Disney fans say Splash Mountain, a ride inspired by 'Song of the South,' should be re-themed

[Z-Beat]

Going from "getting yourself stuck in a baby made from tar because you got into a fight with it" to "Brer Fox sneaks up from behind and slams a beehive on you while you are laughing"; I just mean that it's not like they simply swapped honey for tar. They changed the entire setup.

Click to shrink...

Sorry I actually got the stories mixed up. The first part of the ride is dollar a minute. The part with the beehive both laughing place and the tar thing (looking through development articles they all mention it was a conscious decision to replace the tar with a beehive) and the bees themselves are from the laughing place story, as is him tied to the stake. The drop is also from the tar story as you drop into the briar patch. They didn't change the story so much as move the parts around

 

[Parthenios]

So Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby story come up super frequently in early grades quiz bowl competitions. I only know it from the clues I've helped my daughter study (Joel Chandler Harris, Uncle Remus, Br'er Rabbit, Tar Baby, Splash Mountain) but never knew Song of the South was based on the Uncle Remus stories or that "tar baby" literally meant a humanoid made of tar (the clue is always "got his foot stuck to a tar baby and thrown in a briar patch." We just thought a tar baby was an antiquated term for some ball of tar or something). Br'er Rabbit being on Splash Mountain is a common clue too but again nothing ever mentions Song of the South.

Holy shit this is all racist as fuck and they want elementary and middle school kids to study these stories?! I'm going to reach out to the board that runs quiz bowl in Kentucky and ask them to pull these out of the curriculum.

 

[Flaros]

Even though I know the characters originate from SOTS I always forget when I'm riding it. Splash Mountain was a childhood favorite of mine and is still one of the top rides at the park for me. I really don't like the idea of a re-theme as I would prefer princess and the frog get a new original attraction.

I'm not a huge fan of re-themes, I like the rides in the parks that aren't necessarily tied to a specific movie or property. Like I still prefer the old maelstrom to the new Frozen one, not that maelstrom was some awesome ride, but because the frozen ride just feels disjointed and a bit uninspired. I know splash mountain is tied to SOTS, I just wish there was a way to keep the spirit of the ride but remove anything that people find offensive.

That being said, if they were to re-theme it, that would be quite the ironic justice of a ride based on characters from a racist movie being replaced by a ride featuring Disney's first black princess.

 

[Jegriva]

As much as I love the animation in that movie...

Spoiler

The tar baby scene is... not great.

Also, if you absolutely need to fill the '2D animated telling of the Brer Rabbit/Brer Fox stories' shaped hole in your life, Universal put out a surprisingly decent movie (well, almost more of a collection of Looney Tunes-esque shorts) in 2006. I got it for pennies at a used movie store a while ago because I thought it would be an interesting train wreck to watch, but it's better than expected.

Click to shrink...

I still believe the movie should be released in home video, with a warning like all the old classic cartoon who have racist depiction in it.

 

[Zutroy]

It's been probably close to 20 years since I was last at Disney, but I did love Splash Mountain! Had no clue back then (in fact even until this thread) that it was based off a film. I just always thought it was it's own original story for the ride.

It does seems that changing it to PatF would be quite cool and could fit with the type of ride.

 

[thebeeks]

I still believe the movie should be released in home video, with a warning like all the old classic cartoon who have racist depiction in it.

Click to shrink...

I waffle back and forth on whether they should release it or not. The movie's kind of boring, but I love the animated segments. But yeah, if this ever sees the light of day again, they should absolutely do what they did with the Disney Treasures sets and have an unskippable preamble about how the depictions in the movie are racist garbage.

 

[PhoenixSFT]

Hmm. Let's say they make it Princess and the Frog themed.

What's a good story beat for the drop? Facilier being tossed into the Other Side?

are ya reeeeady

Click to shrink...

Ooh that'd be amazing, just that music kicking in as you're about to go over the edge!

 

[makonero]

I waffle back and forth on whether they should release it or not. The movie's kind of boring, but I love the animated segments. But yeah, if this ever sees the light of day again, they should absolutely do what they did with the Disney Treasures sets and have an unskippable preamble about how the depictions in the movie are racist garbage.

Click to shrink...

just do new b'rer rabbit stories entirely with entirely black creative/production. that way the black community can reclaim those stories and completely own them and recontextualize splash mountain with this new story.

hell, you can even just name the new movie "Splash Mountain."

 

[thebeeks]

just do new b'rer rabbit stories entirely with entirely black creative/production. that way the black community can reclaim those stories and completely own them and recontextualize splash mountain with this new story.

hell, you can even just name the new movie "Splash Mountain."

Click to shrink...

That's kind of what The Adventures of Brer Rabbit from '06 is, an all black cast (unsure about the folks in production) going off the Julius Lester adaptations of the stories, rather than the Harris version.

 

[makonero]

That's kind of what The Adventures of Brer Rabbit from '06 is, an all black cast (unsure about the folks in production) going off the Julius Lester adaptations of the stories, rather than the Harris version.

Click to shrink...

That's fantastic. Need to look that up.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

It's an almost perfect ride for me, I love it, Song of the South is clearly not good but u wouldn't say it's a song of the south ride, it's about Brer Rabbit, Fox and Bear.

I hope they keep it as is however if they had to change it Princess and the Frog seems the obvious answer

Disclaimer - I'm white, so I can't decide solely how offensive it is that it's origins are linked to a racist story

 

[GrimGrinningGuy]

just do new b'rer rabbit stories entirely with entirely black creative/production. that way the black community can reclaim those stories and completely own them and recontextualize splash mountain with this new story.

hell, you can even just name the new movie "Splash Mountain."

Click to shrink...

I love this idea

 

[InspectorJones]

I hope they don't change the ride or theming too much; Splash Mountain is a classic to me and I have vivid memories of riding it.

 

[OrangeAtlas]

For anyone who wants to know about Song of the South, Uncle Remus, and Splash Mountain, Defunctland as always has a great video:



And fun fact but yes the ride is actually called Splash Mountain because of the Tom Hanks movie.

 

[DrForester]

Rebrand it into a River Wild ride.

Side Note: I'm having a Berenstain Bear moment. I remember this movie starting Laura Dern.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

just do new b'rer rabbit stories entirely with entirely black creative/production. that way the black community can reclaim those stories and completely own them and recontextualize splash mountain with this new story.

hell, you can even just name the new movie "Splash Mountain."

Click to shrink...

The problem is that even b'rer rabbit is an appropriation. Yes, all those stories are based on African lore, but the Trickster was not a rabbit, it was the spider-god Anansi.

By the way, Anansi already had the superior adaptation:

Mr. Nancy: His Grand Entrance | American Gods

Remember that time Mr. Nancy inspired righteous mutiny?Watch: http://primevideo.com/americangodsDon't forget to follow us on:Facebook: https://www.facebook.c...

youtu.be

 

[Joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I have 0 problem with the current theming. The ride is so divorced from the source material that even people here were unfamiliar about its origins.
That being said, I love the idea of a Princess and the Frog re-theme. Love it! It's a great fit plus it highlights a great film that is under-represented in the parks.

 

[Deleted member 3542]

That would be a good fit. The animatronics on it are kinda trash anyways, people come for those drops, so revamp it all.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Oh that would actually be really cool if they changed it into Princess and the Frog themed.

Click to shrink...

That's perfect, actually. Only reason I see not to is maybe they'll think it's past relevance, it was one of Disney's worse performing animated movies IIRC.

 

[Deleted member 5359]

Why keep something around that's a relic of a time of pain for millions of people in Disney parks, which are about happiness?

 

[GamerJM]

They desperately need to retheme it. They also need to keep everything else about the ride aside from its racist theme the same, because other than that it's perfection. Those drops are perfectly timed and feel unlike any other ride at a theme park I've been on.

 

[Xun]

The movie is problematic so I understand why some people want the ride re-themed, but I personally think the ride is distanced enough from the film that it stands fully on its own.

Princess and the Frog deserves a ride though, but I'd rather Disney avoided their usual tactic of cheaply slapping IP onto something else and instead make a unique attraction for it.

 

[OrangeAtlas]

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Click to shrink...

Nice.

All the people bitching about it in the comments haha. Hopefully that means they won't return to the parks (doubt it).