orlandogal22
Well-Known Member
Yes, but have you ever seen the original illustrations in the books? Where do you think Disney got those ideas from? The source material of the Uncle Remus books.
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Splash Mountain re-theme announced
- Thread starter DCBaker
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Yes, but have you ever seen the original illustrations in the books? Where do you think Disney got those ideas from? The source material of the Uncle Remus books.
J_Carioca
Well-Known Member
Ok, fair enough I suppose!Honestly I'm fascinated by the discussion surrounding it. That plus quarantine boredom
disneyfan6
New Member
I’m still very confused how Disney will go out of their way to cancel and postpone current projects that were already announced.
But will find the money for a re-skinned attraction.
Also the budget for this has to be slashed greatly correct? This attraction is going to absolutely be hell, if they don’t put the same time and money as they did with Splash Mountain.
But will find the money for a re-skinned attraction.
Also the budget for this has to be slashed greatly correct? This attraction is going to absolutely be hell, if they don’t put the same time and money as they did with Splash Mountain.
Tony Perkis
Well-Known Member
I am aware of the definition of an adaptation. Doesn’t mean it excuses them.
Kate F
Well-Known Member
This!
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
You think so little of African American history that you look at this ride as being a part of that? Seriously? Why then maybe they can take some of the animitronics and see about having it installed at a museum of AA History.
Goodness it's a ride with talking animals they had laying around and decent drop and splash at the end. Disney isn't ashamed of the ride, they are ashamed of what the ride is based on, and yes it is Song of the South because that is where the characters are from.
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UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I think both Horizons and Imagination were better, but they both existed for about half the time Splash Mountain has existed, so you're probably right. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Great Movie Ride are the only other options that immediately jump out at me. Unfortunately, the replacement for all of those attractions (except maybe Great Movie Ride -- I don't think MMRR looks as good as GMR, but it does at least look like a high quality attraction on its own) has been a downgrade in quality.
I've also said it a few times in this thread -- Disney has to do an amazing job with this and give it a gigantic budget. I don't think that's going to happen, though.
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KingdomofDreams
Well-Known Member
^ This. Wouldn't it be better to keep the attraction and have themed signage throughout the queue teaching the background of the original source material? Just a thought.
JustInTime
Well-Known Member
I don’t think this will start until other projects are completed, personally.
orlandogal22
Well-Known Member
What? Up is down, down is up with some of you. You guys have perfected the art of being obtuse and changing the subject.
Kate F
Well-Known Member
Hopefully it never gets the chance to be started at all
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
There’s nothing problematic with the character designs. Just stop.
tirian
Well-Known Member
That IS a part of the movie’s problems, but he‘s treated as a magical storyteller in general — same as the Storyteller in Jim Henson’s series. And sorry to bust anyone’s virtue signals, but the black slaves were the ones telling the stories to each other, stories they carried with them from their African heritage. It would have been worse for a white man to retell the stories.
Please don’t think I’m a SOTS apologist. The movie has significant problems, and I think one of Walt’s greatest mistakes was setting it during the Reconstruction. It makes me cringe to see the happy blacks working on a plantation for the white folk, and carefully protecting little Johnny the Crybaby.
But now people accuse it of the Magical Negro trope and racism and all sorts of things that don’t actually apply to this particular movie. It’s uncomfortably close, but Walt Disney thought the source material and his progressive plot points overcame those issues (look! the rich boy, poor girl, and black boy are friends!). Sorry Walt, you got this one wrong.
That said, they have nothing to do with Splash Mountain. Even within the movie, the Brer Rabbit cartoons are separate from the problematic melodrama, and Brer Rabbit is a source of wisdom.
JustInTime
Well-Known Member
Oh, I think due to the nature it will absolutely happen.
J_Carioca
Well-Known Member
Is that actually true? They are using a number system to evaluate attractions for problematic content?
Dizknee_Phreek
Well-Known Member
I will preface this by saying I'm a white, liberal female. I hate racism, oppression and any kind of injustice. I know as a white person I don't have a dog in this fight of what's deemed offensive or not to POC. And I truly feel if something makes someone feel less than, it should most definitely be looked at closely.
That being said, this definitely feels like a knee jerk reaction from Disney. I'm sure ideas have been floating around the Imagineering room periodically. But for there not to be any leaks of this, no announcement at D23, Imagineers haven't even looked over the attraction to see how this would work. Not to mention throwing this out there in the midst of major money losses due to COVID 19 to the point of slashing budgets and projects already announced/started. To me, just seems like a political move and a "slap a bandaid on it" fix to appease the current political environment.
I will say I'm not even a huge Splash Mountain fan and haven't ridden it in god knows how long (I don't like getting wet and I'm not a fan of big drops). So I'm personally not that attached to the theme. I do love Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and do associate closely with Disney parks, particularly Magic Kingdom (anyone remember the "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah Tip for Today" on the old resort channel?). It's just darn catchy and you can't be in a bad mood while singing it. But I'm not thrilled with the new IP choice.
I watched PatF for the first time last year. I was not impressed overall. The animation was lovely and the songs were alright. The storyline? Other than Tiana's dream of owning her own business, was terrible. I was honestly shocked when she was turned into a frog, and even more confused that she stayed that way the majority of the movie. If they had left the whole prince/princess aspect out of it I think the story would have made more sense to me. Honestly, Naveen was an arrogant jerk the whole time...I never got the romantic connection between him and Tiana. It just seemed like they threw that in there for the sake of saying they finally have a black princess. But really, why does every animated Disney female lead have to be a princess? I've never been a girly girl, so that has never appealed to me. I much prefer strong female leads. But I digress.
It's become increasingly obvious that Disney Imagineers care nothing about area theming. That started being obvious when they threw Agrabah in the middle of Adventureland. PatF works slightly better in DL, but not really. The entrance to Splash Mountain is technically in Critter Country. WDW is going to be a horrible juxtaposition disaster. But that's becoming the norm there, so why not? In my opinion Pocahontas would have been a much better fit in Frontierland. Although, setting wise, that would have been a bit of a stretch too. And even though I've never seen the movie (yet), maybe make DL's a Brother Bear theme...just to tie in with the bear/Critter Country theme. Maybe BB isn't that good, so maybe that's why it's not represented...I need to watch it and see for myself. But Pocahontas? One of my very favorite Disney movies with very little representation in the parks. It still would have brought more diversity and inclusion into the parks without seeming as much of a political knee jerk reaction.
My other thought on this whole thing - does this mean The Briar Patch shop is done for? It's one of my very favorite must stops at all the parks. I will miss that more than the SotS theming of the attraction if they take it away
Final though...I'm very happy I got this shot during my first visit to DL last year. It's one of my favorite pics from that trip.
That being said, this definitely feels like a knee jerk reaction from Disney. I'm sure ideas have been floating around the Imagineering room periodically. But for there not to be any leaks of this, no announcement at D23, Imagineers haven't even looked over the attraction to see how this would work. Not to mention throwing this out there in the midst of major money losses due to COVID 19 to the point of slashing budgets and projects already announced/started. To me, just seems like a political move and a "slap a bandaid on it" fix to appease the current political environment.
I will say I'm not even a huge Splash Mountain fan and haven't ridden it in god knows how long (I don't like getting wet and I'm not a fan of big drops). So I'm personally not that attached to the theme. I do love Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and do associate closely with Disney parks, particularly Magic Kingdom (anyone remember the "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah Tip for Today" on the old resort channel?). It's just darn catchy and you can't be in a bad mood while singing it. But I'm not thrilled with the new IP choice.
I watched PatF for the first time last year. I was not impressed overall. The animation was lovely and the songs were alright. The storyline? Other than Tiana's dream of owning her own business, was terrible. I was honestly shocked when she was turned into a frog, and even more confused that she stayed that way the majority of the movie. If they had left the whole prince/princess aspect out of it I think the story would have made more sense to me. Honestly, Naveen was an arrogant jerk the whole time...I never got the romantic connection between him and Tiana. It just seemed like they threw that in there for the sake of saying they finally have a black princess. But really, why does every animated Disney female lead have to be a princess? I've never been a girly girl, so that has never appealed to me. I much prefer strong female leads. But I digress.
It's become increasingly obvious that Disney Imagineers care nothing about area theming. That started being obvious when they threw Agrabah in the middle of Adventureland. PatF works slightly better in DL, but not really. The entrance to Splash Mountain is technically in Critter Country. WDW is going to be a horrible juxtaposition disaster. But that's becoming the norm there, so why not? In my opinion Pocahontas would have been a much better fit in Frontierland. Although, setting wise, that would have been a bit of a stretch too. And even though I've never seen the movie (yet), maybe make DL's a Brother Bear theme...just to tie in with the bear/Critter Country theme. Maybe BB isn't that good, so maybe that's why it's not represented...I need to watch it and see for myself. But Pocahontas? One of my very favorite Disney movies with very little representation in the parks. It still would have brought more diversity and inclusion into the parks without seeming as much of a political knee jerk reaction.
My other thought on this whole thing - does this mean The Briar Patch shop is done for? It's one of my very favorite must stops at all the parks. I will miss that more than the SotS theming of the attraction if they take it away
Final though...I'm very happy I got this shot during my first visit to DL last year. It's one of my favorite pics from that trip.
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I'm sorry but SotS is not a vehicle for telling African-American folktales. Most ppl have never seen the movie. Why, because Disney hasn't released it in over 35 yrs due to the controversy surrounding it. If African American heritage, culture and history is hinging on a 70 yo+ movie then we have much bigger issues. There is a long list of relevant books, writings, films and museums that present the culture in a more relevant and informative way.
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Tony Perkis
Well-Known Member
I didn’t say there was anything problematic with the character design.
I said that due to the identical character design of the main three characters, “Splash Mountain” is clearly an adaptation of Walt Disney’s Song of the South.
The point is SotS shouldn't have been made (the way it was made). Disney didn't listen to people. And when it came out and was severely criticized, didn't do anything about it. Finally the company hid the movie in shame, but not before stupidly using the IP for an attraction thinking that if they strip out the problematic parts, it'd be OK. But it isn't. There was never a true reckoning for that dumpster fire of a movie (with regard to the treatment of Reconstruction Black sharecroppers). So, I would think and would wager greatly, that everything's got to go. If the whitewashed scenario is too tainted, then everything's too tainted. The merch and the song and the characters will be permanently retired is my best guess of what will happen.
Not everyone has time to clue in a brand new entry into the fray who breaks the rules of Good Nettiquette by forcing a conversation to go back to a previous back-and-forth because they couldn't be bothered to... read.
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