5 Not Like Ride: There’s No Quest To Find The Tears Of The Moon
Like Pirates Of The Caribbean, Jungle Cruise is a swashbuckling adventure that requires the main characters to find some kind of priceless object. Similar to the Pirates ride, the Jungle Cruise ride lacks any kind of definitive narrative that could be easily adapted into a film, thus leading to the invention of the Tears of the Moon.
Touted as a mysterious tree with powerful healing properties, the characters in Jungle Cruise believe it to have the potential to revolutionize medicine to change the tide of World War I (or free themselves from a never-ending curse). The plot circles around these parties set on getting their hands on mystical petals for their various motives.
4 Like Ride: Trader Sam And The Headhunter Tribe Are Callbacks
Up until recently, Trader Sam was regarded as a staple of the Jungle Cruise, with the “head” salesman offering a two-for-one sale to any interested passengers – two of his heads for one of theirs. However, the Jungle Cruise star was removed from the Walt Disney World ride in 2021 as part of the company’s effort to minimize cultural insensitivity.
Despite Sam’s absence from the ride, the character still found a subtle way into Jungle Cruise, portrayed by Veronica Falcón as a knowledgeable warrior chief who protects her tribesman from the dangers of the jungle. After scaring Houghton and her brother into thinking they are cannibals, Sam unveils the distasteful prank and explains her camaraderie with Wolff.
3 Not Like Ride: There Are No Cursed Conquistadors (Or Germans)
One of the starkest differences between the ride and the Jungle Cruise film is the presence of antagonists in the latter. Given the original intentions of the Jungle Cruise ride, it makes sense that there wouldn’t be clear-cut villainous characters. However, Jungle Cruise features two nefarious groups: Prince Joachim and his subordinates and a trio of cursed Spanish conquistadors.
Between the two antagonistic factions though, the conquistadors seem to pose a much more serious threat. It’s here that the narrative begins to deviate from the ride, with the curse inflicted upon Lope de Aguirre and his fellow conquistadors harkening to monstrosities from other films like Captain Barbossa in Pirates Of The Caribbean and Imhotep in The Mummy.
2 Like Ride: Dwayne Johnson’s Heavy Use Of Puns And Dad Jokes
If Dwayne Johnson’s use of puns and dad jokes felt incessant in Jungle Cruise, then the actor was successful in imitating the skippers’ personalities that passengers endure aboard the actual Disney ride. It was probably more comical for viewers to follow the exasperated looks of Wolff’s passengers as he fired off pun after pun.
Of course, given that Wolff’s boat tour was only a small part of Jungle Cruise, Johnson’s humor didn’t stop there. However, Wolff’s jokes transformed into elaborate pranks after continued banter with Blunt’s Houghton as he performed crazy stunts like nearly sending them over a waterfall and falling to his supposed death.
1 Not Like Ride: Johnson Doesn’t Look Like A Typical Cruise Skipper
Although Johnson got the dad humor down to an art, the fact that he doesn’t look like the typical cruise skipper is simply inescapable. While the skippers that passengers get to interact with on the actual ride come from all walks of life, it’s highly unlikely they have a background in professional wrestling, let alone a career as an iconic movie star.
That doesn’t even begin to touch on Johnson’s workout regime, which makes him look out of place as a humble jungle skipper, even in the context of Jungle Cruise. Fortunately, some actual skippers can match Johnson’s gregarious personality with their enthusiasm for the comedic spiels that the ride champions.
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