Amazon rainforest

**The Amazon rainforest** also known as the **Amazon jungle** or **Amazonia** is a real-world location.

## Description

The Amazon rainforest is a vast jungle located predominately in Brazil which is found on the Amazon river. Most of the Amazon basin is engulfed in Amazonia. Over half of Earth's remaining rainforests are represented by the Amazon and it is considered to be the most biodiverse tropical region on land. The rainforest is also home to many Indigenous peoples with at-least 3,344 recognized Indigenous territories including those of the Jivoro, Tapuyas, Shuar, Yanomami and the fictitious Puka Michuna.

### Points of interest

#### Water-bodies

* **Amazon River**: The Amazon river is one of the largest and longest rivers in the world. It is also one of the, "Rivers of Adventure", a mystic river connecting many locations across the Earth into the hybrid realm of, "Adventureland".
	+ **Piranha territory**: This was a section of the Amazon river inhabited by piranhas. During the dry seasons, they are known to be vicious man-eaters.
* **Inspiration Falls**: Inspiration Falls is a small waterfall along the Amazon river, so named for inspiring adventurers to go deeper into the jungle.

#### Assorted

* **Akator**: Akator or, "El Dorado" is the legendary lost city of gold.
* **Amazon floodplain**:
	+ **Amazon River Base**:
* **Boats & Baits AND Bites!**: This was a business run by one Skipper Sully.
* **Ilha Aramacá**:
* **Lágrimas de Cristal**:
	+ **Puka Michuna territory**:
	+ **Temple**: This was a temple which held the enchanted, *Tears of the Moon* tree.
	+ **Ucayali Cove**:
* **O.I. Cyhu's shack**:
* **Porto Velho**:
* **Settler's Field**: Settler's Field is an oft-flooded region along the Amazon river. The field typically is used for pilots to land in though rains cause floods preventing this.
* **Trader Sam's Gift Shop!**:
* **Trader Sam's Outpost**:

### Wildlife

#### Fauna

* **Amazon river dolphin**:
* **Boa constrictor**: This was a snake species native to the Amazon, some of whom were bound to cursed conquistador, Lope de Aguirre.
* **Giant butterflies**:
* **Giant frogs**:
* **Jaguar**:
* **Mallards**: This was an invasive-species of North American waterfowl which became common around Jungle Navigation Company bases in the Amazon during the 1930s.
* **Mist**:
* **Piranhas**:
* **Rock Python**: An animal not native to the Amazon, at least one rock python inhabited the jungles in the 1930s.
* **Siafu**: This was a species of large, hyper-carnivorous ant who were known to kill humans to drag back to their nests as food.
* **Water-buffalo**:

## History

### Real-world

#### Indigenous history

The Amazon rainforest was densely populated by a variety of Indigenous tribes. Several of these peoples are believed to have been very developed with advanced agricultural practices. Some of these tribes were documented to war with one another such as the Jivaroan Shuar with the Yanomami tribes.

### Disney Parks

#### Akator

One of the oldest peoples in the Amazon was the Ugha tribe. Around 5000 BC, thirteen advanced, interdimensional organisms contacted the ancient Ugha tribe of the western Amazon rainforest and became their gods. Under the 13 aliens, the Ugha created the golden city of Akator, or, "El Dorado" as the Spanish would call it.

In 1546, the interdimensional beings were in a stasis within Akator that rendered them as crystal skeletons. A conquistador named Francisco de Orellana would steal one of the skulls from the city of gold before the skull telepathically forcing him to return it to the city. Francisco was however killed by the guardians of the Chauchilla Cemetery where he and the skull were buried.

#### Lope de Aguirre

Other Indigenous peoples would include the Puka Michuna, sacred guardians of the Tree of Life which had a flower called, "The Tears of the Moon" which cured all ailments when bloomed under a blood moon. In 1556, the Puka Michuna found a small group of conquistadors, which consisted of Lope de Aguirre, Sancho, Melchor, Gonzalo and Francisco Lopez de Heredia, on the verge of death in the jungle. They nursed the Spaniards back to health using the Tears of the Moon.

Aguirre, who was searching for the Tears to save his terminally ill daughter, demanded the Puka Michuna Chief to give him the sacred Arrowhead and take him to the Tree of Life, but he refused. In anger, Aguirre stabbed the Chief, fatally wounding him. In his last breath, the Chief cursed Aguirre and all of his conquistadors so they could never leave sight of the river again, or the jungle would take them back to it for all eternity.

#### Jungle Rivers of Adventureland

Other Indigenous peoples (possibly related to the Puka Michuna) were a family of shrunken-head traders, warriors and cannibals. The most notable of this family was one, "Trader Sam", a man born prior to the early 18th century who would come to have magical powers and an expansive lifespan. Sam would take up the family business of head trading though his true interests resided in mixology. This was the apparent result of having been bitten by a literal, "Bartending bug" which some confused for a mosquito. Through unknown means (possibly connected to the Jungle Rivers of Adventureland), Sam would travel the world to locations such as Cambodia and the Caribbean.

Around the summer of 1891, British colonist Dr. Albert Falls travelled to the Amazon river from Africa's Zambezi river via the mystic *Rivers of Adventure*. Falls spent roughly two days in the Amazon and documented the petroglyphs made of the fish and also partook in fishing for the piranhas near the end of their seasonal rapids. Following this, Falls left by using the rivers of Adventure to move through an uncharted tributary to the Lost Delta of India.

#### Hunt for the Tree of Life

On the April 8th of 1911, Dr. Albert Falls established the *Jungle Navigation Company* which frequented the Amazon. Also in 1911, portions of the Amazon's rivers of adventure were mapped by Francisco Lopez de Heredia (now going by the name Frank Wolff) and given as a gift to Dr. Albert Falls. Wolff himself would be employed by the Jungle Navigation Company by around this time, running charlatanizeid, "Jungle Cruise" riverboat tours through the rivers that used actors and crude machines resembling animals.

Prior to 1916, Dr. Albert Falls was member of the *Royal Anthropological and Diverse Adventures Society*, a misogynistic imperial society. From this society, Dr. Albert Falls lead an expedition in the Amazon rainforest to try and find the mythical Tree of Life and claim its flower-petals, "The Tears of the Moon". This expedition was unsuccessful though he did steal the sacred arrowhead from the Indigenous Puka Michuna tribe and return it to the English society, believing it to be the key to locating the tree.

In 1916, the spearhead was stolen by adventurer Lily Houghton and her brother MacGregor Houghton. The two travelled to the Amazon in pursuit of the Tears of the Moon though they did so in competition with Prince Joachim of Prussia, the youngest son of German Kaiser Wilhelm II who desired the flower to win World War I. The Houghtons travelled to Porto Velho where they hired Francisco Lopez (now going by the name of Frank Wolff), captain of the *Jungle Navigation Company* boat *La Quila*. The Houghtons were pursued by Prince Joachim in his submarine who joined forces with the remainder of the cursed conquistadors.

Frank and Puka Michuna tribe chieftain, "Trader Sam" (a separate character from the aforementioned magic-user) joined forces with Frank to overpower Lily and MacGregor to recover the stolen arrowhead and break Frank's curse.'

#### The Jungle Cruise

On the October 1 of 1931, Jungle Navigation Company president Alberta Falls started the, "Jungle Cruise" tourism service which passed through the Amazon rainforest. Trader Sam (the immortal) took to trading with the customers brought to the jungle by the Jungle Cruise tours. Sam was accompanied by his pet baby Indian elephant, Ellie and assisted by his cousin Chief Nah-mee. Around the mid 1930s, Sam moved his business to a Polynesian isle where he opened a bar and at some point, Nah-mee shifted his own trade to fruits and jewellery such as the enchanted *Tiger of Courage, Elephant of Wisdom*, and *Monkey of Cleverness*.

By around 1935/1936, the company had established a river base along the Amazon river in a floodplain of the rainforest. This base was considered to be the company's, "Most exciting outpost". This was the result of the Jungle Navigation Company's typical inexperience, negligence and mismanagement leading to pandemonium in the base. Also around 1936, the Jungle Navigation Company's activities correlated with an invasive species of North American mallard ducks infesting the Amazon along with other regions of Adventureland. Scientists chose to put up with these birds despite their potential harm to the environment due to them being, "Cute".

In a December between 1935 and 1937, the Amazon was polluted along with the rest of the Rivers of Adventure by the Jungle Navigation Company. The company had imported a large amount of Christmas decor and paraphernalia which their pilot by accident dumped in the Rivers of Adventure resulting in mass pollution. Amidst this event, various piranhas ate Christmas presents, animals of the Amazon would be covered and wrangled in Christmas paraphernalia, the, "Trader" cousins would trade holiday oriented goods and the event was reported on by one Tallahassee Glover of *The Daily Gnus* newspaper. Due to the success of leading Christmas oriented, "Jingle Cruise" tours through the jungle, this act of pollution became an annual standard for the Jungle Navigation Company.

By 1938, Alberta appointed Trader Sam to run the JNC's lost & found in the Amazon. Sam however transformed the business into a gift-shop where he sold the recovered items. By this point in time, Alberta modified a map of the Amazon and Rivers of Adventure created for her grandfather by Frank Wolff for company usage. In 1938, Alberta Falls arranged a V.I.P. Jungle Cruise tour aboard the *Kwango Kate*, helmed by new skipper Felix Pechman XIII. This tour seemingly departed from the Amazon river base before being lost along the Rivers of Adventure, outside of the Amazon. At some point, one Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir would run a business called, "Sallah Tours" through the Amazon rainforest.

#### Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

In 1957, the Crystal Skull of Akator was located by Professor Harold "Ox" Oxley but it drove him to insanity. Oxley was captured by the Soviet Union who were aware of the interdimensional beings due to having stolen one of their corpses from Hangar 51 in Nevada after it crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The soviets wished to use the power of the skulls to telepathically make the entire human-race communist. When Harold was sought after by his old friend Indiana Jones, he and their allies worked to return the skull to Akator. They eventually did so, bringing the interdimensional beings back to life as they left earth in their flying-saucer.

## Jungle Cruise appearances

### Disney Parks

#### Adventure Trading Company

The rainforest along with Sam and Ellie were featured on a map of Adventureland. There were assorted references to Amazon entities in the Daily Gnus and one of the jujus was modelled after a piranha.

#### Horrors of the Amazon

This show revolved around Jonas Brisbane, a skipper for the JNC and nephew of adventurer Ebenezer Brisbane. After his grandfather disappeared in the Amazon, Jonas travelled there and pillaged it, stealing a bird-woman, a monkey-man, a severed zombie's head, and the grave-robbed corpse of a witch-doctor. Jonas showed off these trophies to try and gain membership to the colonial *Society of Explorers and Adventurers*, only for the witch-doctor to come to life and vanish with Brisbane as punishment for the skipper's crimes.

#### Jungle Cruise

In the mythology of the Jungle Cruise, at-least one part of the Amazon rainforest along the Amazon river is part of the domain known as Adventureland. The boats *Amazon Annie* and *Amazon Belle* are also named for the rainforest/river.

##### Disneyland

Guests enter the Amazon in the third act where they are attacked by piranhas. The boats then pass by a python and water buffalo before finding Trader Sam's business and exiting the Amazon. Within the boathouse is the map of the Amazon used by Lily Houghton on the search for the Tree of Life.

###### Indiana Jones: Summer of Hidden Mysteries

In this overlay, Trader Sam was shown in possession of a tablet depicting the Crystal Skull of Akator at his outpost.

##### Magic Kingdom

The boathouse in this version of the attraction is set in the Amazon. The first scenes on the river include entering the rainforest and passing Inspiration Falls. The boats later return to the Amazon where they find Trader Sam's gift shop. Albert Awol makes several comments referencing the rainforest such as advertising, " *Come drift into the era of kings and golden idols.  Discover what you would have never missed if you had never seen it in the first place.  It's another amazing Amazonian river fantasy from the Jungle Navigation Company*" and warning, "*All boat captains please be advised that there have been several reports of aggressive butterflies along the inner banks of the Amazon river.  Three guests have reported minor confrontations.  To minimize the chance of future injuries, butterfly repellent is strongly recommended*".

#### Shrunken Ned's Junior Jungle Boats

This attraction was seemingly set in the Amazon floodplain. It revolved around, "Shrunken Ned" of the *Jungle Expedition Skipper Training School* teaching new skippers via remote-control boats.

#### Skipper Canteen

There is a portrait by Rosa Soto Dominguez which depicts Alberta Falls in-front of of Inspiration Falls. Several books in the library reference the Amazon such as, *Swimming in the Amazon, Fishing in the Amazon,* and *800 Leagues on the Amazon*.

#### Trader Sam's

There are various photographs of Sam and his family in the Amazon. The descriptions by Skip Dockmonkey also mention Sam's operations in the Amazon.

#### Tropical Hideaway

An oar and plaque from the *Society of Explorers and Adventurers* commemorates member Sango Shio as having traversed the Amazon river in 1910. Bite-marks across the oar indicate that they were attacked by piranhas.

### Film

#### The Creature from the Black Lagoon

This film was set in the Black Lagoon of the Amazon.

#### Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones competes with the Soviet Union to locate Akator in the Amazon in this film.

#### Jungle Cruise

The main setting for this film is the Amazon rainforest.

### Other connections

#### Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye

A tag in the Enchanted Tiki Bar identifies, "Sallah" tours as operating in the Amazon rainforest.

## Other appearances

### Disney Parks

#### Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

A letter from Jason Chandler to Barnabas T. Bullion mentions the two having visited El Dorado prior to 1880.

## References

1. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2021/08/photos-new-trophy-wall-alberta-falls-and-map-murals-added-to-jungle-cruise-queue-at-the-magic-kingdom/
2. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhxm1Hg\_ow/
3. ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/inexorabletash/7848397840/