Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Goodbye, ‘Song of the South,’ hello, ‘Princess and the Frog’
LOS ANGELES — So long, Splash Mountain.
Disney said Thursday that it would remake one of its most popular theme park rides, Splash Mountain, which depicts characters and songs from “Song of the South,” the racist 1946 musical. The 31-yearold flume ride will instead be modeled on “The Princess and the Frog,” the 2009 musical that introduced Disney’s first Black princess, Tiana.
The name Splash Mountain will also be retired. New Adventures With Princess Tiana is the working title of the coming attraction, which will be set in the Louisiana bayou.
“It is important that our guests be able to see themselves in the experiences we create,” Carmen Smith, vice president of creative development and inclusion strategies at Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a blog post. Imagineering is Disney’s research and design division.
The overhaul at both Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, the theme parks that feature the ride, will easily cost tens of millions of dollars.
Disney is expunging the “Song of the South” imagery — Br’er Rabbit and other animal minstrels — during a national reckoning on racial justice. Protests against police brutality and racism, sparked by the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis, have prompted a wide spectrum of companies to make longoverdue changes. Quaker Oats, for instance, said it would retire Aunt Jemima, a brand built on racist imagery.
In the case of Splash Mountain, Disney executives had privately discussed abandoning the “Song of the South” theming for at least five years. Disney said it had sped up the public unveiling of the project because of the current cultural conversation about race.
“It has been a year or more since we started talking about this particular concept,” said Bob Weis, president of Walt Disney Imagineering, in an interview posted on D23.com, a fan site run by Disney.
In recent weeks, online petitions began to circulate about Splash Mountain. More than 21,300 people signed one asking Disney to remove the ride’s “offensive stereotypical theming.” About 26,300 people have signed a Change.org petition demanding that Disney keep the “iconic classic ride” as it is.
Sparring over a theme park ride may seem silly, especially against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which is surging again. But Disney is a huge part of how many people live their lives — how they make their memories — and even small changes to the company’s theme parks can spark outrage. For the same reason, the addition of a major attraction themed around a Black heroine could have a positive impact on young visitors, in particular those of color.
At least for now, one Splash Mountain will survive: The ride is also at Tokyo Disneyland, which Disney doesn’t own. (The company licenses its characters and products to the Oriental Land Co.) There are no plans to give that one a “Princess and the Frog” makeover, a spokeswoman said.