Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[Phil12]

I could be mistaken, but I don’t believe @Phil12 is being serious in his posts. Many of them read as parodies to me. I wouldn’t pay them too much heed.

Frankly, I find racism to be abhorrent. However, when people chose to ignore the blatant racism which is completely apparent in Splash Mountain, I have to wonder what motivates this willful action of turning a blind eye.

Facts directly linking Splash Mountain to its racist origins seem to fall on deaf ears to wit:

The cartoon characters of Br'er Rabbitt, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear are directly taken from the 1946 movie, "Song of the South". All these characters use a dialect of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) that is specifically crafted to mock and disparage African Americans and in particular the antagonists, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear.

The word "Br'er" is a direct racial stereotype and use of AAVE slang taken from the Joel Chandler Harris stories. The word "Br'er" means brother.

The origin of the song, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is from “O Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day”, chorus to an old minstrel song popularized by George Washington Dixon who became a star performing in blackface.

Therefore, since facts don't seem to work, I thought humor might help get the point across. Or it could be that some people are so entrenched in their belief that Splash Mountain is indeed not at all racist, despite all the abundance of evidence to the contrary, that nothing will suffice to allow them to see the truth.

But make no mistake, humor is just one vehicle in which I ride.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

For all those who insist that SotS is "steeped in racism"...

Go watch Princess and the Frog and please explain why the use of dialects and stereotypes is okay in that film, but not okay in SotS.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Frankly, I find racism to be abhorrent. However, when people chose to ignore the blatant racism which is completely apparent in Splash Mountain, I have to wonder what motivates this willful action of turning a blind eye.

Facts directly linking Splash Mountain to its racist origins seem to fall on deaf ears to wit:

The cartoon characters of Br'er Rabbitt, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear are directly taken from the 1946 movie, "Song of the South". All these characters use a dialect of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) that is specifically crafted to mock and disparage African Americans and in particular the antagonists, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear.

The word "Br'er" is a direct racial stereotype and use of AAVE slang taken from the Joel Chandler Harris stories. The word "Br'er" means brother.

The origin of the song, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is from “O Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day”, chorus to an old minstrel song popularized by George Washington Dixon who became a star performing in blackface.

Therefore, since facts don't seem to work, I thought humor might help get the point across. Or it could be that some people are so entrenched in their belief that Splash Mountain is indeed not at all racist, despite all the abundance of evidence to the contrary, that nothing will suffice to allow them to see the truth.

But make no mistake, humor is just one vehicle in which I ride.

Okay. So you displayed 2 points of “evidence”. Let’s talk about it. The term “Brer” (or “Br’er”) is an actual slang term developed by the African Americans that told these stories. It is not a “racial stereotype” if it’s a word they actually used. Culture and racism are not the same thing. Just because they used a word that’s different than what we used, does not make it bad.

You can proclaim to the high heavens about how “inaccurate” the dialect in the film is, but the term “Brer” isn’t. Truth idc I myself don’t know how inaccurate it is. I didn’t live in the 1800s. I’d like to do some more research on that to get to the bottom of it all.

As for Zipadeedoodah, there’s no proven fact that the made up word was inspired by the minstrel song. But even if it was loosely inspired, how does that make Zipadeedoodah racist? Zipadeedoodah doesn’t mean anything. It’s not a word. It’s not making fun of anyone. And guess what? People of different nationalities sing it!

Also funny how you said “racist songs” plural. Cause the song about saying hi and the song about laughing totally have something to do with nationalities, right? Oh wait no they don’t.

 

[Little Green Men]

Yeah I mean if it's the usual suspects like Josh, Davonne, and Bailey, I probably won't watch. Maybe if they get Derek I would watch but something tells me he won't want to leave his family again.

Need some OGs in there.

Bayleigh has said she won’t be back. Derrick and Tyler are both rumored to return.

 

[dig311dug]

Frankly, I find racism to be abhorrent. However, when people chose to ignore the blatant racism which is completely apparent in Splash Mountain, I have to wonder what motivates this willful action of turning a blind eye.

I find the Native Americans featured in Peter Pan FAR more racially insensitive than anything on splash.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

I find the Native Americans featured in Peter Pan FAR more racially insensitive than anything on splash.

Peter Pan's fine because kind old supreme being Uncle Bob Iger in his infinite wisdom didn't decide to ban it! Duh.

Spoiler

/s

 

[Little Green Men]

I find the Native Americans featured in Peter Pan FAR more racially insensitive than anything on splash.

Those should absolutely be changed

 

[Brer Oswald]

I find the Native Americans featured in Peter Pan FAR more racially insensitive than anything on splash.

That isn’t even arguable.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

What's more offensive, the Indians or the 45 minute wait in a cramped space with out of control children acting like monkeys running between your legs and some jerk misting you with their spray fan water bottle?

 

[manmythlegend]

Bayleigh has said she won’t be back. Derrick and Tyler are both rumored to return.

Who is the female poker player? Forgot her name but she lost to Steve several years back. She'd be a good addition.

 

[Timmay]

Those should absolutely be changed

I disagree...as I find no offense in them at all.

 

[Little Green Men]

Who is the female poker player? Forgot her name but she lost to Steve several years back. She'd be a good addition.

Vanessa but she and her wife both just had babies

 

[Brer Oswald]

Vanessa but she and her wife both just had babies

Yeah there’s no chance she’s returning right now

 

[manmythlegend]

Vanessa but she and her wife both just had babies

So it's the perfect time for her to come

 

[Rich Brownn]

I have to agree the half of SotS problem is that it hasn't been seen in so long its racial issues have been blown up to mythic proportions. I have a copy and invited to of my Black friends to watch it with me, since its racial history is outside my frame of reference.

Their basic reaction was that's it? Thats what is supposed to be offensive. And then they proceed to point out that there are many many films available that are way more racist. Were there issues that bothered them? Sure. But overall, they actually enjoyed it and couldn't understand why it had been banned. One of them said, compared to other films of that era, its was basically pretty mild.

 

[LittleBuford]

I have to agree the half of SotS problem is that it hasn't been seen in so long its racial issues have been blown up to mythic proportions. I have a copy and invited to of my Black friends to watch it with me, since its racial history is outside my frame of reference.

Their basic reaction was that's it? Thats what is supposed to be offensive. And then they proceed to point out that there are many many films available that are way more racist. Were there issues that bothered them? Sure. But overall, they actually enjoyed it and couldn't understand why it had been banned. One of them said, compared to other films of that era, its was basically pretty mild.

I think the issue is that it’s a children’s film, which those other movies aren’t. That is why it is treated as more problematic than, say, Gone with the Wind. It really isn’t a film that kids should be watching (and I say that as Briton who watched it often as a child).

 

[Flugell]

I have to agree the half of SotS problem is that it hasn't been seen in so long its racial issues have been blown up to mythic proportions. I have a copy and invited to of my Black friends to watch it with me, since its racial history is outside my frame of reference.

Their basic reaction was that's it? Thats what is supposed to be offensive. And then they proceed to point out that there are many many films available that are way more racist. Were there issues that bothered them? Sure. But overall, they actually enjoyed it and couldn't understand why it had been banned. One of them said, compared to other films of that era, its was basically pretty mild.

Very interesting, what was their opinion about Splash Mountain before and after watching the film?

 

[Phil12]

Okay. So you displayed 2 points of “evidence”. Let’s talk about it. The term “Brer” (or “Br’er”) is an actual slang term developed by the African Americans that told these stories. It is not a “racial stereotype” if it’s a word they actually used. Culture and racism are not the same thing. Just because they used a word that’s different than what we used, does not make it bad.

You can proclaim to the high heavens about how “inaccurate” the dialect in the film is, but the term “Brer” isn’t. Truth idc I myself don’t know how inaccurate it is. I didn’t live in the 1800s. I’d like to do some more research on that to get to the bottom of it all.

As for Zipadeedoodah, there’s no proven fact that the made up word was inspired by the minstrel song. But even if it was loosely inspired, how does that make Zipadeedoodah racist? Zipadeedoodah doesn’t mean anything. It’s not a word. It’s not making fun of anyone. And guess what? People of different nationalities sing it!

Also funny how you said “racist songs” plural. Cause the song about saying hi and the song about laughing totally have something to do with nationalities, right? Oh wait no they don’t.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there is not any racism in Splash Mountain. Then one has to ask TWDC why they feel the need to re-theme Splash Mountain. And, until and if you get that answer, the attraction is going to be re-themed. I have no authority, jurisdiction or power to change the corporate mind of TWDC.

If you do not see the racism in Splash Mountain then there is little I can do except to point it out. But I think you know that TWDC is not in the habit of doing complete re-themes of attractions that draw huge crowds unless there is a significant problem. If you think racism is not the problem, then I wish you the best of luck in finding out the "true" problem. And please get back to me when you discover the problem.

But I can really save you some time. The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

 

[manmythlegend]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there is not any racism in Splash Mountain. Then one has to ask TWDC why they feel the need to re-theme Splash Mountain. And, until and if you get that answer, the attraction is going to be re-themed. I have no authority, jurisdiction or power to change the corporate mind of TWDC.

If you do not see the racism in Splash Mountain then there is little I can do except to point it out. But I think you know that TWDC is not in the habit of doing complete re-themes of attractions that draw huge crowds unless there is a significant problem. If you think racism is not the problem, then I wish you the best of luck in finding out the "true" problem. And please get back to me when you discover the problem.

But I can really save you some time. The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

You can repeat this over and over and over and it still won't be true. FYI, OLC has told Bobby to pound sand so even if Iger scraps Splash in the U.S., his woke dream of completely distancing Disney from Splash and SotS won't be happening anytime soon. Sorry.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there is not any racism in Splash Mountain. Then one has to ask TWDC why they feel the need to re-theme Splash Mountain. And, until and if you get that answer, the attraction is going to be re-themed. I have no authority, jurisdiction or power to change the corporate mind of TWDC.

If you do not see the racism in Splash Mountain then there is little I can do except to point it out. But I think you know that TWDC is not in the habit of doing complete re-themes of attractions that draw huge crowds unless there is a significant problem. If you think racism is not the problem, then I wish you the best of luck in finding out the "true" problem. And please get back to me when you discover the problem.

But I can really save you some time. The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

I would suggest you do some research on what's going on behind the scenes with the protests and riots going on all over the country. Listen to some of the well-educated black speakers on the matter - the protests and riots we're seeing all over the country are all based on racism that doesn't exist in reality. SotS is just one more victim of the new "woke" religion and ideology.