The Disney fans (over 21,000 strong) who earlier this month signed an online petition to re-theme the log flume ride Splash Mountain appear to have been successful in getting their message heard
Disney announced today that it will change both Splash Mountain rides –one at California’s Disneyland and one at the Magic Kingdom here in Orlando – from its current Song of the South theme to instead be based on more recent and inclusive Disney film property The Princess and the Frog.
Disney Imagineers are already at work and some of the new conceptual designs were shared online today, so sorry to all the outraged Twitter commenters, this is a done deal.
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
Splash Mountain was based on the infamous Disney animated/live-action film Song of the South, a film that is racist in its depiction of Black people.
This re-imagined Princess and the Frog log flume ride will be a “musical adventure” picking up where the movie ends. Disney says in a statement that “the retheming of Splash Mountain is of particular importance today. The new concept is inclusive – one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by, and it speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year.”Twitter being the terrible place it is – and with Disney inexplicably leaving the comments open – the complaints and backlash have been going strong. This is a developing story and we’ll continue to update.
This article first appeared at our sister publication Orlando Weekly.
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This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2020.
