Culture Will Splash Mountain be eliminated? Speculation grows. Racism issues are the background, but TDL management says "nothing has been decided" - Tokyo bends the knee.

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Will Splash Mountain be eliminated? Speculation grows. Racism issues are the background, but TDL management says "nothing has been decided"​

Published October 25, 2024 12:21 Updated October 25, 2024 16:57
J-CAST News

There is speculation online that the popular attraction "Splash Mountain" at Tokyo Disneyland (TDL) may disappear soon. It was also reported that the operating company was considering how to respond, as the location is based on a movie that has been criticized for racism. This time, the "rumor" has been rekindled by the closure of a shop in the same area, but what will happen in the future?

The film "Song of the South" is criticized for creating misunderstandings about black history​

Splash Mountain is an attraction where you take an adventurous ride on a log boat and slide down a 16-meter waterfall. It opened in 1992, nine years after the park's opening, and is still one of the most popular attractions. The park recreates the world of the 1946 film " Song of the South ," but in the United States, it has been criticized for creating misunderstandings about black history. A petition was even launched calling for changes to the settings of the two American theme parks that had opened earlier. In response to this, Walt Disney announced in June 2020 that it would change the setting of Splash Mountain to "The Princess and the Frog," an animated film released in 2009 with a black woman as the main character . At the time, Oriental Land, which operates TDL , was reported to have responded to an interview with the Asahi Shimbun and other media outlets that it was "considering how to respond at Tokyo Disneyland." After that, a theme park in Florida opened "Tiana's Bayou Adventure" in June 2024, which recreates the world of "The Princess and the Frog."

It has also been reported that the same attraction will open in a theme park in California within the same year. Meanwhile, on October 22nd in Japan, it was announced on the official TDL website that the "Hoot & Hurrah Hideout", a goods shop in the Critter Country area of TDL, which is based on the theme of "Song of the South", would close on November 30th. This led to comments of "sadness" and rumors of the demise of Splash Mountain once again began to spread.

A new attraction themed on a movie with a black protagonist?​

"This is the right timing," "We should be prepared," "This could be an attraction for Tiana..."

Some in Japan have said that making an attraction with a black character as the main character is going too far, as it could lead to political correctness, or so-called "political correctness." At TDL, the background music "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," an insert song from the movie "Song of the South," stopped playing in the Disney Resort Line stations in August 2022. This time, the shops in the Critter Country area have disappeared, and there was even speculation that Oriental Land was creating an environment to eliminate the attraction. However, since Space Mountain, another of TDL's three major mountains, will close and reopen in 2027, it was rumored that Splash Mountain would be preserved until then.

In response to an interview with J-CAST News on October 24, the public relations department of Oriental Land, the company that operates TDL, replied in an email that "nothing has been decided yet" regarding what will happen to Splash Mountain. Regarding the closure of the shops in the Critter Country area this time, they said, "We have not responded to any questions about the reason," and regarding future developments in the area, they said, "We have not responded to any questions regarding the consideration of revising or abolishing facilities."

 

[Desu Mountain]

Don't they use bleach

Nah, that's for soup.

 

[Hamstirer]

If the Japanese were smart, they would add park workers in blackface.

KIwi Falls , all the mascots are just people in josh outfits that yell nigger and faggot at random. All visitors are know as retards or nigger cattle. The park sound track is either mati songs, josh sperging about section 230, or josh laughing over clips of fat bitches eating. I'd actually travel to Japan to visit that if it existed.

 

[Seafarer]

KIwi Falls , all the mascots are just people in josh outfits that yell nigger and faggot at random. All visitors are know as retards or nigger cattle. The park sound track is either mati songs, josh sperging about section 230, or josh laughing over clips of fat bitches eating. I'd actually travel to Japan to visit that if it existed.

There’s an animatronic of Terry Davis spinning a lasso and yelling “WE GOT THE NIGGER CATTLE WE GOT THE NIGGER CATTLE!!!”.

 

[Ainchiemi]

Victimhood politics and its consequences have been a disaster to the Human race. The Chinks and Poos definitely took note of this insanity and are just enjoying the ride.

"Shut up, racist!" - These retards.

 

[blue gopher snakes]

I have kids and friends with kids and I don’t know a single child who gives a solitary fuck about “Princess” Tiana or her crap-ass movie. Not one. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the lowest-grossing animated princess Disney shat out. Nobody is dressing up as Tiana, nobody is listening to Tiana’s soundtrack, nobody cares. It’s 100% astroturfed to appease the rowdies and that’s it.

 

[Blacklight]

I have kids and friends with kids and I don’t know a single child who gives a solitary fuck about “Princess” Tiana or her crap-ass movie. Not one. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the lowest-grossing animated princess Disney shat out. Nobody is dressing up as Tiana, nobody is listening to Tiana’s soundtrack, nobody cares. It’s 100% astroturfed to appease the rowdies and that’s it.

I think that Scottish Princess from Brave might be less well received than Tiana has been.

 

[Snekposter]

I think that Scottish Princess from Brave might be less well received than Tiana has been.

Man, for a minute I had a brain fart and was thinking about a murderous Scotswoman from Braveheart before I remembered that other, terrible movie actually exists.

 

[Stratorroz]

WDWTD leaked that talks had "made progress" a month ago, its probably happening. But it doesn't have to be PatF, which just isn't a culturally relevant film in Japan or, really, anywhere. Paris, for instance, is a getting a new version of it built from scratch and its Lion King themed, you shoot out the top of Pride Rock. They could put that in Japan or, I dunno, anything western/jungle/swamp themed. Ugh, fuck it, they'll get the Duffy version.

I think replacing Splash with Duffy is arguably worse than Tiana.

I just don't like their soulless eyes.

 

[whatever I feel like]

I think replacing Splash with Duffy is arguably worse than Tiana.

View attachment 6563175
I just don't like their soulless eyes.

I'm always amazed by what Japanese women find to be cute. I think the Duffy characters look hideous and their backstory is incredibly lame and corporate. Its a different world over there...

 

[marvlouslie]

Yes. Please close the ride, and when you do, make sure every person in Japan knows that the reason their beloved childhood memory has been destroyed is because black people 6000 miles away are sperging about an 80 year old movie none of them have ever seen.

Also, let's be sure to erase the first black man to ever win an Oscar ever.

 

[Dammit Mandrake!]

Regardless of what they do, huge amounts of money will have been wasted as Disney ultimately decides to rebuild the original ride.

 

[The Lawgiver]

I have kids and friends with kids and I don’t know a single child who gives a solitary fuck about “Princess” Tiana or her crap-ass movie. Not one. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the lowest-grossing animated princess Disney shat out. Nobody is dressing up as Tiana, nobody is listening to Tiana’s soundtrack, nobody cares. It’s 100% astroturfed to appease the rowdies and that’s it.

Princess and the frog was a movie that was hyped up atthe time as being "the first 2d animated disney movie in a number of years" and then became "the last 2d animated disney movie". It wasn't the best thing ever but it was a solid movie doing a more modernized subversion on a fairy tale, though shrek and several other movies not made by disney had already done it beforehand. They set it during not quite "modern" modern day though unlike those other so it kind of set it apart. There's also the fact the main villain is a black scam artist that fucks people over with voodoo shit, something disney would NEVER fucking do now. Unlike splash mountain it's not a summary of the actual movie plot. It's like shitty frozen re-theme one that replace the maelstrom where it's set sometime after the movie and there's no conflict at all. Why is this important? Well you know how the drop in the new one has no buildup like the original in the tianna bixnood bayou re-theme?

Well uh there's a song from the movie that pretty much everyone who heard it was gonna be rethemed as princess and the frog ad saw the movie thought would be added. Specifically this bit from it.

GUESS WHAT'S NOT IN THE FUCKING RIDE? I KNOW I ALREADY SAID IT'S NOT IN THERE FUCK

 

[isalaide]

Always yes to more Tiana. A great film.

 

[Amber the Hedgehog]

I have kids and friends with kids and I don’t know a single child who gives a solitary fuck about “Princess” Tiana or her crap-ass movie. Not one. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the lowest-grossing animated princess Disney shat out. Nobody is dressing up as Tiana, nobody is listening to Tiana’s soundtrack, nobody cares. It’s 100% astroturfed to appease the rowdies and that’s it.

I see some love genuine love for Tiana's green leafy dress and Friends on the other side song but that's pretty much it. The movie so rarely gets mentioned. It's kinda shame as I enjoy many aspects of it but the movie is pretty meh and mostly because of Tiana herself.

Tiana is actually a pretty decent character (consistent flaws and strengths, looks fine, voice acting sounds nice) but she just shouldn't have been the main character. The movie forces her to be because we needed a BLACK princess but it makes little sense for story elements presented. The prince causes the conflicts, the prince needs grow as a person, the prince has more meaningful connections to the supporting cast. Heck, Tiana has nothing to do with the main bad guy and he's very entertaining and charming bad guy with a plan that has nothing to do with her. Tiana turning him down that climax means nothing because she was never really tempted by easy solutions for her problems. It really should have been story about the prince as main character and Tiana as the secondary lead that makes him see the error of his ways.

 

[Neodanthril]

At this point I have to see all this erasure as being primarily about erasing the Irish/Scots-Irish from history. Southern history (largely made by the Scots-Irish immigrant population) is becoming verboten. ....nation's Irish history and the contributions of the Irish.

Begorah it's another potato famine! In all seriousness I completely agree. White Southern culture has been completely destroyed. It's just sweet tea and niggerball these days.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

There’s an animatronic of Terry Davis spinning a lasso and yelling “WE GOT THE NIGGER CATTLE WE GOT THE NIGGER CATTLE!!!”.

I want an AA of Terry like Will Rogers in The American Adventure

now that I think about it American Adventure format would probably be the best approach for a Farms attraction

Princess and the frog was a movie that was hyped up atthe time as being "the first 2d animated disney movie in a number of years" and then became "the last 2d animated disney movie". It wasn't the best thing ever but it was a solid movie doing a more modernized subversion on a fairy tale, though shrek and several other movies not made by disney had already done it beforehand. They set it during not quite "modern" modern day though unlike those other so it kind of set it apart. There's also the fact the main villain is a black scam artist that fucks people over with voodoo shit, something disney would NEVER fucking do now. Unlike splash mountain it's not a summary of the actual movie plot. It's like shitty frozen re-theme one that replace the maelstrom where it's set sometime after the movie and there's no conflict at all. Why is this important? Well you know how the drop in the new one has no buildup like the original in the tianna bixnood bayou re-theme?

Well uh there's a song from the movie that pretty much everyone who heard it was gonna be rethemed as princess and the frog ad saw the movie thought would be added. Specifically this bit from it.

GUESS WHAT'S NOT IN THE FUCKING RIDE? I KNOW I ALREADY SAID IT'S NOT IN THERE FUCK

I think that's the single most egregious aspect of the whole thing, is Friends on the Other Side (and reprise) is probably one of the most obvious LOG FLUME GOES HERE since throwing Brer Rabbit into the briar patch

 

[Breadbassket]

There is nothing wrong with Splash Mountain and there is a good chance that whatever replaces it will be a subpar experience as seen in what happened to the ride in Disney Land and Disney World.