From the press release:
The revamped version of the attraction will have new lighting effects and other special show effects. In addition, a specially written musical sound track will be heard throughout the attraction for the first time in any Jungle Cruise. Also, an after-dark only “night cruise” will provide a unique take on the jungle adventure.The new Jungle Cruise will offer Guests an adventure that is even more thrilling than before. From on board the attraction’s boats, Guests will explore jungle landscapes full of wild animals with the help of their daring and comical skipper who guides them through the beauty and dangers of this exotic world. The adventure includes a startling encounter with one of the animal spirit guardians in the ruins of a lost jungle temple.
The "night cruise" option reminds me of the wildly popular "Night Safari" at the Singapore Zoo, an attraction that's been copied throughout Asia. But a musical soundtrack? As the press release stated, that is a first for a Jungle Cruise. Tokyo Disney's got a pretty good track record with musical revamps, though. Tokyo DisneySea's 2007 revamp of its Sindbad ride added Alan Menken's "The Compass of Your Heart," which has proven itself one of the top theme park songs in the world.
Of course, this announcement should fuel speculation on whether similar reboots will come to Disney's other Jungle Cruises around the world. The Oriental Land Company — not Disney — might be paying the bills in Tokyo, but they're hiring the same Imagineers who could bring these same plans to Disney's U.S. parks for the (not unsubstantial) cost of installation.
The current version of Jungle Cruise will close in Tokyo on January 6, 2014.
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Love the soundtrack (as long as it is not intrusive to the narrative. LOVE LOVE LOVE the night time variation. Genius!
Nice of the OLC to pick-up the tab for this experiment. Here's hoping that WDI top dog and former JCS Jon Lasseter will play a big role in the reboot and then draw from that experience when juicing the WDW and DLR productions.
On a final note: Hey Rao ... YOU LOSE!
I also heard a rumor that the ride will be extended to a three hour tour, and that both the Skipper and Gilligan would be featured on the daytime cruises, while Mary Ann and Ginger would take the lead when the sun goes down!!
Oh, yeah, and TH, where's book two, ya lazy bum?!?
The attraction certainly is not "worn out". But, there are 2 basic versions. (a)=> Anaheim-Orlando-Tokyo. (b)=>HK.
Anaheim = original = rooted in the old "Disney's Nature Wonderland" documentary TV series (and the endless spinn off stream of books). (Most people around are too YOUNG to remember those ... ;-) )
Orlando + Tokyo are just near copies. But Orlando is still in the USA, and "wilderness documentary adventures" on TV is an American (and Brittish) tradition. It's the right feeling, with the Jungle cruise, in the USA. The TV documentaries were into jokes all the time as well ! (Compare with Spanish & South American made nature documentaries, those are always so unbelievable "Blood-Serious".)
Now, in the Japanese cultural context, there has never been this typology of 'joking-yet-educative' documentary. It always must have been a bit of a mental puzzle for Japanese customers to understand what is the point of view, there, in the Jungle Cruise. They have no media reference !!
It is my GUESS, that the addition of a musical track, actually is saying to the Japanese visitors : "Look, this is not meant to be blood serious, as it's on a musical chore, OK?"... Sometimes, formal symbolism must help to get the smiles....
I do not know if this really was the reason, but I would suggest something similar, in view of connection to their cultural context.
At (b) :
The Hong-Kong version is completely different, in a serious effort to differenciate into an other cultural context (after cultural context mistakes made in both Japan and even much more in Paris), yet failed blatantly. It's an inferiour show in every respect. It's impossible to get the slightest "feeling" you're in a jungle there... 50% of the time cruising through open water... JUNGLE ?? ... come on...
I Respond: Yeah, because the expansion of Fantasyland, the relocation of the Lion King Theatre, the development of Avatar at DAK, the inclusion of BOTH Carsland and the Star Wars footprint at DHS are clear indications that the company is unwilling to pony-up bucks to juice the Florida parks.
I Respond: So you're suggesting that they put Tonto in the hippo pool?
(Chuckle)
Book 2, TH? We're waiting....
I'd welcome changes to DLR and WDW if done right, and not just tacking on Johnny Depp in half Tonto, half Sparrow costume hanging upside down above the piranhas only to last minute be saved by a bowl of cheerios bouncing off of our skipper's face.
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