Wilderness Explorers

**The Wilderness Explorers** are a fictitious group from the Disney Pixar film *Up* (2009).

## Description

The Wilderness Explorers are an organization similar to the stereotypical boy-scouts which teach children and youths about nature, survival and conservation. They are an international (and later interstellar) organization which are highly involved in ecological movements and good citizenship.

The Wilderness Explorers have at-least four ranks, Tadpole, Minnow, Fish, and Senior Wilderness Explorer. The motto of the organization is, “*A Wilderness Explorer is Friend to All, be it Plants or Fish or Tiny Mole*” after saying which the Wilderness Explorer performing the motto will begin to caw and growl to imitate animal sounds.

### Outposts

* **Anandapur**: The Wilderness Explorers have a long history with the Asian kingdom of Anandapur, having visited its wilderness as far back as 1912. They have outposts in the kingdom's city of Anandapur, and the village of Serka Zong at the base of the Himalayas.
* **Diggs County, Florida**: Diggs County is a Floridian county that since 1947 has been a notably location of paleontological research and excavation. Since then its respective town, " DinoLand U.S.A." became a dinosaur-gimmicked tourist-trap destination. Despite this, DinoLand U.S.A. also hosts the impressive *Dino Institute* which in-addition to making several notable discoveries in the field of archaeology, teamed up with the company *ChronoTech* to create the time-traveling *CTX Time Rovers*. These rovers are used for on-site study of dinosaurs and tours to acquire funds with Wilderness Explorers being encouraged to participate.
* **Discovery Island**: One of the more prominent outposts for the Wilderness Explorers would be on Discovery Island and its neighbouring colony of Safari Village. This appears to contain a base-camp for the Wilderness Explorers and is where they take in new recruits. Discovery Island being a (presumably African) isle which holds the massive, "Tree of Life" which is a sanctuary to countless animals and symbol of living in harmony with nature. It was this outpost which held the headquarters for the Wilderness Explorers and their international operations.
* **Grizzly Peak, California**: The Wilderness Explorers have an operation within the forests of Redwood Creek in Grizzly Peak which is more oriented towards teaching its youths about nature.
* **Harambe**: The Wilderness Explorers have operations within the, "Old Town" district of the East African port Harambe. Their conservation efforts here appear to be in conjunction with entities such as the Harambe Wildlife Reserve and Kilimanjaro Safaris.
* **Valley of Mo'ara**: The Valley of Mo'ara is a river-valley located on the moon of Pandora, orbiting the gas-giant planet of Polyphemus. The moon holds an impressive ecosphere and intelligent-life in the form of the Na'vi alien peoples. By the late 21st century/early 22nd century, the Valley of Mo'ara is a terraformed locale on the planet which people of Earth are offered visitation to through the eco-tourism company *Alpha Centauri Expeditions* in partnership with the *Pandora Conservation Initiative* and indigenous *Omaticaya Clan*. The Wilderness Explorers appear to have established connections to these groups as-well with many operatives and camps being on Pandora.

## History

The Wilderness Explorers was established prior to 1912 and have been international since that year at the latest. They would continue their operations well into the late 21st century at which point they had established off-world outposts.

## Appearances

### Up

The deuteragonist Russel of this film is a member of the Wilderness Explorers who dresses in their uniform and references their teachings throughout the film. His motivation in the film is to receive a badge for assisting the elderly and to rise to the next rank within the organization.

### Wilderness Explorers (attraction)

The Wilderness Explorers interactive-game at the Animal Kingdom has guests initiated within the ranks of the Wilderness Explorers, given a Wilderness Explorers Guidebook and set out to earn badges through studying and learning from the land and its people. It takes guests all across Disney's Animal Kingdom with its different missions being tied to its respective lands.

### Disney's Animal Kingdom Meet 'n' Greets

The Wilderness Explorers accompany the characters of Dug, Russel and Kevin when they are seen in the park, interacting with guests. The Dug and Kevin meet 'n' greet area is themed to being a Wilderness Explorers Club House used by Russel and contains a, "Bark-O-Lator" which he retrofitted for a badge.

### Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

This walkthrough and playground attraction in the Grizzly Peak section of Disney's California Adventure is themed to being a place of discovery and exploration for the Wilderness Explorers.

### Maharajah Jungle Trek

A plaque commemorating the Wilderness Explorers' 1912 journey to Anandapur and the Anandapur Royal Forest can be found outside this attraction.

### Up! A Great Bird Adventure

The Wilderness Explorer Russel and other Wilderness Explorers appear in this show, themed to being set in the *Anandapur Theatre* of Anandapur.

## Connections

### Avatar

The Valley of Mo'ara is the setting for Pandora: The World of Avatar which is themed to the 2009 James Cameron film *Avatar*. Along with being set on the moon of Pandora, the guidebooks depict several missions which involve having to study Pandora's wildlife and learn about the history of the valley.

### Dinosaur (Countdown to Extinction)

Diggs County is the setting for this attraction and its respective attraction of DinoLand, U.S.A.. Several of the missions pertain to the *Dino Institute* which is the organization responsible for the attraction. Of note there is the Dinosaur Badge has guests assisting in excavation within Diggs County's, "Boneyard".

### Expedition Everest

The Asia sections of the Wilderness Explorers Guidebook contains several allusions to, depictions of, and missions regarding the Himalayas, the Forbidden Mountain, and the Yeti. This includes using a telescope to note the height of the Forbidden Mountain and differentiate it from Mt. Everest, taking one of Himalayan Escapes' train-tours of the mountains, and studying the folklore and anthropology of the yeti outside of the Yeti Museum. As previously stated, the Wilderness Explorers are connected to the history of Anandapur, namely in the Anandapur Royal Forest.

### Kilimanjaro Safaris

The Wilderness Explorers had outposts in Harambe and the Harambe Wildlife Reserve, both the settings for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Some of the missions in the Wilderness Explorers guidebook are also connected to the group of Kilimanjaro Safaris and its conservation efforts. Notably is the Safari Badge which has guests taking a safari from Kilimanjaro Safaris and writing the name of the jeep SIMBA-1. It also mentions Harambe Wildlife Reserve by name and has participants document the animals which they observed.

### Matterhorn Bobsleds

The depictions of the yeti in the Wilderness Explorers Guidebook are modelled after the Matterhorn's yeti from the Disney attraction *Matterhorn Bobsleds* rather than the Yeti of Expedition Everest.

## References

1. ↑ https://schmirfle.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-wilderness-explorers-handbook.html