comics101
Well-Known Member
As a great spirit used to say, “Bless your heart...”
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Splash Mountain re-theme announced
- Thread starter DCBaker
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As a great spirit used to say, “Bless your heart...”
21stamps
Well-Known Member
Right. I’m amazed. Not the in your face sexism, but the whiteness.
Twilight Zone music is playing in my head.
comics101
Well-Known Member
Who cares? Zip a Dee Doo Dah does not represent racism today. Period. It’s not an example of systemic racism. It does not put anyone or any group of people down. It’s a fun song about a wonderful day full of sunshine and a bluebird.
It almost seems that you believe that it is impossible for something positive to be derived from something negative. Song of the South is full of racist undertones and negative tropes. That’s the truth. It’s factual.
Splash Mountain does not have those problems. Yes, it’s source is more than problematic—but that doesn’t mean that everything that is derived from Song of the South is problematic. Zip a Dee Doo Dah, Splash Mountain, Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear; these things bring people joy. And if something negative can be turned around and used to bring people joy, that should be cause for celebration, not reason for concern.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
Interesting that you assume you're in the majority, nobody who rides the ride sees anything wrong with it whatsoever, and that you're the arbiter of what is and is not offensive and racist.
comics101
Well-Known Member
I know I’m in the majority. How? Wait times and merchandise sales. If Splash Mountain truly made the average guest uncomfortable, it would have disappeared years ago. It doesn’t. This really isn’t rocket science.
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comics101
Well-Known Member
Absolutely. And beyond that, the ride itself is ICONIC. It’s part of the Disney Mountain Range. It has consistently been celebrated via Disney marketing materials!
This idea that Splash Mountain has long be a source of controversy is revisionist history.
Baloo62
Well-Known Member
How can one simultaneously champion the oppressed and downtrodden while fully supporting a corporate enterprise that charges privileged prices so exorbitant that none of them can afford to participate? Could it be that you privately prefer to not associate with the very people for whom you publicly claim to have such compassion? Interesting.
manmythlegend
Well-Known Member
You're in the minority unfortunately, and a very, very, very, very small minority. I hope you and the rest of your club enjoy destroying something that many of us love.
Disgruntled Walt
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I don't think they'll stop selling the merch, unless someone complains about it. But I think they'll make way more money keeping it available.
Yert3
Well-Known Member
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
I completely agree with you on that oneRight. I’m amazed. Not the in your face sexism, but the whiteness.
Twilight Zone music is playing in my head.
comics101
Well-Known Member
Which just proves that the average guest does not have a problem with the attraction. Furthermore, it undermines the main reason that Disney is doing this
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
They won’t. 10 years from now, they’ll still make merch à la Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. It’s always a money game.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
For thirty years Disney has tried to distance Splash Mountain from Song of the South. But instead of the distance increasing, the association between the two is becoming more widely recognized. And as society scrutinizes everything for racist connections and undertones, it seems Disney has identified Splash Mountain as something not worth defending. That's ok with me, because they don't need to defend Splash Mountain, they can retheme it.
Personally, I believe it *is possible for something positive to be derived from something negative. But Disney doesn't have to do that–they can make new stories that aren't derived from negative things. If they do it well, they can create things that are fun for more people.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
I've got some things to say. This was a pure gut punch to me. I love Splash Mountain. Never rode it in Florida but have countless times at Disneyland over the years. To me this right up there with Indiana Jones as not only one of the best rides in the park but as one of the few rides that earns the title of "PERFECT RIDE".
The story, the music, the AA's, the drops, everything combines to be possibly the greatest log ride of all time. It's lighting in a bottle. Even though there are duplicates, for the time the ride was concieved and made it was a perfect storm of things coming together to make an amazing attraction that would not be built these days.
I can recall in '89 seeing the Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain special on the Disney Channel before the ride opened and from that moment on I had to ride it. Recall my first ride, soo magical and fun. I used to be scared of the drop in my younger days in the early 90's. Even now as an adult, when I walk by it, I stop in awe of it. Seeing people go down the main drop is hypnotic. It's iconic. It's a world famous drop. People always stop and look to see who going down it. All eyes of Disneyland are on you as you go down it is how I feel when it's my turn to go down this iconic drop. "This ride is world famous and now it's my turn to go down it" is what I think as I go down it. I never feel like I am in a show building but in a actual mountain.
Is there a more perfect song than Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah?? It's iconic. There is no better song in Disney pop culture that symoblizes when something goes right in your life than that song. It's been used in modern pop culture as once something goes right for someone they play that song. After surviving the drop, we hear that song because we survived it! Brer Rabbit Survived!! It's time to celebrate!! No song in Princess and the frog can replace it.
This overlay is a HUGE MISTAKE and very disappointing. I don't think it's coincidence that all of a sudden there was petition and concept art a few weeks ago and now Disney has been suddenly planning this for a year. I think Disney started that petition to put it out there in advance to guage public response. I think this is lazy. If you want a Princess and the Frog ride, then build one. Don't put it in a building not meant for it. I think when people use "Well Walt said Disneyland would never be finished" as a excuse for bad imagineering they don't understand what Walt meant. Walt is about plusing the park, adding new rides or updating the existing rides as long as it does not take away from what made the ride beloved in the first place. Not adding technology for the sake of technology but because it is going to add something. If he replaced an attraction it was not a overlay it was to bring something wholly brand new and exciting.
To me, Splash has a timeless eel to it and surpassed the test of time for me. What I like is we don't see any AA's until after the first drop and we go into the mountain proper and we get the melody of 'HOW DO YOU DO?" playing outdoors. Guaranteed now, screens and AA's during the outdoor sections because modern imagineering is lazy. And Tony Baxter is only going to be there in spirit and have noooooo say whatsoever in any decisions on the ride. They gave him a check to praise the ride and use his name to calm down the rabid fan base. Whenever Disney is about to do something stupid they bring out Baxter to go "see?? Tony is ok with it!!"
This is the only start I fear. I FEAR many more rides are next. If they can touch Splash, then Mansion and Pirates are not safe. Not at all. Hell, Mansion already has a season overlay. There is and was and never will be ANYTHING RACISTS ABOUT SPLASH MOUNTAIN!!! It is a simple story of a Rabbit wanting adventure but after almost getting eaten by a fox and a bear, decides home is where the heart is.
The story, the music, the AA's, the drops, everything combines to be possibly the greatest log ride of all time. It's lighting in a bottle. Even though there are duplicates, for the time the ride was concieved and made it was a perfect storm of things coming together to make an amazing attraction that would not be built these days.
I can recall in '89 seeing the Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain special on the Disney Channel before the ride opened and from that moment on I had to ride it. Recall my first ride, soo magical and fun. I used to be scared of the drop in my younger days in the early 90's. Even now as an adult, when I walk by it, I stop in awe of it. Seeing people go down the main drop is hypnotic. It's iconic. It's a world famous drop. People always stop and look to see who going down it. All eyes of Disneyland are on you as you go down it is how I feel when it's my turn to go down this iconic drop. "This ride is world famous and now it's my turn to go down it" is what I think as I go down it. I never feel like I am in a show building but in a actual mountain.
Is there a more perfect song than Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah?? It's iconic. There is no better song in Disney pop culture that symoblizes when something goes right in your life than that song. It's been used in modern pop culture as once something goes right for someone they play that song. After surviving the drop, we hear that song because we survived it! Brer Rabbit Survived!! It's time to celebrate!! No song in Princess and the frog can replace it.
This overlay is a HUGE MISTAKE and very disappointing. I don't think it's coincidence that all of a sudden there was petition and concept art a few weeks ago and now Disney has been suddenly planning this for a year. I think Disney started that petition to put it out there in advance to guage public response. I think this is lazy. If you want a Princess and the Frog ride, then build one. Don't put it in a building not meant for it. I think when people use "Well Walt said Disneyland would never be finished" as a excuse for bad imagineering they don't understand what Walt meant. Walt is about plusing the park, adding new rides or updating the existing rides as long as it does not take away from what made the ride beloved in the first place. Not adding technology for the sake of technology but because it is going to add something. If he replaced an attraction it was not a overlay it was to bring something wholly brand new and exciting.
To me, Splash has a timeless eel to it and surpassed the test of time for me. What I like is we don't see any AA's until after the first drop and we go into the mountain proper and we get the melody of 'HOW DO YOU DO?" playing outdoors. Guaranteed now, screens and AA's during the outdoor sections because modern imagineering is lazy. And Tony Baxter is only going to be there in spirit and have noooooo say whatsoever in any decisions on the ride. They gave him a check to praise the ride and use his name to calm down the rabid fan base. Whenever Disney is about to do something stupid they bring out Baxter to go "see?? Tony is ok with it!!"
This is the only start I fear. I FEAR many more rides are next. If they can touch Splash, then Mansion and Pirates are not safe. Not at all. Hell, Mansion already has a season overlay. There is and was and never will be ANYTHING RACISTS ABOUT SPLASH MOUNTAIN!!! It is a simple story of a Rabbit wanting adventure but after almost getting eaten by a fox and a bear, decides home is where the heart is.
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manmythlegend
Well-Known Member
Demand will go through the roof. I just did a quick search and seems like the items are sold out.
Yert3
Well-Known Member
They don’t need to defend it. I’ve learned over the years that damage control is worse than actually staying silent and ignoring criticism, as the criticism fades over time. More often than not, damage control makes everything worse. As they say, There’s no such thing as bad publicity. If Disney just ignored this, it wouldn’t have hurt their bottom line at all. I guarantee that.
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