Interview:
Keith Sintay, ex-Jungle Skipper
turned Disney Animator

JGR: This month for our first Jungle Gnus Report Feature Interview, we'll be talking with Keith Sintay. Keith is an ex-Jungle Skipper and now a Disney animator. Keith, it's good to talk with you. How are you doing?
KS: Fine, thanks Shawn.
JGR: Good. First off let's set the stage. You and I actually worked together on the Jungle Cruise.
KS: Many, many moons ago I believe we did.
JGR: A long, long time ago. Now, I know you've always wanted to be an animator, right?
KS: That's correct.
JGR: From the time I met you. But where did you start at Disney?
KS: Well, I started, actually, coming down here for the summer - I'm originally from Michigan - and I came down in the summer of '89 and started working at the Haunted Mansion, believe it or not, with every intention of finishing school and going back in the fall and getting my art degree, because I knew that I eventually wanted to be an animator. So I came down here to get the lay of the land, and because I knew the Studio was opening up here.
JGR: And then you went from Mansion to Jungle?
KS: That's right. They recruited me, much against my will - because I don't get along well with mosquitoes.
JGR: Tell me about your first experience at the Jungle Cruise.
KS: Wow. I guess that would have to be getting trained, and going out and practicing firing those guns. I kinda remember that. That was back before girls worked there...
JGR: I remember that.
KS: Yeah, we missed out on that.
JGR: I know, can you believe it?
KS: Anyway, I remember friends of ours blasted the guns off, one of them almost lost a finger, and the other one almost lost his hearing - that was fun.
JGR: Did spieling come naturally to you? Did you just jump on a boat and start talkin'?
KS: Well, I think that I'm a little bit more shy than you are. I like to stay kinda low key, behind the scenes. That's why I think I adapted well to animation, as far as being behind the scenes, and being able to portray a personality through drawings, without having to actually get out in front of people and do it. But after a while I got used to spieling - I thought it was pretty fun.
JGR: How long were you at Jungle altogether? Do you remember?
KS: Oh, boy - umm - about three months too long. No, I was there a total about eight months, I don't know, something like that.
JGR: So, nearly a year.
KS: Yeah - long enough to crash a couple boats, actually.
JGR: Well, I think we all have. Did you ever go in the water?
KC: No!
JGR: I did.
KS: Oh really?
JGR: Well, it wasn't on purpose, I was loading, you know, the 'Front Load' position, and I was playing with this kid, you know, you're supposed to be nice and friendly, and play with the kids. Anyway, I was playing with this kid, and all of a sudden I turned around, and he just pushed me...
KS: You're kidding me!
JGR: No, he pushed me. I mean, he did it all in good fun,
KS: Ha, ha, ha ha!
JGR: And I went in.
KS: Nobody ever pushed me in!
JGR: I was one of ...you know, out of how ever many skippers there are on a shift, I think there's two or three a month that go into the water. It's like a big deal...
KS: Yeah - I remember Lou - do you remember Lou? He was about 86 years old...
JGR: Yeah, Lou - white hair, short guy?
KS: Yeah. We heard a splash, and we turned around and all we saw was his hat floating.
JGR: Ha ha, ha ha! Jungle Cruise stories. Tell me your favorite Jungle Cruise story.
KS: Well, I guess I would have to include my wife in this one, actually. She was my fiancée at the time, and when she moved down here...
JGR: She was from Michigan, too?
KS: Right. She came down from Michigan, and it was New Years Eve, and she had just gotten here, and I had to go to work. She wanted to come out and visit me, so I got her into the park, and she had basically nothing to do but walk around, while I did the Jungle thing. Well, by the time it was time for the fireworks, the Jungle was basically deserted - everybody was up on Main Street, so she came on to the boat, and I took the two of us alone out into the jungle. We drove out into the African Veldt and...uh, parked the boat, and watched the fireworks - it was pretty nice. Romantic. And then, another friend of ours came zooming up behind us with the spotlight...
JGR: I can't believe they spotlighted you! The one place you'd think you can park and not get spotlighted, and you get spotlighted! That's incredible. Now, when you left the Jungle you transferred to Studio Attractions, which was advantageous for you (wanting to be an animator) because that 's where you started to really network.