When did Jungle Cruise start combining the stand up routine?

[Walt Disney1955]

I am quite certain when Walt opened it at Disneyland in 1955 it wasn't done with comedy in mind. Maybe even in 1971 when it opened it wasn't either. I don't know. My first time was in 1991 and I can remember the skipper being funny in all my early trips. The girl in our most recent trip had a couple of good ones. When we got to the hippos she claimed she knew exactly how to get rid of them by saying the same things she said to her ex-boyfriend:

"I Love You!"
"Commit to me!"
"Meet my parents!"......................
.........................."Don't worry, we'll never see them again."

To me it adds another dimension. I always get a kick out of it. But when did it turn into more of a comedy act?

 

[Maeryk]

I want to say about the same time they took the guns away initially? I can remember (back before Space Mountain opened, though I'm fuzzy on the actual year), that it was less hokey jokey and more informative "These are indian elephants (elephant facts)". Though it's obvious there was always a bit of whimsy intended in the ride, with the gorilla scene and the rhino scene, but I think the jokes just started small, and are now cemented in history.

 

[ChrisFL]

Actually the humorous script was only a few years after the Jungle Cruise opened in Disneyland I'm pretty sure, but don't know the exact year. I think it was way before WDW opened.

 

[WEDwaydatamover]

It was definitely at Disneyland during the 1960s.

 

[celluloid]

Yes, there has almost always been a bit of tongue and cheek to it. Even in early years. The True Live Adventures of Disney that had synergy as a basis for much of Adventureland's original tone had a lot of clever writing in narration to keep things light as well.
You can get a sense on just how light and joke filled it is on the old Wonderful World of Color and Walt Disney Presents when the narration uses the "Now for the most dangerous part of our Journey, the return to Civilization."

 

[ToTBellHop]

Late 1950s I believe. It didn’t take long but it’s only gotten campier with time.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

We had a British Skipper a few years ago that was absolutely hilarious and done a lot of his own improv and we've always wished we could have gotten multiple rides with him. Some are better than others but a lot of them stick to the script for sure. I really like getting one that doesn't exactly do it that way because I basically have the script memorized myself. LOL!

 

[Master Yoda]

If the history I have read is accurate, the change from serious to corny occurred in 1962.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

WDW has always been kitschy and comedic.

 

[graphite1326]

I have been going quite a few years and this trip I could finally hear the skipper. I am hard of hearing with most of the high end gone. So if the skipper is female I can't hear her at all. This time we went after the fireworks so there were fewer people, the skipper was male, and not a lot of background noise. Corny jokes.

 

[dreamfinder]

If you had a terrible skipper, perhaps it came off as serious instead of funny? I've been on some bad cruises where the skipper was just terrible at their delivery so none of the jokes were funny or even corny. I do believe they have reined it in some where the skippers are given less leeway to go off script as well.

 

[Incomudro]

I rode the ride with my family the year it opened, and I still remember the skipper shooting the hippo's and exclaiming about giving one "a king sized toothache."
There was always an element of humor to the ride, but if I remember my trips in the 90's correctly the spiel was not all puns back then.
Fast forward to the mid 2000's when I started to go back again, and it was all shtick.

 

[Jon81uk]

Some are better than others but a lot of them stick to the script for sure.

I do believe they have reined it in some where the skippers are given less leeway to go off script as well.

I've read that the are told to stick to the script due to union/pay issues. If they read their lines they are a general Cast Member reading a spiel. If they Improv a lot then Equity get involved as they should be paid as a performing artist not a spieler.

 

[BraveGirl]

I rode the ride with my family the year it opened, and I still remember the skipper shooting the hippo's and exclaiming about giving one "a king sized toothache."
There was always an element of humor to the ride, but if I remember my trips in the 90's correctly the spiel was not all puns back then.
Fast forward to the mid 2000's when I started to go back again, and it was all shtick.

Ditto this. There may have been a few jokes before the mid 2000's but it was mainly a "serious" boat tour of the jungle. The full-on standup routine is relatively new.

 

[danyoung56]

From wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt) -

While the current version and most previous instances have made use of a comedic spiel, filled with intentionally bad puns, the original intent of the ride was to provide a realistic, believable voyage through the world's jungles. Until 1962,[1]the original spiel had no jokes and sounded much like the narration of a nature documentary.

My personal memories from my first trip way back in 1963 are that it was funny then.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

After Louie left.

Hehe

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

From wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt) -

While the current version and most previous instances have made use of a comedic spiel, filled with intentionally bad puns, the original intent of the ride was to provide a realistic, believable voyage through the world's jungles. Until 1962,[1]the original spiel had no jokes and sounded much like the narration of a nature documentary.

My personal memories from my first trip way back in 1963 are that it was funny then.

I've actually got a home video of it from 1982 at MK. The only problem, like most 1982 home movies, is that it's silent. LOL! Now that this thread exists I wish we could hear the Skipper on there. I've also got sound videos of Small World in 1987 and it's actually still got a lot of what it has always had.

 

[AshaNeOmah]

I've read some skippers joked around as early as 1958, with the 'nature documentary' ending in 1962. I'll see if i can find any references.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

 

[LittleBuford]

They relate to the Disneyland version, but these two old(ish) articles from the LA times (1994 and 1997) are relevant to the discussion:

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-24/news/mn-19394_1_jungle-cruise

http://articles.latimes.com/1997/oct/12/local/me-42072

And here's a selection of jokes compiled in the late '90s: http://home.earthlink.net/~andyda/disney/fromng/jcjokes.html

ETA: And here's an old thread (2001) from this very forum that disproves the idea that the stand-up routine wasn't standard before the 2000s: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/punniest-jungle-cruise-quote.906/