Our Work on Jungle Cruise

In the early 20th century, a riverboat captain named Frank (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) takes scientist Dr Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) on a mission deep into the Amazon jungle. The trio seeks the Tree of Life, which is believed to possess healing powers, and on their journey, they encounter dangerous wild animals and a competing German expedition.

Jungle Cruise plays out along hundreds of kilometres of an ever-changing CG Amazon River. The various water conditions, whether a calm current or a tumbling waterfall, required complex and high-volume simulation work. We began by building detailed riverbeds before layering water over top, blending the elements together as the river reacts to the geography of the riverbed and other sections of water flowing downstream. The rapids, in particular, were the biggest water simulation we have ever done.

We also built the jungle and the many animals that inhabit it, using library assets and ‘motion vignettes’ to populate the dense Amazon rainforest. These motion vignettes enabled hundreds of creatures such as butterflies, monkeys, and piranhas to be incorporated into the shot during Layout rather than Animation, so they appeared as part of the set.

Frank’s loyal jaguar sidekick Proxima is entirely CG and hand-animated. Reference for Proxima included footage of real jaguars and domesticated animals to create a believable creature with a distinctive personality. We built an accurate skeleton frame then layered muscles and skin on top, creating a natural sag and jiggle to her body as she moved.