Post #739786 by EnchantedTikiGoth on Fri, Mar 20, 2015 7:06 PM

Also, some people forget that there is a Polynesian connection to "20,000 Leagues." The 1954 film includes scenes set in New Guinea featuring cannibals and human skulls on stakes (coincidentally a trait also attributed to Trader Sam himself).

That's not the only one!

In both Jules Verne's original novel and 1962 Disney film adaptation of In Search of the Castaways, there are extended scenes in New Zealand where they are taken captive by hostile Maoris. In the novel, the character of Thomas Ayrton (played by George Sanders in the film) is marooned on the phantom island called Maria Theresa Reef, or Tabor Island as it was called on French maps. It reappears in Verne's Mysterious Island when the characters stranded on Lincoln Island (Nemo's secret base) rescue Ayrton. In the 1961 film adaptation of The Mysterious Island, the two islands are conflated and the heroes discover Ayrton's remains on the single unnamed island. If you want to get really nerdy with the Disney trivia, the theme for Disneyland's Primeval World attraction is taken from The Mysterious Island, which itself acts as a kind of "unofficial sequel" to Disney's film.

As an author, Verne revisited the South Pacific in The Floating Island, Two Years' Vacation and The Kip Brothers. I may know all this because I was trying to figure out ideas for a hypothetical home lounge that gave me an excuse to blend Tiki with my love of Jules Verne :)

On 2015-03-20 06:27, AceExplorer wrote:

EnchangedTikiGoth - I don't see "the concept art makes Grog Grotto look even more tiki than the original Trader Sam's" because I still see more Adventureland and Jungle Cruise in the concept art as you mentioned in your post. The giant snake is one jungle example, I don't think that there are any snakes occurring naturally in the islands of the South Pacific.

That "snake" is a tentacle from one of the squids (or at least referencing the squids) from the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction :) The diving helmet behind the bar is also one from 20K.

Being a ridiculous Jules Verne nerd, I would have loved to have gone on the 20K attraction, but I was still a year away from graduating high school when it closed. I didn't even get to WDW until last year! And now I'm grumbling because there is little chance of us going back there just so I can go to Trader Sam's to see a helmet, and tentacle, and pick up a Nautilus mug :( At least I have been to the 20K attractions in Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneysea. I almost... almost... talked my wife into a Disney Cruise, which would have had the benefit of snorkeling in the Bahamas around where the underwater scenes of 20K were filmed, and seeing the old 20K attraction submarine that Disney sunk in the snorkle lagoon of their private island. Who knows, maybe some day we will, and that will be my excuse to go to Grog Grotto too? :wink:

I don't have any problem with the more generically Adventureland theme either, since I am hardly a Tiki purist. I was just commenting on the concept art and the location. If we were going to speculate that Grog Grotto will follow the path trod by the original Trader Sam's, then we would have to consider attractions from WDW that they could reference. Jungle Cruise and the Enchanted Tiki Room are obvious, and we already know about 20K and Under New Management. I think you're probably spot on about Adventurer's Club (there already are references to it in Trader Sam's). With Aloha Isle probably slated to close they might throw a reference in Grog Grotto, and we might see some Swiss Family Robinson references as well (alluding to the Treehouse). It would give me a kick to see an In Search of the Castaways reference, since there's the Jules Verne, 20K connection, but who knows? Indiana Jones stunt show maybe? What else?

[ Edited by: EnchantedTikiGoth 2015-03-20 19:07 ]