The_Jobu
Well-Known Member
What, like Strawberry Fields?
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Splash Mountain re-theme announced
- Thread starter DCBaker
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What, like Strawberry Fields?
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
I certainly didn’t get physically ill, but I was very sad. I made great memories with my family on this ride.
It’s absolutely possible to have an emotional attachment to art. I don’t understand having an emotional attachment to removing that art. Just avoid if you don’t like it. I know Song of the South is racist, but Splash Mountain never hurt anyone.
jaklgreen
Well-Known Member
The problem is that morally indignation is something that has become the "thing" to do now. I doubt that the majority of people who are joining in on a cause, either don't really understand it, or are just trying to be part of the "woke" group now so that they can feel better about themselves. There are absolutely legitimate reasons to be offended of course. But there is a difference between an actual offense and reaching for one just for the sake of being offended. I don't care if they re- theme SM if it is truly offensive to the majority of people. I don't like the PATF theme. Didn't like the movie and actually thought that it was pretty racist with the whole poor black family working for the rich, southern white people. I am actually surprised that the movie wasn't deemed racist.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Don’t think you know what that word means.
Tony Perkis
Well-Known Member
Looters and rioters are a problem. Don’t change the subject.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
I’m really not trying to be confrontational or tough. It’s just a pet peeve of mine, and I’m already riled up about muh Splash.
Frank the Tank
Well-Known Member
Exactly. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but it's a bit galling to read some of the comments on this thread and the associated tunnel vision.
Is Splash Mountain a great ride that's richly themed? Absolutely. It's on the short list of being one of the best rides in all of WDW.
Is Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah a great song? Absolutely. It's an iconic Disney song.
However, we need to weigh those positive attributes with the reality of today's world and what people are actually arguing about here. Splash Mountain isn't intended to be a presentation of U.S. history like there is at the Hall of Presidents or American Adventure. Going even further, it's not a cultural work that arguably can be presented in historical context like Gone with the Wind or even The Song of the South movie itself. Instead, Splash Mountain at its core is a pure thrill ride. This isn't the type of ride where we should be needing a historical context disclaimer about the Disney IP source material. Instead, this is the type of ride that should be *completely* free of controversy. Disney has tons of IP that it can use... but people are going to go to battle for the one IP that Disney itself is openly and unabashedly embarrassed to have shown anywhere else? Really?!
It's a bit disingenuous to argue that the fact that ride itself isn't superficially racist means that society will give it a pass despite the underlying source material being deemed to be racist (and once again, that's not the "woke" crowd saying that The Song of the South is racist, but Disney's very own stance toward the film for many years). That's like arguing that you can have a non-racist ride based on Amos & Andy or other past objectionable material. Just because that line of thinking was justifiable 30-plus years ago when Splash Mountain was first designed and opened doesn't mean that's justifiable today.
The fact that many us may personally love Slash Mountain as a feat of Disney Imagineering (and I'm one of them) doesn't mean that we can ignore the core underlying problem with the Disney IP source material. To be sure, this doesn't mean that there aren't times where controversial viewpoints *should* be disseminated. For instance, I completely 100% disagreed with Sen. Tom Cotton's recent opinion piece in the New York Times about using the military against protesters... but I also completely 100% disagreed with how the New York Times fired their opinion page editor in connection with the backlash toward Cotton's op-ed. The viewpoint of a sitting Senator on a current topic where he has a lot of influence shouldn't be shut down simply because many of us disagree with it. In fact, that's exactly why such viewpoint should be published in the first place.
The theming of Splash Mountain is an entirely different category, though. Ultimately, this is a pure thrill ride in a Disney-owned theme park where much of the entire premise of visiting is to get *away* from the real world to the point where it's literally called Walt Disney *World*. If the Disney-owned IP source material is controversial (and it's pretty difficult to argue that The Song of the South isn't controversial considering that Disney itself *openly* wishes that it would go away), then it's a perfectly reasonable stance that Disney would want to remove any hint of that controversy. Disney has more IP than it knows what to do with and, ultimately, Splash Mountain in whatever form will still be a pure thrill ride. Whether people are worried about whether the updated theming will be high quality is a valid concern, but that certainly doesn't justify keeping what much of the world finds to be objectionable material in place.
To be honest, it's pretty much a no-brainer if you're running Disney. Why the heck would it protect the theme of Splash Mountain if it doesn't even want to acknowledge the existence of The Song of the South in any other form? The only surprise to me is that it hadn't happened already.
seabreezept813
Well-Known Member
I understand why they’re doing it. But it’s still short-sighted. The ride had already taken away the major pieces of the film. Throwing PATF where it doesn’t fit isn’t really doing it justice.. and people also have issues with thst film
Tower of Terror in DHS was 'saved' because it had a more sophisticated ride mechanic unlike the one in Anaheim. This would have meant that they couldn't cut and paste the changes from Anaheim to Orlando, and that would cost more money. Also, DHS's Tower of Terror could never become the anchor for a Marvel Land in Orlando, like Anaheim's Breakout in DCA.
If they considered retheming ToT and then decided not to... it wasn't for the hue and cry of fans. That didn't stop DCA's retheme.
Lintemuthstudios
Well-Known Member
Because they're more relevant? And more representation?
I like all the new IP in the parks nowadays. Really don't care for nostalgia, I just want great new experiences.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Eh, he's half right.
Die hards don't pay the bills. They're too few and they visit too frequently, so their spending-per-room-night is lower (five families who visit once every five years each will collectively spend more on merch than one family who visits every year).
But you're right that this decision will be unpopular among the people who DO pay the bills, namely white collar professionals who live in the suburbs and have children.
BigDlover
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that's not true.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Twitter isn't "the public."
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
We may be arguing semantics here, but I'm saying this is different than "pick your random person that was in blackface 10-30 years ago". Those people are getting "cancelled", Disney is not. That's what I meant.
Beacon Joe
Well-Known Member
Not really sure what your point was.
And personally as a minority, please don't address me as "you people."
Bob Harlem
Well-Known Member
Disney World is built on nostalgia, way more than most other places, and thrives on it, it's been built up over decades, of course the public pushback is going to be immense, particularly for something so politically charged (and in an election year no less).
PeoplemoverTTA
Well-Known Member
Yes, sorry if that was taken out of context. It was such a well thought out post that it was ripe for the "angry mob" here to go back to their "everything I love is being destroyed" junk.
skyphotographer
Well-Known Member
Actually John Lennon was a socialist too so it could go either way. Listen to the words to that song very carefully.
WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
If you had started your post with "In my opinion..." that would be different. But ya didn't. You acted like your opinion was fact. More than half the people here probably don't even agree with your opinion for "COP should have been long gone."
It's still there for many important reasons. Disney plays on nostalgia. You want the whole "nothing is sacred" park? Go to Universal.
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