Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[Beacon Joe]

Not a lot of mountains in the bayou.

Don't think that will stop Disney. Have you seen Pocahontas? There aren't giant cliffs and large waterfalls on the James River either.

 

[noodles]

We live in an entire country built on racism, from the Spanish encomienda and limpieza de sagre systems, to Puritan extermination squads against Native Americans, to African chattel slavery, to the genocidal bloodshed of the westward expansion against more Native populations and against Mexico, let alone what wound up happening in the Spanish-American War. The economic bounty of the post-World War II economy in America was partly built on denying the financial benefits of the GI Bill to black veterans, thus enabling things like white flight to the government-backed suburbs while depriving the cities where minority populations were left behind of economic activity and jobs.

So, yeah, Disney has long been a company comfortable with racism (one need only see the depiction of, say, the black-drawn centaurs in Fantasia, but there are plenty of other examples; heck, Mickey's design itself is based on the appearance of actors in minstrel shows), but not because of anything that's unique to Disney. It's instead due to a culture and society that was built on separating people into hierarchies based on the non-biological concept of race, then willfully exploiting or harming those at the bottom of that hierarchy, and that culture becoming ingrained and accepted as normal and "just the way things are." That's the foundation of the entire nation we live in, whether we want to accept it or not, especially when you go back and see how the slavery-era South was the Silicon Valley of its day, or how the railroad companies exploited and killed immigrants and other non-white groups to make their money and in turn make America an economic powerhouse by the turn of the 20th century. Again, this isn't because Walt or someone was uniquely bad in their views, but that's why racism is referred to as "systemic"; it transcends individuals and shapes entire societies.

That's why you guys need to burn it all down. Leave nothing standing. It will be better then.

 

[Tony Perkis]

The funny thing is that my parents were looking at going to Tokyo Disneyland for the first time. I’m glad Tokyo’s not included in this mess.

Yet.

Tokyo has the OLC to work with. They can’t just make a blanket announcement like they can with the American parks.

 

[brb1006]

CBJ is not long for this world.

Let me guess, CBJ is leaving because of Trixie.

Meanwhile, my favorite characters from that show are The Sun Bonnets.

 

[Minthorne]

Wow, what offended you? The portrayal of the mother being a horrible person, or Uncle Remus being a nice guy that was willing to help the kids?

horticulture.

 

[DisneyJayL]

As a black, I am really upset about this, big time, and I can’t believe the small loud minority wins again.

 

[Lirael]

The most obvious choice:

The drop being rethemed to them dragging you down to the shadow realm would be awesome to me

 

[MisterPenguin]

That's what I was thinking, replacing a ride about African-American folklore with another European fairytale. Disney is the wokest!

In order to keep Splash Mountain from being associated with what Disney is acknowledging is a racist movie, Song of the South; Splash Mountain 'whitewashed' the stories to remove them from Uncle Remus. In doing so, the folktales of the ride no longer have a connections to the American Slaves or their original African folk tales.

So, what do you mean by African-American folklore? There's nothing in the ride that tells you it's African-American (originally, African).

So, you know what we call taking a culture's stories and presenting them devoid of their origin as if they were just our shared American heritage: Cultural Appropriation.

By avoiding connections with one form of racism, Disney stumbled into another.

 

[co10064]

This honestly makes me so mad. Way to bow down to a small, vocal minority.

 

[RoysCabin]

That's why you guys need to burn it all down. Leave nothing standing. It will be better then.

I'm fine with critiquing things that glorify such a past, sure.

I'm also fine with keeping things around to remind us of the past; certain statues don't do that (since most of those were constructed in the 1920s for the express purpose of racial terror, typically in the wake of lynchings), but the way, for example, that the concentration camps have been preserved in Europe and converted into tangible reminders of a very real, terrifying history that has to be reckoned with? Sure thing.

Splash Mountain is not one of those things. I'm going to dearly miss the original ride, but it does not meet that criteria.

 

[Beacon Joe]

We live in an entire country built on racism, from the Spanish encomienda and limpieza de sagre systems, to Puritan extermination squads against Native Americans, to African chattel slavery, to the genocidal bloodshed of the westward expansion against more Native populations and against Mexico, let alone what wound up happening in the Spanish-American War. The economic bounty of the post-World War II economy in America was partly built on denying the financial benefits of the GI Bill to black veterans, thus enabling things like white flight to the government-backed suburbs while depriving the cities where minority populations were left behind of economic activity and jobs.

So, yeah, Disney has long been a company comfortable with racism (one need only see the depiction of, say, the black-drawn centaurs in Fantasia, but there are plenty of other examples; heck, Mickey's design itself is based on the appearance of actors in minstrel shows), but not because of anything that's unique to Disney. It's instead due to a culture and society that was built on separating people into hierarchies based on the non-biological concept of race, then willfully exploiting or harming those at the bottom of that hierarchy, and that culture becoming ingrained and accepted as normal and "just the way things are." That's the foundation of the entire nation we live in, whether we want to accept it or not, especially when you go back and see how the slavery-era South was the Silicon Valley of its day, or how the railroad companies exploited and killed immigrants and other non-white groups to make their money and in turn make America an economic powerhouse by the turn of the 20th century. Again, this isn't because Walt or someone was uniquely bad in their views, but that's why racism is referred to as "systemic"; it transcends individuals and shapes entire societies.

So, effectively, your argument becomes "why do you choose to live in this society at all?", and I hope you can see how absurd that becomes.

That's funny because if it's so systemic, my inter-racial parents sure seem to have thrived even living in the deep South in the 60s with a gaggle of brown-skinned kids in tow. I never grew up with a disadvantage due to the color of my skin. FWIW, the only racism I have ever experienced (and repeatedly) has been from white people who hated me because they thought that I should think in a manner according to their false preconceptions.

 

[doctornick]

As an African American, I want to thank all of those who complained without understanding that SPlash was the last big remnant of my ancestors stories in the world. This SERIOUSLY does wonders to the black community....This is an absolute joke. I am beyond disappointed..My all time favorite attraction, the one that made me feel close to My heritage, My stories.

Thanks, Disney.

Haven’t been able to read most of the thread yet but this is my hot take. No matter what anyone thinks about Song of the South as a movie - the actual tales that it is originally based on and what the ride revolves around are African in nature. The irony is that in the quest to be most offended, the haters have succeeded in getting rid of probably the most well known of African American culture based attractions in the world.

There is no one arguing against having a PatF ride. I think most everyone would agree that having better/more representation for people of color in the parks is a good thing. I think this is a terrible way to go about it, especially given how it drains from African oral traditions.

 

[Kate F]

There’s a part of me that’s hoping this doesn’t go through, at least for WDW

 

[t3techcom18]

Don’t think you know what that word means.

When people claim ownership to something because they refuse to look at someone else's viewpoint and challenge their own opinion....Yeah. Entitlement.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

This honestly makes me so mad. Way to bow down to a small, vocal minority.

I think as demonstrated in the past month, it is NOT the small, vocal minority.

 

[Brer Oswald]

In order to keep Splash Mountain from being associated with what Disney is acknowledging is a racist movie, Song of the South; Splash Mountain 'whitewashed' the stories to remove them from Uncle Remus. In doing so, the folktales of the ride no longer have a connections to the American Slaves or their original African folk tales.

So, what do you mean by African-American folklore? There's nothing in the ride that tells you it's African-American (originally, African).

So, you know what we call taking a culture's stories and presenting them devoid of their origin as if they were just our shared American heritage: Cultural Appropriation.

By avoiding connections with one form of racism, Disney stumbled into another.

I seem to recall you being against the change two weeks ago. As were a majority of people who seem to be claiming this as the “best thing since sliced bread”.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Wow...

Arguably the greatest ride Disney has ever produced being thrown away because of "woke culture"

Bend the knee to communist Disney. I won't be back

Wow, I didn't know Communism was so respectful of other people's cultures that they would go out of their way to not cause any offense.

I'm gonna have to check out this Communism thing, sounds fantastic. Thanks for turning me onto it!

 

[Bairstow]

Let me guess, CBJ is leaving because of Trixie.

Meanwhile, my favorite characters from that show are The Sun Bonnets.

Not content- The Jamboree suffers from the poisonous combination of high maintenance costs and low attendance.

 

[Minthorne]

“Let Disney know that we won’t stand for the removal of our beloved Song of the South!”

“And they want to throw god’s wonderful rabbit catching system right out the door!”

 

[Kate F]

Build. A. New. Ride. For. Pete’s. Sake.