Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[Magenta Panther]

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They don't mean literally. Admittedly, in many instances the character in question does have powers, but that's incidental to their narrative purpose and why the trope is named thusly. Do you watch the Ironman Triathlon and say, "HEY! None of these guys are made of metal! I assume there have iron in there blood, but statistically within the ranges of normal human biology!"

First you say "They don't mean literally", then you admit that the characters in question DO have magical powers, thus contradicting yourself, and then you try to spin it as "incidental", blah blah blah. If Remus is a "Magical Negro" because his storytelling is so vivid that his characters literally come to life by film's end, then how is Facilier, who brought his shadow to life among other things, not also a "Magical Negro"? The only difference is that one is a benevolent figure and the other is a villain. Why is the villain legit and the storyteller is not?

 

[Incomudro]

I agree. I wouldn’t bat an eye over Disney adding a Tiana attraction to Fantasyland. I find it absolutely crazy that they decided not only is Splash racist, but the only way to properly replace it is to slap a black princess on said ride.. in Frontierland.
I would have an issue with current princess going on that ride.. I love the neutrality of that area of the park.

I have long since accepted Disney’s stereotypical portrayal of women.. The rub with Princess and the Frog was that they set it up as a “we’re finally acknowledging that women can be independent”, only to then have her give up all of her ambitions to become a frog. Finally with Elsa they got it almost right, and then Moana was perfect, imo.
It took many decades for Disney to get there, but they finally did.

All of that said, I don’t begrudge Disney their former stereotypes.. most of them were a product of their time (even though they should have known better by the time of Ariel and Tiana). I understand the long road though, which is why I don’t call for their demise. Same with CoP. I love that attraction, even while it makes my stomach churn a bit while watching it.. It’s a weird feeling, but I love it because the song is great, and the attraction reminds me that progress has been made.

"Princess and the Pandering"

 

[orlandogal22]

It’s funny, a few months ago, we exchanged words about how sad it would be when the Disney Community would drive someone to the brink of killing themselves.

It wasn’t just this. It wasn’t the ride. It was a combination of everything. But waking up to this, my decision is made up.

Signing out for the last time.

You cannot let Shawn - or anyone or anything - define who you are.

You're stronger than this. Don't let them "win."

I also strongly advise you get off social media (and stop reading social media accounts) - or looking for acceptance, guidance, and / or support from folks on social media.

You'll be much happier for it!

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Depp got uncancelled. It was an example of the cancel culture mob acting too early. They ruined his career and his life but they were wrong.

James Gunn was also un-cancelled...because it turns out, people can change and grow as time goes on.

 

[Brer Panther]

"It's just a ride" is really a dumb excuse for why we shouldn't be upset, mainly because by that logic, people offended by Splash Mountain shouldn't be offended because it's just a ride.

 

[21stamps]

You cannot let Shawn - or anyone or anything - define who you are.

You're stronger than this. Don't let them "win."

I also strongly advise you get off social media (and stop reading social media accounts) - or looking for acceptance, guidance, and / or support from folks on social media.

You'll be much happier for it!

Is that guy a Disney employee or something?

 

[celluloid]

First you say "They don't mean literally", then you admit that the characters in question DO have magical powers, thus contradicting yourself, and then you try to spin it as "incidental", blah blah blah. If Remus is a "Magical Negro" because his storytelling is so vivid that his characters literally come to life by film's end, then how is Facilier, who brought his shadow to life among other things, not also a "Magical Negro"? The only difference is that one is a benevolent figure and the other is a villain. Why is the villain legit and the storyteller is not?

Exactly.
More specifically, Mama Odie and Ray are magical stereotypes that help the non black protagonist (Naveen) on their journey and Discovery of answers.
You notice when people bring up these, their points keep changing.
Probably the best thing I have seen so far from all of this is how some people are seeing how Song of The South is not as insensitive thing they were told to think it was.

 

[21stamps]

"It's just a ride" is really a dumb excuse for why we shouldn't be upset, mainly because by that logic, people offended by Splash Mountain shouldn't be offended because it's just a ride.

You can tie yourself into knots, and you will never make sense of bandwagon “logic”, because there’s no logic to be found.

 

[orlandogal22]

Is that guy a Disney employee or something?

Shawn? I don't think so. I first saw him show up on a RixFlix vlog awhile back. I looked him up at the time and saw he has a YT channel called NegroOrlando. So I am not sure if he's just a vlogger or has a day job too?

His channel is all over the place content-wise, but whenever I've seen him pop up in vlogs, it's been Disney / Universal vloggers and I'm pretty sure he's done vlogs on the parks too.

He also recently got into it on Twitter with Tim Tracker re: old videos of theirs (some party that they participated in or something) that resurfaced. That's the most I know about him. That, and he seems to always be angry about something.

 

[Bleed0range]

Try to sing Zip-a-dee-doo-dah to the tune of Turkey in the Straw. It doesn't work. The meter of the chorus is completely different where Zip-a-dee-doo-dah is basically a short 9 syllable/line chorus, Zip **** uses a much longer 14 and 13 syllable/line chorus.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
O zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day

Now if you can't see that those two lines are way off then you are clueless, if you want to look at the musical structure of the two songs they are even more glaringly different... but again when a woke warrior wants to see something that doesn't exist no reasoning with them is possible.

I don’t think you understand how songs are written. It would be like, they need a song that would sound like something of the era of Reconstruction or before. They see this song and take from “Zip-a-Duden” and give it their own spin to avoid straight up plagiarism. They put a happy spin on it because that’s what they’re trying to do. They may even be trying to take something bad and make something good out of it.

But my point is simply people don’t generally use that terminology by happy coincidence and it makes perfect sense in the context of having to write a song for the movie.

You can give them bonus points if you think they were trying to make something good out of something bad. If that makes you feel better. But that’s what this ride was also trying to do.

 

[Flugell]

Please forgive me, I’m trying to read my way through this thread and am currently on page 138! It seems to be growing faster than I can read and I’m a quick reader but just wanted to add my ideas from what I’ve surmised so far.
Far from seeing 2 opposing views I think there are three and can appreciate all of them.
1. The people of all diversities who accept that Splash Mountain needs to be eradicated because of the long established connection to the film Song of the South and the unacceptable view of African Americans as portrayed in that film.
2. The people of all diversities who wish to retain Splash Mountain as a truly great ride and feel that the connection to the film is tenuous because of the way the ride has been imagined.
3. The people of all diversities who acknowledge the racist overtones within the ride but feel that retaining it, with education about the historical context of the story and the celebration of the African American oral story telling culture, could be of more benefit to people of all diversities in giving a greater understanding of the past and what needs to change going forward.
In my opinion each have some merit though given a choice I’d vote for number 3!
I have never seen Princess and the Frog (I’m 62 years old so a little old for Princess movies) but feel that the idea of replacing a racially sensitive ride with a “token” black princess could be regarded as patronising. Think- we’ve got rid of Song of the South and given “them” (the public) Tiana, that should stop the moaning for a bit. Or maybe I’m just old and twisted but feel that Disney’s first black Princess deserves better than to be a band aid over the problematical Splash Mountain.

 

[orlandogal22]

You can tie yourself into knots, and you will never make sense of bandwagon “logic”, because there’s no logic to be found.

This Shawn guy... I wonder if he ever rode Splash Mountain and enjoyed himself as he rode it over the years.

Or, to the contrary, if he's always been this passionately offended by it.

If the latter, I'd take him more seriously.

I get people can evolve their thoughts and beliefs over time, but I think it's to the *level* of supposed outrage that I'm seeing some folks display re: SM's existence that I find disingenuous.

 

[celluloid]

This Shawn guy... I wonder if he ever rode Splash Mountain and enjoyed himself as he rode it over the years.

Or, to the contrary, if he's always been this passionately offended by it.

If the latter, I'd take him more seriously.

I get people can evolve their thoughts and beliefs over time, but I think it's to the *level* of supposed outrage that I'm seeing some folks display re: SM's existence that I find disingenuous.

Or if he calls out other things like the film Snow White or attractions and representation she has to have dwarfism as comic relief.
It seems he is choosing misery in almost everything he publishes on various formats.

 

[Disney Analyst]

It’s funny, a few months ago, we exchanged words about how sad it would be when the Disney Community would drive someone to the brink of killing themselves.

It wasn’t just this. It wasn’t the ride. It was a combination of everything. But waking up to this, my decision is made up.

Signing out for the last time.

I sincerely hope this isn’t true. Please do not do something rash. I know life is extremely challenging right now, and everything is building up and it feels like there is no escape in sight, but I promise you it will ease up. It will get better, easier, lighter.

There is an entire future ahead worth discovering, please discover it.

 

[21stamps]

Shawn? I don't think so. I first saw him show up on a RixFlix vlog awhile back. I looked him up at the time and saw he has a YT channel called NegroOrlando. So I am not sure if he's just a vlogger or has a day job too?

His channel is all over the place content-wise, but whenever I've seen him pop up in vlogs, it's been Disney / Universal vloggers and I'm pretty sure he's done vlogs on the parks too.

He also recently got into it on Twitter with Tim Tracker re: old videos of theirs (some party that they participated in or something) that resurfaced. That's the most I know about him. That, and he seems to always be angry about something.

I don’t watch Disney bloggers so I have no idea. Anyone with a name like “NegroOrlando” and such hateful content would be someone to especially stay away from.

 

[orlandogal22]

I don’t watch Disney bloggers so I have no idea. Anyone with a name like “NegroOrlando” and such hateful content would be someone to especially stay away from.

I've stopped regularly watching Disney vloggers, save for a random video here or there. It's all such repetitive content.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

This Shawn guy... I wonder if he ever rode Splash Mountain and enjoyed himself as he rode it over the years.

Or, to the contrary, if he's always been this passionately offended by it.

If the latter, I'd take him more seriously.

I get people can evolve their thoughts and beliefs over time, but I think it's to the *level* of supposed outrage that I'm seeing some folks display re: SM's existence that I find disingenuous.

He sounds like a typical social media bully...they create a circle of friends and attack anyone who doesn't agree with them...sometimes even those within the circle.

Sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?

 

[21stamps]

I've stopped regularly watching Disney vloggers, save for a random video here or there. It's all such repetitive content.

I just gifted him with a clip of man in the mirror.. maybe he’ll take it to heart.

 

[Chi84]

Please forgive me, I’m trying to read my way through this thread and am currently on page 138! It seems to be growing faster than I can read and I’m a quick reader but just wanted to add my ideas from what I’ve surmised so far.
Far from seeing 2 opposing views I think there are three and can appreciate all of them.
1. The people of all diversities who accept that Splash Mountain needs to be eradicated because of the long established connection to the film Song of the South and the unacceptable view of African Americans as portrayed in that film.
2. The people of all diversities who wish to retain Splash Mountain as a truly great ride and feel that the connection to the film is tenuous because of the way the ride has been imagined.
3. The people of all diversities who acknowledge the racist overtones within the ride but feel that retaining it, with education about the historical context of the story and the celebration of the African American oral story telling culture, could be of more benefit to people of all diversities in giving a greater understanding of the past and what needs to change going forward.
In my opinion each have some merit though given a choice I’d vote for number 3!
I have never seen Princess and the Frog (I’m 62 years old so a little old for Princess movies) but feel that the idea of replacing a racially sensitive ride with a “token” black princess could be regarded as patronising. Think- we’ve got rid of Song of the South and given “them” (the public) Tiana, that should stop the moaning for a bit. Or maybe I’m just old and twisted but feel that Disney’s first black Princess deserves better than to be a band aid over the problematical Splash Mountain.

I can't be sure, but I doubt the membership of this site is all that diverse. Even without regard to racial makeup, these boards tend to skew older and wealthier, and the attitudes and comments will reflect that. Your post is very thoughtful, but from what I've seen here, there are also people of "no diversity" who can't understand why Disney would re-theme this ride simply to be more inclusive, and they fear losing even more going forward.

 

[21stamps]

I can't be sure, but I doubt the membership of this site is all that diverse. Even without regard to racial makeup, these boards tend to skew older and wealthier, and the attitudes and comments will reflect that. Your post is very thoughtful, but from what I've seen here, there are also people of "no diversity" who can't understand why Disney would re-theme this ride simply to be more inclusive, and they fear losing even more going forward.

Wait, “older and wealthier” = lack of diversity?