When I walk into Magic Kingdom there are several "must dos" I have to hit every time. One of them, especially on a humid Florida summer day, is Splash Mountain. Who doesn't love a good log flume ride? That ride style has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid and is a great way to get a quick jolt of cool on a hot day.
Now, as a theme park buff and general Disney nerd I have known about Song of the South for most of my life. I mean, I had VHS tapes with Zip a Dee Doo Dah on them and I remember vividly remember reading Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby as a kid. However it wasn't until I was much older that I realized the truly racist tones of that movie. I have never seen the film in its entirety but I have read excerpts of the stories its based on. And knowing what I do about its origins, it has confused me for years why there was an attraction in the parks based of this blatantly racist piece of media.
Now I know times have changed since both the movie was released and the ride was set into motion, but how it took til 2020 to make such a change seems like an oversight. I mean, they must have known the movie was in poor taste when the ride came out because there was no mention of the source material in advertising and scenes were reworked from design plans to be less controversial. For example, look at this video promoting the new attraction. Not once does it mention Song of the South.
For years there has been speculation of a rethemeing of the ride. In fact, one of the theme park groups I'm in on Facebook had multiple posts about changing the ride to be Princess and the Frog themed. Most of us just laughed it off saying that it would be too expensive and since its such a beloved attraction it would never come to pass. So imagine my surprise and honestly, utter delight when on June 25th, 2020 Disney announced they would be rethemeing the attraction to the 2009 princess flick. And believe me, the irony of a ride with racist origins being themed to an African American princess just makes me giddy. The concept art is beautiful and I am honestly excited to see what it ends up looking like. Knowing that the legendary Tony Baxter is working on it just reassures that the ride is in good hands. Until it opens, I hope everyone can keep an open mind and just be excited for something new to be coming to our home.
Comments