That’s Universal.
Fans Are Trying To Get Disney to Change Splash Mountain to a Moana or Princess and the Frog Ride
- Thread starter JD
- Start date
I've never been to a Disney park, mainly because as a Canadian family, the entire idea presented itself as a luxury we couldn't afford. And when you live that far away from any of the parks, it's not just the park tickets, but the travel as well. My Brother only just got to go two years ago with his own family of young kids. Everything about it, I've lived vicariously through different sets of eyes.
They're in the process of setting up the Avengers Campus for all of their Marvel themed stuff, so I doubt they're going to want something this big outside of there.
As someone who really likes Moana and likes Princess and the Frog fairly well, I'd be up for either of these changes (a P&TF theme would probably need less changes to the look of the ride itself). I really don't think that the ride needs the Song of the South elements or the "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" song to be popular, and there is a bunch of musical stuff from Moana or P&TF that would work well in its place.
Vote.. Leave it alone.. Any other type of naming or other character work in the ride would just be meh...
I'm royally apposed to this cancel/rename/erase history culture we have going..
that being said.. there ride.. do what they'd like.. only been to Disney twice. don't think I got a chance to ride it..
I'm royally apposed to this cancel/rename/erase history culture we have going..
that being said.. there ride.. do what they'd like.. only been to Disney twice. don't think I got a chance to ride it..
I'm usually against those things as well but I don't really care about amusement park rides. It's just a ride. Not history or even art like with tv shows and movies and books being cancelled. Nobody gets hurt. History isn't erased, person doesn't get unfairly cancelled and art doesn't get censored or altered.
Jason
True.. but it goes back to the ole saying..
First they came for... And I did not speak out.. because I wasn't a...
Etc. Etc...
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me... because I threw everyone under the bus before me...
Yes, this is a ride, and disney is well in there rights to rename it, redo it, tear it down.. and considering the current state of the Mob.. they will eventualy. but there has to be a stop at some point..
First they came for... And I did not speak out.. because I wasn't a...
Etc. Etc...
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me... because I threw everyone under the bus before me...
Yes, this is a ride, and disney is well in there rights to rename it, redo it, tear it down.. and considering the current state of the Mob.. they will eventualy. but there has to be a stop at some point..
uh-oh does that count as a Godwin?
However, I am of the personal opinion that the film itself is worth being available. James Baskett won an honorary academy award in 1948 and Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah was a big part of the Disney brand for many years. They could get f'n Leonard Maltin out of the mothballs to do a hoary context statement if necessary but it would be nice to see.
I don't know if I feel the ride needs to be updated but I can appreciate that if there are families that are truly uncomfortable that the ride would be foisted upon them. Is that actually a thing people feel and not just something internet busybodies conjured up I don't know.
However, I am of the personal opinion that the film itself is worth being available. James Baskett won an honorary academy award in 1948 and Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah was a big part of the Disney brand for many years. They could get f'n Leonard Maltin out of the mothballs to do a hoary context statement if necessary but it would be nice to see.
I don't know if I feel the ride needs to be updated but I can appreciate that if there are families that are truly uncomfortable that the ride would be foisted upon them. Is that actually a thing people feel and not just something internet busybodies conjured up I don't know.
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I actually agree with you on the movie, all they would need to do is put a special introduction in front of it like WB is doing for Gone With the Wind. Hell, even some significant Black people, like Whoopi Goldberg, have encouraged them to release it.
But at the same time, I can see changing the ride, even if they do release the movie with added context, it would make sense to me to not want to be seen as actively promoting the movie to kids and families in such a high profile way.
But at the same time, I can see changing the ride, even if they do release the movie with added context, it would make sense to me to not want to be seen as actively promoting the movie to kids and families in such a high profile way.
Whoopi did something like that for Tom and Jerry.and looney toons. She did a great job of explaining why it's important to keep these cartoons the way they are. People have to remember that Disney films from that era always presented a world that was total fantasy based. Their adapted novels were always a more sanitized version of their original sources.This is the same company that made films where most animals got along with each other and the most scary thing shown was a wolf with snarling teeth. So to expect them to make a film depicting real life on a plantation when they don't even present real life in a jungle was unrealistic.
For me it just makes no business sense for your ride to be based on a movie that few people in the country have seen. Most of the kids are going to want to go on rides to characters or themes that they are familiar with. I doubt many of them are familiar with Brear Rabbit. I haven't been to Disney World in many years. Have they put in a Lion King attraction? That should be an easy conversion.
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Yeah, the thing that shocked me the most when I learned that Splash Mountain was based on Song of the South, wasn't that it was based on a racist movie, it was that it was based on a movie that old, and that nobody cares about any more. Hell, I have a feeling at this point most people have probably never even heard of it.
I would have thought they would have updated it to something more current and popular years ago.
I just looked it up on the Disney Wiki and they only started the ride in 1989! I had assumed it had been around for a lot longer than that. I'm surprised they didn't go for something more current right off the bat, when they first put it together. Was Song of the South popular back then?
I would have thought they would have updated it to something more current and popular years ago.
I just looked it up on the Disney Wiki and they only started the ride in 1989! I had assumed it had been around for a lot longer than that. I'm surprised they didn't go for something more current right off the bat, when they first put it together. Was Song of the South popular back then?
When they started development of Splash Mountain in the early 80's (pre-Michael Eisner), they didn't have anything more current worth making a ride out of. What they had was Bear Country. A mini-land with one attraction, the Country Bear Jamboree - still wildly popular in Florida, but had fast worn out its welcome in California - and room to grow. They also had another attraction in Tomorrowland, America Sings, that had also worn out its welcome but also had a ton of Audio-Animatronic critters that could be easily reused. Country-themed talking/singing critters + the park president suggesting a log flume ride, something no Disney park had at that point = Song of the South was the best fit.
Song of the South's last actual release was in 1986, with the ride opening 3 years later. At the time, I doubt anyone suspected that that would be the last we would ever see of the movie. It did get a home video release in the UK as "recently" as 2000.
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I think a lot of people still love/like a lot the song "Zip-a-Dee-doo-dah", even not really connecting it with Uncle Remus or even the film Song of the South. The ride as is already seems to make the stories/songs far removed from Remus or the film specifically (maybe that's also so for the character Br'r Rabbit generally).
Maybe. It would be hard for Disney to widely release it now without giving the impression that the company thought it was still appropriate for young viewers.
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Same. I had thought it was just an original creation rather than something based on an old movie, and given the fact that they often redesign their attractions to keep up with their other IPs, I do find it surprising that it hasn't been given an update. Most likely wouldn't know or realize it's based on anything.
I was looking around a bit on the Disney Wiki, and apparently the animated characters like Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear, and Bre're Fox have continued to pop up in shows and stuff, as recently as House of Mouse and Kinect: Disneyland Adventures. So is Splash Mountain isn't the only way they've continued to use the characters from the movie.
The obvious retheme is Zootopia, and not just because there's been rumors of that for years. It would keep the anthro animal theme, would maintain a similar visual style, and would be based on a movie that tells an antiracist story, as opposed to...whatever the hell Song of the South was doing. (I've never seen it, so only know the broad strokes.)
