Big Thunder Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
Background information
Feature films
Shows
Video games
Park attractions
Inspiration
Other information
Other names
Location
Ruler(s)
Owners
Inhabitants
The citizens ofThunder Mesa
The citizens ofRainbow Ridge
The citizens ofTumbleweed
Billy the Disney GoatVisitors
Description[]
Background[]
Big Thunder Mountain was a mountain or mountains and cluster of rock formations located inArizona. During primeval times Big Thunder was home to a large amount of dinosaurs, most notablyTyrannosaurus-Rex andTriceratops. Following the K-T extinction event, the fossilized skeletons of many of these animals would be littered across Big Thunder.
Billions of years later, Big Thunder Mountain was home for the indigenous American Shoshone tribe who likely migrated to the region c. 1750 due to competition and pressures from Blackfoot, Crow, Lakota, Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes. The mountain would receive the name of Big Thunder from the indigenous tribes due to the loud sounds made by the mountains waterfalls during rainy seasons. The Shoshone considered Big Thunder Mountain to be sacred and home to a powerful spirit known as theSpirit of Big Thunder orThunderbird.
In 1849, a prospector namedHenry Ravenswood traveled to Big Thunder for unknown reasons and happened upon gold within the rock-work of the mountain. Ever the opportunist, Henry established theBig Thunder Mining Company and mining-town ofThunder Mesa which forced the Shoshone off of their own land, keeping them out a fortress known as Fort Comstock on the town border.
For twenty-years Henry and his company exploited the land of Big Thunder for its gold. Due to having angered the spirit of Big Thunder by his greed and evil deeds, accidents and natural-disasters would become common-place in Thunder Mesa, many of which claimed the lives of miners and townsfolk. This climaxed in the year 1860 when a massive earthquake hit Thunder Mesa and collapsed a the south-west portion of the town into a canyon. Countless lives were claimed including those of Henry Ravenswood, his wifeMartha, the town mayor and sheriff to name a few.
The canyon would be named Phantom Canyon by the townsfolk due to it being known to be a literal ghost-town, inhabited by the spirits and animate corpses of those who had died in the earthquake. Mining operations too would stop for a time with the mining-trains of the company running wild and out of control, apparently being possessed by spirits. This halting of operation would not be long-last however as in 1869, another mining town would be constructed on a different peak of the mountain by the name ofRainbow Ridge.
Rainbow Ridge could be accessed from Thunder Mesa by theMark Twain Riverboat and furthered mining into the mountain. By 1880, another mining town would be built calledTumbleweed which was built by the Big Thunder Mining Company under the leadership of oneBarnabas T. Bullion. The disasters and accidents which plagued Ravenswood would torment Bullion's company as-well with earthquakes, accidents, floods and extreme droughts being common. Additionally, Barnabas' foremanG. Willikers was a cruel man who frequently cheated workers of their money for his own pockets.
To try and keep his business afloat, Barnabas came into contact with his old contemporaryJason Chandler. Chandler and Bullion were members of an organization known as theSociety of Explorers and Adventurers with Chandler himself being club-president in addition to being a gifted inventor. Concerned for Bullion, Chandler came into contact with his allyMadame Zarkov of theMuseum of the Weird and learned that the land itself was the cause of the problems, leading to him warning Bullion against continued mining. The end of Big Thunder's story is a mystery though apparently Barnabas would die prior to the year 1899.
Features[]
Big Thunder Mountain has multiple peaks and faces as illustrated by a portrait in the queue for theMagic Kingdom's version of the attraction. There are also at-least two notable rivers within the Big Thunder Mountain Range with one surrounding the mountain-peak of Thunder Mesa while the other winds around Rainbow Ridge and Tumbleweed.
- Dinosaur Gap:
- Rainbow Caverns:
- Spiral Butte:
- Coyote Canyon:
- The Nevermine:
- Busted Flats:
Thunder Mesa Region[]
- Thunder Mesa: A mining-town established by white colonists in 1840.
- Big Thunder Island:
Rainbow Ridge Region[]
- Rainbow Ridge:
- Big Thunder Falls & Little Thunder Falls:
- Natural Arch Bridge:
Tumbleweed Region[]
- Tumbleweed:
- Dave V. Jones Mine:
Other[]
- Stillwater Junction: Stillwater Junction is a railroad depot found along theWestern River Railroad atTokyo Disneyland. It is mentioned in the Thunder Mesa Daily Messenger as being in the Big Thunder region along the Rivers of the Far West. As Tokyo's version of Big Thunder Mountain does not feature a town sequence, Stillwater Junction is presumably being positioned to represent Westernland within the larger Big Thunder narrative.
Fauna[]
- Opossums
- Goats
- Wild Pigs
- Bobcats
Development History[]
Big Thunder was largely inspired by plans for the plateau setting of the unbuiltWestern River Expedition attraction. The locale takes its name from Big Thunder and Little Thunder Falls, two features in the attractionMine Train Through Nature's Wonderland, which took up the space occupied by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disneyland. Despite having only been a Disneyland attraction, Nature's Wonderland is alluded to in most if-not all of the Big Thunder incarnations. The design of the mountain itself was largely inspired by the Monument Valley of Arizona.
The original plans for Big Thunder's story by imagineerTony Baxter would have had Jason Chandler as a working-class inventor who c. 1860 was lost in a cavern collapse with many other miners after using his experimental drilling-machine. The runaway mine-trains would have here been identified as the ghosts of Chandler and his fellow miners. However this would have connected to the proposedDiscovery Bay land where Chandler and the miners survived with gold intact and would go on to establish an experimental science colony outside ofSan Francisco,California.
Appearances[]
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad[]
Big Thunder Mountain is the central location of this attraction with guests boarding the runaway mine-trains which travel through the mountain. Going through the mountain, guests can witness the natural wonders of the landscape but also how the spirit of Big Thunder terrorizes the colonists trying to mine it.
Camp Woodchuck Kitchen[]
A map in this restaurant contains an illustration of aJunior Woodchucks camp at the base of Big Thunder Mountain.
Mark Twain Riverboat[]
Liberty Belle Riverboat[]
Phantom Manor[]
Big Thunder Mountain is visible in the horizon of the Phantom Canyon scene in this attraction where guests pass through the portion of Thunder Mesa sunken by the earthquake of 1860 and now inhabited by ghosts and zombies.
Red Carpet Dreams[]
A Mickey and Minnie Mouse movie poster for, "Red Carpet Dreams" shows Big Thunder Mountain in the background.
Western River Railroad[]
The railroad goes around Big Thunder Mountain and into a mineshaft around the back, marked by a Triceratops skull, to enter thePrimeval World, as the climax to the route.
Other Appearances[]
Video Games[]
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures[]
In this video-game, Big Thunder Mountain is the primary setting for levels based around Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Here, the player is accompanied by the ghost of a civil-war era ghost with a cannon-ball in his chest as they try to calm down the runaway trains which themselves are possessed by spirits.
Printed Materials[]
Disney Kingdoms: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad[]
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is the primary setting of thisDisney Kingdoms comic. The world and story presented is a melting-pot with the characters of Walt Disney World's Big Thunder, the setting ofDisneyland's and story elements recycled fromDisneyland Paris.
Trivia[]
A sign found in Rainbow Ridge points toGrizzly Gulch, the setting for the Big Thunder inspired Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars inHong Kong Disneyland.
Gallery[]
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