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Thread: Splash Mountain re-theme

  1. #1

    Splash Mountain re-theme

    I've always been one to embrace change in the Disney parks, even though I still wish I could take a ride through Toad Hall at WDW .

    I understand and embrace the current focus on change throughout the country and the world to address racial inequality.

    With that said, I have a couple of issues with the re-theming of Splash Mountain:

    1 - if the focus on racial inequality is part of the equation I would argue that Splash Mountain has absolutely no racial overtones. The Uncle Remus character does not appear anywhere in the ride. The ride is based solely on the animated characters from the film. Most people have never even seen the Song of the South movie since it's been locked away for 30 years, so if they make the argument that the movie is racist they really don't have any first hand basis for that argument. I admit that I have never seen the movie, so I am also in that group of people. However I have ridden Splash Mountain more times than I can count, and it has never caused me to think it is racist.

    2 - The Louisiana Bayou has no business being in the middle of Frontierland! This re-theming works in Disneyland because of the proximity to New Orleans Square, so I have no issue with it there. From a thematic point of view, it does not work at all in WDW.

    I would be very interested in hearing other opinions about this.

    Tony S.
    "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney

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  3. #2

    Agreed on all counts. I think I saw the movie as a young kid in the late 70's, maybe as an after school showing (don't think I saw it when it was released in theaters around 1986 or so, as I have read elsewhere, I would remember it much more if I saw it as I was in my mid teens by then)

    It's clear Disney has decided and there is no re-evaluation or changing it. This was simply an announcement, not a call for opinions. As you said, nothing regarding the ride as it exists has any racial overtones.

    Agree fully the re-theme doesn't fit in Frontierland at WDW. Unless this is step one and they next gut/re-imagine Big Thunder to make it something that fits and re-brand that whole corner of the park as something else. I hope that's not it, because losing BTM would be awful too. But then again, the Wild Wild West was not a good time, so maybe the whole land may be on the chopping block?

    What's next? Closing Casey's Corner because baseball teams were still partially segregated in the time period it depicts? (I'm basing that on years such leagues existed and the story Casey's is based on) Sounds ludicrous to me too, but it wouldn't shock me at this point.

    -Dave

  4. #3
    Registered User ericles's Avatar
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    I'll agree it doesn't seem to fit the theme of Frontierland at all-
    I don't think I've seen the movie, if I did I don't recall. I'm 47 and I'm aware of the it and the context, but it's not something that was glaringly obvious to me in any way when I rode Splash Mtn-
    My kids, in their early 20's, loved the ride as a kid but they've got no idea of the Song of the South or that the ride was based off of it a bit-
    Obviously, not being aware is no excuse for ignorance. But I don't think that is the case here, I think that the ride is not in any way inappropriate-
    I'm glad that the actual ride itself is not changing, just the story around it (am I wrong? I thought that was the case...)-
    I've never seen Princess & the Frog or whatever it's called. I've lived this long without seeing it- maybe I'll add it to the end of the list of all the movies I haven't yet seen!-
    Evidently this has been in the works for some time, and I recall seeing rumors over the last several months to a year about it-
    I guess I'd feel a bit at a loss if the entire ride was changing or going away-


    As Dave1313 mentioned above, I hope they don't gut Frontierland.


  5. #4

    I agree with your arguments, Lovethemouse. Also, while I don't really have a problem with the re-theming itself, I have a big problem with how Disney came to this decision. It seems like they totally caved into pressure from BLM-type groups, and never accounted for the untold masses who have never had a problem with the current storyline. And finally I can't even imagine how a big drop works with the Frog storyline. The current theme of Brer Rabbit getting thrown into the briarpatch makes total sense. The drop inserted into the Frog story - not so much.

    The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
    - James Taylor

  6. #5

    I said this on a different thread and I'll repeat my comments here.

    I did a quick Google search and Disney shareholders have been asking about Song of the South since 2006. Disney has consistently said that it would not be coming on home video and in 2011 received SEC permission to effectively ignore a shareholder proposal to require them to release it on disc for the 70th anniversary.

    Then, when Iger announced that Disney+ would include the entire Disney library, he had to go back and add "except Song of the South and some other really bad movies" So even without the current racial problems, this movie has been a concern of the company. I'm guessing it was around the time that they decided Disney+ would NOT have Song of the South, they also decided to re-theme Splash Mountain. When people find out that the ride is actually based on their IP, some of those people might want to watch the movie. Better to have the ride based on IP that is available, then on a movie that continues to cause them grief. A different solution might have been to put on Disney+ just the animated sequences, but Disney did not go that route.

    About a month ago, I started to see Petitions to re-theme Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog. I think Disney made the announcement when they did to appear as pro-active as possible. I expect that they would have preferred to wait to make the announcement until the parks re-opened and/or they were ready to shut-down the rides to start the re-theme.


  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by currence View Post
    ....................
    About a month ago, I started to see Petitions to re-theme Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog. I think Disney made the announcement when they did to appear as pro-active as possible. I expect that they would have preferred to wait to make the announcement until the parks re-opened and/or they were ready to shut-down the rides to start the re-theme.
    That would certainly seem to be the driving force behind the timing of the announcement. Seems highly irregular (well, I guess everything is "irregular" right now) for them to announce a "big new thing" when there are probably so many questions and/or maybe even modifications being considered for projects that were in various stages of planning/construction when the parks shut down.

    Presumably all the work that is well under way (Ratatouille and Guardians in Epcot, Tron in MK, Avengers Campus in DCA) will conclude as planned, probably just delayed. But some of the other things that had been announced, but are still in much earlier planning stages could certainly be under re-evaluation.

    I know it's "just" a re-theme (though some of the articles referring to how the whole ride is basically concrete would seem to indicate modifications could be more complicated than some other rides), but it's still a "big new thing" on too of everything else going on.
    -Dave

  8. #7

    It's a terrible, dumb idea and a huge waste of money and resources. As a long-time WDW fan and shareholder, I hate it. And it ruins continuity of the Frontierland theming. There is exactly zero racist content anywhere in Splash. None.

    Now, if they wanted to add a Nawlins Square land to MK and give Tiana and friends a NEW purpose-built modern attraction with bayou and water, I'm all for that! If Disney wants to pander to racialists, slapping an almost certain to be weak overlay on an existing attraction is a slap in the face to them at best.

    Nick Andrews, DL misc74-76,85,91,12/11,1/13, WDW 78,83,85,1/92-8/92,95,99,04x8,5/11,2/12, 9/12,6/13,3/14,11/14,3/15,9/15,4/16,9/16,12/16,4/17,11/17,4/18,10/18,1/19,5/19,10/19, 2/20, 9/20, 1/21, DLP 3/20
    Magic Kingdom Cast Member 1/92-8/92 (WDW CP) 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

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