News Splash Mountain retheme to Princess and the Frog - Tiana's Bayou Adventure

[heapster411]

I am beginning to think with the way things are turning, all we will have left is a generic ride. People getting offended over how they view things, will take away story telling and theming. As we all know Walt was a great story teller, and without a back story there is NO theming. If you take away the theming, what do you have?

 

[Brer Oswald]

I don’t think “relatable” is a good word. How about “potentially offensive”. Again, I do not find this attraction racist, but their is clearly something that is bothering people.

The only thing that maybe I can see is the way they speak? But that isn’t racist they are cartoons.

EDIT: Also if they dare to touch HM they would have a lot of problems on their hands.

You can find offense in everything. I find offence in the hanging scene from the Haunted Mansion. But I just ignore it.

The truth is, the attraction didn't really bother people, as evidence by the constant joy it brought for so many guests. At most, it seemed a little odd to base a ride on a film Disney didn't release publicly.

The push to retheme it has everything to do with PatF. The "outrage" is nothing more than leverege to get Disney to make a ride that, funny enough, they were planning to anyways. How do I know? The same people that deem the ride "racist" loved the ride 2 months ago, and were against replacing it. But, out of respect, I'm not going to post those tweets.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ]

I will keep saying this.... Malestrom I got as it was just ok.... @marni1971 will disagree with me. Was frozen the right thing maybe not but the ride needed to go.... No but you replaced an ok ride and made it a good ride and for some a awesome ride.

This though is 110% wrong as it is replacing a crown jewel attraction. Princess and the Frog sure build a new ride but this location and this spot is just lazy and caving to the cancel culture of todays world... I wont change my opinion on this.

Will this ride be awesome more then likely but you are replacing an awesome ride with another awesome ride? Just stupid when the park needs more awesome rides.

EXACTLY! In MK's case (because we need to denote the social/political/financial differences between the DL and WDW parks) Replacing Splash would be foolish for WDW when selective, smallish tweaks make more sense. (But that's just my opinion) Then just plop Princess and the Frog elsewhere. ALL parties are satisfied - New PatF offerings with Splash's issues being address without a downgraded IP takeover.

 

[Jones14]

Yeah, every single attraction in Disney World someone can find offensive. There's over 7 billion people in the world, so not everyone is going to be on the same page. There's people that don't like numbers or clowns, but we aren't going to ban those.

This is a false equivalence; not liking things such as clowns is not the same as pointing out offensive imagery or content, and taking steps to modify or remove them.

I don’t like the Little Mermaid ride, but that has no bearing on whether or not it’s offensive (generally agreed upon that it’s not). On the other hand, I like Splash Mountain a lot, and yet that also has no bearing on whether it’s based on offensive or outdated source material (agreed on by the company that it is, thus the permanent locking away of the movie and the change to PatF).

 

[Horizons '83]

This is a false equivalence; not liking things such as clowns is not the same as pointing out offensive imagery or content, and taking steps to modify or remove them.

I don’t like the Little Mermaid ride, but that has no bearing on whether or not it’s offensive (generally agreed upon that it’s not). On the other hand, I like Splash Mountain a lot, and yet that also has no bearing on whether it’s based on offensive or outdated source material (agreed on by the company that it is, thus the permanent locking away of the movie and the change to PatF).

Who is to say its not offensive to some that a crab is represented as Jamaican even though the singer is American? Or that Ariel only has shells to cover her upper half, etc. You can see how this can get out of control no?

 

[Brer Oswald]

How is Splash Mountain offensive? It's the story of a group of animals, totally unrelated to slavery or racism. Unless of course you hate animals??? Is that it?

Song of the South is no more offensive than Peter Pan and Dumbo. Or else they never would have made the ride in the first place.

It’s “offensive” because the story came from a time of slavery.

The Brer Rabbit stories are African American Folklore Tales passed down by slaves. Brer Rabbit was evocative of the captured slaves while villains Brer Fox were representative of the slave owners. Notice how I said “villains”.

Brer Rabbit would typically use his wit to get out of sticky situations as oppose to using brute force. The moral of the story is practically “brain over brawn”, a message just as relevant to everyone today as it was to the African Americans in the 1800s.

I guess it’s “racist” because it reminds people of a time that makes people uncomfortable? But it’s a time period that happened. The stories are important. They deserve a good Disney adaptation just as much as any European fairytale. “SotS didn’t do them justice”? Well, push for Disney to make something that does. I feel Splash did. But that’s just me.

The people blindly calling the ride “racist” and offensive think they’re as clever as Brer Fox did when he threw Brer Rabbit down the Briar Patch.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Who is to say its not offensive to some that a crab is represented as Jamaican even though the singer is American? Or that Ariel only has shells to cover her upper half, etc. You can see how this can get out of control no?

Or the Firefly with a Bad Cajun “accent”, voiced by a white American, in Disney’s very own Princess and the Frog. People will turn a blind eye on that now, but in 30 years?

 

[MisterPenguin]

...but I think the idea of a princess ride, that's also a thrill ride, with a 40 inches height requirement... is an idea that may need to be reworked a bit

Four year olds are tall enough to ride Splash Mountain.

Indeed, a little more than half of all 4 year olds hit 40 inches. Almost all 5 years are at least 40 inches.

 

[celluloid]

Or the Firefly with a Bad Cajun “accent”, voiced by a white American, in Disney’s very own Princess and the Frog. People will turn a blind eye on that now, but in 30 years?

Or Randy Newman with the racial slur songs in his Music.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Indeed, a little more than half of all 4 year olds hit 40 inches. Almost all 5 years are at least 40 inches.

View attachment 482186

Sure, but not all 4 year olds are daring enough to take the plunge. That drop intimidated me until I worked up the courage to ride it when I was 12.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Or Randy Newman with the racial slur songs in his Music.

That less so. That music isn’t in the movie. The faux Cajun accent is. It’s played up to the point where the accent is supposed to feel grating and annoying in a “comical” way. Not a good look.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Also, how about the frog catchers? No one seems to talk about them. Even though it is totally making fun of southern people from the bayou. They look like they are right out of the old WB cartoons, where the biggest one is the dumbest of the crew.

They’re white. They’re not a minority. It’ll never be a concern.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Sure, but not all 4 year olds are daring enough to take the plunge. That drop intimidated me until I worked up the courage to ride it when I was 12.

Well, if they're a fan of Tiana, her M&G is just a few minutes away.

 

[celluloid]

They’re white. They’re not a minority. It’ll never be a concern.

So are the majority of Cajun Culture in New Orleans.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Well, if they're a fan of Tiana, her M&G is just a few minutes away.

Very true. I suspect most riders aren’t going to be PatF fans in the same way most riders now aren’t SotS fans. Most will enjoy the ride regardless because of the drops.

 

[Brer Oswald]

So are the majority of Cajun Culture in New Orleans.

Sure. But it’s a minority in comparison to the rest of America.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Also, how about the frog catchers? No one seems to talk about them. Even though it is totally making fun of southern people from the bayou. They look like they are right out of the old WB cartoons, where the biggest one is the dumbest of the bunch.

There are plenty of White people in PatF, including Tiana's best friend, who are protrayed very differently, to allay any fear that the movie is portraying all Southern White folk as dumb lummoxes.

But good attempt as a stirring up a false controversy with reverse discrimination cancelism!

 

[MisterPenguin]

Oh yeah, there's the fat rich guy who spoils his rotten daughter throughout the film. And the building owners and Naveen's assistant who tried to screw over Tiana and Naveen.

I'm glad you see my point that your point of portraying all White people the same is just wrong.

 

[Stupido]

Oh yeah, there's the fat rich guy who spoils his rotten daughter throughout the film. And the building owners and Naveen's assistant who tried to screw over Tiana and Naveen.

Check your facts before you come on the board.

You're being ridiculous. Charlotte is one of the most incredible characters in PatF, she is anything but rotten. There are literally essays about how refreshing Charlotte is as a character, and how beautiful her friendship with Tiana is. I don't know what your issue is, but you're not adding anything to this conversation.

 

[Riverrafter21]

A lot can change between now and the estimated start of construction at WDW. I have no inside information, but public opinion has a interesting sway sometimes, and the only color Disney sees is green.

If Disney has the capital and it will pay off, then they'll change it now. If getting EPCOT in order and polishing up some other areas means a more immediate return, I would guess the WDW redo will sit on the back burner for a quite a while. I agree with others, they'll stretch for Disneyland but not for both.

I get this feeling Iger had a real ax to grind with Splash Mountain/Song of the South, I'd be interested to know Chapek's leaning. Also, if Disney has the power to cancel one of the biggest rides in the park without blinking then it has the power to not fulfill a social media promise with one concept image. Disney is going to do what they want here, which is the path of least resistance to the most wallets.