Intelligibility of Splash Mountain's plot

[FettFan]

I think if one were to write out the story of Splash Mountain (like in a narrative format) using the only what was in the ride itself, it might be different than what some here think it was (as influenced by the film, books, and even discussion here).

Aye. Like the trap scene. Brer Fox originally set it to capture Rabbit, who was stealing his peanuts.

Rabbit gets snagged and is hanging there when Brer Bear comes along, and asks Rabbit what he’s doing.

Brer Rabbit gets an idea….he lies by telling Bear that Fox is paying him a dollar a minute to act as a scarecrow in the peanut patch. Brer Bear wants in on the job as well, so he offers to take Rabbit’s place.

….and once Brer Bear releases Brer Rabbit, and is snug in the snare himself, Rabbit goes running to Brer Fox, who believes it was Bear who was the peanut thief.

Fox then proceeds to grab his walking stick and beat on Bear while Rabbit is laughing his a** off and encouraging him to hit Bear even harder.

Splash cuts out all of this for pacing. Now it’s just Fox and Bear wanting to catch and eat Rabbit, but they keep getting outsmarted and falling for their own traps.

It’s essentially Looney Tunes with Fox and Bear replacing Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd. Except the Brers existed in a world with actual physics and logic.

 

[Tha Realest]

We're now at 122 responses. The picture remains pretty stable, with 59 of the respondents (48.4%) opining that they find the full story easy to follow from the ride alone. Since this way of reading the count proved controversial yesterday (largely because of the uncertainties surrounding the final two counterfactual options), if we were to exclude from consideration those who came to Splash Mountain with prior knowledge of the tales, we end up with 56 respondents (out of 100) who understood the full story from the ride alone and 44 (out of 100) who did not.

However you assess the data, the picture is much more complicated than many of us (myself included) had initially assumed in the other thread. I was convinced that certain aspects of the story were all but impossible to deduce from just the ride itself, while others were convinced that those same aspects were all but impossible to miss. It seems, as is so often the case, that the truth defies such generalisations.

Why are you misstating your own poll? Roughly 69.3% were able to track what was going on.

 

[LittleBuford]

Why are you misstating your own poll? Roughly 69.3% were able to track what was going on.

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Could you reread the post you quoted and let me know which part you take issue with? I'll restate a clarification I offered earlier in case that's the point at issue: "By 'full story', I mean all of the major plot points, including Br'er Rabbit's use of reverse psychology."

 

[spacemt354]

Could you reread the post you quoted and let me know which part you take issue with? I'll restate a clarification I offered earlier in case that's the point at issue: "By 'full story', I mean all of the major plot points, including Br'er Rabbit's use of reverse psychology."

Another aspect I was alluding to yesterday was the variable that the more you ride, the more you understand.

If I was answering this poll based on the first time I rode the attraction as a kid, I didn't predict/get the reverse psychology. But upon re-riding the attraction several times and picking up the nuances, it was much easier for me to see that aspect. So I'm answering this poll with that experience.

Was the attraction intended to have all guests get the reverse psychology in the moment? Or does it add another layer of suspense to first-time guests where expectations are then subverted with the reveal that the Briar Patch is his home? In many ways I'd argue both show an equal understanding of the plot on the part of the guests and comprehensive storytelling on the part of the imagineers.

 

[LittleBuford]

Another aspect I was alluding to yesterday was the variable that the more you ride, the more you understand.

If I was answering this poll based on the first time I rode the attraction as a kid, I didn't predict/get the reverse psychology. But upon re-riding the attraction several times and picking up the nuances, it was much easier for me to see that aspect. So I'm answering this poll with that experience.

Was the attraction intended to have all guests get the reverse psychology in the moment? Or does it add another layer of suspense to first-time guests where expectations are then subverted with the reveal that the Briar Patch is his home? In many ways I'd argue both show an equal understanding of the plot on the part of the guests and comprehensive storytelling on the part of the imagineers.

This is a good point. Were I to design the poll again, I would add an option for those who gained a full understanding of the plot by reriding the attraction. Too many people have responded by this point for me to tweak things in that way, however.

 

[celluloid]

You know what would have been cool? If someone had done a survey of guests after their first ride: “In you own words, describe the story of Song of the South.” I bet they would have received some very interesting responses!

Well it would be particularly odd because the attraction is called Splash Mountain. They could probably do that without Song of the South.

That would be more akin to asking them when they get off of TBA what the TV series is about, which would be a hilarious calamity.

 

[_caleb]

Well it would be particularly odd because the attraction is called Splash Mountain. They could probably do that without Song of the South.

That would be more akin to asking them when they get off of TBA what the TV series is about, which would be a hilarious calamity.

Oops! I accidentally wrote the title of the film rather than the ride. I’m not sure how that happened, so I edited my post. It was not an attempt to make some sort of statement.

 

[LittleBuford]

Oops! I accidentally wrote the title of the film rather than the ride. I’m not sure how that happened, so I edited my post. It was not an attempt to make some sort of statement.

It didn't even register for me that you'd written the title of the film; I understood you (correctly, it turns out!) to be referring to the name of the ride, and that's how my brain read it. Weird!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The real world explanation they had animatronics leftover from America Sings and they wanted to reuse as much as possible.

In that version the mother was singing about the father rabbit who was a drunk all the time.

And the Lady Possum just wished to be a single girl again.

 

[FettFan]

In that version the mother was singing about the father rabbit who was a drunk all the time.

Peter Cotton’s Ale: more hops per bottle than any other!