Verdicoshna
Newcomer
- Sep 18, 2018
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Disney fans want splash mountain to be re-themed due to current events.. Thoughts?
EDIT: Feel free to move/remove thread
EDIT: Feel free to move/remove thread
Read through this Twitter thread for a fan imagine PatF overlay:
Read through this Twitter thread for a fan imagine PatF overlay:
A refresh of Splash Mountain into another property, regardless of reasons, would be welcomed IMODisney fans want splash mountain to be re-themed due to current events.. Thoughts?
EDIT: Feel free to move/remove thread
Do I think Disney will do it any time soon? No. Do I care that much? Not really, and Splash is still one of my favorite rides. But if you’re interested in learning a little about the subject, here’s my cliffs notes/thoughts on it:
Splash definitely does a great job of distancing itself from Song of the South, but the characters and stories exist outside of the movie. Joel Chandler Harris wrote the Uncle Remus stories of Br’er Rabbit after his experience as a plantation apprentice. He took the oral stories he heard from slaves and transcribed them, also writing in their speaking style (this is where we get the “br’er” pronunciation of “brother” for the characters). As you can imagine, there has been some criticism of Harris over the years.
And then there’s the matter of Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah. Which, it’s “happy slave” context in Song of the South is inherently problematic. But even if Disney has distanced the song enough from the movie (which they have pretty successfully done), there’s another issue with song. It’s very heavily influenced by a pre-Civil War song “Zip Coon”, which has a long history in minstrel blackface, as “Zip Coon” is a very common caricature in minstrel shows. So the Uncle Remus stereotype makes a lot of sense when you realize his song is traced back to a blackface character.
So, no there’s nothing explicitly racist about Splash Mountain. But the whole project was kinda born out of racism lol. Harris told (and profited from) stories that weren’t his, creating the Uncle Remus caricature that Disney would ultimately put up on screen. And as much as we like to think the animated characters (or the song!) are separate and the “not racist” parts that’s... not necessarily true. They’re still black stories, told by white men, and ingrained with stereotypes because of it. As far as Splash Mountain has been removed from Song of the South, that doesn’t quite solve Disney’s problem lol.
And with that, I offer the only re-theme concept I will accept:
And if anybody wants to learn more about Song of the South, I highly suggest this 6-part podcast from “You Must Remember This”. It’s by far the most comprehensive discussion I’ve seen, and gives a ton of context on what Hollywood was like at the time:
You are WAY over simplifying Song of the South’s highly racist tones, so much so that Disney won’t even release it.In the long run, a Voodoo Witch Doctor could be viewed in a worse light than happy Reconstruction Period Sharecropper.
There’d also be heavy symbolism in retheming a heavily racist ride
I worded it wrongly. I meant ride based on a heavily racist movie.Is it really, though? The ride itself, divorced from the source? Heavily?
I'm genuinely not trying to be argumentative or open any cans of worms. I just find the claim that Splash Mountain is unequivocally "heavily racist" to be a questionable characterization.
SONG OF THE SOUTH? Yes.
Dumbo is a bit of a different story. In the grand scheme of the movie, it's a small aspect compared to how Song of the South is just overtly racist through and through. The fact that it makes for a fun ride while ignoring those elements actually goes to prove how harmful movies like SotS were and exactly WHY they were made. It's actually sort of cute when you look at from a certain POV (thus Splash Mountain). But in the context of the movie, they try to use the "cute" part to mask the racist elements and make it seem normal/okay.The crows in Dumbo come to mind as well...I don't think they're present on the ride at all
Buuuut.
I certainly don't think doing anything to Splash should really even be on WDI's mind, It is a perfect ride that comes from unfortunate source material. While there is certainly a conversation to be had for if it's appropriate for a ride to be based off of Song of the South, like you say, it's also so well done that I don't really want to take a chance that a redo of it might work out. Of course we're speaking as theme park fans. If Disney reacts to social pressures is another question, especially if it persists.This whole is just stupid.
The world has gone mad.
It’s fine if someone thinks a PatF retheme of Splash would be cool- whether it happened 10 years ago or tomorrow. Although PatF is my favorite animated movie, I wouldn’t want to lose what I think is the best ride Disney has ever created for a chance at a retheme that may or may not be great;.
But the events of the last weeks shouldn’t change anyone’s mind whatsoever on the subject matter. If it did, you have a problem.