The Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A.) was a centuries-old collective of globetrotters which included pilot Jock Lindsey among its members in the 20th century.
History[]
The Society of Explorers and Adventurers was established in Porto Paradiso, Italy on August 12, 1538. The society was devoted to carrying on the greatness of the Renaissance through four main studies: romance, discovery, adventure and innovation. The original headquarters for the society was Fortress Explorations in Porto Paradiso near the volcanic Mount Prometheus.[1]
In the 19th century, the society underwent many reforms during the leadership and in the wake of society president, Vitali Robustelli. The first female member of the group was early aviatrix Camellia Falco who was inducted in the year 1851.[2] Society secretary and inventor Jason Chandler became the next president of the society during a period of global expansion for the group.
In the year 1883, member Harrison Hightower III and his manservant Archibald Smelding travelled to the Lost River Delta of Cusco, Peru. While there, Hightower found the elusive Temple of the Crystal Skull which he photographed himself in front of. The two desecrated another temple, looted the stone head of a water-god statue and took back to their home at the Hotel Hightower in New York City. As a result, the spirits of the temple were deeply angered and caused a variety of disasters in the Delta.[3]
In the early 20th century, society member Merriweather Adam Pleasure became discontent with S.E.A and created a splinter group known as the Adventurers Club. An early member of the newer group was historic former US president Theodore Roosevelt.[4]
On April 8, 1911, explorer and S.E.A. member Dr. Albert Falls established the Jungle Navigation Company which assisted in the transportation of cargo, messages and passengers throughout the jungles of the world. In 1928, Falls disappeared under mysterious circumstances which left the company under the leadership of his granddaughter Alberta.
A member of the S.E.A. in the following decade was one Professor Garrett Reed, a criminal archaeologist and minor rival Indiana Jones who alerted the antiquities community to his misdeeds. In 1929, Reed had his membership to the group revoked by Lord Henry Mystic amidst accusations of tomb raiding to line his pockets.[5]
In 1931, Indiana Jones teamed up with a group known as the League of Adventurers to track down the Temple of the Crystal Skull in the Lost River Delta.[6] While the league was chased away by the Crystal Skull dwelling within, Jones and his assistant Paco began to excavate the ruins. Around this time, an archaeological group known as the Cantera El Barranca Rocoso excavation team worked to restore the nearby temple which was desecrated by the late Harrison Hightower III. The team received the mission pieces from the Hightower Trust though they only further enraged the spirits when they put the water idol's head on the wrong way around.[7]
In an edition of the Daily Colonial Journal published in the December 8 of 1932, both Lord Mystic and Indiana Jones were interviewed about Reed while he was attempting to steal the mystical Emerald Trinity. Reed was later suffocated by the magical forces protecting the emeralds which possessed vines to shove him into the ground.[5]
In the summer of 1936, Indiana Jones and his friend Sallah joined forces with the Jungle Navigation Company to excavate the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in the Lost Delta of India. The JNC had a base not far from the temple and later assisted Sallah in bringing tourists to the temple for additional revenue.[8]
In 1938, Alberta transformed the JNC company headquarters and Falls estate into the "Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen." Her grandfather's old secret meeting chamber for the society was transformed into one of the dining areas at the restaurant. Alberta also worked as bookkeeper for the canteen's library and amongst the books in its collection were: The Eyes of Mara by Indiana Jones, Seeking Knowledge by Mara, and the Temple Tours series by Paco. Jones' aviator friend Jock Lindsey was a patron of the bar and at one point, a crate containing water from Schweitzer Falls was to be sent from the canteen to one Dr. D. Marley at Marshall College.[9]
Around the 1940s-1950s, Lindsey was broiught on board as a member of the S.E.A. When Jock constructed an airplane hangar in the Florida town of Disney Springs, he hosted members of S.E.A. and the Adventurers Club at his property. In 1955, the Adventurers Club assisted Jock in transforming the site into "Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar" and were photographed by the Source Gazette at the bar's ribbon-cutting ceremony. Jock often hosted and invited fellow members of S.E.A. to dine at his hangar bar and served food items from a S.E.A., "New member" menu.[10]
Behind the scenes[]
The Society of Explorers and Adventurers is a story concept created by Walt Disney Imagineering in 2001 as part of the Tokyo DisneySea park, which in turn was inspired by the Adventurers' Club bar at Downtown Disney's Pleasure Island, and forms part of the world building which connects the global Disney Parks. Two members of the club, Harrison Hightower III and Lord Henry Mystic, were made the focus of Tokyo DisneySea's Tower of Terror and Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor respectively.
Artwork of Hightower visiting the Lost River Delta, home to the Temple of the Crystal Skull can be seen in Tower of Terror's queue. Jones and the Society crossed paths again within backstory materials created for a Halloween overlay of Hong Kong Disneyland's Jungle Cruise titled Curse of the Emerald Trinity, with the story's central character having become an enemy to both in his pursuit of supernatural artifacts.
When Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar first opened, the group was misnamed as the Society for Explorers and Adventurers, contrary to the naming throughout the rest of the Disney parks, but has since been corrected.
Appearances[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Tokyo DisneySea – Fortress Explorations
- ↑ Tokyo DisneySea – Soaring: Fantastic Flight
- ↑ Tokyo DisneySea – Tower of Terror
- ↑ Disneyland – Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hong Kong Disneyland – Jungle River Cruise: Curse of the Emerald Trinity
- ↑ Shanghai Disneyland – Camp Discovery
- ↑ Tokyo DisneySea – Raging Spirits
- ↑ Disneyland – Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
- ↑ Walt Disney World – Skipper Canteen
- ↑ Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar
External links[]
- Society of Explorers and Adventurers at The Disney Wiki
- Society of Explorers and Adventurers at the SEA Wiki
- JungleSkipper.com, a SEA fansite