The Riverside Press-Enterprise

Disney offers glimpse of animatroni­c Tiana

The princess is the hero of the reimagined Splash Mountain, scheduled to open this year

- By Brady Macdonald

Walt Disney Imagineeri­ng offered a first look at the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure audio-animatroni­cs coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World as the former Splash Mountain rides continue to undergo extensive “Princess and the Frog” makeovers.

Video posted to Tiktok by Imagineeri­ng shows the Princess Tiana animatroni­c in her “adventure outfit”: a lime jacket with a ruby red scarf, olive pants and brown leather boots.

The “Tiana-matronic” is part of Imagineeri­ng’s new line of cutting-edge, all-electric audio-animatroni­cs used in the Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast at Tokyo Disneyland and Frozen Ever After at Hong Kong Disneyland, according to WDW News Today.

The Princess Tiana figure will be joined by animatroni­c versions of Prince Naveen, Louis the trumpet-playing alligator, Mama Odie, Eudora, Charlotte, Big Daddy, the King and Queen of Maldonia and Naveen’s younger brother, aspiring drummer Prince Ralphie.

Throughout the new ride, a whole swampful of friendly critters will play jazz and zydeco on instrument­s made from natural materials found in the

bayou.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open this summer in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Disneyland’s version of the revamped attraction will debut in the fall or winter.

The reimaginin­g of the Splash Mountain rides will remove thematic elements related to “Song of the South” — the controvers­ial 1940s animated film criticized for perpetuati­ng racist stereotype­s that has been disowned by Disney.

The twin Tiana’s Bayou Adventure rides will tell an extension of the “Princess and the Frog” story that picks up after the final kiss between Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen.

The new backstory for Splash Mountain will follow Tiana and Louis as they prepare for their first Mardi Gras performanc­e.

 ?? COURTESY OF DISNEY ?? Video posted to Tiktok shows the animatroni­c Tiana in her “adventure outfit,” including olive pants and brown leather boots.
COURTESY OF DISNEY Video posted to Tiktok shows the animatroni­c Tiana in her “adventure outfit,” including olive pants and brown leather boots.

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