Disney has continuously expanded its collection when it comes to movies. They have gone from making animated features to fantasy films to producing the biggest shared comic book movie universe to exist to date. They have added Jungle Cruise, an action-adventure film to the list recently. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a part of the movie along with Emily Blunt. The movie is experiencing an explosive debut. We have compiled a list of Behind-The-Scenes things you did not know about Jungle Cruise.
Jungle Cruise Ride References
Fans may not know this, but the movie is inspired by a Disneyworld ride. The ride is very famous and a favorite of visitors. Hence, the studio has made it a point to integrate a lot of references from the ride into the movie itself. This includes the “backside of the water” pun that is a fan favorite in the park attraction.
African Queen Callbacks
Hardcore movie buffs recognize The African Queen as one of the most prominent Jungle movies. it almost singlehandedly kicked off the genre and heavily influenced Walt Disney when he created the original ride. It only makes sense that the new movie itself will have some callbacks to the original movie. Moreover, it is reported by EW that the costumes worn by the leading pair are a nod to The African Queen.
“Behind The Attraction” Did it First
Disney recently released a show titled Behind the Attraction on Disney+. The said show delves deep into the original attraction and its lore. It is even produced by Dwayne Johnson and has some exclusive footage from the movie. A lot of the promotional content for the movie comes from this show itself. It also acts as a pseudo-making-of for the feature film. Fans of the attraction will have a fun time delving into the show.
Pirates of the Caribbean ‘In the Jungle’
While the connection between the Jungle Cruise movie and the theme park ride is obvious. What is surprising is that this is not the first movie inspired by the attraction. The first movie would be Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl. The ride has a long history of entertaining and inspiring folk. It seems that the crew used Pirates of the Caribbean as a benchmark when producing Jungle Cruise.
The Blunt Rock Conundrum
The Casting of Jungle Cruise has an interesting story behind it. The Rock revealed during the promotional tour that he sent various video messages to Emily Blunt hoping to woo her into doing the movie. The Rock has always been a huge Emily Blunt fan but Blunt just ignored the messages. She was finally brought on board by the director of the movie when he compared it to Indiana Jones.
Colossal Set
Cinemablend reported during production that the scale of the Jungle Cruise movie set is one of the biggest to ever be made by Disney. It is so colossal that they even included some real-world elements into it. Rock also shared that the set’s huge scale is inspired by Disney’s very careful attention to detail. Disney is nothing if not loyal to their fans.
Indiana Jones on the Cruise
Another famous movie from the Disney roster is Indiana Jones. Over the production of Jungle Cruise, the movie has been compared by the cast and crew to Indiana Jones numerous times. This is because Emily Blunt’s character is heavily based upon Indiana Jones himself. It is quite easy to draw parallels when you understand character inspirations. We just hope that the movie is just as well received.
The First Iteration
Disney has previously also tried to produce Jungle Cruise. They put in place a production team back in 2004, and it was reported by AWN that the movie was being written by Al Gough and Miles Miller. But the project was scrapped for unknown reasons. Regardless, we are glad that we are finally going to see the movie come to life, and with The Rock in the leading role.
The Jaume-Collet Serra Factor
The Spanish director is best known for making some of the most thrilling and most scary movies ever. He has a very specific directional approach and has a tone that is not exactly Disney. But the director seems to have pulled a rabbit out of his proverbial hat with this movie. He definitely made an impression on The Rock since he has also been brought on board on the Black Adam project.
Disney and the LGBTQ+ characters
Walt Disney’s position on gay rights has been controversial, but the company has risen above the controversy in recent years to embrace the community. With Jungle Cruise they mark the introduction of their second live-action Gay character. LeFou, the villainous henchman from Beauty and the Beast was their first official gay character. Now, with Jack Whitehall’s character in Jungle Cruise, Disney’s tally has risen to 2.
So these were the things you did not know about Jungle Cruise.
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