Splash Mountain to be reimagined to The Princess and the Frog with Princess Tiana and Louis theme

[bcla]

To your question, my husband never saw the Song of the South movie, and knew nothing about it prior to riding the ride. When he got off of it, after riding the first time, he pointed out the racial undertones he noticed. I found it interesting, as I had seen Song of the South as a child and didn't see the racial undertones in the ride as readily.
I thought that was quite interesting.

Most of the dark ride part of Splash Mountain used characters that were not in Song of the South per se. Walt Disney Imagineering was over budget and saved money by reusing parts of another attraction. But Br’er Rabbit still features prominently and still talks in somewhat of a southern slave dialect. He’s supposed to represent a slave using his wits to overcome the owners and overseers. I’m not sure how many people would understand the context.

 

[tex1989]

Most of the dark ride part of Splash Mountain used characters that were not in Song of the South per se. Walt Disney Imagineering was over budget and saved money by reusing parts of another attraction. But Br’er Rabbit still features prominently and still talks in somewhat of a southern slave dialect. He’s supposed to represent a slave using his wits to overcome the owners and overseers. I’m not sure how many people would understand the context.

I have never heard that explanation for Song of the South. As far as the accents go I have one question, have you ever lived, or spent much time in the South? I have backwoods, redneck cousins from East Texas as well as friends that on a Saturday at my farm start sounding an awful lot like the characters in the movie. I know in the PC world we live in today we have to be careful what we say, but if you aint walked the walk and talked the talk be careful what you say. There are plenty of folks in my world that sound like that.

 

[bcla]

I have never heard that explanation for Song of the South. As far as the accents go I have one question, have you ever lived, or spent much time in the South? I have backwoods, redneck cousins from East Texas as well as friends that on a Saturday at my farm start sounding an awful lot like the characters in the movie. I know in the PC world we live in today we have to be careful what we say, but if you aint walked the walk and talked the talk be careful what you say. There are plenty of folks in my world that sound like that.

That’s the specific history of Br’er Rabbit.

https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org...tales#The-Rhetoric-and-Sociology-of-the-Tales​

On one narrative level Uncle Remus appears to be telling only entertaining, harmless slapstick animal tales, drawn nostalgically from the pre–Civil War Old South plantation tradition, that typically highlight the stupidity of the physically stronger animals. In the introduction to his first volume of Uncle Remus tales, however, Harris acknowledges the allegorical significance of the stories he was retelling. Clearly, Brer Rabbit is the black slave's alter ego and trickster-hero, and the so-called stronger animals represent the white slave owners.​

But I knew a few people who talked like that. I grew up in a neighborhood where one family had roots in Oklahoma and moved to California escaping the Dust Bowl. My friend’s grandmother and grandfather sounded somewhat like that. Even my friend who went to our local schools sounded a lot like his grandparents.

But Br’er Rabbit? That’s a slave story although the oral tradition probably extends long before that. And the dialect is supposed to be patterned after Gullah from the coastal areas of Georgia.

 

[Disneytrippin']

So can we now start talking about changing The three Cabelleros ride into Coco? I mean the adverse reactions were due to the fact it would be a dark ride.
If we can create a ride based on a movie that promotes voodoo then lets talk Day of the Dead. I absolutely love the music and colors of both movies.

 

[rigs32]

Was talking about this at work. A co-worker in her mid-30s expressed disappointment. As we talked, I realized she had no idea about the history of the characters or the movie Song of the South. Once we explained the whole history and content of the movie, she agreed a change was needed.

 

[Hikergirl]

I do wonder how many people (not here) who signed the petition to have it changed (or are just saying it needs to be changed) have actually ever ridden Splash Mountain.

 

[NotUrsula]

Now that the new narrative has been made public, I am not taking any bets that it is going to stick as described. If the present theming of Splash whitewashes too much ugly racist history, then cheerfully re-theming it around a black woman experiencing Mardi Gras in the New Orleans of the 1920's is probably not going to be any more acceptable to critics, because Mardi Gras in NOLA also has a pretty ugly history when it comes to segregation and discrimination. I think that they are going to have to reduce the Mardi Gras aspect to set dressing if they want this to truly be offensive to no one. (As a native of the New Orleans area, I've always been a bit bewildered by DL's heavy New Orleans imagery. I guess in the 1950s it was not a place that many Californians were thought to visit, so it was American but at the same time exotic. I don't think that holds for the average WDW visitor; not one from the South, anyway. Most southerners don't consider New Orleans to be exotic at all - depraved, perhaps, but not exotic. The city's reputation in the South is rather like that of Los Vegas; someplace that adults go when they want to indulge in some sinning.) I don't hate the theming, but I think that rushing the execution would be a foolish thing to do; they don't want to have to revisit it again in another 5 years because they put up something that is also culturally insensitive in a different way.

As for Land continuity; it's pretty much right there at WDW, because TS Island is just across the path. Both attractions would be based around locations on the Mississippi River, which for a long time effectively WAS the American frontier (which provides the justification for that big shiny archway sitting on the St. Louis riverfront.) The concept art that was posted re-imagines the "mountain" as a large live oak tree; it's rather reminiscent of the tree-dwelling characters in the Hundred Acre Wood. The thing is, these characters are humans (plus a large gator), so I don't think "frog scale" is really plausible. (I'm just waiting for this hurdle to be overcome by re-naming it something like Splash Bayou.)

Of course, this DOES provide the perfect opportunity to change the line of that deluded Gopher to, "Go LSU".

 

[mi*vida*loca]

So can we now start talking about changing The three Cabelleros ride into Coco? I mean the adverse reactions were due to the fact it would be a dark ride.
If we can create a ride based on a movie that promotes voodoo then lets talk Day of the Dead. I absolutely love the music and colors of both movies.

I would love this. I’ve heard the rumors and have always been on board.

 

[bcla]

Most southerners don't consider New Orleans to be exotic at all - depraved, perhaps, but not exotic. The city's reputation in the South is rather like that of Los Vegas; someplace that adults go when they want to indulge in some sinning.) I don't hate the theming, but I think that rushing the execution would be a foolish thing to do; they don't want to have to revisit it again in another 5 years because they put up something that is also culturally insensitive in a different way.

I don't know if that's going to be much of an issue. Princess and the Frog specifically portrays a mixed-race relationship and doesn't make a big scene out of it.

As for New Orleans, I used to listen to a sport talk show host still in my area. He's from Houston but went to school at LSU. Once when the subject of New Orleans came up, he referred to it as "the drinking-est city in the country".

 

[robinb]

As for New Orleans, I used to listen to a sport talk show host still in my area. He's from Houston but went to school at LSU. Once when the subject of New Orleans came up, he referred to it as "the drinking-est city in the country".

Which is why we need a new TS outside the ride so we can have Hurricanes .

 

[EMom]

Which is why we need a new TS outside the ride so we can have Hurricanes .

TBH, when I heard it would be connected to Mardi Gras, I thought of what people do to get beads. But without the Hurricanes, maybe there will be less flashing.

 

[robinb]

TBH, when I heard it would be connected to Mardi Gras, I thought of what people do to get beads. But without the Hurricanes, maybe there will be less flashing.

Does that mean it won't be named "Flash Mountain" anymore ?

 

[Gary M]

I'm just wondering whether Peter Pan's Flight will be redone because of the Native Americans depicted in the ride?

 

[superme80]

So can we now start talking about changing The three Cabelleros ride into Coco? I mean the adverse reactions were due to the fact it would be a dark ride.
If we can create a ride based on a movie that promotes voodoo then lets talk Day of the Dead. I absolutely love the music and colors of both movies.

NO!!!! My boys are obsessed with the 3 Caballeros. They love Coco, but they desperately want that ride to stay the same.

 

[Victoria3]

PATF is one of my favorite movies. I understand why they're changing the theming but I think PATF deserves better than a log flume.

 

[bcla]

PATF is one of my favorite movies. I understand why they're changing the theming but I think PATF deserves better than a log flume.

Splash Mountain has always been more than just a log flume ride. It has several dark ride segments. There certainly isn't anything quite like it outside of Disney parks, although Knott's Berry Farm added animatronics to their ride a few years ago.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Splash Mountain has always been more than just a log flume ride. It has several dark ride segments. There certainly isn't anything quite like it outside of Disney parks, although Knott's Berry Farm added animatronics to their ride a few years ago.

That looks pretty nice. And yes, not Splash Mt equal, but pretty nice. Fast moving logs too.

 

[bcla]

That looks pretty nice. And yes, not Splash Mt equal, but pretty nice. Fast moving logs too.

When I was in high school our school had an honor student trip to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk every year. It was during a weekday with very short lines. I remember going with friends on the Logger's Revenge flume ride up to maybe 5 times in a row. Other than the boarding/deboarding station, it was just a simple fiberglass flume held by supports with a maintenance walkway. That's my expectation of what a standard log flume ride is. Kind of boring, but perhaps a good view and then getting wet.

 

[Ecomommy09]

Watching Princess and the Frog right now. Dang, I love this movie! Raymond is so awesome. I hope he is a big part of the upgrade.

 

[Yensid 1928]

Aw, the sadness of the Song of the South. Question, when does the movie Song of the South take place? I watch both the Song of the South and Princess and the Frog back to back last night and both movies where wonderful for the stories they told. If Disney is looking to expand New Orleans Square yes the current theme of Splash Mountain would not fit. Of course I am sure we would all love to see a Restaurant named Tina's Place with Beninese, but no frog legs (LOL). What I would really love to have Disney do is release Song of the South from the vault and yes maybe also do a remake that focus on the African folklore stories the slaves brought over from Africa and repurposed in this new land. It is a shame a great movie both Disney and James Baskett sweat over and tried to make family and period friendly is not seen for positive story, African history, and Johnny's happy place being with Uncle Remus. If you ever get the chance check out Joel Chandler's bio and books and learn not only about the author and how he collected the source material but what the stories mean. The answer to the question at the beginning is the story takes place during the Reconstruction Era, So Uncle remus was a free man and not a slave and the other black folks where sharecroppers.