Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[Sharon&Susan]

I find the Native Americans featured in Peter Pan FAR more racially insensitive than anything on splash.

Peter Pan's fine because kind old supreme being Uncle Bob Iger in his infinite wisdom didn't decide to ban it! Duh.

Spoiler

/s

 

[Little Green Men]

I find the Native Americans featured in Peter Pan FAR more racially insensitive than anything on splash.

Those should absolutely be changed

 

[Brer Oswald]

I find the Native Americans featured in Peter Pan FAR more racially insensitive than anything on splash.

That isn’t even arguable.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

What's more offensive, the Indians or the 45 minute wait in a cramped space with out of control children acting like monkeys running between your legs and some jerk misting you with their spray fan water bottle?

 

[manmythlegend]

Bayleigh has said she won’t be back. Derrick and Tyler are both rumored to return.

Who is the female poker player? Forgot her name but she lost to Steve several years back. She'd be a good addition.

 

[Timmay]

Those should absolutely be changed

I disagree...as I find no offense in them at all.

 

[Little Green Men]

Who is the female poker player? Forgot her name but she lost to Steve several years back. She'd be a good addition.

Vanessa but she and her wife both just had babies

 

[Brer Oswald]

Vanessa but she and her wife both just had babies

Yeah there’s no chance she’s returning right now

 

[manmythlegend]

Vanessa but she and her wife both just had babies

So it's the perfect time for her to come

 

[Rich Brownn]

I have to agree the half of SotS problem is that it hasn't been seen in so long its racial issues have been blown up to mythic proportions. I have a copy and invited to of my Black friends to watch it with me, since its racial history is outside my frame of reference.

Their basic reaction was that's it? Thats what is supposed to be offensive. And then they proceed to point out that there are many many films available that are way more racist. Were there issues that bothered them? Sure. But overall, they actually enjoyed it and couldn't understand why it had been banned. One of them said, compared to other films of that era, its was basically pretty mild.

 

[LittleBuford]

I have to agree the half of SotS problem is that it hasn't been seen in so long its racial issues have been blown up to mythic proportions. I have a copy and invited to of my Black friends to watch it with me, since its racial history is outside my frame of reference.

Their basic reaction was that's it? Thats what is supposed to be offensive. And then they proceed to point out that there are many many films available that are way more racist. Were there issues that bothered them? Sure. But overall, they actually enjoyed it and couldn't understand why it had been banned. One of them said, compared to other films of that era, its was basically pretty mild.

I think the issue is that it’s a children’s film, which those other movies aren’t. That is why it is treated as more problematic than, say, Gone with the Wind. It really isn’t a film that kids should be watching (and I say that as Briton who watched it often as a child).

 

[Flugell]

I have to agree the half of SotS problem is that it hasn't been seen in so long its racial issues have been blown up to mythic proportions. I have a copy and invited to of my Black friends to watch it with me, since its racial history is outside my frame of reference.

Their basic reaction was that's it? Thats what is supposed to be offensive. And then they proceed to point out that there are many many films available that are way more racist. Were there issues that bothered them? Sure. But overall, they actually enjoyed it and couldn't understand why it had been banned. One of them said, compared to other films of that era, its was basically pretty mild.

Very interesting, what was their opinion about Splash Mountain before and after watching the film?

 

[Phil12]

Okay. So you displayed 2 points of “evidence”. Let’s talk about it. The term “Brer” (or “Br’er”) is an actual slang term developed by the African Americans that told these stories. It is not a “racial stereotype” if it’s a word they actually used. Culture and racism are not the same thing. Just because they used a word that’s different than what we used, does not make it bad.

You can proclaim to the high heavens about how “inaccurate” the dialect in the film is, but the term “Brer” isn’t. Truth idc I myself don’t know how inaccurate it is. I didn’t live in the 1800s. I’d like to do some more research on that to get to the bottom of it all.

As for Zipadeedoodah, there’s no proven fact that the made up word was inspired by the minstrel song. But even if it was loosely inspired, how does that make Zipadeedoodah racist? Zipadeedoodah doesn’t mean anything. It’s not a word. It’s not making fun of anyone. And guess what? People of different nationalities sing it!

Also funny how you said “racist songs” plural. Cause the song about saying hi and the song about laughing totally have something to do with nationalities, right? Oh wait no they don’t.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there is not any racism in Splash Mountain. Then one has to ask TWDC why they feel the need to re-theme Splash Mountain. And, until and if you get that answer, the attraction is going to be re-themed. I have no authority, jurisdiction or power to change the corporate mind of TWDC.

If you do not see the racism in Splash Mountain then there is little I can do except to point it out. But I think you know that TWDC is not in the habit of doing complete re-themes of attractions that draw huge crowds unless there is a significant problem. If you think racism is not the problem, then I wish you the best of luck in finding out the "true" problem. And please get back to me when you discover the problem.

But I can really save you some time. The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

 

[manmythlegend]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there is not any racism in Splash Mountain. Then one has to ask TWDC why they feel the need to re-theme Splash Mountain. And, until and if you get that answer, the attraction is going to be re-themed. I have no authority, jurisdiction or power to change the corporate mind of TWDC.

If you do not see the racism in Splash Mountain then there is little I can do except to point it out. But I think you know that TWDC is not in the habit of doing complete re-themes of attractions that draw huge crowds unless there is a significant problem. If you think racism is not the problem, then I wish you the best of luck in finding out the "true" problem. And please get back to me when you discover the problem.

But I can really save you some time. The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

You can repeat this over and over and over and it still won't be true. FYI, OLC has told Bobby to pound sand so even if Iger scraps Splash in the U.S., his woke dream of completely distancing Disney from Splash and SotS won't be happening anytime soon. Sorry.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there is not any racism in Splash Mountain. Then one has to ask TWDC why they feel the need to re-theme Splash Mountain. And, until and if you get that answer, the attraction is going to be re-themed. I have no authority, jurisdiction or power to change the corporate mind of TWDC.

If you do not see the racism in Splash Mountain then there is little I can do except to point it out. But I think you know that TWDC is not in the habit of doing complete re-themes of attractions that draw huge crowds unless there is a significant problem. If you think racism is not the problem, then I wish you the best of luck in finding out the "true" problem. And please get back to me when you discover the problem.

But I can really save you some time. The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

I would suggest you do some research on what's going on behind the scenes with the protests and riots going on all over the country. Listen to some of the well-educated black speakers on the matter - the protests and riots we're seeing all over the country are all based on racism that doesn't exist in reality. SotS is just one more victim of the new "woke" religion and ideology.

 

[Brer Panther]

I've probably said this before, but it bears repeating - this is only happening because Song of the South is an easy target.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there is not any racism in Splash Mountain. Then one has to ask TWDC why they feel the need to re-theme Splash Mountain. And, until and if you get that answer, the attraction is going to be re-themed. I have no authority, jurisdiction or power to change the corporate mind of TWDC.

If you do not see the racism in Splash Mountain then there is little I can do except to point it out. But I think you know that TWDC is not in the habit of doing complete re-themes of attractions that draw huge crowds unless there is a significant problem. If you think racism is not the problem, then I wish you the best of luck in finding out the "true" problem. And please get back to me when you discover the problem.

But I can really save you some time. The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

There’s a few reasons, none of which being that the “ride is racist”. WDI always plans these rethemes because they’re cheaper to produce, and they keep people employed. If these rethemes can be cloned, they will be because that’s more work. Why do you think ToT got a retheme? What about the cancelled Stitch Retheme for Space Mountain. The Tiki Room retheme in the 90s. They plan rethemes for popular attractions all the time.

But why PatF? Surely it’s because they’re fighting the wrongs of the “RACIST” Splash Mountain, right? Well, not exactly. Look where Splash is in Disneyland. Right next to New Orleans Square. Where does PatF take place? New Orleans. Not only that, but there’s a food connection I’m tbe film, and food sells. Trusted insider (and alleged “former Disney Employee”) TP2000 mentioned this in a different thread. The reason this was done was because of food and merchandise tie ins. It was designed for Disneyland and cloned to Florida because it keeps Imagineers working, and is an easy “addition” to Florida since it’s reusing development assets for Disneyland.

Then there’s the elephant in the room. SotS. Regardless of your opinion on the film, it’s still a controversial film. Nobody’s seen it, and it’s become a giant Boogeyman in the Disney world. Iger surely wants the Bob Iger Company to remove any reference to it possible, and Splash is guilty by association. Although, as TP mentioned, this was a secondary reason to the monetary benefit.

So no. The ride is in fact not racist. They intentionally removed the one racially insensitive element of the animated segments from the film to not offend anyone. It may be easier to claim the ride is racist, but anyone that has a big enough brain to process context would know that it isn’t. And if Disney truly cared about racism in their parks, changes to the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, And Country Bears would’ve been announced long before this Splash change. But they weren’t because they didn’t plan on altering those.

 

[Brer Oswald]

You can repeat this over and over and over and it still won't be true. FYI, OLC has told Bobby to pound sand so even if Iger scraps Splash in the U.S., his woke dream of completely distancing The Bob Iger Company from Splash and SotS won't be happening anytime soon. Sorry. Cope & Seethe.

FTFY

 

[dig311dug]

The ride is racist despite all your protestations to the contrary.

It's not... but let's all just get along. Just like the end of SotS.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I think the issue is that it’s a children’s film, which those other movies aren’t. That is why it is treated as more problematic than, say, Gone with the Wind. It really isn’t a film that kids should be watching (and I say that as Briton who watched it often as a child).

Absolutely. That and the fact that it’s a Disney film. That being said, there is no motive being pushed in the film, nor any stereotype obvious/obnoxious enough to alter how a child would view race or racial issues. Unless you have really racist parents. Then I could see it being a problem.