Nilo Nemolato is a character in Disney's 2021 live-action film, Jungle Cruise, based on the ride of the same name.
Background[]
Nilo Nemolato is the Italian harbormaster of the Brazilian town of Porto Velho and the owner of "Nilo's River Adventure", a boat tour attraction along the Amazon River that competed with Frank Wolff's small Jungle Navigation Company operation. Operating out of a clean boathouse with a small fleet of nice red and white steamer boats, the popularity and prosperity of Nilo's operation has driven Frank into significant financial debt to him, with his parrot Rosita often squawking the phrase "Frank owes me money!". When Nilo repossesses the engine of the La Quila, Frank sneaks into his office to steal the keys to get it back, meeting Lily Houghton in the process and convincing her that he is Nilo. When the ruse is exposed in the cantina below, Frank offers a lower price then Nilo for passage down river. When the Houghtons are followed by the forces of Prince Joaquim and his submarine, their escape from town with Frank ends up resulting in the destruction of Nilo's boathouse.
When the expedition returns from the long journey down river on the cobbled-together scraps of the La Quila, Frank declares that Nilo can finally own what's left of his boat when meeting him at the dock.
Appearances[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Nilo is first seen at the beginning of the film during a tour around the Amazon where the ship is captained by Frank alongside a group of tourists who are present during the tour. After a tour around the Amazon, Frank approaches Nilo Nemolato who explains him to give him money to which Nilo feels dissatisfied for an insufficient amount of money. He then explains to Frank that he borrows money from him to get a new engine for the La Quila, telling him to pay him back for interest, explaining that he will keep his ship's engine for now. Nilo then warns him that if he doesn't get his money on one week, he will keep his whole boat by next week. After a conversation, Frank walks across a bar at the Hotel de Ferreira where he goes to Nilo's office without getting detected by Nemolato himself and arriving there, he finds his pet cockatoo Rosita on her perch. Lily Houghton suddenly bursts into Nilo's office and finds Frank instead of Nilo inside his office.
Later at the bar at the Hotel de Ferreira, Frank is negotiating with Lily about his payment after the tour to which McGregor explains to the two that he found Mr. Nilo himself to which Lily feels upset with him that he deceived him for claiming himself to be Nilo Nemolato just as Lily talks to the real Nilo who would negotiate with her. Later while on their way to the Lágrimas de Cristal while being ambushed by Prince Joachim and his soldiers who are planning to steal the Arrowhead from Lily, Frank ties a rope on a pole where Nilo's boats are docked at where Nilo confronts Frank for trespassing the Nilo's River Adventure property to which Frank manages to starboard his ship to avoid Joachim and his soldiers who are on their way to steal the Arrowhead while Frank continues increasing the engine's speed to avoid getting hit by torpedoes fired by Prince Joachim in a plan to evade him, still passing through, destroying part Nilo's property much to Nilo's fury. Frank manages to escape from Joachim and his men.
At the end of the film when Frank, Lily, McGregor, and Proxima return to Porto Velho via raft, Frank approaches Nilo to which Frank explains to him that he has all the boats in which Nilo thanks him to which Nilo feels startled upon feeling Proxima passing through him just as Frank, Lily, McGregor, and Proxima walk across the docks of Porto Velho before arriving back at England.
Disney Parks[]
Jingle Cruise[]
In the 2021 Jungle Cruise, a crate reading, "Nilo Nemolato" was amongst the dumped Christmas cargo nearby the marooned passengers of the Kwango Kate in the African veldt.
Trivia[]
- Nilo's pet cockatoo Rosita is based on a character originating from Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and who physically appears in Disneyland's Jungle Cruise and Tropical Hideaway.
- Originally, the filmmakers planned on giving Nilo a pet monkey before opting for a bird due to it being easier to work with.
- Nilo's office door resembles those seen on the upper floor of the Skipper Canteen. His tour boats are also reminiscent of the red and white candy-striped boats that the original attraction used until the 1990s.
- Nilo takes his name from the Italian name of the river Nile. His surname is a tribute to concept-artist Luca Nemolato.
External links[]
- Nilo Nemolato on the Jungle Cruise Wiki.
