Ian Janosko is a man of enchanting stories . While emailing me to talk about Jungle Cruise , he wasted no time sharing stories about his parents ’ Disney-themed bathroom , how he took his first interview with Disney while sunbathing on the roof of a college theater , the forgotten history of MGM Studios ’ Fertility Idol merch , that time he almost died by Schweitzer Falls ( don ’ t worry , his dad filmed the whole thing and preserved it on YouTube ), and how he inadvertently crashed a wedding inside the Adventurers Club on its final day .
You might say a man with as many tales as Janosko was born to be a Jungle Cruise Skipper . And you ’ d be right .
Ian at the helm of the Ucayali Lolly . PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN JANOSKO
Janosko ’ s journey with Disney started when he was just three months of age , and it hasn ’ t ended yet . Today you ’ ll find him driving a Tembo Truck for Kilimanjaro Safaris , but in between treks onto the savanna , he shared his thoughts with me on what it was like to be a Jungle Cruise Skipper , perhaps the most coveted Cast Member job of all .
THE EVOLUTION OF THE JUNGLE CRUISE SKIPPER As a full-fledged member of the Dad Joke community , it ’ s hard for me to imagine a time when Jungle Cruise wasn ’ t drowning in puns . But back when Jungle Cruise opened at Disneyland in 1955 , the experience was dry and informational , more about experiencing the flora and fauna otherwise foreign to Anaheim .
That ’ s not to say the original Jungle Cruise Skippers had no funny material to work with . On Behind the Attraction , Imagineer Kevin Lively is quick to point out an old joke about giraffes that Skippers could tell :
“ If you keep watching that far bank , you can say that you ’ ve had a nodding acquaintance with a giraffe . The giraffe , however , won ’ t be able to say a thing , for this is one animal that has no vocal chords .”
Cue the cricket chirps .
It ’ s not surprising then that Walt , just a few years after opening Disneyland ’ s Jungle Cruise , allegedly heard a mother profess she didn ’ t want to ride Jungle Cruise because she ’ d ridden it previously . To Walt , that was a death sentence on his beloved attraction . He wanted rides that elicited “ can we go on that again !?” reactions from all his guests over and over . So Walt turned to Marc Davis , Disney Legend , animator , and king of dad jokes .
Davis ’ assessment of Jungle Cruise : It was devoid of humor . To Davis , Disneyland should be a place where families could laugh together , out loud . And Jungle Cruise ’ s script for the Skippers in its original form just wasn ’ t achieving that . But with Davis ’ rewrites and a script that still evolves across Disney Parks today , Jungle Cruise Skippers deliver dry , sarcastic , funny jokes that keep guests coming back repeatedly , ready for the new spiel from a new Skipper and a totally new experience .
PREVIOUS PAGE : The second-most dangerous animal in the jungle , the African Bull Elephant . The most dangerous ? His mother-in-law . PHOTO BY CLIFF WANG
Wave goodbye to all those smiling people on the dock ... You ' re never going to see any of them again ! PHOTO BY LAURIE SAPP