Big news out of Walt Disney World and Disneyland today. The classic attraction, Splash Mountain, will be re-themed to a The Princess and the Frog attraction. The Walt Disney Company claims that plans had been in the works since last summer for an eventual re-theme of the ride. Splash Mountain is currently themed to the very controversial Song of the South. While the ride is generally not the subject of controversy, the movie it is themed around has been the source of much controversy and is one of the few Disney classics that has been basically erased from history. The movie has not been released on blue ray, DVD, and is not currently streaming on Disney Plus, nor are there any plans for the movie to stream on Disney Plus.
Song of the South was released in 1946 and never saw the light of day when it came to a home video release in the United States. Despite being controversial for the films portrayal of African Americans, the cartoon characters of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear, as well as the song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah have remained popular among Disney fans including those who have not seen the movie. I'm not going to go into the plot of the movie here as this is blog is about Splash Mountain, but I do encourage you to do some looking around if you have never heard of this film and are a fan of the ride in its current state.
My feelings on Splash Mountain being changed are mixed. From a personal standpoint I have said multiple times that Splash Mountain is my favorite ride. That being said, Splash Mountain was also my favorite ride before I watched Song of the South. That is why now, despite the ride itself still being my favorite I am not heartbroken to see it getting a face lift. I am well aware that chances are 90% or more of the people who ride and love Splash Mountain have no idea what movie the characters come from, let alone who any of the characters are outside of the ride itself. While the ride features Br'er Fox, Br'er Rabbit, and Br'er Bear going through a bunch of cartoon antics, Song of the South is far more than that and it is something that I think Disney is aware of and is finally acknowledging it's time for a change as a result.
As I mentioned at the start, plans had started to form last summer about transitioning Splash Mountain to a The Princess and the Frog themed attraction. Whether or not that is one hundred percent true is of course going to be a subject of debate. Petitions have resurfaced recently both for and against Disney changing the ride which could have accelerated Disney's plans to re-theme the ride. We may never know, but we do know that change is coming.
As far as the The Princess and the Frog theme goes I am cautiously optimistic. WDW News Today has an excellent article that goes into more details on the upcoming changes and from what I have read on there, it doesn't seem bad at all. The Princess and the Frog is a really fun movie that I agree is underrated and does deserve some more praise. The music is great (jazz!), the animation may very well be the last time we see a hand drawn Disney movie, and all the characters are great. From what I have read it sounds like this ride is going to be an adventure with Tiana and Louis taking place after the end of the movie as they prepare for their first Mardi Gras celebration.
I feel like that is a best case scenario. Going on an adventure with an alligator and a princess sets this movie up perfectly for a water ride. I'm excited to see more details come out on this ride as I can think of a world of scenes and songs that could be used throughout, but for now I'll just have to keep them in my head. The obvious conclusion replacing the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah boat segment at the end of the ride is a Mardi Gras celebration and it is here that my only hesitation really pops up.
Princess and the Frog takes place in Louisiana. Splash Mountain is situated in the Frontierland. See where my only issue is. It's going to be strange to me coming out of the ride and falling back into the illusion of the American frontier. Yes, Song of the South and Splash Mountain are also southern themed, but Disney was able to theme Splash Mountain and blend the characters of Song of the South so well into the red rock mountain that it felt natural throughout the ride. I feel like that is going to be Disney's biggest challenge with that ride is not breaking that illusion and not breaking that ever important show that the Magic Kingdom is and has always been. That said, if any company can do it it's Disney.
So as we prepare to say goodbye to the current version of Splash Mountain I want to close with this. Racism has no place in the world. Nobody should be judged, treated differently, etc. over the color of their skin. Song of the South is a movie that is a product of its time. That time was so much different than things are now and Disney knows that (hence never getting released on video in the United States). Does it deserve to be celebrated with a ride? No. Are the cartoon characters a lot of fun in Splash Mountain, sure. Should they all disappear along with Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah? I personally don't think they have to considering the amount of other media they have all appeared in since the movie.
As more details start to come out regarding the upcoming changes to Splash Mountain I'll be sure to blog again on it. As of now Disney has not announced any closure dates for either Splash Mountain attraction and both original version of the rides are currently slated to reopen along with the parks as they navigate through these covid times. As always thank you for reading! We finally got some non covid related park news to react to and man was it a big one! Stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!
**** The following is a personal statement****
Hi again everyone. As I mentioned in this blog racism has no place in the world we live in today. No one should ever be judged, persecuted, treated poorly, beaten, etc. by the color of their skin. In the wake of all of the protests going on around the country we have all seen a rapid call for change and it is a change that is desperately needed. Black men, women, and children are all facing challenges that we will never be able to fully understand. My sister's friend I think sums it up best... I don't have her exact words, but it's along the lines of if you get pulled over by the police, what do think. Personally, it's "crap what did I do now". Her answer is simply fearing for her life. That is in no way okay, fair, or anything else considered good.
With all of that said... The past got us to the present and it is important for us to remember that the past did happen. We do not have to be proud of it. We do not have to celebrate it. We cannot forget it. Forgetting and erasing the past leaves the window open for similar events to unfold in the future. This goes for everything including movies.
Song of the South was mentioned many times in this blog. The movie is a great example on what is not okay to do. I've watched it and even in the fun cartoon portions there are heavy racist implications. That said, back in the 1940's, it was acceptable. The movie came out, people went to see it. The movie was re-released in the 80's and people went to see it. It hasn't seen the light of day since. My personal hope for this movie is that Disney will use it as a teaching tool in the future. I think it would be big of Disney to release the movie with an introduction explaining why the movie is the way it is and why what viewers are going to watch is not appropriate and was not appropriate in the 40's. Don't release it as a new movie. Don't even release it on Disney Plus or home video, but release it somewhere that historical films exist and let it be a lesson in not only how far we have come, but how far we have to go.
In closing, this blog, while certainly not political, will never be a place where racism will be welcomed and will never be a place where anyone will be judged for who they are. All lives cannot matter until black lives matter and while I may personally not support things that the organization does, I 100% support the movement itself and the fight for equality that shouldn't even need to be taking place. If you have read all of this thank you!
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