The Jungle Navigation Company is a fictional company from the Jungle Cruise attractions at Disney theme parks worldwide.
History[]
Background[]
The Jungle Navigation Company was founded on April 8, 1911 by Doctor Albert Falls, who after years of exploring the rivers of the world, had hoped to improve cargo shipping in remote areas for other explorers and adventurers. Albert Falls was succeeded as president of the company by his granddaughter, Alberta Falls, who had been living at the company headquarters for much of her childhood. However, the Great Depression had a significant impact on their shipping business.
In 1931, at the suggestion of the skippers that were essentially her second family, Alberta would start the first "Jungle Cruise" tours on October 1. This would become greatly successful for the struggling company, especially after the 1935 discovery of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye by Indiana Jones, when the Cruises would serve the tourists that came into the jungles seeking out the temple. Around 1938, Alberta would open the company headquarters/mess hall to guests as the Skipper Canteen.
Though the tourism business has been successful, the Skippers are a danger-prone lot, with many incidents from encounters with various jungle hazards being overheard in Jungle Radio transmissions and the transmissions of Albert Awol. Most Skippers face the dangers of the wilds with a sense of humor and self-preservation. However they always find a way to reach the most dangerous parts of their journeys: returning to civilization.
Development History[]
The Jungle Navigation Company was introduced as part of updates to the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions of the Jungle Cruise taking place throughout the 1990s, with one of the driving forces being the rerouting of the Disneyland river to accommodate Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye.
The Jungle Navigation Company storyline was altered and expanded in 2015 with the opening of the Skipper Canteen restaurant at the Magic Kingdom with the expansion of Albert Falls into a new character. Prior to this, Albert Falls had been a joke character made up by the Skippers when explaining Schweitzer Falls saying, "And here we have Schweitzer Falls named after, of-course the famous Dr. Albert Falls". The gag here being that the falls were named after one Dr. Albert Schweitzer, a real-life missionary who made travels to Africa.
Disney Parks[]
Adventure Trading Company[]
The Jungle Navigation Company was featured in certain missions pertaining to this attraction. In the Elephant Juju mission, skipper Skip Dockmonkey lost a shipment of elephant jujus which players had to find and in the Piranhaha mission they had to get Skip his job back by telling jokes to his bosses.
The Jungle Cruise[]
Several allusions to the Jungle Navigation Company are present throughout the queue of the Jungle Cruise, typically in the form of promotional artwork. Additionally in the Magic Kingdom, broadcaster Albert Awol makes allusions to them.
[]
As the name would imply, the JNC is involved in the Skipper Canteen's theming. Details throughout the restaurant can be found which elaborate on the history of the fictional company.
Magic of Disney Animation[]
A poster in the meet Minnie area had a poster for a film called, "The Jungle Cruise" starring Mickey and Minnie. The credits for this poster identify the Jungle Navigation Company as having assisted this film be shot.
Trader Sam's[]
Both Trader Sam bars were opened with the assistance of the Jungle Navigation Company under the management of Skip Documentary. Many references to the JNC exist in the bar such as cargo from them and letters delivered to Sam by the JNC from fictional characters such as Rick Blaine, Charlie Allnut, Samantha Sterling, and the crew of The Miss Tilly.
The Tropical Hideaway[]
The Tropical Hideaway is set along a Jungle Navigation Co. river-outpost with mail and packages delivered by the company being found as set-dressing. The character of Rosita mentions using the JNC for her travels and is waiting for her recently arranged transport.
Other appearances[]
Film[]
Jungle Cruise[]
In this film, the Jungle Navigation Company is represented through the skipper Frank Wolff. Albert Falls is also referenced as having been an explorer who was a member of a society which failed to find the Tears of the Moon.
Printed-materials[]
Skipper Survival Guide[]
The Skipper Survival Guide was a story guide for cast-members which elaborated on the backstory of the Jungle Cruise and Temple of the Forbidden Eye. It made frequent reference to the history of the JNC.
Tales from Adventureland[]
The Jungle Navigation Company has its own presence in this book series. Employees of the JNC appear throughout the book such as skipper Jack McGraw of The River Princess, or aviator Yaw Ripcord.
Board-games[]
Disney Jungle Cruise Adventure Game[]
This board-game revolves around you playing as a JNC skipper and making cargo deliveries for Alberta Falls before she goes on vacation. Along the way you pick up members of the four families which assisted in the founding of the JNC: the DeNyle family, Lyons family, Temple family and Cruz family.
Trivia[]
- Union Jacks flown by the JNC's outposts indicate that it was likely British operated.
- The JNC's year of founding is the same year that Imagineer Harper Goff who largely made the original Jungle Cruise was born.
- The logo for the JNC resembles the logo for the True-Life Adventures nature films which originally inspired the Jungle Cruise. During 2021 refurbishments, this logo appeared on Jungle Navigation Company posters.
- The Jungle Navigation Company's promotional materials sometimes contain pop-culture references:
- A poster during 2021 refurbishments describes the Jungle Cruise service as, "True-Life Adventures" to reference the True-Life Adventure Films.
- Variants of the aforementioned posters have Tarzan from Tarzan (1999) in the background.
- Albert Awol references the fertility idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) while promoting Amazon river tours.
External links[]
- Company Jungle Navigation Company on the Cruise Wiki Jungle Cruise Wiki
- Disney Parks Blog post on the original Disneyland backstory
v - e - d  | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|