ORLANDO, Fla. – As Disney revamps its Jungle Cruise attraction to remove racist depictions of indigenous people, the company has released concept art of changes coming to a scene that involves the headhunter character, Trader Sam.


What You Need To Know

  • Disney is revamping its Jungle Cruise attraction

  • The final scene that features Trader Sam will also be updated

  • The animatronic has been removed and the scene will feature Trader Sam's gift shop

  • Disney shared concept art of the new scene

​The character appeared in the final scene of the ride as an animatronic holding shrunken heads. The animatronic figure was recently removed from Disney World's version of the ride.

For the final scene of Jungle Cruise, according to concept art released Monday, Trader Sam has turned the lost and found location into a gift shop.

"Word on the stream is that Alberta Falls, proprietor of the Jungle Navigation Company Ltd., has entrusted her longtime friend, Trader Sam, to manage the new Lost & Found location," Disney said in a post on its official parks blog. "But, with Trader Sam being Trader Sam, there's always an opportunity to make some extra money."

Since Trader Sam will no longer been seen on the ride, to explain his absence, the story will have him out "finding some new inventory" for the shop. And while he's away, the animals have taken over the site.

The scene is just one of the changes Disney is making to the attraction.

In January, Disney announced it would update Jungle Cruise at Disney World and Disneyland to make it more inclusive in an effort to better reflect the "diversity of the world around us." The ride's story is being tweaked, new characters are being added and scenes with negative depictions and stereotypes are being changed.

"As Imagineers, it is our responsibility to ensure experiences we create and stories we share reflect the voices and perspectives of the world around us," Carmen Smith, executive of Creative Development & Inclusion Strategies at Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a statement in January.

The real-life skippers who dispense jokes and puns along on the ride will remain.

The changes to Jungle Cruise as expected to be completed later this year, Disney said.

-

Facebook Twitter