The Butterflies are characters featured in the Jungle Cruise attraction at the Disney Parks.
History[]
Background[]
These butterflies are large insects that inhabit a part of the jungle that represents the Amazon river. They would occasionally be seen flapping their wings to give them expression. According to a message from Albert Awol in the queue for the Magic Kingdom version of the attraction as well as another message by Professor Fletcher Hodges in Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar, the messages describe them as "aggressive butterflies of the Amazon river" as well as "giant piranha butterflies", implying that the butterflies themselves are a minor obstacle in the attraction, despite being beautiful insects.
Due to the success of the attraction at Disneyland, the Jungle Cruise attraction was later constructed at Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, still featuring the animatronic butterflies in it.
Appearances[]
Attractions[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Butterflies can be seen in a section representing the Amazon rainforest in the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland versions of the attraction as one of the first animals encountered in the attraction. They would be seen flapping their wings to give each of them expression as the guests pass by.
In the post-2021 Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions in the scene that used to be the Headhunter Tribe scene, one chimpanzee is seen interacting with the butterflies from a fragile crate containing butterflies in it, causing them to escape as the guests manage to evade the chimps in time. Additionally, in the queue area in the Disneyland version, there is a collection of butterflies seen in the queue with a label reading "From the collection of Kon Chunosuke", showing that Chunosuke was the one who collected the butterflies.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
While no butterflies physically appear in the restaurant, there is a message written by Professor Fletcher Hodges, which tells Trader Sam to be cautious of "giant piranha butterflies".
Other Appearances[]
Disney Magic Kingdoms[]
A blue butterfly can be seen in the Jungle Cruise attraction in the game along with a hippo, a python, and an elephant.
Trivia[]
- During the attraction, a skipper would occasionally describe the butterflies as "Plasticus mechanicus", a reference to the butterflies being animatronic figures.
External links[]
