Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Jungle Cruise, September 1976

It's the World Famous Jungle Cruise! The jungliest cruise on Earth.

There goes a naphtha launch, leaving the last dappled rays of sunlight behind as it vanishes into the eternal dusk under the canopy of the rain forest. Wave goodbye!

Say, what are these guys doing? Zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, all staring as if they are watching a football game.

Oh man, they're watching their pal getting devoured by some lions! That's entertainment, I guess. This scene is an update of an older scene that took place in a much less open tableau. 


Nanook said...


The white hat-cladded gentleman in the first photo certainly adds an air of authenticity to the scene.

And those 'zebras, giraffes and wildebeests' are part of "The World's 2nd Petting Zoo", if you catch my drift. Mind thy hands, though.

Thanks, Major.

Chuck said...

In that first photo, from that angle it almost looks as though the boat is tied up along the shore, hiding under the jungle canopy from danger lurking in the sky above. The romantic in me wants to believe they're being hunted by pterosaurs deep within the steaming jungles of Caspak, but the realist in me thinks it's more likely they're hiding from a Soviet spy satellite.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I can't quite tell what sort of hat that is; it looks a little bit like a fez, only not red (or the right shape, really). I'll have to take your word for it that it is authentic looking!

Chuck, oh man, when I was a kid, I really believed that dinosaurs might still exist in the Congo. If only that was true!! Or, in Caspak as you say... Willis O'Brian comes to mind.

Anonymous said...

In most cases, going into the jungle, and under the misters, was a welcome relief on those hot summer spiels. And I was thinking the same thing as Nanook about that white hatted gentleman. As this being 1976, that could have been MY boat.

KS Former JC skipper.

Chuck said...

Now I'm hankering to watch "King Kong" (1933) or "The Lost World" (1925). If only there were a Christmas scene, I might be able to sell my wife on it. Guess I'm stuck with "Swiss Family Robinson" if I want a jungle Christmas this year.