Frank Wolff[1], real name Francisco Lopez de Heredia, is the main protagonist in the 2021 Disney live-action film Jungle Cruise, based on the ride of the same name.
History[]
Background[]
Francisco Lopez de Heredia was a 16th century mixed-race Hispanic man, who came into the service of conquistador Lope de Aguirre. Frank was considered to be like a brother to Lope and was amongst a lost expedition where they would have died had they not been saved by the Puka Michuna tribe. The tribe brought them to health using the Tears of the Moon". When Aguirre attempted to attack the tribe to steal more of the tree's tears for his daughter, the conquistadors were cursed to remain as immortals in the Amazon rainforest.
By 1916, Francisco changed his name to Frank Wolff and worked as a skipper for a private, cheap Jungle Navigation Company attraction in Porto Velho. Here, he owed money to harbormaster Nilo Nemolato who ran a more popular and successful boat company. Frank also had good relations with the Puka Michuna and their chieftain Trader Sam, though he spread myths about them being cannibalistic headhunters to profit off of their exoticism.
In 1916, Frank was approached by rogue explorer Lily Houghton and her brother MacGregor in offering safe passage through the jungles of South America in search of an ancient tree called Tears of the Moon so they can take its petals back to her laboratory and turn them into a serum that will cure terminal diseases and will also allow people to live longer.
Appearances[]
Film[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Frank is first seen on his ship the La Quila where he is fixing the ship's engines so the tour can continue much to one of the tourists asking him to know if he will give any more tours while another one of them asks to know if he gives refunds to which Frank explains that no refunds will be permitted after the tour. Having fixed the engines, the La Quila departs again and gets back to his duty as the skipper, giving the group a tour around the Amazon jungle while steering away from a nearby tree. Afterward, Frank continues his duty as the skipper while discussing to the tourists about what is seen during the tour giving tourists an advice about the dangers of the Amazon jungle. After passing through a fake hippo, Frank shows his favorite part during the tour which is the eighth Wonder of the World: the backside of water. Continuing the tour, Frank alerts the tourists to take cover after seeing the Headhunter Tribe shooting blow darts on the ship to which one of the tourists tell him to move faster to which Frank denies, warning him that speeding up the La Quila would damage his engine and repairing the damage on the engine would be expensive just as Frank continues a tour around the Amazon. After a tour, the La Quila departs at the docks of Porto Velho, Brazil, bidding the tourists a farewell.
Frank then approaches Nilo Nemolato who explains him to give him money to which Nilo feels dissatisfied for an insufficient amount of money. He then explains to Frank that he borrows money from him to get a new engine for the La Quila, telling him to pay him back for interest, explaining that he will keep his ship's engine for now. Nilo then warns him that if he doesn't get his money on one week, he will keep his whole boat by next week. After a conversation, Frank walks across a bar at the Hotel de Ferreira where he goes to Nilo's office without getting detected by Nemolato himself and arriving there, he finds his pet cockatoo Rosita on her perch. Lily Houghton suddenly bursts in to Nilo's office and finds Frank instead of Nilo inside his office. Lily explains that she is headed upriver to the Lágrimas de Cristal. While asking to Frank to know where the Lágrimas would be at to which he explains to her that the region is at the Amazon. Frank curiously examines Lily to know where she retrieved the map to which she explains that this map was drawn by Aguirre's cartographer, which belonged to her father who used to tell her about the Tears of the Moon when she was young. Lily then discusses with Frank to know if he can take her there to which Frank warns her about the dangers of the jungle on the tour. However, Lily then decides to set a negotiation between Frank or request another skipper for the tour.
Later at the bar at the Hotel de Ferreira, Frank is negotiating with Lily about his payment after the tour to which McGregor explains to the two that he found Mr. Nilo himself to which Lily feels upset with him that he deceived him for claiming himself to be Nilo Nemolato just as Lily talks to the real Nilo. Suddenly, a jaguar named Proxima appears in the bar where she frightens a couple of guests inside. Frank attempts to ward off the jaguar but she pounces him, causing him to land at the spot where the bug fight between the tarantula and the scorpion was taking place. Seeing the scorpion and tarantula preparing to attack Frank, he manages to avoid them while finding a nearby window. Frank tosses the steak out of the window to distract the jaguar just as the people inside the bar congratulate Frank for getting the jaguar out of the bar. Having taken care of Proxima, Lily explains that Frank that he owes her $12,000 to which Lily decides to settle the deal.
After Frank repairs the engine on his ship, he apologizes to Proxima for his harshness despite and then later arrives at the harbor to meet Lily and her brother who are on their way to board the La Quila. As McGregor brings his luggage with him, Frank deploys some of the luggage McGregor has brought with him on his journey to while deciding to keep some of them that are important for his journey while seeing Nemolato's men trying to stop Frank whom they think he is a rogue skipper to which he decides to escape with McGregor on board. Later while trying to rescue Lily, Frank arrives at the Porto Velho marketplace where he takes on some thugs while directing Lily to follow him. Lily manages to evade a group of thugs at the Porto Velho marketplace and arrive at the spot where the La Quila passes through.
While onboard the ship, Frank, Lily, and McGregor see a submarine boarded by Prince Joachim and his soldier who are on their way to the Tree of Life to which while trying to escape, Frank ties a rope on a pole where Nilo's boats are docked at where Nilo confronts Frank for trespassing the Nilo's River Adventure property to which Frank manages to starboard his ship to avoid Joachim and his soldiers who are on their way to steal the Arrowhead while Frank continues increasing the engine's speed to avoid getting hit by torpedoes fired by Prince Joachim in a plan to evade him, still passing through destroying part Nilo's property much to Nilo's fury. Frank manages to escape from Joachim and his men.
As the La Quila continues its voyage to the Lágrimas, Frank passes through a territory where a pod of pink river dolphins where he warns Lily that legends of these dolphins might come true. Later when Lily uses a moving camera picture, she offers Frank to try it and film the life in the Amazon just before explaining to Lily and her brother McGregor that the Lágrimas de Cristal region is straight ahead to which Lily explains that according to the map, the ship will pass through a cliff and tributary ahead to which Frank decides to starboard right on their way to the region which Frank believes this path would lead to the rapids while Prince Joachim and his soldiers continue planning to steal the Arrowhead from Lily.
Passing through a lily pad area, McGregor asks Frank that he is hungry and hasn't eaten for a while so he decides to catch some piranhas and so that he can provide the couple some food to which Lily and her brother started enjoying the freshly-cooked piranha. After dinner, Frank tells McGregor that he can sleep anywhere downstairs except for his cabin which is off limits just as Frank discusses with Lily with McGregor getting ready for bed. When McGregor goes to bed, Lily discusses with Frank that in the jungle, legend tells that a petal from the Tree will heal everything and change the medicine forever. Suddenly, the conversation is interrupted when he notices Proxima chasing McGregor to which Lily feels worried with Frank for bringing a jaguar onboard the ship to which Frank was able to stop Proxima from attacking McGregor, explaining to her that he is a gentle person.
The next day, the La Quila arrives at the Garaganta del Diablo with Frank onboard the ship and his pet jaguar Proxima on deck. As the La Quila arrives at the rapids, Frank tells the passenger onboard to hold on tight due to the strong turbulence of the rapids while avoiding a waterfall nearby. Frank manages to navigate through the extreme turbulence of the rapids as well as the waterfall. As the La Quila arrives at Ucayali Cove, Frank departs from his ship as he discusses with McGregor of how he lived with her sister for two days while chopping some wood to which McGregor shares his experience of how life in the jungle is tough while getting used to Lily accompanying him. During the conversation with Frank, McGregor shares his experience of how his uncle almost attempted to exclude him from the Houghton family if it weren't for his sister. Later, Frank approaches Lily and tells her that the skipper's quarters are private to which while warning her, he explains to Lily that he came seeking the Tears of the Moon and also has a map just like hers just as Frank explains that he tracked the paths of the jungle where Aguirre once roamed to seek the legend but had no luck in finding seeking the legend.
Suddenly, Frank and the Houghtons encounter the Puka Michuna tribe where they are taken to their leader. Frank speaks to their leader explaining to free the Houghtons to which the chief refuses to. Frank explains to Lily that all the chief wants is the Arrowhead to which Lily explains to the chief that she has the Arrowhead which she will it to find the Tears of the Moon telling the chief to let go of Frank and McGregor to which the chief refuses to listen. As Lily faces the tribesmen's chief, she is revealed to be none other than Trader Sam. Sam confronts Frank to which she feels worried upon seeing Frank and the Houghtons who are wearing modern clothes just as Frank warns Lily about the fake danger. Later, Frank listens to Lily who is discussing with Trader Sam who is explaining to her that according to legend, the Tears of the Moon are located in La Luna Rota and for the Tree to bloom, it must bloom under the light of the blood moon. Lily explains that she will seek the La Luna Rota region by herself without Frank accompanying her, much to Frank's worry. However, noticing the undead conquistadors around, Frank warns Lily that there is a danger within the headhunter territory while menacing voices are calling out Frank's name to which Frank and Lily attempt to escape but they are blocked by the conquistador who was fused with snakes, revealing to be Aguirre who is seeking the Arrowhead.
As Aguirre attacks Frank and Lily, he attempts to kill the two just as Frank tells Trader Sam to save her tribe to which all of a sudden, Gonzalo, a conquistador fused with roots, joins the ambush and fights against Frank while Lily frees herself, followed by Melchor, another conquistador fused with mud and poison dart frogs. During the ambush, Frank escorts a couple of Puka Michuna members away from the conquistadors while Lily and her brother continue taking on Sancho and Aguirre. Frank later takes on Aguirre, the conquistador fused with snakes who has the Arrowhead. While being struck by Aguirre, Frank retrieves the Arrowhead but suddenly falls from above; Lily and McGregor attempt to attack the couple but are later pulled away to the area where they were imprisoned at.
The next day, Frank is revealed to have survived the ambush where he reveals his full name Francisco López de Heredia to Lily and her brother. Frank tells the couple to ask Trader Sam to remove the sword impaled on him to which Sam refuses, explaining that she is done pulling weapons out of Frank. As an alternative, Lily manages to pull the sword out of Frank. Later when Frank approaches McGregor to bring him to continue the journey to find the Tears of the Moon, Lily tells her brother to rest due to the injury he received. Back on the La Quila, Lily stitches up Frank's wound just as Frank recaps his flashback of his father who was a mercenary who was recruited by Aguirre's father in Algiers, explaining that his father died protecting him, he took him in, and raised him and Aguirre together like brothers. He also explained that Aguirre's daughter Anna was very ill where he promised his daughter that he would find a Tear of the Moon to heal her. Lily then explains to Frank that he once was Aguirre's cartographer who drew her map just as she explains to Frank that he was a minor master at this time just as Frank continues recapping the story he is telling to Lily where it is shown that Aguirre grew impatient and demanded the Puka Michuna tribe to give him the Arrowhead and take him to the tree but Aguirre attacked the tribe while demanding the chief to give his men the Arrowhead to which the chief refused just as Aguirre and his conquistadors attacked the Puka Michuna tribe as Aguirre and his conquistadors were punished by the jungle to protect its natural environment.
Frank then explains to Lily that Aguirre hated him for betraying him just as he fought with him over the years just as he continues narrating that Aguirre and his conquistadors were trapped in a cave where the jungle couldn't take them back to the river just as Aguirre and his men were petrified as punishment from the jungle. After finishing his story with Lily, he explains to her that he built a boat and named it after the goddess of the moon, Quila and charted every river while on the La Quila but found no luck finding the Tears of the Moon which was the reason he gave cruises to tourists around the Amazon River. He continues explaining to Lily that he needed a wild cat to assist him over the years, each named Proxima. That night, Frank asks Lily to know how many people have been searching for the Arrowhead to which Lily explains to Frank that she liberated it before just as Frank makes sure the Arrowhead is Lily's owner. Lily asks him to know what he will do upon finding the Tree of Life to which Frank explains that he will lift the curse just as the La Quila continues its journey to the La Luna Rota region.
Arriving at the La Luna Rota region, Frank and Lily are planning to enter the area where the Tears of the Moon would be at just as the two plan to find a way to enter the temple much to Lily explaining to Frank that she is not a good swimmer much to Frank telling her to trust him just as the two begin to swim underwater in a plan to access the area where the Tears of the Moon are at. While underwater, Lily steps on a switch in a plan to find a way to enter the temple while Frank instructs her to follow him to which the two work together to pull a lever to open the ancient temple where the Tears of the Moon are housed at and upon pulling a lever, a school of piranhas begin swimming toward the couple as Frank is being attacked by piranhas. As the piranhas surround and attack Frank, Lily continues activating a switch to open the entrance to the temple where the Tears of the Moon are at in which the two manage to overcome the challenge together. Back on the La Quila, Frank discusses with Lily about why he did this to her to which Lily feels furious with the skipper for putting her in danger just as the water level lowers down to reveal the entrance to the temple where the Tears of the Moon are at in a plan to turn water into stone. Frank then explains to Lily that after 400 years, he finally found the Tears of the Moon located in an ancient temple. Suddenly as the water level goes down, Frank sees Joachim's, where he is confronted by Joachim and his men just as Frank feels concerned upon seeing Joachim's antagonism just as the La Quila arrives at the ancient temple.
Upon arriving inside the ancient temple where the Tears of the Moon are at, Joachim confronts Lily who is threatening to kill her to which Frank attempts to give Joachim his comeuppance as he is the one using the Tears of the Moon just as Frank, Lily, and McGregor arrive at the spot where they are attempting find a way to find the Tears of the Moon. As Frank attempts to place the Arrowhead to help them find the Tears of the Moon, Joachim tells Lily to help him to which Lily decides to avoid trusting Joachim fearing that Joachim is deceiving her just as Frank decides to let Lily go through him first. Lily then sees an inscription of a warrior which tells the legend of the Tears of the Moon where a sacred tree grew inside the temple just as Lily tells Frank to give her the Arrowhead. As Lily explains to Frank that both of them should fix the broken heart, it is found out that the artifact represents the heart just as Frank opens it in half to reveal a small gem inside and Lily places it on the inscription of a fallen warrior to form his heart while Frank places the Arrowhead on a slot that fixes it where the Tears of the Moon appear just as Lily and the others see the sacred tree inside the La Luna Rota temple. However, Lily does the sacrifice she made for Joachim in using a pistol against the skipper to which he suddenly falls off. Frank suddenly survives the fall as he ends up in the La Quila where he and McGregor fight against Joachim's mercenaries followed by McGregor who calls Proxima to tackle one of the soldiers.
Furthermore, Frank comes to the rescue to save Lily being attacked by Prince Joachim just as Frank retrieves the last petal of the Tears of the Moon from the sacred tree which suddenly withers after the Moon sets. When Aguirre and his conquistadors appear and set out an ambush, Frank plans to protect his allies from Aguirre by showing him the petal while telling Proxima to protect McGregor. Frank prepares to sacrifice his beloved ship the La Quila in order to save Lily by crashing it into a pillar in which while trying to sacrifice it, Aguirre and Sancho leap into the La Quila and the two conquistadors attack him. Frank plans to save himself from Sancho by opening the ship's engine to use fire to dislodge Sancho to which as Frank her plan to sacrifice the La Quila, Gonzalo, Aguirre, and Sancho continue assaulting Frank as Aguirre tells Frank to give him the petal. Aguirre's snakes then begin to attack Frank while Aguirre himself urges Frank to give him the petal. As Frank plans to give Aguirre the petal, Frank plans to give it to him only to find the toucan decoy inside much to Aguirre's snakes being deceived by the toucan decoy. Frank suddenly crashes his ship into a pillar to block the river. Frank ends up being grabbed by the vines and later petrified into stone, alongside the other conquistadors.
With Frank petrified on the wall with the other conquistadors, Proxima sadly reacts to Frank who was turned into stone to which Lily manages to give a petal of the Tears of the Moon to revive Frank just as Frank happily rejoices with Lily, McGregor, and Proxima to which a new petal of the Tree of Life suddenly grows inside the La Luna Rota area. The next day, Frank returns to Porto Velho via raft alongside Lily, McGregor, and Proxima. There, Frank approaches Nilo to which Frank explains to him that he has all the boats to which Nilo feels startled upon feeling Proxima passing through him just as Frank, Lily, McGregor, and Proxima walk across the docks. Arriving back at England, Lily teaches Frank how to drive a car while exploring the streets of London with Proxima sitting at the back of the car just as the two drive around London.
Disney Parks[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Frank's jacket can be seen hanging in the office of Alberta Falls along with that of Lily Houghton. His hat is hanging in an office within the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise. The map of the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise rivers appears to have been made by him as well, as a gift for Jungle Navigation Company founder Dr. Albert Falls in 1911 then augmented by Alberta in the 1930s. On the map is the message "To Albert, here's to many more adventures of a lifetime -F.W." on the bottom left corner and on the upper-right corner, "Here is adventure, here is romance, here is mystery". This map also appears aboard the Mekong Maiden in Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, in the possession of chimpanzees.
Trivia[]
- Frank is designed after Humphrey Bogart's character Charlie Allnut from the 1951 adventure-romance The African Queen. This is a tribute to how imagineer Harper Goff was inspired by said film when creating the Jungle Cruise. Charlie himself has been included in the Jungle Cruise property via a photograph in Bengal Barbecue and post-card from him in Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar.
- The map made by Frank was made in 1911, five years prior to his curse being lifted. However, the map features locations not from the Amazon river.
- A possible explanation might be that Frank only made the Amazon portions of the map while the rest was filled in by Dr. Albert Falls or even Alberta years later.
- While it goes without saying, Frank is supposed to be of Spanish descent, while his actor Dwayne Johnson, is actually of Samoan/Black Nova Scotian descent, though admittedly Johnson's ethnic appearance could easily pass for any other descent.
- Some easter-eggs can be found on Frank Wolff's Adventureland map.
- On the map of the Rivers of Adventure, Frank quotes Walt Disney's plaque for Adventureland.
- The compass of the map is the logo for the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, a colonial secret-society in the ride's backstory. It is unclear if this logo would have been added by Frank in 1911 or a later addition by Alberta Falls or Dr. Albert Falls (possibly evidenced by the compass being upside-down).
- The expedition which he and Lope were on might be a reference to the historic Aguirre's 1560 quest for El Dorado.
- Frank Wolff shares many similarities to Han Solo from Star Wars:
- Both are hired by the main character in a Cantina (Lily Houghton and Luke Skywalker)
- Both are in debt and owe money to a gangster (Nilo Nemolato and Jabba the Hutt)
- Both have a furry partner who accompanies them (Proxima and Chewbacca)
- Both own a ship that is said to be a piece of junk, but is built for speed ((the La Quila and the Millennium Falcon)
Gallery[]
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References[]
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