Disney’s Splash Mountain ride will soon undergo a transformation at both its California and Florida theme park locations as the attraction takes on a new look based on the film Princess and the Frog.
“We’re thrilled to share Splash Mountain at @Disneyland & @WaltDisneyWorld will be completely reimagined with a new story inspired by an all-time favorite @DisneyAnimation film, ‘The Princess and the Frog,'” the company posted on Twitter Thursday.
We’re thrilled to share Splash Mountain at @Disneyland & @WaltDisneyWorld will be completely reimagined with a new story inspired by an all-time favorite @DisneyAnimation film, “The Princess and the Frog.” Learn about what Imagineers have in development: https://t.co/HyKfdDSH3j pic.twitter.com/DV6476KAVX
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) June 25, 2020
The announcement has been long anticipated by Disney fans who wondered when the attraction would shed its current theme. The log flume adventure is based on the film, Song of the South, which depicts a young white boy who meets a kind storyteller named Uncle Remus, who is black. The two strike up a friendship and Remus teaches the boy lessons with tales about Brer Rabbit. The movie integrates live-action film work with animation and introduced the iconic Disney tune, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
James Baskett received an honorary Academy Award for his depiction of Uncle Remus, making him the first black man to win an Oscar. Actress Hattie McDaniel, who became the first black woman to win an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in Gone With the Wind, was also in the film. Earlier this month, HBO Max decided to remove Gone With the Wind from its platform but re-added the movie with an introduction explaining its “problematic” elements.
Accusations of racism have dogged the film for years. Many argue that in the absence of a clear time period in which Song of the South is set, it could appear as though the film is set in the Civil War and that Uncle Remus is a slave. Author Matt Singer wrote for Screen Crush, “By stripping out any concrete details of time and place, Disney essentially turned the plantation system into a ludicrous utopia where blacks and whites live in harmony — a harmony where the only thing that’s clear is that the blacks are inferior and servile to the whites, but are content to work the fields anyway.”
For these reasons, Disney has never released the film on DVD or Blu-Ray, and VHS copies of the movie are notoriously hard to obtain.
A Change.org petition to re-theme the ride to center around Princess and the Frog received over 21,000 virtual signatures.
The Princess and the Frog depicts the adventures of Tiana and her pals as she tries to change herself back to human form after turning into a frog. Tiana was Disney’s first black princess.
“It is really exciting to know that Princess Tiana’s presence in both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom will finally be realized! As passionate as I am about what we created, I know the fans are going to be over the moon,” Anika Noni Rose, who voiced Tiana, said of the decision. “The Imagineers are giving us the Princess and the Frog Mardi Gras celebration we’ve been waiting for, and I’m here for it!”
Disney’s choice comes in the wake of protests on racial injustice across the country. After George Floyd, a black man, died late last month in Minneapolis police custody, the public has been demanding change. The announcement from the entertainment giant is just the latest in a series of attempts by corporate America to be part of that movement.
