I’ve been to both Disneyland and Disney World several times since I was a young girl. In fact, I’m pictured above with my dad when I was about 7 or 8 years old (give or take). I believe this picture was taken at Disney World. Sadly, my mom and dad have both passed away so I cannot ask them specifically when and where the photo was taken.
I remember a lot about the parks, even though I was young. I have fond memories of various rides and attractions since I was a child, all the way up to when we took our children about 20 years ago. I rode Space Mountain for the first time by myself. Our son was traumatized on the It’s a Small World Ride (crazy, I know!), and goes on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage, which I believe is no longer in existence.
Another favorite ride that my children enjoyed as much as I did is the Jungle Cruise. You board a small boat and travel down a river, seeing various interesting things a long the way such as elephants, hippos, large cats, natives and more. The whole time the trip is narrated by an amusing host. I can never get tired of this ride. There is always so much to see, and the waterfall at the end was always my favorite.
Much to my surprise, Disney has made a movie based on the popular attraction, the Jungle Cruise. I would have thought they would have made a movie about It’s a Small World, or something else. But the Jungle Cruise? Now this I had to see.
Disney’s Jungle Cruise is now available on digital platforms. It will be released on Blu-ray, DVD and Ultra 4K November 16, 2021.
Disney’s Jungle Cruise stars Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons and Paul Giamatti.
The film has a lot of similarities to the ride, which was fun to see.
Dr. Lily Houghton (Blunt) who is a scientist who wants to find a magical tree that is said to have special healing properties. No one has ever been able to find the tree, but Lily believe a special arrowhead is the key to unlocking it’s location.
The tree is hidden somewhere in the Amazon jungle. To help her travel along the rive, Lily hires a quirky boat captain named Frank “Skipper” Wolff (Johnson). Along with her brother, MacGregor Houghton (Whitehall), they set sail for one heck of an adventure.
Unbeknown to them at the time, Prince Jachim (Plemons) is also hunting for the tree, and he’s aware that Lily has the arrowhead that he needs to find it.
In addition to Lily and Prince Jachim looking for the mystical tree, a trio of conquistadors are also looking for it. They searched for the tree hundreds of years ago, but never found it. Because they took advantage of the kindness of some natives who tried to help them, their bodies were consumed by the jungle. They can never leave sights of the river.
It’s a race to find the magical tree first, before the jungle, or each other, gets the best of them.
Who’ll win out? And if the tree is found, exactly what will be done with it? To find out, you need rent or purchase Jungle Cruise. Look for it on major digital platforms now, as well as on Blu-ray, DVD and Ultra 4K November 16, 2021.
This is a fun adventure that will take you on a wild ride, similar to the ride at the parks.
Johnson is a lot like the hosts on the boats at the parks. He is always cracking silly, groan-worthy jokes that will surely have you rolling your eyes from time to time. But that is OK since it fits the role of the ride host perfectly.
Who knew Emily Blunt could be an action start. Bravo to her for some of the fanciful stunts she does throughout the film.
Whitehall is very amusing as MacGregor – a spoiled rich kid who would rather be lounging poolside sipping tea than getting down and dirty in the jungle fighting creatures and monsters. Do you blame him?
I honestly didn’t think Prince Jachim was needed for the film. But that is just my opinion. I think simply fighting the creatures and people who live in the jungle, as well as the conquistadors, would have been sufficient.
Even though this is a Disney film, I do not recommend it for very young children. There are some somewhat scary elements to this film, most especially from the conquistadors. For example, one of them is made up of snakes, which can be scary for the very young. My husband happens to hate snakes and closed his eyes during those scenes. As silly as that sounds, if you are scared of snakes, you need to keep that in mind.
Aside from some scary elements, I don’t think I saw or heard anything else that could be considered “questionable.”
I enjoyed the movie set too. You really thought they were in a real jungle and not a movie set.
Over all I really enjoyed the film. I’m excited to see if Disney can figure out how to turn other popular rides or attractions into major motion pictures. It’s a Small World perhaps?
You can check out the film on social media, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The official hashtag is #JungleCruise.
Below is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment.
Kimberly
*I received a free digital code to review this film. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.