Changes to Peter Pan's Flight at Magic Kingdom

[flynnibus]

So we really have to decide-do we want historically accurate attractions based on animated films, or do we want fantasized depictions? It seems a bit hypocritical to say one is ok but the other is not

It’s never been about historical accuracy- it’s always about not offending

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

That's because deep down the discourse is actually about whether or not you are okay with change.

I’m fine with the change, I’m ok with the previous version as well, and I’d also be ok with only showing the teepees or replacing the scene altogether.

I did like hearing from members who are Native American and hear thoughts on the new scene from them - it kinda sounds like the new scene creates as many problems as it solves.

 

[DisneyCane]

Since this change allows Peter Pan's Flight to remain mostly as it was, I'm fine with it. At least they didn't decide the whole ride needed to be rethemed like Splash. In this case, there was something potentially offensive IN the ride that they altered.

 

[Tha Realest]

Everyone keeps saying that tribal leaders were consultanted, but no one can tell say who they were. Which nations? Which leaders?

This is an important question, given Disney’s recent history in this regard.

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[Bocabear]

the other thing is this was an indigenous tribe of Neverland.... not an indigenous American tribe...From the original book illustrations it was clear the inspiration was a romanticized view of an American tribe...
any sort of accuracy seems wrong in a complete fantasy piece that basically takes place on another planet.
The new scene looks fine, but why didn't they base it on the dance between Peter Pan and Tiger Lily?...something that happened in the actual film instead of something off-model.

 

[V_L_Raptor]

Got to see this in person the other day, and speaking just as an observer, the whole arrangement looks like trying to improve on what was previously there with constraints from what's still there.

The first thing that hit me was how tremendously low animation the whole ride is. Easily the most kinetic element (to me, anyway) is having all the pirate ship vehicles dangling from the ceiling. The scenes themselves are fairly static; by extension, so is the tribe scene.

As far as that goes, first off... I don't remember figures in any of the "islands" being quite as large as these are. That surprised me, but it's been ages since I've been on this ride, so that may just be me.

But the scene's animation, or lack thereof... I'm not sure how much of an improvement they could have done with scene selection while getting a decent representation of movement with the ride's overall (mostly static) animation style. Either because they were retrofitting existing mechanisms or because they chose to keep the scene relatively low kinetics in keeping with the rest of the ride, there's really not too much they could use here to get a good representation of Fancy Shawl. If you count the drummers as a single mechanism (hey, maybe), that's a grand total of two elements in the whole scene for them to play with.

Since they went with drum beats for the audio there, animating striking the drum seems like a no-brainer. That leaves them one more mechanism, and I can't imagine they'd want a completely static Tiger Lily after the previous version of this scene.

Ribbons would have been great, but I wonder how long it would take for them to start looking like strips cut from a Swiffer duster. (Proactive maintenance on these classic dark rides... ain't.) Adding animation for Tiger Lily's arms and legs to really show off the dance would've been a lot more movement than any other scene in this ride has. They could've had a (slow) animation in the shoulders to move the arms, but for whatever reason, they came up with a turntable to have her whole body move while keeping her joints static.

I can't defend it, except to say that if the whole ride sucks for movement, additions would need to suck, too, just to fit in. Beyond that, if it has to fit the constraints of the ride, what's there looks better to me than what was there previously.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

It was a damn animated movie. It wasn't a statement on society or a comment on their race. So should we start remaking every movie that is over 50 years old and then destroying the originals. Societal norms change but it doesn't mean history can be rewritten.

WDW is a business today, not some time capsule of the past. WDW is looking to attract customers today, with the societal norms of today, not the past. This isn’t re-writing history, this is a business making a decisions it thinks will be better accepted by its current customers

 

[easyrowrdw]

WDW is a business today, not some time capsule of the past. WDW is looking to attract customers today, with the societal norms of today, not the past. This isn’t re-writing history, this is a business making a decisions it thinks will be better accepted by its current customers

What evidence is there that customers weren't accepting the ride as it was? From everything I've seen guests love the ride and have for a very long time. Guests loved Splash too. I don't think they changed it because of guests, but just because it's what Disney thinks is right and appropriate. That's their prerogative, of course.

 

[OG Runner]

WDW is a business today, not some time capsule of the past. WDW is looking to attract customers today, with the societal norms of today, not the past. This isn’t re-writing history, this is a business making a decisions it thinks will be better accepted by its current customers

They made a change that was totally unnecessary and replaced the old scene, (which was from the original movie), with a new scene. ( that was not)

 

[Dranth]

What evidence is there that customers weren't accepting the ride as it was? From everything I've seen guests love the ride and have for a very long time. Guests loved Splash too. I don't think they changed it because of guests, but just because it's what Disney thinks is right and appropriate. That's their prerogative, of course.

You can enjoy a ride and still find parts of it a little problematic. It isn't an all or nothing situation and many people share those thoughts with Disney. Who knows how much of that happened in this case, but it does happen.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

What evidence is there that customers weren't accepting the ride as it was? From everything I've seen guests love the ride and have for a very long time. Guests loved Splash too. I don't think they changed it because of guests, but just because it's what Disney thinks is right and appropriate. That's their prerogative, of course.

Its not a Boolean set response. It isn't an acceptance/rejection scenario. Its a question of trending modern societal norms, the same way changes were made to jungle cruise. Were people "not accepting" the ride, no, but changes were made.

I mean what do you think is more likely, WDW decided to just spend money replacing things on Jungle cruise and Peter Pan...because they like spending money? Or that they have data that shows the changed items were getting negative feedback in some form, and decided to alter them?

 

[easyrowrdw]

Its not a Boolean set response. It isn't an acceptance/rejection scenario. Its a question of trending modern societal norms, the same way changes were made to jungle cruise. Were people "not accepting" the ride, no, but changes were made.

I mean what do you think is more likely, WDW decided to just spend money replacing things on Jungle cruise and Peter Pan...because they like spending money? Or that they have data that shows the changed items were getting negative feedback in some form, and decided to alter them?

Accepted was the term you used so I responded to that.

As to your question, neither. As I mentioned in my previous comment, I think Disney is doing it because they think it is the right and appropriate thing to do.