I indicated that they shouldn't have based Splash on SotS, not that it shouldn't have been built. A different film should have been chosen.
We wouldn't be in this position had Disney chosen a different movie.
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Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion
- Thread starter Californian Elitist
- Start date
We wouldn't be in this position had Disney chosen a different movie.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Just make it America Sings Mountain
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Come Again? “America” Sings? Talk bout being non inclusive. It’s The World Sings Mountain. But every singing AA needs to be dressed in the same clothes and singing in the same language. Also in front of every AA your log will stop in front of a screen where a video will give you a backstory on that particular AA to give you some more context on their culture so you don’t assume that they are mere stereotypes based on their clothes or surroundings.
waltography
Well-Known Member
This. Disney knew from the film's premiere that it was problematic; to then go on and build an attraction based on it, however tangential it might be, was a time bomb waiting to explode.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
As thought by millions Im sure over the last 30+ years as they made the final descent into the briar patch.
el_super
Well-Known Member
They shouldn't have, and in hindsight, it was a mistake, but it still happened and hindsight is 20/20. I think recognizing that the movie was hurtful, but still trying to salvage what they personally liked from the movie when making the ride, was an important intermediary step on the road to divesting in that IP. We still have people here (in this thread) that are advocating for further remediation measures and still think that, they can still save the IP. If some think that's still a viable solution in 2021, how do we fault them for thinking that was true in 1985?
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
They weren’t hiding it when Splash Mountain was approved. 1986 saw not only a theatrical rerelease but also the very first Disney Sing-Along Songs VHS tape, Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah, with Uncle Remus being on the cover art.
I know. It still wasn’t a good idea though to use SotS, since the movie had seen harsh backlash from the beginning of its release decades prior.
CaptinEO
Well-Known Member
z
Bingo
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
Not that it shouldn't have been built. Not that it wasn't a superlative ride experience.
Just that the decision to build an attraction based on a film that was already seen as problematic at that time probably wasn't a good idea.
Too Many Hats
Well-Known Member
I loved this tape as a kid. I played it over and over and over. My mother also had a copy of Walt Disney's Treasury of Children's Classics, which included the Tar Baby story.
Consequently I was primed to love Splash Mountain once I finally made it to WDW, and to this day I have a real soft spot for Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah and affection for the B'rer characters.
I'll even admit I associate the image of Uncle Remus more with the warmth and innocence of childhood than with the "hard facts" of American history with which it should be associated. And that's exactly the reason why Disney should re-theme the attraction.
Nirya
Well-Known Member
Just to throw a personal story in here, I remember when they announced they were going to change Splash Mountain, I told my dad about the changes and his response was "took them long enough".
I will note that my dad would not be considered a member of the "woke mob" by any stretch of the imagination. He's a dyed-in-the-wool Republican who voted for Donald Trump (multiple times!), and yet when I asked him why he had that reaction, he explained that there had been backlash to the story since when he was a kid (back in the 60s), and he still never understood why they would choose to base an attraction around a movie that had problematic stuff involved. And, just for the record, he had seen the movie during one of the theatrical rereleases, so this wasn't a case of someone just regurgitating things he'd heard online.
So this was never a decision solely based on the here and now. It's a decision that was years in the making, in part because the Disney company has refused to acknowledge the problematic elements as far back as Walt's time and is instead trying to sweep everything under the rug and pretend it's fine.
I will note that my dad would not be considered a member of the "woke mob" by any stretch of the imagination. He's a dyed-in-the-wool Republican who voted for Donald Trump (multiple times!), and yet when I asked him why he had that reaction, he explained that there had been backlash to the story since when he was a kid (back in the 60s), and he still never understood why they would choose to base an attraction around a movie that had problematic stuff involved. And, just for the record, he had seen the movie during one of the theatrical rereleases, so this wasn't a case of someone just regurgitating things he'd heard online.
So this was never a decision solely based on the here and now. It's a decision that was years in the making, in part because the Disney company has refused to acknowledge the problematic elements as far back as Walt's time and is instead trying to sweep everything under the rug and pretend it's fine.
Too Many Hats
Well-Known Member
I think they should bulldoze Fantasyland Theatre and move a plussed-up version of the Pooh dark ride into that space (complete with the Tokyo version's giant outdoor storybook entrance ).
Then build a Mandalorian dark ride on the former Pooh plot (there's a decent amount of space there, if they expand backstage a bit).
Zydeco Mountain then becomes part of an expanded New Orleans Square, which going forward will be split unofficially into the "city" of New Orleans (Pirates, the restaurants, etc.) and the "bayou" (Zydeco Mountain, Hungry Bear...or whatever it will become). Not sure what to do with Hungry Bear, since in the film Tiana's Place is clearly in New Orleans proper.
Then build a Mandalorian dark ride on the former Pooh plot (there's a decent amount of space there, if they expand backstage a bit).
Zydeco Mountain then becomes part of an expanded New Orleans Square, which going forward will be split unofficially into the "city" of New Orleans (Pirates, the restaurants, etc.) and the "bayou" (Zydeco Mountain, Hungry Bear...or whatever it will become). Not sure what to do with Hungry Bear, since in the film Tiana's Place is clearly in New Orleans proper.
Disneyland doesn’t need anymore Star Wars. Pooh wouldn’t make sense in Fantasyland.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
This alone makes me want to visit the park. Are there any full ride videos published?
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
I don't see how Pooh doesn't fit in Fantasyland, he's a storybook character who's distinctly European like most of Fantasyland. It makes more sense to me than Pooh being in a Frontierland-like American forest or whatever it'll be post-PATF.