Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Californian Elitist]

Disney never tried hiding that Splash was based on Song of the South. Song of the South is written on the Riverboat in the finale, and they even used to say the ride was based on Song of the South in the ride description on the Disneyland App. They also mentioned it was based on SOTS during The Imagineering Story.

They may not have directly hidden the ride’s tie to the film, but I don’t think they wanted to necessarily promote the film either, for obvious reasons.

As I’ve stated before, Disney is completely at fault for what’s happening with Splash.

 

[SuddenStorm]

I think you’re right about Splash’s days being numbered, especially now that people have learned that it’s based on Song of the South.

I would love and prefer for Splash to stay, and I can definitely see this project being shelved. However, I don’t necessarily believe that means Splash is saved in the long run.

We’ll see.

If Splash Mountain exists in 20 years I'll be very, very surprised.

But Splash Mountain existing in five years? I could see that.

 

[tirian]

No you don't.

Disney has shown multiple times that they will ultimately do what they want. The opinions of fans don't matter.

Exhibit A: the newest cartoons will continue to utilize the cheaply animated, Cartoon Network-style Mickey Mouse, which is Iger’s Mickey. That’s despite the resurgence of ‘30s/‘40s-style animation through Cuphead, Animaniacs, and Tiny Toons; the popularity of lush Anime feature films; and, more importantly for Disney, the fact that merch had to return to classic Mickey because the new stuff simply didn’t sell.

Exhibit B: Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge

But Disney leadership does what it wants to do, regardless of facts. The leaders live in bubbles apart from reality.

 

[tirian]

They may not have directly hidden the ride’s tie to the film, but I don’t think they wanted to necessarily promote the film either, for obvious reasons.

As I’ve stated before, Disney is completely at fault for what’s happening with Splash.

If they’d licensed the movie to Criterion a decade ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation because the public would be bored with it. Disney’s silence and ham-fisted PR statements allowed the internet myth of SOTS to grow greater and greater, until the movie became ridiculously illicit and tantalizing — like ankles under petticoats in the 1800s.

Now anyone can easily and kinda-sorta-legally watch SOTS through the Internet Archive, and the reaction among my friends has been, “That’s it? Really?”

There are far worse things on “adults-only” collections of Looney Tunes and Tex Avery cartoons. Blame Disney for the lunacy surrounding Splash Mt.

 

[Californian Elitist]

If they’d licensed the movie to Criterion a decade ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation because the public would be bored with it. Disney’s silence and ham-fisted PR statements allowed the internet myth of SOTS to grow greater and greater, until the movie became ridiculously illicit and tantalizing — like ankles under petticoats in the 1800s.

Now anyone can easily and kinda-sorta-legally watch SOTS through the Internet Archive, and the reaction among my friends has been, “That’s it? Really?”

There are far worse things on “adults-only” collections of Looney Tunes and Tex Avery cartoons. Blame Disney for the lunacy surrounding Splash Mt.

Perfectly stated. I have nothing more to add.

 

[EagleScout610]

If Splash Mountain exists in 20 years I'll be very, very surprised.

But Splash Mountain existing in five years? I could see that.

I'd wager current Splash would be gone before DL's 75th

 

[tirian]

there’s a very long political thread that anyone can wade through if they aren’t already tired of the conversation.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Hadn't seen it for decades, probably first run on Sunday night. We got the DVD and exactly like you said "That's it? Really?" What we saw were folk stories and people trying to get along. So evil.

You missed the problematic pieces, but that’s for another thread.

If anything, Song of the South is boring. Even if the racist elements were taken out, it still wouldn’t be worth much time.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It depends on how much of a fan you are of Brer Rabbit And Classic Disney in general.

Hm, I wouldn’t say so. I’m a huge fan of classic Disney films, but that doesn’t mean I like every single Walt-era film. Same regarding characters. People can like certain characters from a film, but not the film as a whole.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Hm, I wouldn’t say so. I’m a huge fan of classic Disney films, but that doesn’t mean I like every single Walt-era film. Same regarding characters. People can like certain characters from a film, but not the film as a whole.

Oh sorry. I didn’t mean the film as a whole. I meant parts of the film. There is a lot of filler in the film that I just don’t care for, but I still love the animated bits, and would probably rank them among the best of the Walt-era.

 

[tanc]

I had an interesting conversation with a friend last night who knows some people in WDI, or is a friend of a friend type stuff. A lot of what she said lined up perfectly with the rumors we've gotten from insiders on here- WDWPro's stuff was spot on- but she did add a tidbit or two that I hadn't seen on here.

There was a hope among some in the company that the election and a new president might help things 'calm down' in regards to Splash/Song of the South being in the spotlight. And with Walt Disney World actively fighting the retheme due to the thematic issues it would cause, which would negate planned savings on duplicating the attraction's set pieces on each coast with both coasts footing the bill for attraction development plus getting two 'new' rides to market for each resort- this retheme is very much not a done deal. Not to mention the additional cost of having to retheme Critter Country into TianaLand, which would then necessitate developing an attraction to replace Pooh. At a time when Disneyland has no revenue and WDI's workforce and budgets just got slashed.

And again, very very little actual development work has been done on this retheme.

There are some in Disney who hope enough time goes on that people forget about the rushed announcement that was made a few months ago and Disney can quietly shelve the idea for the time being.

What about Tokyo Disneyland? Are they able to confirm the "No." is true?

 

[Brer Oswald]

What about Tokyo Disneyland? Are they able to confirm the "No." is true?

Several people have said it.

 

[EagleScout610]

Several people have said it.

Tokyo is staying

 

[_caleb]

Tokyo is staying

Tokyo isn’t paying.

 

[tirian]

Oh sorry. I didn’t mean the film as a whole. I meant parts of the film. There is a lot of filler in the film that I just don’t care for, but I still love the animated bits, and would probably rank them among the best of the Walt-era.

The animated sequences are widely considered some of the best character animation ever. For decades, student animators studied those scenes. It’s depressing to see cancel culture rip apart good things because people can’t separate talent from past problems from modern sensibilities. But that topic has been discussed to death in the political thread.

The same applies to Splash Mt. You’re not going to get a comparable attraction. Modern WDI isn’t allowed to make one because they’re beholden to corporate demands and weird IP/marketing concerns.

 

[mickEblu]

The animated sequences are widely considered some of the best character animation ever. For decades, student animators studied those scenes. It’s depressing to see cancel culture rip apart good things because people can’t separate talent from past problems from modern sensibilities. But that topic has been discussed to death in the political thread.

The same applies to Splash Mt. You’re not going to get a comparable attraction. Modern WDI isn’t allowed to make one because they’re beholden to corporate demands and weird IP/marketing concerns.

Well said. To add they re also beholden to a show building, ride layout and facade that was made for another attraction.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Well said. To add they re also beholden to a show building, ride layout and facade that was made for another attraction.

To make matters even worse... Splash Mountain wasn't assembled out of plywood.

That building and those show scenes are good ole' fashioned cement that was designed to last forever. Since these 'flavor of the month' overlays weren't really a thing when they were building Splash Mountain- and WDI knew the ride would be around for decades.

 

[lazyboy97o]

To make matters even worse... Splash Mountain wasn't assembled out of plywood.

That building and those show scenes are good ole' fashioned cement that was designed to last forever. Since these 'flavor of the month' overlays weren't really a thing when they were building Splash Mountain- and WDI knew the ride would be around for decades.

Not really. It's a finish over a steel structure. More akin to thick stucco.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Not really. It's a finish over a steel structure. More akin to thick stucco.

Maybe that's one reason why Splash Mountain has stucco round for so long.

 

[SplashGhost]

To make matters even worse... Splash Mountain wasn't assembled out of plywood.

That building and those show scenes are good ole' fashioned cement that was designed to last forever. Since these 'flavor of the month' overlays weren't really a thing when they were building Splash Mountain- and WDI knew the ride would be around for decades.

I remember the announcement said they hadn't even done 3D scans of Splash Mountain yet for development of Frog Mountain.

I really feel like there is a possibility that they might do more work on the overlay, then find out that it is completely impractical to do because of how the ride was initially designed and built.