News Splash Mountain retheme to Princess and the Frog - Tiana's Bayou Adventure

[JohnD]

Follow up: In theory they could utilize a similar strategy on Disney+ to put Song of the South back into the public consciousness by creating a Brer characters animated series, showcase the original film with intro commentary and do a making of documentary specifically addresses "inclusivity" diversity as well as the harm of racial stereotypes. Regardless, Disney will need to address the later before it gets out of hand or paints them in negative light. (There are already a handful of peoples who think Walt was a racist... but that's another discussion) It would behoove Disney to put all this out there vs their current MO of sweeping any "potential unmentionable" under the rug.

Would we even be discussing this had Disney just released Song of the South to a newer audience instead of pretending it didn't exist? I honestly don't know. Whoops... OT, let's get back on track. Splash Mountain retheme. I think had Disney released SotS with commentary on Disney+ or created an entirely new Brer Adventures series on Disney+ we wouldn't be having retheme discussions.

I've been re-thinking this. Okay, I can see their not wanting to have Song of the South available alone. But as with pieces in a museum, they could "contextualize" it. Maybe like in a Masterpiece Theatre format. Start the program with a host introducing it--Whoopi Goldberg was mentioned--, saying why it is problematic, etc. but it is the part of the Disney library. "And now here follows uninterrupted Disney's Song of the South." Then have an hour long special, maybe ABC's 20/20 hosted by Robin Roberts on Song of the South discussing its influences and problems.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

I think in that case we’d be discussing how racially insensitive the film is, what a poor decision it was to produce it in the first place, how badly they botched their second chance by not managing the Disney+ re-release well, and why Disney would ever think it possible to distance the animated characters from the film enough to base an e-Ticket attraction on them.

So pretty much the same discussion, but with the Splash fans a bit happier.

This is entirely based off of your assumption that a Disney+ re-release wouldn’t have been managed well. If we are to assume that Disney would have managed a re-release properly, then it is entirely possible the discussion wouldn’t be the same.

 

[Brer Panther]

Remember when Disney didn't give a rat's tail about The Princess and the Frog? Remember those days? When they brushed it off as a flop for not making s much money as they'd hoped? And now, a decade after it was released, it's suddenly getting a ride and a series. What if the Disney+ series announcement is their way of trying to "justify" the retheme?

“Fear” is what Iger ran the company on for 15 years. Fear of spending too much. Fear that profits wouldn’t be enough to impress stock analysts. Fear a movie wouldn’t do as well as projected. Remember “de-risk” and “cost containment”? Just buzzwords for “fear”. He feared any reaction that would have been negative for acknowledging SotS even existed, which is why he hid it.

THANK YOU. Iger's Disney is the most cowardly company in existence (or at least ONE OF the most cowardly companies in existence).

 

[_caleb]

Remember when Disney didn't give a rat's tail about The Princess and the Frog? Remember those days? When they brushed it off as a flop for not making s much money as they'd hoped? And now, a decade after it was released, it's suddenly getting a ride and a series. What if the Disney+ series announcement is their way of trying to "justify" the retheme?

You literally made this up.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

Why do you guys keep talking about Iger? He is no longer the CEO.

 

[Brer Panther]

He's still there, though. He essentially took back his CEO duties back in... May, right?

 

[WondersOfLife]

Iger's Disney is the most cowardly company in existence

Uh... Ok. I think it's just time to mute you at this point. I can't read your stuff anymore.

 

[WondersOfLife]

“Fear” is what Iger ran the company on for 15 years. Fear of spending too much. Fear that profits wouldn’t be enough to impress stock analysts. Fear a movie wouldn’t do as well as projected. Remember “de-risk” and “cost containment”? Just buzzwords for “fear”. He feared any reaction that would have been negative for acknowledging SotS even existed, which is why he hid it.

lol.

 

[_caleb]

This is entirely based off of your assumption that a Disney+ re-release wouldn’t have been managed well. If we are to assume that Disney would have managed a re-release properly, then it is entirely possible the discussion wouldn’t be the same.

No, it’s based on my assumption that there’d be a good portion of members here who would think Disney messed up the rerelease no matter how they were to handle it.

 

[Brer Panther]

What exactly has Iger's Disney done that can be considered "brave"?

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

A cage match would settle all of this.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

No, it’s based on my assumption that there’d be a good portion of members here who would think Disney messed up the rerelease no matter how they were to handle it.

Well, if that‘s the case, then I would argue the discussion would still be different if they re-released SotS 10-15 years ago. If they did that, it would likely be seen as water under the bridge at this point rather than an increasingly large elephant in the room.

 

[LittleBuford]

Because it proves my point; if rereleasing a racist-plagued film is such an inherently bad idea, you should know exactly what I am talking about

Gone with the Wind my friend

Gone with the Wind isn’t a children’s film. It’s also a cinematic masterpiece, which Song of the South—wonderful as its animated sequences are—isn’t.

 

[JoeCamel]

Looks at thread title

 

[LittleBuford]

Looks at thread title

Consider the original intent gone with the wind (or gone south, if you prefer).

 

[MurphyJoe]

Looks at thread title

Gone with the Wind isn’t a children’s film. It’s also a cinematic masterpiece, which Song of the South—wonderful as its animated sequences are—isn’t.

So we're saying Brier Rabbit is out and Rhett Butler is in? We're going to flee Atlanta by taking the plunge and ending with "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," which also conveniently describes waning interest in this thread. At least until there's something more solid concerning the retheme.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

What exactly has Iger's Disney done that can be considered "brave"?

Pixar made a movie called "Brave", does that count?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Criterion released a Blu-ray of the 1936 version of Show Boat earlier this year. One of the bonus features included is a half hour discussion titled "Recognizing Race in Showboat".

But Disney can't do that for SotS because..."something, something family" or "the children"? I guess...

 

[Animaniac93-98]

This is entirely based off of your assumption that a Disney+ re-release wouldn’t have been managed well. If we are to assume that Disney would have managed a re-release properly, then it is entirely possible the discussion wouldn’t be the same.

And now age-restricted, adult-only content is coming to Disney+ with the Star integration in a number of countries.

Yet another way to release the movie to a select audience with added context.

 

[LittleBuford]

Criterion released a Blu-ray of the 1936 version of Show Boat earlier this year. One of the bonus features included is a half hour discussion titled "Recognizing Race in Showboat".

But Disney can't do that for SotS because..."something, something family" or "the children"? I guess...

Disney has no vested interest in, or tradition of, taking such an approach. A few disclaimers aside, they have preferred to ditch problematic content rather than contextualise it. That is why Sunflower was edited out of Fantasia and why the Jewish peddler caricature in The Three Little Pigs was altered. The first of these changes happened in 1969, the second as far back as 1948.