Splash Mountain re-theme announced

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21stamps

Well-Known Member
The same reason that many that disagree strongly with JK Rowling and her recent comments regarding gender/sex still enjoy the Harry Potter franchise. Humans aren’t perfect and it’s easy to dissociate with things you don’t like in order to protect the things you do.

This doesn’t really make sense in relation to the situation being discussed. What JK Rowling says on social media or an interview, is personal views. Having nothing to do with the content of the books themselves.
In the Splash Mountain event, the claimed offensive part is directly the ride itself, in your face, at the park. Not something Walt Disney or Bob Iger said in a tweet.
 

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
This doesn’t really make sense in relation to the situation being discussed. What JK Rowling says on social media or an interview, is personal views. Having nothing to do with the content of the books themselves.
In the Splash Mountain event, the claimed offensive part is directly the ride itself, in your face, at the park. Not something Walt Disney or Bob Iger said in a tweet.
Humans aren’t perfect and it’s easy to dissociate things you don’t like in order to protect the things you do.
 

Brer Oswald

Well-Known Member
While I’m in adamant disagreement with the rationale for this replacement, I can at least appreciate that most people on here, on both sides of the arguement, can argue rationally.

On Twitter, most of the Disney fans have absolutely no willpower to think critically. “It’s bad because they told me it is! And you’re bad if you’re against it cause it’s BAD!”

If this is the criteria we’re going for, this will only be the beginning. Stereotypes are in so many Disney films because the entertainment industry itself is filled with stereotypes. Offensive jokes and dark humour don’t have much place in today’s world, so I’m sorry Mansion fans, but even that is at risk for some changes.

You’ve got time though. Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, And CBJ are next. Liverlips McGrowl? Yikes, how did that outlast Splash? Well, guess it won’t for much longer. Dumbo’s Circus...the tents were pitched by slaves in the movie. Are they the same tents in the land? No, but they’re guilty by association. Aladdin has a few decades, although the live action film will help it.

Mickey is safe though. Like people have said, he has enough unoffensive material to work with. Even though he did do blackface a few times.
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Yes! Davy Crockett would fit better, considering the themed area at MK. (Edit - though, in reality, I'm against the SM change)
Do you remember the Explorer Canoes at MK that you'd row? They were so fun. One of my most favorite memories.

Davy's part in the November 3, 1813 Indian massacre of Tallussahatchee Indians isn't going to go over very well. Considering in his own words, “we now shot them like dogs; and then set the house on fire, and burned it up with the forty-six warriors in it.” I think to play it save we need to stay away from any historical figures that actually existed because you'll find some group to take offense of them. Remember this is a time when you've got people wanting to tear down statues of George Washington and Lincoln... It is only a matter of time until the woke warriors try to one up the Taliban that blew up the ancient Gautama Buddha statues by blowing up Mt Rushmore.
 
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SilentWindODoom

Well-Known Member
Okay... Political talk excised from this thread from here on out, so let's take a look at the other talking point that has come up: the timeline of events. As I can figure, there are a few things that could possibly be the case here.

1. They've known forever the possible timebomb Splash Mountain is. And, they've occasionally thought about how to deal with this. In the late 2000's, someone in Imagineering saw the upcoming Princess and the Frog and found this could work as a replacement. A piece of concept art was made. Upon its release, it did not perform as well as hoped, and it was dropped just like Atlantis's Fire Mountain was before it.

2. They saw this coming in the current climate and mocked up art in case this happened. Thus once the petition popped up, they were ready.

Does anyone know how long these renders take to create and if the style at all matches past projects? It does look similar in style to the New Fantasyland art from about a decade back.
 

orlandogal22

Well-Known Member
Davy's part in the November 3, 1813 Indian massacre of Tallussahatchee Indians isn't going to go over very well. Considering in his own words, “we now shot them like dogs; and then set the house on fire, and burned it up with the forty-six warriors in it.” I think to play it save we need to stay away from any historical figures that actually existed because you'll find some group to take offense of them. Remember these is a time when you've got people wanting to tear down statues of George Washington and Lincoln... It is only a matter of time until the woke warriors try to one up the Taliban that blew up the ancient Gautama Buddha statues by blowing up Mt Rushmore.

We're screwed, aren't we?!? 🙁
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. People are saying (and have been saying) that the association of the ride to the film is hurtful. When I hear people say that, I want to ask them why they find it hurtful rather than insist that it’s not just because it wasn’t hurtful to me.

It’s not true that there were ”literally no complaints until the past month.” It might be true that you never heard any complaints until the past month.

Several people here have articulated what they find hurtful about the ride’s connection to the film. When they say these things, I find that I can either shout them down or listen.
I prefer to start by asking if they have ever seen the movie... I have yet to find a single person that is against it that has actually watched it. Instead at most you'll find someone that saw a clip. A clip is not the movie as a whole.

I refuse to acknowledge the blind belief of someone that wants to tell me about a connection they cannot possibly know of, as the vast majority are simply parroting what they have been told. Many horrible things in the world have happened simply because people blindly followed the ranting of others that were hellbent on manipulating them. A little short Austrian with a mustache comes to mind as a great of example of someone managing to shepherd the sheep too clueless or lazy to think for themselves.
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Okay... Political talk excised from this thread from here on out, so let's take a look at the other talking point that has come up: the timeline of events. As I can figure, there are a few things that could possibly be the case here.

1. They've known forever the possible timebomb Splash Mountain is. And, they've occasionally thought about how to deal with this. In the late 2000's, someone in Imagineering saw the upcoming Princess and the Frog and found this could work as a replacement. A piece of concept art was made. Upon its release, it did not perform as well as hoped, and it was dropped just like Atlantis's Fire Mountain was before it.

2. They saw this coming in the current climate and mocked up art in case this happened. Thus once the petition popped up, they were ready.

Does anyone know how long these renders take to create and if the style at all matches past projects? It does look similar in style to the New Fantasyland art from about a decade back.

Given it is only one drawing it wouldn't have taken a good artist more than a couple of days to come up with a one off rendering. If they had throw out a full rendering of the entire ride then it would have taken some time... but with only one draw who knows. You can't even date it from the style as I've seen fashion designer sketches today that look like they were caught in the sketch style of the 50's... it could have been someone that did the previous sketches when Princess and the Frog was first made or it could have just been someone a week ago that liked the style used back then. Now if you could hunt through old Disney sites and find a similar rendering from years ago you might have some evidence of when it was created... but right now its just anyone's guess.
 

Brer Oswald

Well-Known Member
Given it is only one drawing it wouldn't have taken a good artist more than a couple of days to come up with a one off rendering. If they had throw out a full rendering of the entire ride then it would have taken some time... but with only one draw who knows. You can't even date it from the style as I've seen fashion designer sketches today that look like they were caught in the sketch style of the 50's... it could have been someone that did the previous sketches when Princess and the Frog was first made or it could have just been someone a week ago that liked the style used back then. Now if you could hunt through old Disney sites and find a similar rendering from years ago you might have some evidence of when it was created... but right now its just anyone's guess.
It’s an image of Splash with some brush strokes and filters applied, the thorns removed, the tree overlayed, and some prexisting character art plastered on the side for emphasis. Would not take more than a few days. Probably was made within the last few weeks.
 

Baloo62

Well-Known Member
I'll miss Splash as it is, but it's Disney's attraction and they have the right to do as they wish. But, if Disney was serious they would denounce and relenquish ownership of "Song of the South" entirely. Make it public domain. But I guess that would mean they couldn't continue to release it overseas and profit from it.

I guess what I'm saying is that a person, group, or company can take any stance they want on social issues, but they need to be consistent. I'll never believe what you preach if your not really living it. If you believe it's truly racist, never open the ride again. Tear it down and burn it. If you truly believe the earth will be destroyed by climate change in 10 years, you shouldn't drive a gas powered vehicle ever again, much less own a fleet of them and depend on the airlines to deliver your "guest" to your front gate with money in hand. If you truly believe in a better life for everyone, don't buy or sell crap made by slave or child labor. If you are looking at the sins of America, take a look at the sins of all the other countries that you do business with. Slavery is as real and ugly today as it ever has been. Be consistent. Quit virtue signaling.

Sorry, rant over.
Excellent post. Bravo, sir.
 

Brer Oswald

Well-Known Member
They are probably going to replace the animatronics with those lousy new ones with projections. Like they have on "Frozen Ever After", "7 Dwarves" and "Mickey's Runaway Railway". I can't stand those versions, they just look cheap and unrealistic.

If not those ones than they'll just have 1 animatronic that breaks down all the time (Everest and Nav'i River).
They technically don’t have to remove any of the America Sings animatronics, just redress them. Although, I’d imagine have the incentive is minimizing the animatronics, so they’ll likely all go in the dumpster. Hopefully Tony can save a few.

What I find the most interesting is how the set design is going to change. Disneyland’s will be a fairly easy transition. Most of the set design there is swampy marshes, dark lighting, etc. However, Magic Kingdom’s is VERY different set design wise. Bright cloudy sky’s, cartoony rockwork that looks like it was taken right out of SotS. I’m not aware of how much of that is in the foundation itself. Do they plan to tear it all out? Or will it just be PatF in Brer Rabbit’s world?

Not saying they didn’t think this through. Maybe they have a brilliant plan to retool everything. But Florida’s is definitely going to be over budget compared to Disneyland’s, which needs very little modification. This is going to be an expensive project to not half a**, with high expectations on both sides. Good luck Disney.
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
They technically don’t have to remove any of the America Sings animatronics, just redress them. Although, I’d imagine have the incentive is minimizing the animatronics, so they’ll likely all go in the dumpster. Hopefully Tony can save a few.

What I find the most interesting is how the set design is going to change. Disneyland’s will be a fairly easy transition. Most of the set design there is swampy marshes, dark lighting, etc. However, Magic Kingdom’s is VERY different set design wise. Bright cloudy sky’s, cartoony rockwork that looks like it was taken right out of SotS. I’m not aware of how much of that is in the foundation itself. Do they plan to tear it all out? Or will it just be PatF in Brer Rabbit’s world?

Not saying they didn’t think this through. Maybe they have a brilliant plan to retool everything. But Florida’s is definitely going to be over budget compared to Disneyland’s, which needs very little modification. This is going to be an expensive project to not half a**, with high expectations on both sides. Good luck Disney.
I expect they will gut the animatronics throughout then put in screens where the current backgrounds are and just project garbage on it like they have done with the Seas with Nemo and Friends at EPCOT... much easier to just maintain a projector than have to worry with animatronics.
 

GeoffR

Well-Known Member
One of the problems I have with this announcement, is all the other stuff that should supercede it: Carousel of Progress (fix or replace) , monorails all need tlc, Tomorrowland in DL, all the epcot construction and the attractions in that park, dinoland usa...obviously they scooted the announcement to the front of the line given what is going on, but are they going to put money into a brand new attraction instead of fixing these problems first? Tbh, splash needed work on both coasts, but not to the extent of these other things.
 

The Mom

Moderator
Premium Member
Okay... Political talk excised from this thread from here on out, so let's take a look at the other talking point that has come up: the timeline of events. As I can figure, there are a few things that could possibly be the case here.

1. They've known forever the possible timebomb Splash Mountain is. And, they've occasionally thought about how to deal with this. In the late 2000's, someone in Imagineering saw the upcoming Princess and the Frog and found this could work as a replacement. A piece of concept art was made. Upon its release, it did not perform as well as hoped, and it was dropped just like Atlantis's Fire Mountain was before it.

2. They saw this coming in the current climate and mocked up art in case this happened. Thus once the petition popped up, they were ready.

Does anyone know how long these renders take to create and if the style at all matches past projects? It does look similar in style to the New Fantasyland art from about a decade back.

This thread has been moved to the Political forum - so as long as you are respectful towards others you can get as political as you wish.
 

Hcalvert

Well-Known Member
Davy's part in the November 3, 1813 Indian massacre of Tallussahatchee Indians isn't going to go over very well. Considering in his own words, “we now shot them like dogs; and then set the house on fire, and burned it up with the forty-six warriors in it.” I think to play it save we need to stay away from any historical figures that actually existed because you'll find some group to take offense of them. Remember this is a time when you've got people wanting to tear down statues of George Washington and Lincoln... It is only a matter of time until the woke warriors try to one up the Taliban that blew up the ancient Gautama Buddha statues by blowing up Mt Rushmore.
Well then, can't they do a non-IP ride like Big Thunder Mountain instead? In addition, there are a lot of people who object to Tom Sawyer and the book is actually banned in some libraries/schools.
 
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