Starbucks Animal Kingdom mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-10-11 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Animal Kingdom mug with clownfish, a giraffe, a zebra and a safari truck around the words ANIMAL KINGDOM — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Animal Kingdom mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets Disney's ANIMAL KINGDOM in dark capitals over a yellow-orange sun, with clownfish, a leafy tree, a giraffe, a zebra, a safari truck and a line of ants.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Florida, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozstandard mug size
SKU: Not confirmed

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The real jungle animals Walt Disney could not schedule

In the early 1950s, Walt Disney wanted the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland to have real animals ^[1]. His Imagineers warned that they would be unpredictable and could not be guaranteed to be visible on cue, so Audio-Animatronic ones went in instead ^[2]. Decades later, the Animal Kingdom team had a fix, according to the Chicago Tribune: hide water and food sources, such as salt licks and feeders, inside tree stumps, rocks and reed beds, so the animals show up where the open-air vehicles pass ^[3]. The road got the same care. Imagineers matched the concrete's color to the surrounding soil ^[4]. While it was wet, they rolled tires through it and tossed stones, dirt and twigs on top, to copy the bumpiness of a remote African road ^[5]. All of it covers 110 acres, the largest attraction at any Disney theme park ^[6]. The open truck on the Animal Kingdom mug (7) is the kind that drives it.

The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.

What's on the mug

1
Lettering
Disney's ANIMAL KINGDOM in dark capitals with a white outline, over a yellow-orange circle.
2
Clownfish
Two orange-and-white clownfish swim at the upper centre, above a blue-green fish.
3
Blue-green fish
A blue-green fish with a yellow tail swims above the clownfish.
4
Leafy tree
A large tree with dark green and pale blue leaves rises at the right of the lettering.
5
Giraffe
An orange giraffe with brown patches stands at the right edge, beside the handle.
6
Zebra
A zebra striped in green and white stands in front of the lettering, facing right.
7
Safari truck
An open green-and-blue safari truck with yellow wheels runs along the bottom left.
8
Ants
A row of small orange ants walks across the lower centre.
9
Palm and orange hills
A green palm frond and orange hills fill the far left.

The photo shows one side of the mug, taken inside its box. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.

Collector notes

The yellow-orange sun behind the lettering is the same device other Disney Discovery mugs use, so check the park name in the lettering before buying a look-alike.
The safari truck, the zebra and the ants run along the bottom, while the fish and the giraffe are higher up, so a seller photo that cuts off the base misses the truck and the ants.

Before you buy

This Discovery Series mug holds 14 fl oz, and the photo shows one side only, taken inside its box, so the back and the area behind the handle are not visible. The same yellow-orange sun appears behind the lettering on other Disney Discovery mugs, so check the park name before buying a look-alike. Animal Kingdom also appears in the Been There and You Are Here series.