Splash mountain retheme

[Smol bean]

Disney just announced that splash mountain at Disneyland and Disney world will be rethemed To the Disney Movie the princess and the frog here’s a good video explaining it 

 

[themagician]

Wow I never thought Disney would touch such a classic attraction. But of all the stories they could have picked, Princess and the Frog is probably one of the best options

[Zac Beckwith]

I wouldn’t have thought that touching this attraction would even be on the cards, after we’ve seen how well they handled changing TOT, I’m sure it will be great, but the question is, why?

[gavinfulikes]

15 minutes ago, Zac Beckwith said:

I wouldn’t have thought that touching this attraction would even be on the cards, after we’ve seen how well they handled changing TOT, I’m sure it will be great, but the question is, why?

From what I have heard, Splash Mountain is based on a controversial 1946 film “Song of the South” and there was a online petition to retheme the ride because of the racial stereotypes from the film it is based on.

[Zac Beckwith]

12 minutes ago, gavinfulikes said:

From what I have heard, Splash Mountain is based on a controversial 1946 film “Song of the South” and there was a online petition to retheme the ride because of the racial stereotypes from the film it is based on.

The ride really has no resemblance to the film though, the only similarity was one of the story plots and the animated characters, that’s it. The film was taken down a long time ago and has never had any dramas until now.

[Jpw25111]

Disney caving into the sjw's  of the world.

[mssveattck]

33 minutes ago, Jpw25111 said:

Disney caving into the sjw's  of the world.

Pretty sure Walt Disney himself said that he never wanted a ride to stay the same forever and he wanted people to have different experiences. The ride may be a classic but it's a no brainer to re-theme, a new generation will love this. 

[Jobe]

29 minutes ago, mssveattck said:

Pretty sure Walt Disney himself said that he never wanted a ride to stay the same forever and he wanted people to have different experiences. The ride may be a classic but it's a no brainer to re-theme, a new generation will love this. 

Probably true but to use this as the reason for the re-theme is exactly that- making a political statement and pandering to opinions of the day. The link to racism and this ride is tenuous at best despite what the propaganda will have you think. This is a knee jerk reaction from a company that doesnt want to be seen to be tarnished with anything negative at all - especially if its not wholesome and family orientated. The problem is, the target audience for this ride would not have a clue what "alleged" racial issues are with the theming on this ride. Hell, the majority of adults would see any linking this ride to racism as a massive stretch. Yes the original film had racial stereotypes and it was always a tender point for Disney in their history ( to the point where this movie is largely ignored in Disneys film canon) but the only link to anything racist is that this ride is themed to the characters of the film? Where is the racist undertones other that the linkage? Its sadly for mine another example of the extreme cancel culture that is inhabiting the world right now. That view may not be popular and others may disagree but it certainly bears further discussion. 

[mssveattck]

21 minutes ago, Jobe said:

Probably true but to use this as the reason for the re-theme is exactly that- making a political statement and pandering to opinions of the day. The link to racism and this ride is tenuous at best despite what the propaganda will have you think. This is a knee jerk reaction from a company that doesnt want to be seen to be tarnished with anything negative at all - especially if its not wholesome and family orientated. The problem is, the target audience for this ride would not have a clue what "alleged" racial issues are with the theming on this ride. Hell, the majority of adults would see any linking this ride to racism as a massive stretch. Yes the original film had racial stereotypes and it was always a tender point for Disney in their history ( to the point where this movie is largely ignored in Disneys film canon) but the only link to anything racist is that this ride is themed to the characters of the film? Where is the racist undertones other that the linkage? Its sadly for mine another example of the extreme cancel culture that is inhabiting the world right now. That view may not be popular and others may disagree but it certainly bears further discussion. 

I understand the loss of nostalgia when it comes to this kind of thing - I wasn't happy when they decided to re-theme Tower of Terror but at the same time, I understand the need to update and modernise (as I think most people in these forums do). Yes, the ride itself doesn't feature any of the racist subject matter of Song of the South, but to say this is a result of propaganda and cancel culture is a little extreme. I think this re-theme has been a long time coming and whilst it probably has been pushed forward by current events I don't see how anyone could see this as a negative step forward, as wiping out even the slightest traces of racism in popular culture is something that needs to continue to happen. A film about a slave plantation has no reason to be featured in a Disney Park, regardless of whether that storyline is evident on Splash Mountain or not. Lots of people will miss the ride, no one is saying you're not allowed to because I know I certainly will.

Edited June 26, 2020 by mssveattck

[Jobe]

2 minutes ago, mssveattck said:

I understand the loss of nostalgia when it comes to this kind of thing - I wasn't happy when they decided to re-theme Tower of Terror but at the same time, I understand the need to update and modernise (as I think most people in these forums do). Yes, the ride itself doesn't feature any of the racist subject matter of Song of the South, but to say this is a result of propaganda and cancel culture is a little extreme. I think this re-theme has been a long time coming and whilst it probably has been pushed forward by current events I don't see how anyone could see this as a negative step forward, as wiping out even the slightest traces of racism in popular culture is something that needs to happen. A film about a slave plantation has no reason to be featured in a Disney Park, regardless of whether that storyline is evident on Splash Mountain or not. Lots of people will miss the ride, no one is saying you're not allowed to because I know I certainly will.

Was Tower of Terror rethemed though? It was changed to Tower of Terror II and the car reversed but that is not on the same level as a total retheme on this scale. Potentially you are right and this re-theme has been on the cards for quite a while. But the point of my post is HOW does this ride propagate racsim , other than its links to the film?. If you didnt know the movie , you would not find this ride racist  ( and as we have both already agreed-that is a very tenous link indeed). Once you realise that, then you have to turn to the view that a) if this ride was on the cards to be re-themed, then Disney are now using current events and cancel culture views as a reason for expediting this retheme or b) they are REALLY reacting to the current trends and have acknowledged  accordingly with announcing the retheme.  So either way its a reaction to the current sensitive view on cancel culture. Thats not extreme to say that.

[mssveattck]

1 minute ago, Jobe said:

Was Tower of Terror rethemed though? It was changed to Tower of Terror II and the car reversed but that is not on the same level as a total retheme on this scale. Potentially you are right and this re-theme has been on the cards for quite a while. But the point of my post is HOW does this ride propagate racsim , other than its links to the film?. If you didnt know the movie , you would not find this ride racist  ( and as we have both already agreed-that is a very tenous link indeed). Once you realise that, then you have to turn to the view that a) if this ride was on the cards to be re-themed, then Disney are now using current events and cancel culture views as a reason for expediting this retheme or b) they are REALLY reacting to the current trends and have acknowledged  accordingly with announcing the retheme.  So either way its a reaction to the current sensitive view on cancel culture. Thats not extreme to say that.

.. I was talking about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Lol. I think it's clear that you have your stance and I'm not going to try and change your mind. I will say that calling the Black Lives Matter movement a 'trend' is awful considering the reason for its beginnings and if your argument is cancel culture, then I'm struggling to see what the problem here is because if we're cancelling anything in this instance it's racism? If you view that as a bad thing then I don't know what to say. Anyway, I'm tapping out of this one before it turns messy. I'm glad to see Princess Tiana get her dues and I welcome the re-theme as I hope others do.

[Pyro]

Songs of the South was a hit  when it was released in 1946. Its racial overtones of the south provide a backdrop of slaves being content with the situation they lived in. In certain parts and writings of that time, a slave singing was considered proof that they were "content" with how they were treated. The film is full of offensive stereotypes and glorified the plantations of the south.

The movie has TV airing but never realsied on home video in the USA and in the 1980's it was returned to the Disney vault because it was seen as for what it was.

Walt Disney made the film in hope that it would shine some sort of light on the tales from that era but with out going into the horror, but totally missed the mark.

Due to the current climate and how offensive that parts of the film are, that are omitted from the ride, they chose to make the changes, just like the selling the whores in POC.

 

[Jobe]

2 minutes ago, mssveattck said:

.. I was talking about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Lol. I think it's clear that you have your stance and I'm not going to try and change your mind. I will say that calling the Black Lives Matter movement a 'trend' is awful considering the reason for its beginnings and if your argument is cancel culture, then I'm struggling to see what the problem here is because if we're cancelling anything in this instance it's racism? If you view that as a bad thing then I don't know what to say. Anyway, I'm tapping out of this one before it turns messy. I'm glad to see Princess Tiana get her dues and I welcome the re-theme as I hope others do.

Ah that makes much more sense. Just to be clear I am not calling the Black Lives Matter movement a trend- i fully support that 100%. I was referring to the trends that have come as a result of that worthy movement which has been linked to cancel culture. Some I agree with and some i definitely do not. I am just saying that I do not believe that in this instance, this ride represents racism and which is why I have namechecked Cancel Culture.  The retheme is interesting- the  Princess and the Frog hit 267 million worldwide and Tangled a year later hit 592 million.....not sure they have gone with the right IP to retheme to be honest. All good thanks for the discussion mate.

[mssveattck]

3 minutes ago, Jobe said:

Ah that makes much more sense. Just to be clear I am not calling the Black Lives Matter movement a trend- i fully support that 100%. I was referring to the trends that have come as a result of that worthy movement which has been linked to cancel culture. Some I agree with and some i definitely do not. I am just saying that I do not believe that in this instance, this ride represents racism and which is why I have namechecked Cancel Culture.  The retheme is interesting- the  Princess and the Frog hit 267 million worldwide and Tangled a year later hit 592 million.....not sure they have gone with the right IP to retheme to be honest. All good thanks for the discussion mate.

Thanks for clearing that up, I get where you're coming from! If anyone is wanting to understand the ride/films link to racism I think @Pyro's post outlines it really well. I will say I agree about the choice of IP - I'm happy with the decision, but it definitely wasn't my first guess or choice for the re-theme. 

[Naazon]

Surely designing the re-theming a ride isnt a 3 week thing? If the BLM protests and the cancel culture that followed has pushed the timelines forward then so be it, but I would say this has been on the cards of Disney for a while.

 

 

[Jobe]

3 minutes ago, Naazon said:

Surely designing the re-theming a ride isnt a 3 week thing? If the BLM protests and the cancel culture that followed has pushed the timelines forward then so be it, but I would say this has been on the cards of Disney for a while.

 

 

Yeah I reckon you are right here it just comes down to the timing of the announcement I guess.

[Naazon]

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/splash-mountain-disney-rides-linked-to-offensive-film-rethemed/news-story/3eb869a2125ddd1f5b92ef95473d7319

 

Quote

Disney announced the change to the Splash Mountain rides on Thursday, sharing a “first glimpse” of the project that has been in the works since last year.

 

[red dragin]

58 minutes ago, Naazon said:

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/splash-mountain-disney-rides-linked-to-offensive-film-rethemed/news-story/3eb869a2125ddd1f5b92ef95473d7319

So more a 'look at us jumping on the bandwagon (with our long term planned upgrade)' than a direct response to the current climate.

[Whombex]

Respect to @mssveattck and @Jobe for having a civil discussion. You both had your say and it didn't devolve.

[Jobe]

16 minutes ago, Whombex said:

Respect to @mssveattck and @Jobe for having a civil discussion. You both had your say and it didn't devolve.

Cheers mate. The only way forward is to have civil discussion like this. We can all have differing views as long as we are all respectful of each other. Its called being human and using innate intelligence to move forward. At the end of the day we are all themepark enthusiasts here and thats why we all come together. The fact that we can include sensitive discussions such as this in a civil and respectful way I think speaks volumes about  every member in this community and the way that Richard and the mods have carefully crafted and maintained these boards. Kudos to all I think.

[red dragin]

50 minutes ago, Whombex said:

Respect to @mssveattck and @Jobe for having a civil discussion. You both had your say and it didn't devolve.

Got to be a first for around here surely?

[Zac Beckwith]

4 hours ago, Naazon said:

Surely designing the re-theming a ride isnt a 3 week thing? If the BLM protests and the cancel culture that followed has pushed the timelines forward then so be it, but I would say this has been on the cards of Disney for a while.

 

 

multiple videos on youtube have said that this has been a rumour for a while, however everyone believed that renovations to tomorrowland and building MRARR at california would have come first

[rappa]

9 hours ago, Zac Beckwith said:

I wouldn’t have thought that touching this attraction would even be on the cards, after we’ve seen how well they handled changing TOT, I’m sure it will be great, but the question is, why?

The retheme of Tower managed to simultaneously destroy what was a great ride/theme and also deliver a new attraction where the ride system made no sense to the theme/story of the ride. 
It’s awful, it’s cheap and it’s ugly, so let’s hope this alteration has zero similarities with what happened to Tower. 

[Coasterlife]

NOOOOOOOOO this ride is so fun I don't want this ride to be given a re-theme but if they do I really want them to keep the name splash mountain

[Zac Beckwith]

21 minutes ago, Coasterlife said:

NOOOOOOOOO this ride is so fun I don't want this ride to be given a re-theme but if they do I really want them to keep the name splash mountain

or at least to have mountain in the name.

 

30 minutes ago, rappa said:

The retheme of Tower managed to simultaneously destroy what was a great ride/theme and also deliver a new attraction where the ride system made no sense to the theme/story of the ride. 
It’s awful, it’s cheap and it’s ugly, so let’s hope this alteration has zero similarities with what happened to Tower. 

I felt the retheme to be good, but that’s just my opinion. The scooby doo upgrade, however not a retheme as such, is a perfect example of taking a great classic ride, and ruining it with terrible technology and screens. At least with Guardians, the story line is there, and the visuals have actually had work put into them...