Splash Mountain, exhilaratingly controversial
One of the iconoclasts of Disney Parks has long been Splash Mountain. Originally designed for Disneyland in Anaheim, CA for a whopping $75 million (which made it the one of the most expensive projects at time of completion), it has since been replicated in both Disney World and in Tokyo Disneyland. A traditional log flume, Splash Mountain carries riders through scenes of Disney’s Song of the South before carrying them to the top of a 52.5 foot drop at the end.
Located within Frontierland at Disney World and in Critter Country at both Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, it is designed to fit with the Western Frontier theme of the areas. It should come as no surprise that Critter Country is the updated name for what used to be the Indian Village (something we will return to when discussing the controversy).
This theming is apparent from the moment you enter the queue for the ride, with various homages to Song of the South and the frontier. The buildings are intended to look like the old western saloons and buildings that come to mind when thinking of American boom towns during the 19th century.
The interior of the ride takes passengers through calm waters before transporting them to moments from the 1946 Disney film, Song of the South. Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Bear, and Br’er Fox from the tales told by Uncle Remus appear and re-enact the fabled stories. Br’er Rabbit, the protagonist, is a mischievous character who leaves his home in search of adventure while Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox, the antagonists of the story, are determined to catch him, but are repeatedly tricked into letting him free. The ride culminates with Br’er Fox throwing Br’er Rabbit into the briar patch (represented by the flume drop), but Br’er Rabbit escapes uninjured.
Being that this is located within Disney Parks, there is of course a gift shop for customers to buy various items to remember their time on Splash Mountain. T-shirts, frames, and adorable plushes of the various animals featured in ride allow fans to extract value from the experience and spread their memories from the ride to family and friends upon returning home.
In addition, there are various easter eggs that enable big Disney fans to enjoy the ride in a different way from just general park-goers, an example of drillability. The more you look into the details of the line queue and theming of the ride, the more intricate surprises await! “Real fans” know that, for example, getting on the ride late at night allows for a pristine view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks in Disney World and fans can also look for the 68(!) animated figures that appear on the ride.
So why is this controversial, you may ask? Well, if you aren’t familiar with Song of the South (and why would you be?), buckle up for a look at the side of Disney they would prefer you not see.
The story depicts the experience of a young boy who goes to visit his plantation-owning grandparents in the Deep South, during Reconstruction. He runs into challenges while living on the plantation and is guided through the obstacles by a sharecropper who lives on the plantation, named Uncle Remus. His telling of the Br’er Patch stories and overall cheerfulness paints a glorified version of plantations and Reconstruction, with little mention of the cruel injustices of slavery or deep-rooted racism that continues to pervade plantations to this day.
It is also important to consider the location of Splash Mountain, as mentioned before. Frontierland (and Critter Country) have always been areas of Disney parks that function to revise the narrative of American colonialism and imperialism, as mentioned by Leon-Boys & Chávez. It removes guilt from the shoulders of White Americans who feel uncomfortable facing the more unkind details that went into the foundation of this country. Rather than educate and acknowledge these facts, we instead are subject to kitschy re-creations of the past that do nothing more than sweep atrocities under the rug. White Americans are celebrated in re-enactments of frontier life, notably avoiding any suggestion of moral or ethical treatments of Natives and Mexicans. Splash Mountain, like the area, only really serves to emphasize this fact, by ignoring mentions of Uncle Remus or the revisionism of Song of the South.
In light of recent racial justice movements, Disney has elected to make the long overdue decision and redesign Splash Mountain, opting to utilize the story of Princess and the Frog. It remains shocking to me, however, that Song of the South ever appeared to be a text that Disney could bring to life. This ride was not built for opening at any of the parks, and was instead introduced in 1989, long after it should’ve been acceptable to open this ride. Disney’s shame of being associated with the film is reflected in their refusal to release it from the Disney Vault, not even placing it on Disney +.
As a note, I should mention that this remodeling of the ride will only occur at the American parks, opting to leave Tokyo Disneyland’s ride as is. It is also interesting that all three rides are nearly identical replicas of the original in Anaheim. Considering Japanese park-goers have no clue the dark history behind the ride, and with no bearing on it’s culture, it should come as no surprise that Disney is leaving it alone.
