Dr. Lily Houghton

Dr. Lily Houghton is the protagonist of the Jungle Cruise film. She is portrayed by Emily Blunt.

History[]

Biography[]

Background[]

Lily Houghton and her brother MacGregor Houghton were born to the British Houghton family in the latter end of the 19th century. Their family lived in Kensington withher father having given her an interest in the legendary Tears of the Moon of the Amazon from a young age. At some point in her childhood, she spent time in Delhi, India where she befriended, "Toddler pickpockets" whom she learned certain skills from.

In adulthood, Lily was a skilled botanist and aspiring adventurer though she was barred from these aspirations due to the misogyny of her peers. Lily also had an interest in film and recording footage of nature with early cameras. At some point, Lily acquired a doctorate in botany. When MacGregor was threatened to be disowned by their uncle due to being gay, Lily stood by him.

London[]

In 1916, Lily and MacGregor planned to seek out the Tears of the Moon in the Amazon rainforest using the map inherited from their father. Lily believed that she could use the petals of this tree to make an all-curing serum and had MacGregor propose the expedition to the Royal Anthropological and Diverse Adventures Society in London. The Houhtons needed the assistance of this society due to them possessing the Arrowhead of Lukarina, a sacred artifact which was key to finding the tree.

The society declined the Houghton expedition due to prejudice against Lily and her brother. In retaliation, Lily navigated their headquarters with plans to steal the arrowhead. Lily made off with the artifact though discovered it was to be sold by the society to Prince Joachim, the son of Kaiser Wilhelm II and a noble of the German Empire who wished to use the tree to have Germany take over the globe.

Tears of the Moon[]

With the arrowhead, Lily and MacGregor travelled to Porto Velho, Brazil where they planned on hiring a boat from local businessman Nilo Nemolato and his business Nilo's River Adventure to take them to the tree. However, the two were swindled by Nilo's rival and debtor Frank Wolff of the Jungle Navigation Company whom posed as Nilo before offering a cheaper price for their expedition on his boat La Quila. The Houghtons agreed with Frank's bargain just as Joachim tracked them to Porto Velho and attacked the settlement with his U-boat.

While on their voyage, Lily had a romance with Frank and taught him about her camera. Eventually she found Frank's home where she learned of his love of innovating technology and an apparent obsession with the Tears of the Moon. Lily confronted Frank about this only to be captured by the local Puka Michuna tribe whom had joined forces with Frank to capture the Houghtons. While staying with the tribe, Lily traded a top-hat with the chieftain, "Trader Sam" for a translation of the arrowhead's writing, revealing the Tears of the Moon could only bloom in a Blood Moon. Here, it was revealed that Frank was a cursed conquistador who served under the mad Lope de Aguirre in the 16th century on a search to find the Tears of the Moon. When Lope attempted to slaughter the tribe for the arrowhead, he and the conquistadors were cursed to be immortal while the arrowhead was lost in the jungle.

The Puka Michuna tribe was later attacked by Prince Joachim after enlisting the services of the cursed Lope de Aguirre and his fellow monstrous conquistadors to find the Tears of the Moon. This conflict ended within the temple which held the Tears of the Moon where Joachim was betrayed by the conquistadors and crushed under a boulder. Frank scarified himself to crash La Quila into the temple wall, causing all the conquistadors' tie to the jungle to be severed and resulting in them turning to stone. Lily subsequently decided on using the Tears of the Moon to bring Frank back to life and leave the jungle with him.

Later life[]

Frank and Lily became a couple and travelled to London. The Houghtons were celebrated and Lily was recruited by the University of Cambridge. While there, the society attempted to enlist the Houghtons only to be chewed out and criticized for their amoral practices.

Appearances[]

Film[]

Jungle Cruise[]

Disney Parks[]

Jungle Cruise[]

Lily's green blouse and khaki coat are in the queue for the Jungle Cruise along with her pieced-together map.^[1]^[2] In the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise, this map appears in an office at the Amazon River Base.^[3]

Printed-materials[]

Jungle Cruise (Disney Classic)[]

In this book, Lily and Frank give children a tour of the jungle aboard the Amazon Belle,

Trivia[]

Frank Wolff is often misconstrued as protagonist of the Jungle Cruise film due to the movie's marketing and his actor's top-billing. In actuality, the protagonist of the film is Dr. Lily Houghton who is central character in the plot and drives the movie's story, with Frank not truly becoming a leading character until the movie's third act.
Houghton was partially inspired by Rose Sayer from The African Queen
- Other inspirations might include Abigail Chase from National Treasure, Evelyn O'Connel from The Mummy franchise, and Marion Ravenwood from the Indiana Jones franchise including Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The surname of Houghton appears to be taken by the middle name of actress Katharine Houghton Hepburn (1907-2003) who portrayed Rose Sayer in the African Queen.
Lily's recording of animal footage is a tribute to the True-Life Adventure films.^[4]
The top hat which Lily trades with Trader Sam is a reference to the character Chief Nah-mee from the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise.