Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[Matt_Black]

At this point, it really doesn't feel like much of the pushback is about the ride itself, but rather a perceived "victory" for one side of the political spectrum. The Walt Disney Company has clearly carved a progressive and inclusive path forward with no signs of hanging onto the most troubling parts of its past.

Again, I have no problem with them being progressive but in a very soft, gentle way. Like the Disney Junior show Mira, Royal Detective. The show was devised to give more representation to people of Indian heritage and to celebrate Indian culture. It also doesn't even remotely try to address the years of British colonialism, and nor should it. It's a kids detective show.

 

[AugieMorosco]

Again, I have no problem with them being progressive but in a very soft, gentle way. Like the Disney Junior show Mira, Royal Detective. The show was devised to give more representation to people of Indian heritage and to celebrate Indian culture. It also doesn't even remotely try to address the years of British colonialism, and nor should it. It's a kids detective show.

I'm with you. I think it's exactly what they're doing and will continue to do.

 

[Incomudro]

When you're at the buffet, do you grab EVERYTHING? No, people have the right to skip the Brussels sprouts if they don't want to eat them right now. Same thing with entertainment. A lot of people would just rather not deal with Song Of The South right now, and would rather put a little Princess & The Frog on their plate.

You see, that idea is fine if they want to choose to watch Princess and the Frog or whatever newer work of entertainment is out there and ignore others.
Instead, we have a demand that a company close one of its biggest attraction - and rework it to the tune of millions of dollars.
That's the problem.
Cancel culture can't live with freedom of choice or even the idea that something that they don't agree with is tenuously linked to something that was bad, or something that they don't like for whatever reason they do not like it.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I've read Mel Blanc's (the Man of a Thousand Voices, voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, et al) autobiography "That's Not All, Folks!" And in one part he mentioned the Frito Bandito, a Frito-Lay mascot for, yeah, Fritos, that he provided a voice for. And he told of how hurt he was when he was accused of being racist for "stereotyping" Mexicans, and that he was also accused of the same thing for voicing Speedy Gonzales. He said that, ironically, many Mexicans love Speedy. He's a hero to them. And he also mentioned that he got a LOT of love letters from women addressed to Pepe Le Pew. You know, the stalker skunk? Different strokes...

 

[LittleBuford]

Slavery was the norm for thousands of years.

True, but the transatlantic slave trade was singularly egregious in scale and impact, and the descendants of other enslaved individuals and groups generally ended up being untraceably absorbed into their “host” populations. Unlike the vast majority of us who are just speculating about our ancestry, African Americans know that they are descended from slaves. I can’t imagine what that must feel like.

 

[Magenta Panther]

You see, that idea is fine if they want to choose to watch Princess and the Frog or whatever newer work of entertainment is out there and ignore others.
Instead, we have a demand that a company close one of its biggest attraction - and rework it to the tune of millions of dollars.
That's the problem.
Cancel culture can't live with freedom of choice or even the idea that something that they don't agree with is tenuously linked to something that was bad, or something that they don't like for whatever reason they do not like it.

Yep. They have no tolerance whatsoever for differing opinions. They just stick the word "hate" on them and try to censor them. (Leave it to cancel culture, by the way, for taking the p*i*s*s out of a word like "hate" through overuse and misapplication. )

 

[Incomudro]

Are you honestly suggesting this, or are you making an intentionally ridiculous proposition because you don't understand why modern Americans are offended by a glorification of black American slavery?

Where is this glorification you speak of?

 

[Matt_Black]

I've read Mel Blanc's (the Man of a Thousand Voices, voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, et al) autobiography "That's Not All, Folks!" And in one part he mentioned the Frito Bandito, a Frito-Lay mascot for, yeah, Fritos, that he provided a voice for. And he told of how hurt he was when he was accused of being racist for "stereotyping" Mexicans, and that he was also accused of the same thing for voicing Speedy Gonzales. He said that, ironically, many Mexicans love Speedy. He's a hero to them. And he also mentioned that he got a LOT of love letters from women addressed to Pepe Le Pew. You know, the stalker skunk? Different strokes...

And Mickey Rooney didn't think there was anything wrong with his performance in Breakfast At Tiffany's.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Are you honestly suggesting this, or are you making an intentionally ridiculous proposition because you don't understand why modern Americans are offended by a glorification of black American slavery?

There was no glorification of slavery in SotS. There was a "prettying up" of the reconstruction era. The two are quite different things.

 

[LittleBuford]

There was no glorification of slavery in SotS. There was a "prettying up" of the reconstruction era. The two are quite different things.

I agree they’re different, but I can also see why even the less bad alternative is offensive to many.

 

[21stamps]

That is disingenuous at best. But, according to you, those who want the ride to stay are the immature ones. This is typical - folks like you appreciate diversity of ideas and opinions as long as those opinions are progressive; otherwise, they are invalid and by holding them you are racist/misogynistic/transphobic/evil.

Exactly..it always gets pivoted away from. I said earlier that if looking for logic in a pick and choose society, the logic can’t be found.

as long as those opinions are progressive

I was throwing a bit of hyperbole in for comedic effect. But somehow it's the people who like progressive things who are "too sensitive" and "can't take a joke"

I think in current times, progressive and regressive are often misused.


The hyperbole was a way to distract from a valid point, which still hasn’t been addressed.
I don’t want Disney World flattened or everything re-themed, but, I think the people who claim that Splash (and all accompanying songs) needs to be eradicated, while refusing to look at all the other themes and attractions, should be able to think about why they feel that way, why they can look at some and not others.

 

[Matt_Black]

I don’t want Disney World flattened or everything re-themed, but, I think the people who claim that Splash (and all accompanying songs) needs to be eradicated, while refusing to look at all the other themes and attractions, should be able to think about why they feel that way, why they can look at some and not others.

No one's refusing. In fact, many are discussing maybe changing other attractions, like Peter Pan, the Jungle Cruise, or The Enchanted Tiki Room. There have also been changes to Pirates of The Caribbean to reflect changes in cultural mores.

 

[21stamps]

No one's refusing. In fact, many are discussing maybe changing other attractions, like Peter Pan, the Jungle Cruise, or The Enchanted Tiki Room. There have also been changes to Pirates of The Caribbean to reflect changes in cultural mores.

Where? You literally just blew off the discussion with an Astro Orbiter comparison.

 

[Bairstow]

Where is this glorification you speak of?

The movie revels in the plantation aesthetic, the images of black "mammies" and "uncles" cooking and serving white people in their big house, and the black farmers dutifully gathering around the plantation to sing hymns and pray for the little white kid. The movie even begins with a musical salute to "I Wish I Was in Dixie". The fact that the movie is purportedly set after the black plantation workers had been freed is utterly incidental to the plot.

 

[Matt_Black]

Where? You literally just blew off the discussion with an Astro Orbiter comparison.

There ARE other threads besides just this one, you know.

And, again, I didn't blow off anything. In fact, I'm actually discussing it, with you, right now, IN REAL TIME.

 

[LittleBuford]

Where?

Multiple other threads, including:

Disney Launches Internal Attractions Diversity and Values Review Team

Multiple sources have reached out to me today to inform of a new review board being assembled to look at Disney Parks shows and attractions for elements that do not align with as of yet not public principles. My sources do not know if the review board has been filled or by whom. They do both...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[Matt_Black]

The movie revels in the plantation aesthetic, the images of black "mammies" and "uncles" cooking and serving white people in their big house, and the black farmers dutifully gathering around the plantation to sing hymns and pray for the little white kid. The movie even begins with a musical salute to "I Wish I Was in Dixie". The fact that the movie is purportedly set after the black plantation workers had been freed is utterly incidental to the plot.

And remember, a lot of the movie is flashbacks as Remus tells a story. That leaves a very brief window when slavery wasn't a thing for those to have happened.

 

[21stamps]

At this point, it really doesn't feel like much of the pushback is about the ride itself, but rather a perceived "victory" for one side of the political spectrum. The Walt Disney Company has clearly carved a progressive and inclusive path forward with no signs of hanging onto the most troubling parts of its past. This whole thing should really come as no surprise. For the slippery slope group, you're right to a degree I guess. You can probably expect more changes down the road - though the hyperbolic examples are ridiculous. Maybe I'm wrong and it's really about a deep nostalgia for Brer Rabbit and family memories of Splash Mountain, but the arguments and points seem to suggest otherwise.

It’s a myriad of things. For me personally, I wouldn’t have been as frustrated if they would have at least changed it to a theme fitting in Frontierland.. not sticking a princess on a ride. The move is patronizing and stinks of a lazy token change.. That’s what people like, I guess.

 

[21stamps]

Multiple other threads, including:

Disney Launches Internal Attractions Diversity and Values Review Team

Multiple sources have reached out to me today to inform of a new review board being assembled to look at Disney Parks shows and attractions for elements that do not align with as of yet not public principles. My sources do not know if the review board has been filled or by whom. They do both...

forums.wdwmagic.com

So not in this one, where I brought up the conversation.. that one went to outer space rides. . Thanks.

 

[LittleBuford]

So not in this one, where I brought up the conversation.. that one went to outer space rides. . Thanks.

You referred to “people”. If your point pertained to a specific poster, you should have said so. Those other attractions have come up in this thread too, for what it’s worth.