Tiana's Bayou Adventure

[Sotiris]

Now that the trades have picked up the story, there'll be even more pressure for Disney to rebrand the ride.

Disney Mum on Splash Mountain Outcry
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... ry-1298453

[UmbrellaFish]

What makes all this extra interesting is the timing. We’re living through an unprecedented moment in history. By the time the Orlando parks begin reopening in mid-July, the parks will have been closed for four months and lost an enormous amount of money. Disney had announced a lot of new construction projects for the near future to celebrate WDW’s 50th anniversary, but the current rumor is, is that everything that isn’t already vertical is canned or indefinitely postponed. The super luxe Star Wars hotel? Indefinitely postponed. The extensive refurb of Spaceship Earth? Cancelled. The new Epcot Mary Poppins attraction and mini-land? Cancelled. The new Disney Vacation Club hotel? Well, initially people assumed that construction would continue here, but last week watchers spotted Disney removing construction materials and throwing grass seed back over the cleared land.

So it’s a particularly inconvenient time for Splash Mountain to face public cries for retheming. This week on his podcast, Jim Hill explained that Splash Mountain is made almost entirely of concrete and to extensively retheme the attraction (as a TPATF overlay would most likely necessitate) could mean tearing the entire thing down and starting from the ground up. Is Disney willing to spend that kind of money right now? Will they be more willing because their image is at stake? I think Disney is probably betting that by the time the parks reopen, the current outcry will have died down and they’ll be able to profit from their racist ride once again.

After all, the lesson of Song of the South and Splash Mountain is “out of sight, out of mind.”

[blackcauldron85]

Those are good points, UF. I wonder if Splash Mountain will just be closed, until they decide what to do? With a changed soundtrack and the removal of the Br'ers, they might be able to salvage the ride as a Critter Country-themed, non-movie-related ride (are there any other America Sings animatronics salvageable and not used in SM to fill in the gaps of the Br'ers??)? Just so the ride doesn't have to be closed too long, and the controversial elements can be removed...?

[UmbrellaFish]

Certainly possible, that if Disney does deem Splash Mountain a serious problem to be addressed, they could keep it closed for the time being. It would save them the cost of employing cast members to operate it, and they could even claim its closed due to safety to avoid embarrassment while they figure out how they want to proceed— I think COVID-19 can be spread through water droplets in the air so other theme parks have been taking extra precautions with their water rides, like turning off misting effects.

As for replacing the animatronics, there’s the de-skinned America Sings goose animatronic in the queue of Star Tours, but that’s probably not worth the hassle haha. I wonder how much of CBJ remains from the shuttered Disneyland attraction? I’d be 100% here for the “Country Bears’ Splash Mountain.” Built in new soundtrack, too.

[blackcauldron85]

I, too, am so here for Country Bears' SM!! Great idea!

[Disney's Divinity]

I admit I don't much care about the parks, tbh. Splash Mountain is one of the things I remember about the one time I've been to Disney World though. I've never seen Song of the South, but I recognized the characters on the ride. I think it actually wouldn't be that weird for them to replace those characters with Tiana, Odie, etc. since TP&TF took place in a swamp for the majority of the movie.

Does anyone familiar with the parks know if TP&TF has a ride or anything really aside from a Tiana meet and greet? Sometimes it feels like the movie has been completely ignored by Disney outside Disney princess merchandise that always has Tiana in the background.

[UmbrellaFish]

Does anyone familiar with the parks know if TP&TF has a ride or anything really aside from a Tiana meet and greet? Sometimes it feels like the movie has been completely ignored by Disney outside Disney princess merchandise that always has Tiana in the background.

Recently in California, Tiana got a whole parade float in the new “Magic Happens” parade at Disneyland. But there are no TPATF attractions or anything like that (but! of the revival princesses, only Anna and Elsa have gotten a ride so far).

In 2017, Eric Goldberg animated new footage of Tiana (no other princess received the same treatment) for the Magic Kingdom fireworks show “Happily Ever After.” In fact, I think Tiana is actually the first Disney character you see/hear in the fireworks show: https://youtu.be/5bN5b11H4_s

Off the top of my head, there was this thing called “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee” at the Magic Kingdom around the time the movie opened. A lot of people say it was one of their favorite shows at the parks but it didn’t last long due to the movie underperforming. https://youtu.be/ulPl5d83uPA

That Disney Vacation Club hotel (which would have been on Walt Disney World property) that I mentioned Disney stopped construction on? It was supposed to get its own “Tiana’s Place” restaurant. https://mickeyblog.com/2019/08/27/a-new ... ney-world/ On the bright side, Tiana’s Place already does exist on one of the Disney Cruise ships and if they want to revive the restaurant for the parks, there’s plenty of locale options (New Orleans Sq at Disneyland and Port Orleans Hotels at WDW).

So all in all, even though she doesn’t have a ride, Tiana does receive a fair amount of representation in the parks, comparable to all other Revival Disney Princesses with the exception of Anna and Elsa.

[Sotiris]

In 2017, Eric Goldberg animated new footage of Tiana (no other princess received the same treatment) for the Magic Kingdom fireworks show “Happily Ever After.”

It was Mark Henn who animated the new footage of Tiana for the show, not Goldberg. Eric Goldberg animated Ursula and Randy Haycock animated Aladdin and Snake Jafar.

[UmbrellaFish]

Oh thank you for correcting me!

[Sotiris]

What makes all this extra interesting is the timing. We’re living through an unprecedented moment in history. By the time the Orlando parks begin reopening in mid-July, the parks will have been closed for four months and lost an enormous amount of money. I think Disney is probably betting that by the time the parks reopen, the current outcry will have died down and they’ll be able to profit from their racist ride once again.

You make a good point, but Disney does have a history of caving to critics. Their progressive facade is very important to them, so while it's not going to happen anytime soon, I do think it will get rethemed eventually. The ride may be popular and iconic, but if they had no qualms retheming The Tower of Terror, I doubt they'll have a problem doing the same to Splash Mountain.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'm actually surprised it hasn't been re-themed already really. I mean, if Disney thinks the film is bad enough to be banned, why would they want one of their most well-known rides feature characters from the film? I guess they assumed most people wouldn't associate the pictures they see with a racist film because most people have never seen it in full (myself included) and it would kind of survive under the radar.

@UmbrellaFish: Yes, a Tiana and TP&TF-themed restaurant is the best thing they could do for the film, imo.

[Disney Duster]

I think Disney is probably betting that by the time the parks reopen, the current outcry will have died down and they’ll be able to profit from their racist ride once again.

Wait...how is the ride racist? I don't think the film is either, but the ride itself is not racist.

[UmbrellaFish]

So the impetus for retheming the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s California Adventure was for Disney to ditch a third party IP owned by CBS Viacom and to exploit a popular property which they owned outright, Guardians of the Galaxy. That mortifying picture of me peeing my pants on the first drop which my family thinks is so funny they have to buy? Now that the ride is GOTG themed, Disney gets every penny from that purchase. But that particular motivation does not exist with Splash Mountain, since obviously Disney owns The Song of the South.

But okay, clearly, there’s an image problem and the problem’s been obvious for years, so why hasn’t Disney just rethemed Splash Mountain to something else that they do own? Well, first off they’ve been able to more or less fly under the radar for the past 30 years since they stuffed Song of the South into the vault— the movie gained an infamous reputation, but until recently Splash Mountain has escaped pretty much unscathed. But now finally the heat is on, so let’s take a critical look at the properties Disney has that could replace the singing cartoon characters of Song of the South.

Walking into the Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland feels like walking back in time, and I don’t mean the 1870s. More like the 1950s-1970s when the western genre and rural humor were at their peak popularity (and not coincidentally, when Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom were built). In Frontierland, they don’t sell Mickey hats, they still sell Davy Crockett’s coonskin caps. The queue to the Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster has references to The Apple Dumpling Gang. There’s a (pretty good) Tex Mex restaurant themed after Melody Time star, Pecos Bill. Children really do walk around carrying Br’er Rabbit plushies (the first time I saw one, I thought it was the Nesquick bunny haha) What I’m saying is, Disney hasn’t had any new IP for Frontierland to utilize since the 1970s and Home on the Range and The Lone Ranger were big flops.

We’ve cycled through a lot of IPs to replace Song of the South in this thread, but the truth is most of them are no-go’s. The Country Bears attraction that already exists is constantly under threat of being shuttered due to disinterest (actually writing this down makes me realize why it never has been— there’s nothing to replace it with); Pocahontas is probably the worst selling Disney Princess; The Lion King or Zootopia** just don’t make a whole lot of sense in Frontierland. TPATF might make sense in Disneyland, but it would be a very bad fit for the Magic Kingdom and if they were going to retheme the ride, they’d save money by choosing a theme which fits both parks. The problem with my Woody’s Roundup suggestion is that, by my count, Toy Story is already represented in the Orlando parks with more rides (4) than any other movie and Disney may no longer wish to extend the franchise beyond its dedicated Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios.

So here we are. Is there enough motivation, is there enough outrage, does Disney feel enough shame to finally bite the bullet and find *some* solution to fix the problem, even if that solution is extremely expensive? I don’t know, but I hope so. Else retheming Splash Mountain just might become the new “Fix the Yeti,” which is to say: a bad problem which everyone is aware of and is embarrassed by, but is deemed by Disney too enormous and too costly a problem to ever(est) fix. So it just sits there, becoming more and more embarrassing with each passing year.

** YouTuber Jenny Nicholson actually had a concept for using Zootopia which could work, basically just say the ride takes place in some rural, Southern US-style province which gets introduced in Zootopia 2. That way you could salvage most of the non-SOTS animatronics and replace the SOTS ones with Nick and Judy in cowboy hats. I actually think this is kind of a perfect fix since it would require the least retheming and would fit both US parks so Disney. should. steal. it.

[UmbrellaFish]

I think Disney is probably betting that by the time the parks reopen, the current outcry will have died down and they’ll be able to profit from their racist ride once again.

Wait...how is the ride racist? I don't think the film is either, but the ride itself is not racist.

Disney says The Song of the South is a movie too racist to ever be seen again, so they have hidden it. But by building Splash Mountain, which intentionally shys away from the most problematic elements of Song of South, Disney has found a loophole to continue profiting from their racist movie (which again, Disney themselves says is too racist to be seen by modern audiences) in a manner which almost seems benign.

But this is insidious, because the inherent racism of the source material always seeps through. For example, the most famous (the only famous?) song from Song of the South is “Zip a Dee Doo Dah” and fittingly serves as the animatronic finale song to Splash Mountain. What’s wrong with that, right? “Zip a Dee Doo Dah” is derived from a minstrel song called “Zip Coon” written and performed by white performers in blackface to mock black people.

The racism is inherent and inescapable which is why the theming must change.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, then yes, UmbrellaFish, that part of Splash Mountain is racist.

With people claiming racism on Dumbo, Peter Pan, Song of the South, The Princess and the Frog, and Zootopia (thanks for the link JeanGreyForever), then it seems like Disney can't do creative endeavors, and people are making them hide away their movies and not do rides. Can Disney do anything? Hopefully no one says that John Henry short is racist, I liked that short...

[UmbrellaFish]

Listen, nobody can tell Disney they have to hide certain movies and discontinue operation of certain rides. People are just calling them out where they made mistakes, in hopes that in the future they will do better.

[JeanGreyForever]

Honestly if you made a whole list of Disney films, you could easily point out almost each one as problematic, racist, or sexist in some way. Other films that have been called racist or racially problematic to add to Duster's list are: Pinocchio, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, The Fox and the Hound, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Brother Bear, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Moana, and Frozen II. I'm sure there are more but those were just off the top of my head.

[Disney Duster]

Hmm...ok... I dunno. Maybe The Princess and the Frog would be best. UmbrellaFish, why would The Princess and the Frog not work for Magic Kingdom?

[Sotiris]

So the impetus for retheming the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s California Adventure was for Disney to ditch a third party IP owned by CBS Viacom and to exploit a popular property which they owned outright, Guardians of the Galaxy.

So, why do you think they haven't rethemed Tower of Terror at the other parks?

That mortifying picture of me peeing my pants on the first drop which my family thinks is so funny they have to buy? Now that the ride is GOTG themed, Disney gets every penny from that purchase.

You know, you now need to post that picture here!

Children really do walk around carrying Br’er Rabbit plushies (the first time I saw one, I thought it was the Nesquick bunny haha)

I looked it up and those plushies do look like the Nesquick bunny (his name is Quicky, by the way.)

What I’m saying is, Disney hasn’t had any new IP for Frontierland to utilize since the 1970s and Home on the Range and The Lone Ranger were big flops. We’ve cycled through a lot of IPs to replace Song of the South in this thread, but the truth is most of them are no-go’s. Pocahontas is probably the worst selling Disney Princess; The Lion King or Zootopia just don’t make a whole lot of sense in Frontierland. TPATF might make sense in Disneyland, but it would be a very bad fit for the Magic Kingdom and if they were going to retheme the ride, they’d save money by choosing a theme which fits both parks. The problem with my Woody’s Roundup suggestion is that, by my count, Toy Story is already represented in the Orlando parks with more rides (4) than any other movie and Disney may no longer wish to extend the franchise beyond its dedicated Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios.

I get what you're saying, but there's never going to be another property that fits 100%. And honestly I don't think Disney cares that much about that aspect. Cost is obviously their biggest concern. By the way, do you know if Splash Mountain is a popular ride? If so, how popular do you think it is compared to other rides? I was thinking that if it's really popular, Disney might be afraid of retheming it lest it loses its appeal to prospective guests.

Else retheming Splash Mountain just might become the new “Fix the Yeti,” which is to say: a bad problem which everyone is aware of and is embarrassed by, but is deemed by Disney too enormous and too costly a problem to ever(est) fix. So it just sits there, becoming more and more embarrassing with each passing year.

I had to look that up to get what you were referring to. As you can tell, theme park knowledge is not my forte.

[blackcauldron85]

^ Yes, Splash Mountain is super popular, regularly having long lines. It's next to Thunder Mountain, so that section of the park is popular. I can't speak for the other parks, but especially in the hot Florida weather, a flume ride is very welcome!

*edit* Visual representation of wait times a year ago:

https://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/ ... 2019-06-17