Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[disneygeek90]

Exactly lol. Disney is a fantasy-based company. Let's not overly dissect it like that. I mean this is all man-made stuff and the ride at hand is in California and Florida lol. We're tlaking about a movie where frogs talk and cook lol.

Wait, so I'm not actually in Batuu??

 

[Bairstow]

Did you not hear about the petitions? That's where all of this came from.

Has that been confirmed?

...and if it is true, tinfoil hat on has anyone looked into whether the petition started by a cast member wasn't AstroTurf by the company?

 

[MisterPenguin]

As someone from New Orleans, I find it hilarious that New Orleans is getting a mountain, considering that the entire city sits below sea level.

Not many hills in New Orleans, much less mountains. They built a hill in the N.O. Zoo just so area kids would be able to experience one.

Tweren't any hills, much less mountains, or log flumes in any of the animated segments of Song of the South.*


*I'm pretty sure, though it's been a while since I've seen it.

 

[Giss Neric]

So the Internet didn't made this up after all. Disney was discreetly planning this all along, probably since last year.

Personally, I'm Team Splash Mountain all the way but Disney cave in and give in to the pressure yet again. What's new?

 

[MisterPenguin]

If we start a petition saying Winnie the Pooh is offensive to diabetics, can we get Mr. Toad back?

He's a bee harasser!

 

[Tony Perkis]

AKA "people I know in person" are saying and thinking this.

I think it should be noted that it was fairly obvious I was talking about here, in our shared environment.

 

[Jiminy76]

There are no mountains in space either.

Mind blown!!!

 

[UNCgolf]

This post is probably going to be strongly disagreed with and lost in the barrage of posts on this issue, but I feel its worth sharing and explaining a few aspects regarding my opinions on this.

You should be able to look back on my post history and see that I was pretty strongly against most attraction rethemes: from Frozenstrom to Guardians. Out of the recent string of ride rethemes that Disney has done, I can genuinely say that this one bohers me the least by a pretty sizable margin. Enough to the point where I'm not just tolerating it, but supporting it. So... why? This seems like something that, based on my track record, I should be strongly opposed to. To make this a little easier, I'm going to compare it to another operating attraction at MK with some in poor taste cultural depictions and talk about how that could/should change and how that does and does not apply to Splash Mountain's case.

For the sake of this post, I will be comparing Splash Mountain with the Jungle Cruise. For starters, Jungle Cruise has a more clearly problematic portrayal of African people in the attraction, as seen in the head hunters section, where stereotypical "savage" images are used as a threat to comedic effect. Thankfully, this could easily be corrected by removing this one section and replacing it with another gimmick, maybe bring in the pirañas from DL or something. Regardless, it is one part of a larger attraction.

Splash Mountain is clearly different, in that its racist moments are not at all explicitly found in the attraction; in fact, the attraction even tries to hastily cover up some of the problematic moments ported over from the films. As one of many examples, Brer Rabbit's capture with the beehive honey is intended to replicate his capture with the "tar baby" (the name alone should throw up about five red flags). Or there is the way that Brer Rabbit is meant to evoke the mannerisms and actions of a slave (African-American Vernacular and all) while Brer Fox is effectively a white slave owner of the time. Finally, one of the most unknown offenders is the iconic song itself "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah" which is derived from blackface performances intended to actively mock the African-American population. The ties to racism is so intertwined with the attraction that it would be impossible to modify in the same way as Jungle Cruise. For JC you just get a new scene' for Splash Mountain, take away the way the Brers are presented, some of the tropes from the film, and the song, and you barely have a ride left. At that point, if you remove that, there has to be a conscious effort to keep Song of the South involved, which I can guarantee there is next to no desire to do.

As for "why Princess and the Frog?" it's really the only IP that could easily slip into both mountains. Sure it's a stretch in Frontierland, but so was Song of the South. As for the "yes, but why not keep Splash Mountain and give Tiana her own ride?" crowd: Splash Mountain was on borrowed time due to its irremovable ties to racist symbols, and (at least at DLR) there wasn't really a good spot to give Tiana her own ride. Really this kills two birds with one stone (and we don't have to see some god-awful visuals of Splash being demolished Horizons-style.

I know Splash is a sentimental favorite for many, but if we want a better future we need to account for past mistakes. Letting a ride that has inherent ties to racist portrayals of African-Americans would not let that happen.


As kind of a P.S., I've seen a lot of people suggest that Tony Baxter was forced into being involved with this. I have had it confirmed by different people that he wasn't, and that he was asked and he elected to be involved with this.

Is there any indication yet what kind of budget this will get?

That's my biggest concern; that it will end up like Frozen Ever After or Little Mermaid and be a lesser experience than currently exists (also am afraid it will rely heavily on screens and projections, which would make it a far lesser experience).

 

[BigDlover]

This petition has more signatures and hasn't even been up 24 hours. There is also an extremist vocal minority calling for the cancellation of Paw Patrol too. There was not overwhelming pressure from anyone to change Splash Mountain. Disney was never going to lose customers for leaving Splash Mountain alone.

Sign the Petition

To Save Splash Mountain and keep it as it is in Magic Kingdom and Disneyland

www.change.org

So majority should win over racism? Racism lost here.

 

[Yert3]

I didn't know about that some of the Mickey cartoons were racist. How so?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Earth is in space, thus, so are mountains. Lol

Morty: There are mountains in space?!

Rick: There’s literally everything in space, Morty. Now get the fuzz back in the car.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yeah, I don't know how retheming to a story developed by two older white guys based on another white guy's fairy tale really helps address the serious injustices and inequities within your community in a meaningful way. I'm sorry.

It’s okay, they brought in an old white man to serve as a creative consultant and be a major public face for the project. As a creative consultant, this white man will help the teams develop the project and it will be presented to the white men who are the creative leads for the respective parks and the white man who is the president of their creative organization. Ultimately they will seek the final creative approval from the white men who serve as CEO and Executive Chairman. After this, the project teams must remember that their ideas are not worthwhile and they must only use ideas that come from an industry that is itself far too dominated by toxic and abusive white men.

 

[MMFanCipher]

I wonder if the people who say Song of the South is a racist movie have seen it? Or are you just repeating what someone else said. I have seen the movie and have read Who's afraid of the Song of the South. I found the book very interesting. I also found that the former slaves in the movie to be the heros and the wise people. While the white people were the villains or clueless. I enjoyed the songs from the movie. And I think many people forget that James Baskett, Uncle Remus, won an Oscar for his performance in the movie. He was the first African-American male to win an Oscar. Even Whoopie Goldberg has said that Song of the South should be released so that we can talk about the issue, but the Disney company as usual puts it's head in the sand. If you have a problem with Song of the South or Gone with the Wind you will have a problem with 90% of the movies made before 1960. Should those also be removed? I will be sorry to see it go, but I knew the current management would take the easy way out instead of talking about it. Another classic is removed. I've heard that HOP, COP and American Adventure are being looked at too. I hope they stay but with the cancel culture being strong right now I don't know. Well I've rambled on long enough. As someone else says 'Be excellent to each other.'

 

[Haymarket2008]

Is there any indication yet what kind of budget this will get?

That's my biggest concern; that it will end up like Frozen Ever After or Little Mermaid and be a lesser experience than currently exists (also am afraid it will rely heavily on screens and projections, which would make it a far lesser experience).

I read somewhere on twitter that the number $50 Mill was thrown around.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I'm an African American and I am very upset with this. Instead of Disney ADMITTING their mistake with SOTS, Instead of trying to rectify what has been done and re-introduce the Brer Animals in a new take that honors Black Culture and History...they choose to double down on acting like it never happen..which I find appalling and even more offensive than it's existence

And in ADDITION TO THAT, now the stories of the Brer Characters now will fade back into extreme obscurity. Only to live in memory. The amount of people who don't know the history of theses characters is sad, yet will be the first to spring up on what should be done with them. Disney had the power to fix this, to move from their past in a way that doesn't hide it. The amount of non-black people that decided to speak up for me is another thing I have noticed since the discussion began. Stop.

These folklore tales really meant a lot to me, They were what helped me get through some pretty rough patches in my life, I saw the trickster hero overcoming and outsmarting his oppressors. In a way, I found-myself in them, it connects me to my ancestors as a storyteller and a writer myself. I know I am in a minority when I say the characters and Disney's take on them should be preserved and then retooled. But I know now that my voice does not matter. I admittedly enjoyed Disney's take on them specifically how they were told in a quick-paced Loony tunes style and being animated in Disney's house look. However that is all I can say as I don't care for the film and agree that it is insensitive/offensive.....

I have heard people talking about Zip **** and other things as reasons why Splash is offensive and must go. but those are things Disney CAN CHANGE, if Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah offends some people, sure that means the removal of what some people call a "classic" song.. by all means write a new song. The Brer voices offend you (despite Splash not really containing this other than like, 1 phrase by Brer Bear in the rabbit trap) then Re-record them or edit it out...

But no, they chose what was easy..and it is sad.

I love PATF, one of my favorite Disney flicks. I love Tiana, the rep was nice..but this hurts..It is different from people using the "erasing history" trope people dish out..because in this particular case that is what's happening as we KNOW Disney will continue to act as if the film and their myriad of offensive mistakes never existed. It is one thing not to praise past transgressions, but the literal erasure such as this is not the way to go.

My ancestor's folklore and stories deserved a second chance. Instead we chose to throw it away. That's fine..I'll live.

I am sorry for typing up a large vent everyone, I got a little carried away..

I recommend you share this everywhere you can. My opinion on this topic is beyond meaningless. But yours should be at the forefront. I’m devastated for myself, but infuriated for you.

I love the music, but if the music is offensive, change the music.
If the dialect is offensive, re-record the dialogue.
Redesign the characters.

But don’t bury the story. Don’t cower from your mistakes.

 

[orlandogal22]

I think it should be noted that it was fairly obvious I was talking about here, in our shared environment.

You originally said "nobody," so no, it wasn't fairly obvious.

Either way, people who are sticking up for the ride on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are being called any number of hateful terms, including racist.

 

[Bairstow]

Yet, if we are to go by this current way of dealing with the issue, Mickey as a whole should be retired. I don’t agree with it, but if we go by one, we go by all.

You sure it has to be a situation of absolutes?
It can't be that some media is kinda racially insensitive, and some media is irredeemably racially insensitive?
It has to be perfect or not at all?
No middle ground?

 

[Tony Perkis]

You originally said "nobody," so no, it wasn't fairly obvious.

Either way, people who are sticking up for the ride on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are being called any number of hateful terms, including racist.

Well then let me clarify for you: I was speaking regarding this forum.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Quoting myself to show this isn't a new sentiment, but I'm thrilled that this means the absolute eye-sore that is the top third of WDW's Splash Mountain will finally be re-dressed makes me very happy

There's the old standby: strobes. Pointing at you.

There, no bad sightlines any more!

 

[GoneForGood]

I recommend you share this everywhere you can. My opinion on this topic is beyond meaningless. But yours should be at the forefront. I’m devastated for myself, but infuriated for you.

I love the music, but if the music is offensive, change the music.
If the dialect is offensive, re-record the dialogue.
Redesign the characters.

But don’t bury the story. Don’t cower from your mistakes.

I think I understand that my voice..even as a black person who feels strongly about this, doesn't matter. I am slowly accepting this fact, I have always felt....odd about sharing my interest in these characters and their history..their REAL history..it shouldn't end this way..But. We lost.