I have always been fascinated by historical elements of WDW and Walt Disney himself. On the recent 2 hr American Experience PBS special, they went into detail on the controversy surrounding Song of the South. (for those of you that don't know, this is the movie that Splash Mountain is based upon).
I had also been fascinated by this historical part of Disney, and on a trip this summer my son liked the Brier Rabbit character and noticed they were selling Thumpers instead in the SM gift shop. There was not much actual Splash Mountain merchandise other than T-shirts, etc and we talked to one of the workers and she explained how they have agreed to not promote the existence of the movie...ever....and James Earl Jones bought up all the rights, etc to retire it due to its racist nature. Again, I found this interesting...I am not taking a side or a political position.
I guess my mind wandered one step further and I asked myself this - Isn't it a matter of time before WDW is asked to get rid of the attraction ENTIRELY? I just think this flies under the radar and the political correctness police have not discovered it quite yet....Even though there is no Uncle Remus anywhere within it, the entire attraction is based on this movie.....I am not trying to stir up trouble, just wondering - I have seen less than this attacked as racist and protested.
I had also been fascinated by this historical part of Disney, and on a trip this summer my son liked the Brier Rabbit character and noticed they were selling Thumpers instead in the SM gift shop. There was not much actual Splash Mountain merchandise other than T-shirts, etc and we talked to one of the workers and she explained how they have agreed to not promote the existence of the movie...ever....and James Earl Jones bought up all the rights, etc to retire it due to its racist nature. Again, I found this interesting...I am not taking a side or a political position.
I guess my mind wandered one step further and I asked myself this - Isn't it a matter of time before WDW is asked to get rid of the attraction ENTIRELY? I just think this flies under the radar and the political correctness police have not discovered it quite yet....Even though there is no Uncle Remus anywhere within it, the entire attraction is based on this movie.....I am not trying to stir up trouble, just wondering - I have seen less than this attacked as racist and protested.