Jessica Rabbit removed from Trunk- Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin

[TP2000]

They just did it with the Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom.

They only did it that way at Magic Kingdom because that park is in such a horrible situation for park ride capacity.

They can't even afford to close a single E Ticket in that park because it is already missing at least a half dozen E Tickets. Not to mention a dozen or two C and D Tickets.

I wouldn't use the Magic Kingdom Park's crisis-management of their woefully inadequate ride capacity as an example for anything, other than panicky crisis-management after decades of under investment.

 

[TP2000]

Me neither. This crap is getting old. It's a sad possibility that they might force rushed, poorly thought out design decisions to appease a few loud voices.

To add to that, I was genuinely surprised to learn that some here thought of Jessica tied up in the trunk of the car to be too... inappropriate? Apparently their mind went to S&M fetishes?

I'm an old gay man. I have no sexual attraction to Jessica (or at this point in my life, anyone really), although I can certainly tell Jessica was created to be sexy and vampy in a 1940's pinup style. But I had absolutely no idea that the Jessica-Tied-Up thing was meant to be sexy, or even that someone could take it a step or two further to get there to that conclusion. Never in the last 25+ years since Toontown opened and I went on this ride in Anaheim and Tokyo at least two dozen times did that smutty thought ever cross my mind.

It was just Jessica being kidnapped by the weasels. For the 3 seconds you could see that as your car sped by.

And for the record, I do not have a pure and innocent mind. I get sexual jokes and double entendre from a mile away. On my second cocktail I might even dabble in that humor myself, with the right audience. But my mind never went there with Jessica in the trunk. Until a few days ago in this thread.

So, it's entirely possible that the truly dirty and smutty people are those in Burbank's HR Inclusion Committee who apparently thought that imagery on the ride was dirty and smutty. Shame on them!

 

[TP2000]

The problem is, we are probably now at the point where every attraction is a moving target and changes will happen over and over as social norms change. This change happens on Roger now, another change will happen X years from now because something new becomes offensive. We are in complete over-correction mode on everything, not just Disney.

I feel that's accurate.

What's important to remember is that Imagineers get paid for this kind of erasing and changing existing rides at the same pay scale they got for creating exciting new rides like Radiator Springs Racers or Mystic Manor or Runaway Railway.

It doesn't matter if they are building the next classic E Ticket, or if they are de-sexing the female character on a 1990's dark ride and pretending she's now the star when the one movie she was in 33 years ago made no mention of any of that. They still make the same salary, the payroll still gets ultimately charged to Burbank, and thus they can still make the payments on the new Tesla and the lovely home in Pasadena. Or if they are a young Imagineer early in their career, the payment on the Honda and the rent for the fun apartment in Silver Lake.

Imagineers at all levels are getting paid the same salary whether they spend their days in Glendale slashing and burning an old dark ride like this to appease HR and the Twitter Mob, or building a custom E Ticket from scratch that will thrill for decades. They just need a project - any project - to work on to earn that money, that's all.

So if the big boss and HR now says that Walt was an evil man and should be erased just like that racist Abe Lincoln, if they want to make their Tesla payments those Imagineers will have to say "Yes, sir. What's the production timeline you can give us to produce the new Great Moments with Che Guevara show?"

 

[mickEblu]

To add to that, I was genuinely surprised to learn that some here thought of Jessica tied up in the trunk of the car to be too... inappropriate? Apparently their mind went to S&M fetishes?

I'm an old gay man. I have no sexual attraction to Jessica (or at this point in my life, anyone really), although I can certainly tell Jessica was created to be sexy and vampy in a 1940's pinup style. But I had absolutely no idea that the Jessica-Tied-Up thing was meant to be sexy, or even that someone could take it a step or two further to get there to that conclusion. Never in the last 25+ years since Toontown opened and I went on this ride in Anaheim and Tokyo at least two dozen times did that smutty thought ever cross my mind.

It was just Jessica being kidnapped by the weasels. For the 3 seconds you could see that as your car sped by.

And for the record, I do not have a pure and innocent mind. I get sexual jokes and double entendre from a mile away. On my second cocktail I might even dabble in that humor myself, with the right audience. But my mind never went there with Jessica in the trunk. Until a few days ago in this thread.

So, it's entirely possible that the truly dirty and smutty people are those in Burbank's HR Inclusion Committee who apparently thought that imagery on the ride was dirty and smutty. Shame on them!

To provide another perspective, I am attracted to Jessica Rabbit and that thought also never crossed my mind. It was just a Jessica Rabbit figure from Who Framed Roger Rabbit inside the trunk for .4 seconds until you move on to the next thing. So my guess is kids aren’t seeing anything different than you or I do. Who the heck are they making these changes for? 2 cancel culture warriors in Portland? Or maybe we have it all wrong. Maybe Disney has been hiring all the cancel culture warriors or just has a couple very influential ones within their walls.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Wait, seriously? Some people have said it was inappropriate in that manner?

 

[Heppenheimer]

Wait, seriously? Some people have said it was inappropriate in that manner?

People who never saw the movie?

 

[SplashGhost]

Even if Jessica Rabbit being tied up was meant to be appealing to people into bondage, then it would still fly completely over kids' heads, and they wouldn't think anything of it. Disney is so concerned with everything being as inoffensive as possible that all the edge will be removed from the park, and all we will be left with is stuff that is so sanitized that it will bore almost everyone.

 

[TP2000]

Wait, seriously? Some people have said it was inappropriate in that manner?

I guess it was a thing. But I think most of us agree you'd have to have a really smutty mind to go there from that 4 second drive-by of Jessica in the trunk being kidnapped by weasels.

I mean for goshsakes, we are talking about weasels dressed in Zoot suits perpetrating these HR atrocities!

This is an HR Committee trying to build a caseload of work to justify their continued big salaries in Fiscal Year 2022, and 2023, and 2024, etc.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

I mean for goshsakes, we are talking about weasels dressed in Zoot suits perpetrating these HR atrocities!

This actually does have me thinking that if this remake is intended to be a clash between “Zoot suit wearing weasels” and law enforcement (represented by Jessica Rabbit in a P.I. Outfit).

This more “relevant” retheme could oddly be criticized as evoking a more problematic historical event in Los Angeles history. This seems too close to confort to the infamous 1940s Zoot Suit riots.

In the 1988 film for which the ride is loosely based the weasels are the law (as Judge Doom’s henchmen) but if the Weasels are somehow now being represented as “Zoot Suit wearing delinquents responsible for a toon town crime wave” as represented in the recently shared Jessica Rabbit-centric flyer, this does evoke a weird racial connotation, since Zoot suits were once tied to the Chicano/minority communities in Los Angeles.

I included a link to the Zoot Suit riots below but this actually seems like a really backward choice of a retheme, if the goal is to be more “culturally sensitive”.

Zoot Suit Riots: Causes, Facts & Photos ‑ HISTORY

The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 were violent clashes in which U.S. servicemen, police officers and civilians brutalized Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles.

www.history.com

 

[Sailor310]

I guess it was a thing. But I think most of us agree you'd have to have a really smutty mind to go there from that 4 second drive-by of Jessica in the trunk being kidnapped by weasels.

I mean for goshsakes, we are talking about weasels dressed in Zoot suits perpetrating these HR atrocities!

This is an HR Committee trying to build a caseload of work to justify their continued big salaries in Fiscal Year 2022, and 2023, and 2024, etc.

Even worse, the weasels and Dr Doom are operating under the color of the law!

 

[TP2000]

This actually does have me thinking that if this remake is intended to be a clash between “Zoot suit wearing weasels” and law enforcement (represented by Jessica Rabbit in a P.I. Outfit).

This more “relevant” retheme could oddly be criticized as evoking a more problematic historical event in Los Angeles history. This seems too close to confort to the infamous 1940s Zoot Suit riots.

In the 1988 film for which the ride is loosely based the weasels are the law (as Judge Doom’s henchmen) but if the Weasels are somehow now being represented as “Zoot Suit wearing delinquents responsible for a toon town crime wave” as represented in the recently shared Jessica Rabbit-centric flyer, this does evoke a weird racial connotation, since Zoot suits were once tied to the Chicano/minority communities in Los Angeles.

I included a link to the Zoot Suit riots below but this actually seems like a really backward choice of a retheme, if the goal is to be more “culturally sensitive”.

Zoot Suit Riots: Causes, Facts & Photos ‑ HISTORY

The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 were violent clashes in which U.S. servicemen, police officers and civilians brutalized Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles.

www.history.com

This is all a very valid point. The wearing of Zoot suits by young Latinos and Chicanos in LA of the 1940's was a blatant stab at the authorities, and vice versa it was easy for the coppers to spot the Chicanos by their clothing in order to round them up and charge them with rowdiness or disturbing the peace. Zoot suits have a key role in the early post-war Chicano movement, and I believe their importance is still being taught in Chicano Studies programs (if they are still allowed to be called that? Chicanx? LHCI+?).

Zoot Suit Riots - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Of course, that's something the HR Committee is saving for Fiscal 2022 in order to keep the payroll checks coming and drag this gig out for as long as possible.

It's interesting you brought this up, because I was entertaining some out-of-towners last week and the subject of Viva Navidad came up. It is their favorite memory of their last Disneyland visit, and it has long been one of my favorite shows. I absolutely LOVE it and never miss it each Christmas. But...

Does Donald Duck wearing a sombrero, a stereotypical Mexican rooster in a Charro suit, and a stereotypical Brazillian parrot wearing Colonial era seersucker and straw boater pass muster in this daring new age of Inclusion???

Nevermind that Panchito and Jose were created by Disney during World War II for a program for the US State Department to strengthen cultural ties with our Central and South American neighbors before the Japanese or Nazis could get to them. None of actual facts and history matter any more, like the fact that Song Of The South takes place during Reconstruction and thus Uncle Remus is a free man. That doesn't matter. The log ride is now racist and the singing chickens should apologize.

Using that current barometer of Burbank Inclusion, these three birds as the hosts of Viva Navidad are "problematic" and must be erased. Donald especially should be ashamed of his cultural appropriation.

 

[brb1006]

I guess it was a thing. But I think most of us agree you'd have to have a really smutty mind to go there from that 4 second drive-by of Jessica in the trunk being kidnapped by weasels.

I mean for goshsakes, we are talking about weasels dressed in Zoot suits perpetrating these HR atrocities!

This is an HR Committee trying to build a caseload of work to justify their continued big salaries in Fiscal Year 2022, and 2023, and 2024, etc.

Heck one of the Weasels (the one with the fancy hat) actually had his named change from "Smarta$$" to a much cleaner name for the parks and merchandise.

 

[brb1006]

This is all a very valid point. The wearing of Zoot suits by young Latinos and Chicanos in LA of the 1940's was a blatant stab at the authorities, and vice versa it was easy for the coppers to spot the Chicanos by their clothing in order to round them up and charge them with rowdiness or disturbing the peace. Zoot suits have a key role in the early post-war Chicano movement, and I believe their importance is still being taught in Chicano Studies programs (if they are still allowed to be called that? Chicanx? LHCI+?).

Zoot Suit Riots - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Of course, that's something the HR Committee is saving for Fiscal 2022 in order to keep the payroll checks coming and drag this gig out for as long as possible.

It's interesting you brought this up, because I was entertaining some out-of-towners last week and the subject of Viva Navidad came up. It is their favorite memory of their last Disneyland visit, and it has long been one of my favorite shows. I absolutely LOVE it and never miss it each Christmas. But...

Does Donald Duck wearing a sombrero, a stereotypical Mexican rooster in a Charro suit, and a stereotypical Brazillian parrot wearing Colonial era seersucker and straw boater pass muster in this daring new age of Inclusion???

Nevermind that Panchito and Jose were created by Disney during World War II for a program for the US State Department to strengthen cultural ties with our Central and South American neighbors before the Japanese or Nazis could get to them. None of actual facts and history matter any more, like the fact that Song Of The South takes place during Reconstruction and thus Uncle Remus is a free man. That doesn't matter. The log ride is now racist and the singing chickens should apologize.

Using that current barometer of Burbank Inclusion, these three birds as the hosts of Viva Navidad are "problematic" and must be erased. Donald especially should be ashamed of his cultural appropriation.

Heck, Jose Carioca is extremely popular in Brazil where he starred in his own comic book series. He's basically the Brazilian equivalent to Donald Duck's massive popularity in Europe (notably Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain, and The Netherlands).

 

[TP2000]

Heck, Jose Carioca is extremely popular in Brazil where he starred in his own comic book series. He's basically the Brazilian equivalent to Donald Duck's massive popularity in Europe (notably Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain, and The Netherlands).

Oh, I fully realize their actual popularity with real people in South America.

But that doesn't mean a thing to an HR Committee of people who get paid to be Woke.

Heck, I am currently 30 miles from the Mexican border. I have several social friends here in town who are Latinos of Mexican heritage, and at a dinner party earlier this summer two of them were ranting and raving about all these young white kids now who have declared that they be called Latinx, a new word that is meaningless in Spanish and dumb to pronounce in any language.

Latinx is primarily used only by white kids on college campuses, hipster white neighborhoods, or in HR departments by people who want to sound better than you, but it's baffling to actual Latinos in the real world. Only 3% of Latinos in the USA use the term "Latinx", and those 3% likely work in HR and are forced to use it by their white bosses.

About One-in-Four U.S. Hispanics Have Heard of Latinx, but Just 3% Use It

The term Latinx has emerged in recent years as a gender-neutral alternative to the pan-ethnic terms Latino, Latina and Hispanic. However, awareness of Latinx is relatively low among the population it is meant to describe.

www.pewresearch.org

What does Latinx have to do with all this? It's just one more clear example of how a tiny minority of usually clueless white people who are paid to be Woke mess and fiddle with stuff to prove they are worth their huge HR salary.

That's why I really don't see a bright future for the Viva Navidad! show. It's "problematic" for the "Latinx" community, or at least a few dorks in Burbank will easily earn their salary next fiscal year by claiming such.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Heck, Jose Carioca is extremely popular in Brazil where he starred in his own comic book series. He's basically the Brazilian equivalent to Donald Duck's massive popularity in Europe (notably Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain, and The Netherlands).

Ze and Panchito were both originally played by famous very Latin actors and were and are embraced by Mexican and Brazilian people today. We need more of them, honestly.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Heck one of the Weasels (the one with the fancy hat) actually had his named change from "Smarta$$" to a much cleaner name for the parks and merchandise.

Again, I just have to know what made them think creating a ride based on Roger Rabbit was a good idea....

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Again, I just have to know what made them think creating a ride based on Roger Rabbit was a good idea....

It was Disney's most popular film that they made in the 80's (yes, even more than Little Mermaid), for a brief few years Roger Rabbit merchandise was more popular than Mickey and Friends and one constant throughout the entire Eisner era was building attractions/rides that would appeal to teen audiences (as seen with Videopolis, Alien Encounter, etc.).

 

[Sharon&Susan]

BTW doesn't Star Lord swear in one of the in-queue videos on MB or am I misremembering?

 

[Dear Prudence]

It was Disney's most popular film that they made in the 80's (yes, even more than Little Mermaid), for a brief few years Roger Rabbit merchandise was more popular than Mickey and Friends and one constant throughout the entire Eisner era was building attractions/rides that would appeal to teen audiences (as seen with Videopolis, Alien Encounter, etc.).

Roger is one of my faves, so I am not complaining... I just still can't believe they got away with it.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

BTW doesn't Star Lord swear in one of the in-queue videos on MB or am I misremembering?

I think so. but he’s not a female being kidnapped by weasels or sold by pirates so nobody cares.