@@TonyGoldmark Speaking of music, who's the artist who plays the cover of "Zip a Dee Do Dah" at 15:41 and 46:36? I thought it was Ray Charles, but I'm not getting any results like that same video and audio I've marked. Is it someone else? (To be clear, for those who inquire my choice of words, I'm not well versed in varying pop artists in general so I'm only asking which artist made a cover of this popular song I don't particularly care for(I don't think it's bad or good, I just don't care, it's Disney and that's all that matters to me really), and I went of a quick but vague visual image of Ray Charles, hoping I'll have SOME guidance towards any videos available of this one rendition I'm finding myself really liking.)
I swear to god if this ride doesn't have a commercial with a bunch of teenagers trying to ride the new ride but aren't able to, leading to them having an out of body experience including hip hop construction workers, it will already be worse than splash mountain.
As many others have said, there NEEDS to be a Tiana's Place restaurant to complete the theming. It would especially fit in New Orleans Square in Disneyland
This is honestly a good thing. The ride gets to stay, except now it gets some well needed deep repairs and a fully updated story featuring a character from a movie that deserves more love. I hope we can also get a Tiana's Place food area nearby. But the whole scrubbing all traces Zip A Dee Doo Dah is a little too much. It's still deeply ingrained in the parks, and I'm disappointed they're removing all traces of it
Even before this retheme, I was wondering why Tiana’s Palace never became a reality at New Orleans Square. I would pay good money to eat her pumpkin gumbo and beignets.
I feel like the imagineers will probably leave in some form of splash mountain references, whether it be small nods or something else. They’re going to want to appeal to all fans in order to maintain sales.
Not related to Splash Mountain, but if you want to read the Uncle Remus stories and not feel bad about it, you should check out Julius Lester's Complete Tales of Uncle Remus which have the benefit of an actual black person having written them as opposed to a white guy trying to capture slave dialect....yikes. Also Lester's just a good writer, plus they include artwork by Jerry Pinkney!
While I do enjoy the ride due to being a great mixture of a log flume and dark ride attractions, I’m fine for it being replaced. The animatronics are in terrible shape and updating it to Princess and the Frog could bring in some new, imaginative set pieces, effects, and animatronics. Plus, having animals that actually exist in the bayou could make it more authentic than just jamming in random animals from America Sings.
Exactly. Imagine the modern technology from Disney World’s Snow White ride in this one with improved animatronics and crystal clear projection technology.
You read my mind about having "ARE YOU READY?!" playing as you ascend the lift hill. The ride's storyline just HAS to involve Facilier in some way. (You know, "he escaped the demons" or it's his ghost or some such.)
I worked on Pirates of the Caribbean back in 2012 and I remember overhearing a CM saying that Imagineering was already working on a Princess And The Frog revamp of Splash Mountain way back then. The same CM claimed that they saw a virtual mockup of the attraction so I took it with a grain of salt. Good to see it’s actually happening, though. I appreciate the animated segments of Song of the South for its, well, animation, but Princess and the Frog is the better all-around movie that deserves a ride.
Honestly. I would be genuinely interested in it being dissected and used as study material in specific types of classrooms. particularly in classes dealing with racism and movies of this topic.
Fine, I can accept Splash Mountain going away. But all I want now is a proper "farewell" celebration for its closing, and an Easter egg of it in the retheme.
Covid makes me fear that the "Farewell celebration" won't happen, but the Easter Egg is basically guaranteed, Disney does it practically every time a ride is replaced/rethemed
Stevefreak VEVO they probably won’t start returning it for a while, they’ll most likely want to want to keep it around through the 50th Anniversary. And they literally just started planning it, something this big should take all the time it needs
I mean the Easter egg isn’t impossible considering P&TF is set in the 20’s and Uncle Remus has a…complicated history in African-America culture, but admittedly Disney seems to want to distance themselves from the property further
I don't get the outrage for the change. It's not the first nor the last ride/area Disney will update as time marches on. And frankly, Princess and the Frog feels like the perfect thing to retheme it on. Not only does it transform the ride as one of the few reminders of a movie Disney regrets being in their stable of films for its racism into one that empowers black people. The bayou setting just makes sense for a water themed ride.
Well Disneyland will be making a huge mistake look I understand it’s just a ride but people really do have a heart for splash especially people who have informed themselves on the good stuff that “Song of the South,” offers.
Remember when they wanted to save Tower of Terror with a petition but didn’t work? Now after what’s been happening fans started a petition to change Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog and it’s actually happening now they wanna save Splash Mountain with a petition again. You people can’t change your mind can you?
@Nikola Leviathan I mean, it's easy to say that now because Splash Mountain is what you're used to. But who knows? The new ride might be even better. Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice.
My dad actually did talk about the movie and it’s controversies when we were waiting in line (he is a Boomer ,but he’s not white just for the record). I liked the SOTS Splash Mountain as a kid mostly because I was a naïve little girl that just thought bunnies were cute (that and Jess Harnell I guess LOL). I also have a weird, fun story about a Brer Rabbit doll I got at the gift shop
@@tscream80They're not even from Song of the South, they're from the defunct Disney attraction called America Sings, as are most of the other characters in Splash Mountain.
I despise cancel culture but when a bigot tries to cry out about it, don’t take it seriously. They’re the ones that are far more likely to cancel others. They poison the conversation. You’re either for cancel culture or you’re not. I don’t like hypocrites. And no, I don’t believe this change is an example of it and yes, I do believe in consequences for bad behavior. Context and nuance always matters.
I will miss Splash Mountain, but re-theming it to Princess and the Frog will be a breath of fresh air, and going on the same rides over and over again would inevitably get boring and dated, so I'll be looking forward to the new ride. And with re-theming, can Disney World change the Dinoland USA, that section of Animal Kingdom is boring and feels like you stepped into Six Flags (not a good sign), instead change Dinoland USA to a Zootopia themed area.
Well they should keep the Dinosaur ride in some way, but I agree. I also agree that while it will be missed, the new Splash Mountain theme would work perfectly.
Wesley Hunt I agree. I’ve always enjoyed the ride there (the one where you travel through time to capture a dinosaur). I’d hope it could become more than the Kiddie section of Animal Kingdom.
I'm all for the change. I do like Splash Mountain, but I adore Princess and the frog so I'm on Team Tiana. I wonder if they would change the name of the ride, I could totally see them naming it Splash Bayou or something similar.
So in short, this video could be summarized with "Here! Educate yourself" XD Great video as always Tony, I was looking forward to this for a while and I was not disappointed :)
Omg that camera flash when he threw Brer Rabbit into the briar patch 😂😂😂. They really tried to make that moment a bigger deal than what it actually was in the film lol.
Crazy idea time. Song of the south legit seems like it would benefit the most from whole "live action remake" beige disney is doing. Disney gets to keep zippidy do da and gain all the brownie points from "righting a past wrong".
@@admechskitarii6967 if not a direct remake possibly a side-make or something. Similar to the Pete's dragon remake, dramatically different but covering the same ground. Though I also see what you mean about baggage. If they do anything it would need to over shadow or completely mis direct people away from the orginal movie.
@@trashymc4564 I think the best thing to do would be to cut Uncle Remus out and just do a Br'er Rabbit movie, sticking mainly to the original folktales themselves and not what Joel Chandler Harris did with them.
@@tkayube honestly that sounds like the best way to handle it. But the time for doing that has long sense past. The best point that could have happend is when splash mountain first happened, but due to it being made while walt was around you would probably get a mass amount of complaints about "altering walts history" or something.
Reminder that unless you're a Disney turbo nerd, a dark ride enthusiast or, obviously a contrarian thunderchud who never gave a shit about Disney theme park rides until Twitter reminded him to be offended at something involving Disney, no one rode Splash Mountain for the dark ride aspect, nor did they knew or care to know it was a Song of the South themed ride.
Tony, you're the one who brought me around on this issue by reminding me what great music would be used. I was always a big fan of Splash Mountain for purely nostalgic reasons. It's the only ride I really remembered from my childhood trip and when I went as an adult it was at the top of my to do list and I had a great time. I didn't look deeper than that. When this all started I asked for opinions from friends with more insight into it, namely POC on my friends list to see if my opinion needed adjusting. In the end, I decided yes I agreed it needed the retheme, but I was still sad to see it go. Until you posted about Friends on the Other Side. I have been 100% on board ever since.
But has Disney ever done a ride for a TV show. I don't think so I've been waiting years for a phineas and ferb Rollercoaster thrill like ride XD. (Like that will ever happen) (probs in epcot ala test track with some education stuff on friction and inertia or something XD)
Super Nova1486 Actually yes. There's Gadget's Go-Coaster in Toon Town which is for the Rescue Rangers, and they did a retheme of the Motorboats to gummy bears. And that was all following Disney Afternoon Avenue, a retheme of small world mall to promote the Disney afternoon program block.
@@illusionsmage Oh well never mind then cool! thanks for the cool theme park trivia! I wish they would do it again then especially for shows like Phineas and Ferb and gravity falls that have either been long-lasting or had in impact. I sort of get why they might not do it (due to shows not being as memorable,"classic", or well known in the long run like a movie) but there are most def exceptions.
Disney did such a good job hiding song of the south that when I was a little kid, I found a picture book that was a written version of one of the segments (I almost wanna say it was the baby *shudder*) and I thought it was a splash mountain book. Regardless, I’m 100% down for SM’s retheming. At least kids know who Tiana is.
Not too long ago, in a used bookstore, I came across a Disney picture book from the seventies that retold the story of Br'er Rabbit and the tar baby. Only someone at the Disney picture book division must've gotten wise, because in this version, it wasn't a tar baby but a stuffed rabbit coated in sticky glue!
Something tells me this change is gonna get a similar response to the time The Twilight tower of terror was replaced with The Guardians Mission: Breakout (which i hope it isn't entirely the case)
I was already on board with the retheme, but realizing how utterly perfectly Friends on the Other Side would fit the ride now somehow makes me want it even more Edit: I somehow forgot Dig a little Deeper was a thing and now I want this retheme even more than even more
I don't think I'll miss Splash Mountain. Despite how much good memories I've had on that ride, I think I've ridden it enough to let go of it without feeling sad. I'm happy for the time we did have with it. Had the theming been changed to literally any other movie I'd be sad to see it go. Princess and the Frog is one of my favorite Disney movies and I was sad to see it get shafted for as long as it has. I was glad it had a presence in a few shows, but I always thought it was one of those scrappy cult classic Disney movies that'd only be referenced a few times, but giving Princess and the Frog their own E-Ticket is really going to boost the IP's worth in the eyes of Disney. Splash Mountain always gets long lines no matter what time of day so giving one of my favorite movies such valuable real estate is extremely lucky. I hope Laughing Place gets rethemed to the 'Other Side'. A physical animatronic interacting with his own shadow would be fun. Letting the projected shadow interact with physical props would be great. I hope Ray and Evangeline are in the finale as stars shining over where the steamboat is Splash. I love the idea of getting Tony Baxter and the Mickey's Runaway Railway director to work together on this ride, it's like the past and future of the company coming together to create another great ride that'll no doubt be in the parks for a long time.
@20:56 funny thing about Birth of a Nation: l live, and including my neighborhood block, in the former area that housed the studio lot owned by DW Griffith. Hell, the area that housed the main office, which has a Historical Landmark plaque, now sells Propane and propane accessories. I’m honestly surprised that no KKK members live here. I guess my diverse neighborhood kicked them out at some point.
My take is that the brer characters and their story (that’s told through the ride), due to Disney’s suppression of SOTS, kinda evolved past SOTS and it almost seemed like they became park-based IPs like Figment, the Country Bears, or the Hatbox ghost. They were the characters from Splash Mountain and Critter Country first, then characters from SOTS second. Also the ride is just... so good. It’s fun. I love the music from it so much and its presence at all will be probably be ripped from the parks :( So i will be sad to see characters almost exclusively now associated with the parks go away, but Princess and the Frog is my favorite Disney movie so I’m glad to see it get rep in the parks as well
Everyone knows the REAL reason they're closing this thing is because of that little incident with animatronic Brer Fox threatening to marry some poor guy's dad.
31:02-31:41-Actually, another big reason as to why Eisner gave to okay to build Splash Mountain was because, while Song of the South was being surrounded with controversy, praise was still given to the animated portions of the movie (even among those who hated the film), which further excited the Disney Imagineers.
Thank you, truly. Too many theme park channels think the issues of removing the white supremacy from the parks and giving Tiana a ride of her own are two seperate issues, and they are not. I really appreciate your perspective on this topic and how you approached sharing it. You brought up a lot of points I didn't even think about. I think this is probably the best video explaining why removing these characters from this ride is so important. Its educational, honest, and still very funny and for that, I thank you :)
Just discovered your channel, and MAN, you are criminally underrated!!! I don't usually watch long-form content but I've been watching one after the other of your videos. These are so well written and performed and are so consistently quality all the way through. Hope you keep up the great stuff my friend!!
Thanks! I've kinda left videos behind for now, and I'm devoting most of my attention to my weekly podcast, check it out! escapefromvaultdisney.libsyn.com/
I want to see Princess and the Frog-themed splash mountain, there's a lot of cool stuff they could do with the swamp theme and music Honestly I didn't even know that Splash Mountain was based on something, I thought it was just a big ride whose thing was being a huge landmark like Space Mountain.
The possibilities are endless. Dig a little deeper could be the finale to the ride, they could reuse a lot of the older animatronics (not that I don’t want new ones (I do!), but the animals and a lot of the other character models could fit well to the existing skeletons), and the drop having friends on the other side. Oof so many good things to come.
I'm fine with this as long as the ride itself isn't changed beyond a "repair" to make it smoother. There's so many cool things they could add with the new Princess and the Frog theme and I just hope they don't cheap out on it.
@@TonyGoldmark What I’m fascinated as I’m reading the history of the production. I keep thinking about the role of the voice actor in narration, voice acting and now motion capture and despite the significance of radio, TV and video games in voice acting with how prominent it is. In cinema, it never officially gets recognised in acclaim.
Splash Mountain has need a good full deep refurbishment for the last decade. You can only repair 40 year-old animatronics for so long before it would just be cheaper to replace it all.
40:50 Actually, the animated segments from Song of the South were included as extras on the DVD and Blu-ray of Alice in Wonderland, so maybe that's what that family was thinking of.
Wait, did anyone else see that yellow hat go flying in the Splash Mountain ad at 32:46? "Take a ride on Splash Mountain so we can get your money and your belongings!"
@@TonyGoldmark Possible but I'm seeing a potential brim as it turns. In either case, I'm retroactively misremembering that as the slogan for the ride to forget the fact that the song from the other ad is on loop in my head.
Years ago when my family went to visit my relatives in California, we went to Disneyland. I seem to remember my cousins finding a sword from the Pirates of the Carribean gift shop just floating in the water... hey, free sword!
A part of me will miss the Splash Mountain music, but if we get better animatronics, better projections, more songs, and Dr. Facilier, I will definitely prefer this retheme.
@ 40:47 I can see how they came to that conclusion: one of the DVDs of Alice in Wonderland had the animated segments of Song of the South as a bonus feature.
That Wild clip probably made me more uncomfortable than any horror film I’ve ever seen. Also, are you considering moving one movie later to a podcast like state of the parks? (You know, whenever we can go see a movie again)
Tony Goldmark Fair enough, I guess there probably aren’t enough movies yearly with theme park connections to devote the time to either videos or podcasts. Been following the podcast since it started and love it. You make consistent great content.
I always thought Princess and the Frog screamed for a ride. It had a great stylized world and just makes so much sense. The only things good about Song of the South are the technology of the Animation blending and the Uncle Remus performance. I don't even think it should be looked at politically. Princess and the Frog is just flat out much better and well known than Song of the South. Hell, a lot of people don't even know Splash Mountain is based on Song of the South, that's how rich that world is.
I believe that this video was Tony’s last attempt at any video format, before he dedicated his full time to Escape from Vault Disney It’s funny because it released the exact same day that I had to take a gap year and return to my home country because of COVID-19
It seems to me (a white guy, so take it with a grain of salt), that they could do a remake of Song of the South pretty easily and eliminate the issues. The book was supposed to be stories African Americans told their kids for moral lessons, so have it be Uncle Remus telling his kids, or grandkids, not some white kids. He's happy go lucky and upbeat, BECAUSE HE'S A FREE MAN NOW. You don't need to have more than a line of dialog referencing that slavery did exist and they are very glad to be out of that terrible time, but there are still lingering effects. Go lighter on the stereotypical accents and don't have the broken English. Have them living in their own little makeshift town in the middle of nowhere instead of a plantation, since without the pointless white boy plot the setting isn't as important. And the animated sections would be mostly the same. Just don't have the tar baby one, there are plenty of other stories from the book to use.
Good idea, but I don't see Disney as an entertainment entity willing to take that risk. Then again maybe I'm jaded by how many of their recent movies these last two years felt a bit hollow to me.
Maybe have him tell his grandchildren, "These stories we told among ourselves, in slave days...well, children, the rabbit's the most vulnerable animal I can think of. He's at the mercy of all the big animals and their claws and teeth. And yet, don't Br'er Rabbit always come out on top? Maybe these stories of ours were our way of tellin' ourselves...if a rabbit can outsmart the ones keepin' him down, what's to stop us from doin' the same?"
The Jurassic World retheme also somehow made the ride inferior to the original version from both a technological and storytelling perspective, so we can safely assume that the Princess & the Frog retheme will make the ride superior to the Song of the South theming in both categories.
Honestly....why not give the Princess and The Frog a ride? I mean it may be the last traditional animation disney film we ever get, the music was amazing, and lets be absolutely honest here, why maintain a ride for a movie that is super dead. I mean, even from a pure business standpoint, it makes sense.
- The theming of the ride is not based on Song of the South, but on the Br’er stories. These are genuine African folklore, which the NAACP describe as “beautiful Uncle Remus folklore”. - The Princess and the Frog is based on a novel by ED Baker, a white women, who had based her novel on a fairytale by Brothers Grimm, who were white men - The songs in Princess and the Frog were written by a white man, who repeatedly uses the N word in another of his songs (ruclips.net/video/hTLHxpUQ_B8/видео.html) - PatF features several problematic scenes featuring racial stereotypes (which were written by white people) - To remove actual African folklore from the park, to replace it with white people’s impressions of southern Black culture, feels like whitewashing
Again, if Disney’s aim is to make the parks a more friendly and inclusive place - a move which I absolutely embrace & welcome - more good would be served by retaining actual African folklore, James Baskett’s award winning rendition of Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and spending the budget earmarked for changing the ride, to build around it with education on the stories.
There are so many inspirational Black stories that Disney could tell - ripping one of them out of the parks to replace it with white people’s caricatures does not feel progressive. And while we're discussing Song of the South, it would be nice for someone to actually do something to right this wrong: one of the lead actresses, Hattie McDaniel, was unable to have her wish of being laid to rest in the Hollywood Cemetery granted, as it was for whites only. I would like everyone who reads this to pause and reflect on how disgusting, narrow minded and stupid that is. In death, where our bodies return to dust, racism persisted.
Splash Mountain WAS in fact based on Song of the South, which was in turn based on Joel Chandler Harris' "interpretations" of the Br'er stories. Harris was white. Walt Disney was white. The screenwriters he hired were white. The songwriters of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" were white. The current version of Splash Mountain also contains watered-down "white people's caricatures" and practically zero authentic "genuine African folklore." And incidentally, one of the screenwriters of The Princess and the Frog was Rob Edwards, a black man. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Edwards_(screenwriter)
@@TonyGoldmark There is zero reference to the actual setting of Song of the South and the Br'er stories have been released in animated shorts as well as in animated books as standalone features. Once you remove the overly idyllic framing story (which Splash has done), you are suddenly left with inoffensive stories brought to America by Black people. We can all agree JCH profiteered off the back of someone else's stories, but multiple organisations including the NAACP all acknowledge that the stories are genuine African folklore. They refer to them as beautiful. Others have also publicly denounced the live action framing story, whilst promoting the Br'er stories. It's rather astounding that in 2009, Disney had ONE black screenwriter in a movie where they attempted to depict Black culture. Zip was performed by a black man - the first black man to win an Academy Award. In fact, this was the award winning performance. And it took A LOT of protesting to get him that award (he had been given a rather condescending "honourary" award, while others all received full awards for the same work). In my opinion, if the aim is to make the parks a more inclusive place, it makes a lot more sense to build on actual African folklore than it does to spend millions ripping it out of the park and replacing it with something that has no actual connection to African Americans or their history.
I should also point out that Alain Locke & Hattie McDaniel also had input on the screenplay & script - both of whom were black. And Walter White, then secretary of the NAACP was invited to work on script revisions (though declined) - so your assertion that there was no non-white input in to the script is also wrong.
@@nicksmith6647 Okay, now you're just moving the goalposts. "Princess and the Frog was written by white people!" No, they hired a black screenwriter. "Oh, just ONE black screenwriter?" Do you think Mr. Edwards would appreciate you devaluing his contributions to the screenplay OR his blackness? McDaniel acted in the movie, she didn't write the screenplay. It's possible she suggested a line change here or there, but I'm sure Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley , Jenifer Lewis , Oprah Winfrey and Terence Howard all did too when they recorded their P&tF dialogue. And as for Locke, he offered Walt some advice, but there's a huge difference between offering some advice and actually being hired as a screenwriter. And your defense of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" having been "performed by a black man" doesn't really hold water here, since the character that black man portrayed was never anywhere to be found in the ride. And while Disney has indeed released the Brer stories separately over the years, they are no longer officially available today due to their connection to a movie that discomforts Disney's current executives. They are retheming Splash Mountain for marketing reasons, basing it around a movie kids have heard of, as opposed to one they haven't. Kids in particular don't give a shit if the rabbit animatronic is based on African folklore (nor will they likely care to learn, since no one goes on vacation to be taught shit) but they WILL recognize a black princess as a black princess, and that can be incredibly meaningful to black little girls in particular, regardless of whether older white people such as yourself approve. Lemme ask you this, Nick - were you this upset when Disney changed the Tower of Terror into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride, or California Screamin' into The Incredicoaster? If so, have you considered that you just don't like change? And if not, if I were you I'd take a moment to ask yourself why you're ONLY selecting your outrage in instances when companies try (not always succeed, mind you, but try) to be less racist. Either way, you're clearly more interested in sticking with your pre-arrived-at dogmatic conclusion than in altering your opinion to reflect newly-learned facts. It's disingenuous and childish and I have no time for it, especially today. I'll let you respond one more time IF it's to apologize for bothering me, but I have no interest in prolonging this argument any longer, so any further comments of yours in which you attempt to do so will be deleted, is that clear?
Really cruel for Disney to announce this during where most African-American children won’t be able to see this open because of COVID-19 (Black people disproportionately represented in essential jobs)
The only comfort I can offer is that, if things go at all right with COVID there will probably not be much risk left by the time the refurb is done. I could be wrong but I think that they've actually been deferring maintenance on both parks' versions because they're going to have to redo the entire show building's exteriors as well as interiors. May as well replace all the water track too. That will take at least a year from the shutdown date, probably closer to 18 months.
Disney is jut the lightning rod for these things because of popularity. I am sure that if you ask most people including me they go: Huh Universal and Sea world are opening too. Well that is bad too.
The ride needs changed badly, and personally I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with the princess and the frog theming, I’m just hoping for actual animatronics and not face projections. And song wise, the only thing I’ll miss is people reaction when they think a frog has asked them to show him there balls.
So glad to see your work again. I really appreciate the balance of "Oh God the world is on fire and we're all gonna die" with some solid insights that are well-expressed.
I find it abit hard that princess and the frog will be “problematic” to warrant another ride change. Especially since we’re gonna have that Tiana followup on Disney plus no doubt just helping to solidify her place in the park. Besides if that were the case we better be planning to remove the Peter Pan, Aladdin, and freaking DUMBO rides too!
I am still obsessed with the return of the *ding* "toldja!" Bit. Like yesss a reference to my favorite video that also continues the point you're making? Astounding
I wasn't there opening day, but it was close. With that context out of the way, am I sad? You bet. I'm not even likely to get a last glimpse in before the work walls cover everything up, and I suspect Tokyo Disneyland will have done the refurb by the time I go back there, if I ever do. I'm going to miss the ride, the occasional bits of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on the loop, the classic style animatronics. If we could have both versions, I'd be all for it. But, at the same time, I'm as white as they come. If this thing is making ANYONE uncomfortable when they visit Disney parks, go ahead, get out the wrecking ball and smash it flat. Even if I never get over it, my nostalgia does not outweigh some other family not being able to get everything possible out of their day at the castle park. I'll probably enjoy the new one just as much, and someone else is probably going to enjoy it more. ...but I would still like the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah track back in some of the ambient loops, if possible.
I've been too busy working two jobs, seven days a week, to keep up with the videos from Mr. Goldmark. (I only met him once, years ago, so I don't feel comfortable addressing him too familiarly.) But he astounded me again with this video. He got deep into the problems and the controversies about race depictions in popular culture, and still left me grinning. A pity he doesn't feel safe enough to shoot video in the parks again, even while masked.
I know SOTS was going to hurt. I mean the animations good, but that's it. It's Pure BORING Racism and nothing more. Walt should have known better because he is a great filmmaker, Animator, and pioneer of the Theme Park with Disneyland. But sometimes people made some bad choices man.
I'll tell you a big reason the Florida parks reopened earlier: the DVC. Pandemic or not, Vacation Club members either use their points or they lose their points. It's also why WDW recovered so quickly after the 9/11 travel drought compared to Univeral Orlando.
This was a very well done, thoughtful and measured look at a subject like this. Really don't have much to say other than that, this was really damn good. As for the stuff about the ride in question... I was fine with this change from the beginning. I mean even when setting aside all the oddities of the fact that this was a ride based on a movie that Disney themselves has deemed too insensitive to even think about rereleasing in the US, I never saw any reason why they should keep an attraction based on something that is so irrelevant and I say this as someone who really does love the original attraction. But... if given the choice between hearing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" the hundredth time and riding on something based on one of my favorite Disney movies which has the possibility of giving me the chance to hear "Friends on the Other Side"? I mean... goddamn it I know exactly what I'd choose.
Tony: I Think The Movie Ends With Charlotte Grooming A Kid Also Tony: ^Shows The Clip Of Charlotte Being Creepy While Dancing With A Six & A Half Year Old Boy^ Me: ^Looks Over At The Official Charlotte Doll That I Have On Display In My Room^ Also Me: 😭🙀I’ll Never Think Of You The Same Way Ever Again!🙀😭
I'll bet they'll have Lewis the Alligator play "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" on his trumpet as an Easter egg. :)
Cool, Idea Hewy.
that would be amazing
I like that idea and I can totally see that
Now I want a Princess and the Frog ride even more!
Just like the real-life Louis Armstrong (the character's namesake) played back in the day! Fans should push hard for this. :)
That "Someone's Waiting For You" chorus was too much! XD
I think the song from The Rescuers that would have made the most sense for that part of the ride would have been "Rescue Aid Society".
@@c0mf0rta61ynum6 yeah but that wouldn't have been as funny
I feel like Tomorrow is another day is the only song people know from that movie
@@TonyGoldmark Speaking of music, who's the artist who plays the cover of "Zip a Dee Do Dah" at 15:41 and 46:36?
I thought it was Ray Charles, but I'm not getting any results like that same video and audio I've marked. Is it someone else?
(To be clear, for those who inquire my choice of words, I'm not well versed in varying pop artists in general so I'm only asking which artist made a cover of this popular song I don't particularly care for(I don't think it's bad or good, I just don't care, it's Disney and that's all that matters to me really), and I went of a quick but vague visual image of Ray Charles, hoping I'll have SOME guidance towards any videos available of this one rendition I'm finding myself really liking.)
@@michaelwilliamybarra2409 It was indeed Ray Charles, from THIS special: ruclips.net/video/9gVsgoqcbqY/видео.html
I swear to god if this ride doesn't have a commercial with a bunch of teenagers trying to ride the new ride but aren't able to, leading to them having an out of body experience including hip hop construction workers, it will already be worse than splash mountain.
I absolutely had assumed that Splash Mountain had just always been at the park since it opened.
This backstory is fascinating
Same here. Idk how or why but for whatever reason it just seems like it was always there.
@@stefanfilipovits21 That's a credit to the imagineers. As far as the mountain and how it compliments the environment, they made it feel timeless.
That revelation legit felt like a Mandela effect thing.
As someone born in 1983, I can tell you that Splash Mountain opening definitely happened in my lifetime. I was eight when it opened in Florida.
As many others have said, there NEEDS to be a Tiana's Place restaurant to complete the theming. It would especially fit in New Orleans Square in Disneyland
Well put.
You finally got your wish!
@@captaintaco979 I know right?! When I heard the news I lost it. Couldn’t believe they actually did it
This is honestly a good thing. The ride gets to stay, except now it gets some well needed deep repairs and a fully updated story featuring a character from a movie that deserves more love. I hope we can also get a Tiana's Place food area nearby.
But the whole scrubbing all traces Zip A Dee Doo Dah is a little too much. It's still deeply ingrained in the parks, and I'm disappointed they're removing all traces of it
Even before this retheme, I was wondering why Tiana’s Palace never became a reality at New Orleans Square. I would pay good money to eat her pumpkin gumbo and beignets.
Jazzy Tyfighter that needs to be built too
I feel like the imagineers will probably leave in some form of splash mountain references, whether it be small nods or something else. They’re going to want to appeal to all fans in order to maintain sales.
They also could have made a little mermaid ride, but it would have required CRAB EXPERIMENTS
We already got one. Just go to California Adventure.
But we must condemn it for not having CRAB EXPERIMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!
Mattbrain It means CRAB EXPERIMENTS
I mean needs
Who liked my reply
20:00 'Get Out ~ The Musical'
Is it wrong that I kinda want that now
Nope. Only thing we need is a full version of "Everybody's Got a Sunken Place" and 10+ more songs
I 👏 want 👏 it 👏
@@ForrestFox626 yeah that would be awesome
How sweet that you'd pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman at the beginning of the video. Wakanda forever.
WAKANDA FOREVER TOO!
Not related to Splash Mountain, but if you want to read the Uncle Remus stories and not feel bad about it, you should check out Julius Lester's Complete Tales of Uncle Remus which have the benefit of an actual black person having written them as opposed to a white guy trying to capture slave dialect....yikes. Also Lester's just a good writer, plus they include artwork by Jerry Pinkney!
And then Universal made a direct-to-DVD animated feature based on Lester's telling of the stories! Not kidding.
@@MistCLaneous Is it good, or at the very least inoffensive?
Sounds like fun.
Did anyone else have a horrified laughing fit at the "Sunken Place" song? That's a new level of horror comedy - SOCIAL horror comedy.
You know, that would have been even funnier if he had included a clip of the sunken log car.
I laughed my ass off, which I guess is appropriate
*Tony Goldmark uploads new State of the Parks episode*
OUR THEME PARK KING HAS RETURNED!!!
While I do enjoy the ride due to being a great mixture of a log flume and dark ride attractions, I’m fine for it being replaced. The animatronics are in terrible shape and updating it to Princess and the Frog could bring in some new, imaginative set pieces, effects, and animatronics. Plus, having animals that actually exist in the bayou could make it more authentic than just jamming in random animals from America Sings.
Mattbrain I was expecting some touch ups on the animatronics when the ride closed for a major refurb back in 2018 but it was just the drop.
Exactly. Imagine the modern technology from Disney World’s Snow White ride in this one with improved animatronics and crystal clear projection technology.
“Everybody’s Got a Sunken Place” had me dying. Great content as always!
I look forward to Tony renaming his channel to "One User".
"One User With A Camera" perhaps?
It is for this topic, I have willingly disassociated myself with Disney related Facebook groups. They are just a whole new level of crazy
You said it!
3 years later the Nutcracker joke has aged like fine wine
I actually watched the film and I LITERALLY don’t remember a SINGLE thing
Tony, how DARE you remind me that The Wild was a Disney movie.
I forgot The Wild even existed
Hey, I had to watch the whole damn thing for the podcast. Y'all can handle ten seconds of it in this video.
The Wild was Madagascar but less funny?
@@teddyfurstman1997 The tragic thing of that movie is it was the final film to have Will Vinton's name on it before his retirement and death.
@@Collageman90 Well... that's depressing.
You read my mind about having "ARE YOU READY?!" playing as you ascend the lift hill. The ride's storyline just HAS to involve Facilier in some way. (You know, "he escaped the demons" or it's his ghost or some such.)
We could go with the cliché we are going you one more chance?
The funny thing is as a kid I assumed the Knott's log ride was a rip off of Splash Mountain. It was the sort of thing you felt like was always there.
I worked on Pirates of the Caribbean back in 2012 and I remember overhearing a CM saying that Imagineering was already working on a Princess And The Frog revamp of Splash Mountain way back then. The same CM claimed that they saw a virtual mockup of the attraction so I took it with a grain of salt. Good to see it’s actually happening, though. I appreciate the animated segments of Song of the South for its, well, animation, but Princess and the Frog is the better all-around movie that deserves a ride.
Exactly!
I haven't seen it, but the cartoon characters look cute
Tony, u need to write a book on the history of Disneyland or WDW. It’d be hilarious and I’d read the f**k out of it.
Eh, maybe someday.
I'd buy it. A book on not only the whole of the park but the impact, history, and purpose of each ride. That sounds amazing!
I’d buy it.
Or you could write the forward of one by Defunctland.
@@AlbinoAxolotl1993 ^this!
Introducing...
...One user with a Camera!
*One user with a Muggle contraption
One baby boy with a camera.
I wouldn't watch the movie unless Spike Lee and Whoopi Goldberg gets a commentary to watch on the background
Honestly. I would be genuinely interested in it being dissected and used as study material in specific types of classrooms. particularly in classes dealing with racism and movies of this topic.
@@locuas5601 If they could manage to stay awake through it.
Fine, I can accept Splash Mountain going away. But all I want now is a proper "farewell" celebration for its closing, and an Easter egg of it in the retheme.
Covid makes me fear that the "Farewell celebration" won't happen, but the Easter Egg is basically guaranteed, Disney does it practically every time a ride is replaced/rethemed
Stevefreak VEVO they probably won’t start returning it for a while, they’ll most likely want to want to keep it around through the 50th Anniversary. And they literally just started planning it, something this big should take all the time it needs
I mean the Easter egg isn’t impossible considering P&TF is set in the 20’s and Uncle Remus has a…complicated history in African-America culture, but admittedly Disney seems to want to distance themselves from the property further
I don't get the outrage for the change. It's not the first nor the last ride/area Disney will update as time marches on. And frankly, Princess and the Frog feels like the perfect thing to retheme it on. Not only does it transform the ride as one of the few reminders of a movie Disney regrets being in their stable of films for its racism into one that empowers black people. The bayou setting just makes sense for a water themed ride.
Well Disneyland will be making a huge mistake look I understand it’s just a ride but people really do have a heart for splash especially people who have informed themselves on the good stuff that “Song of the South,” offers.
Remember when they wanted to save Tower of Terror with a petition but didn’t work? Now after what’s been happening fans started a petition to change Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog and it’s actually happening now they wanna save Splash Mountain with a petition again. You people can’t change your mind can you?
I’m old enough to remember the complaints against ToW in DCA.
Both were for the better...for the most part...
@Nikola Leviathan I mean, it's easy to say that now because Splash Mountain is what you're used to. But who knows? The new ride might be even better. Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice.
And now they're petitioning to Bring back the Disneyland PeopleMover,@@TonyGoldmark
Because we miss the PeopleMover.
@@clarkmorgan4199 sweet! hope that petition succeeds!
Kinda weird having a ride based on a film that no kid aren’t able watch due to ‘issues’
"What movie are those singing gators from?"
My dad actually did talk about the movie and it’s controversies when we were waiting in line (he is a Boomer ,but he’s not white just for the record). I liked the SOTS Splash Mountain as a kid mostly because I was a naïve little girl that just thought bunnies were cute (that and Jess Harnell I guess LOL). I also have a weird, fun story about a Brer Rabbit doll I got at the gift shop
I do admit, that is confusing.
@@tscream80They're not even from Song of the South, they're from the defunct Disney attraction called America Sings, as are most of the other characters in Splash Mountain.
I despise cancel culture but when a bigot tries to cry out about it, don’t take it seriously. They’re the ones that are far more likely to cancel others. They poison the conversation. You’re either for cancel culture or you’re not. I don’t like hypocrites. And no, I don’t believe this change is an example of it and yes, I do believe in consequences for bad behavior. Context and nuance always matters.
F. N. Lorter amen. God I need to get out of tumblr. Nuance and context do not exist there.
Well said
@@katherinealvarez9216 Nuance and context are pretty rare online in general.
@@adamdavis1648 true
I believe in rehabilitation is better to deter bad behaviour. It's usually a result of an internal problem
I will miss Splash Mountain, but re-theming it to Princess and the Frog will be a breath of fresh air, and going on the same rides over and over again would inevitably get boring and dated, so I'll be looking forward to the new ride. And with re-theming, can Disney World change the Dinoland USA, that section of Animal Kingdom is boring and feels like you stepped into Six Flags (not a good sign), instead change Dinoland USA to a Zootopia themed area.
Well they should keep the Dinosaur ride in some way, but I agree. I also agree that while it will be missed, the new Splash Mountain theme would work perfectly.
Everyone loves Dinosaurs though!
I think they should add to it and spice it up, but not remove it.
I'd say just make it more in themeing with the area near the dinosaur ride. Maybe add an aviary because......well birds are dinosaurs.......
Universal has the Jurassic Park section which beats Dinoland USA effortlessly.
Wesley Hunt I agree. I’ve always enjoyed the ride there (the one where you travel through time to capture a dinosaur). I’d hope it could become more than the Kiddie section of Animal Kingdom.
Plenty of sunshine headed my way ‘cause I’m almost there!
I'm all for the change. I do like Splash Mountain, but I adore Princess and the frog so I'm on Team Tiana. I wonder if they would change the name of the ride, I could totally see them naming it Splash Bayou or something similar.
Congrats, Tony 'One User' Goldmark, you earned it!
So in short, this video could be summarized with "Here! Educate yourself" XD
Great video as always Tony, I was looking forward to this for a while and I was not disappointed :)
Omg that camera flash when he threw Brer Rabbit into the briar patch 😂😂😂. They really tried to make that moment a bigger deal than what it actually was in the film lol.
Well there really weren't any other parts of ths movie for a big log flume drop to take place.
Gotta say I was pretty neutral on this change...till you mocked up the "are you ready" lift...I need it
Crazy idea time. Song of the south legit seems like it would benefit the most from whole "live action remake" beige disney is doing. Disney gets to keep zippidy do da and gain all the brownie points from "righting a past wrong".
Not sure how feasible given how much baggage that movie already has, but I see your point
@@admechskitarii6967 if not a direct remake possibly a side-make or something. Similar to the Pete's dragon remake, dramatically different but covering the same ground. Though I also see what you mean about baggage. If they do anything it would need to over shadow or completely mis direct people away from the orginal movie.
@@trashymc4564 I think the best thing to do would be to cut Uncle Remus out and just do a Br'er Rabbit movie, sticking mainly to the original folktales themselves and not what Joel Chandler Harris did with them.
@@tkayube honestly that sounds like the best way to handle it. But the time for doing that has long sense past. The best point that could have happend is when splash mountain first happened, but due to it being made while walt was around you would probably get a mass amount of complaints about "altering walts history" or something.
Reminder that unless you're a Disney turbo nerd, a dark ride enthusiast or, obviously a contrarian thunderchud who never gave a shit about Disney theme park rides until Twitter reminded him to be offended at something involving Disney, no one rode Splash Mountain for the dark ride aspect, nor did they knew or care to know it was a Song of the South themed ride.
Tony, you're the one who brought me around on this issue by reminding me what great music would be used. I was always a big fan of Splash Mountain for purely nostalgic reasons. It's the only ride I really remembered from my childhood trip and when I went as an adult it was at the top of my to do list and I had a great time. I didn't look deeper than that. When this all started I asked for opinions from friends with more insight into it, namely POC on my friends list to see if my opinion needed adjusting. In the end, I decided yes I agreed it needed the retheme, but I was still sad to see it go. Until you posted about Friends on the Other Side. I have been 100% on board ever since.
all that's left now is for half of Critter Country to turn into Gravity Falls
(come on now, you people know you want it)
Yeeesss...
I mean thematically it wouldn’t work but...... GRAVITY FALLS DARK RIDE YES! BRING ON THE NEW MUSEUM OF THE WEIRD!
But has Disney ever done a ride for a TV show. I don't think so
I've been waiting years for a phineas and ferb Rollercoaster thrill like ride XD. (Like that will ever happen) (probs in epcot ala test track with some education stuff on friction and inertia or something XD)
Super Nova1486 Actually yes. There's Gadget's Go-Coaster in Toon Town which is for the Rescue Rangers, and they did a retheme of the Motorboats to gummy bears.
And that was all following Disney Afternoon Avenue, a retheme of small world mall to promote the Disney afternoon program block.
@@illusionsmage Oh well never mind then cool! thanks for the cool theme park trivia! I wish they would do it again then especially for shows like Phineas and Ferb and gravity falls that have either been long-lasting or had in impact. I sort of get why they might not do it (due to shows not being as memorable,"classic", or well known in the long run like a movie) but there are most def exceptions.
Disney did such a good job hiding song of the south that when I was a little kid, I found a picture book that was a written version of one of the segments (I almost wanna say it was the baby *shudder*) and I thought it was a splash mountain book.
Regardless, I’m 100% down for SM’s retheming. At least kids know who Tiana is.
Not too long ago, in a used bookstore, I came across a Disney picture book from the seventies that retold the story of Br'er Rabbit and the tar baby. Only someone at the Disney picture book division must've gotten wise, because in this version, it wasn't a tar baby but a stuffed rabbit coated in sticky glue!
Something tells me this change is gonna get a similar response to the time The Twilight tower of terror was replaced with The Guardians Mission: Breakout (which i hope it isn't entirely the case)
Some fans can be way too petty.
Attraction Name Confirmed!!
"Tiana's Bayou Adventure."
29:44 Michael Eisner in this picture looks like a soulless husk being puppeteered by mickey
I was already on board with the retheme, but realizing how utterly perfectly Friends on the Other Side would fit the ride now somehow makes me want it even more
Edit: I somehow forgot Dig a little Deeper was a thing and now I want this retheme even more than even more
I don't think I'll miss Splash Mountain. Despite how much good memories I've had on that ride, I think I've ridden it enough to let go of it without feeling sad. I'm happy for the time we did have with it. Had the theming been changed to literally any other movie I'd be sad to see it go. Princess and the Frog is one of my favorite Disney movies and I was sad to see it get shafted for as long as it has. I was glad it had a presence in a few shows, but I always thought it was one of those scrappy cult classic Disney movies that'd only be referenced a few times, but giving Princess and the Frog their own E-Ticket is really going to boost the IP's worth in the eyes of Disney. Splash Mountain always gets long lines no matter what time of day so giving one of my favorite movies such valuable real estate is extremely lucky. I hope Laughing Place gets rethemed to the 'Other Side'. A physical animatronic interacting with his own shadow would be fun. Letting the projected shadow interact with physical props would be great. I hope Ray and Evangeline are in the finale as stars shining over where the steamboat is Splash. I love the idea of getting Tony Baxter and the Mickey's Runaway Railway director to work together on this ride, it's like the past and future of the company coming together to create another great ride that'll no doubt be in the parks for a long time.
11:29 The internet broke Dreamfinder's brain.
Above our heads
Just like a vulture
A bloody war
Raged over culture
Before your eyes
The standards double fast
Only care if
Your word's the last!
@@anone.mousse674🎶 EXCRUCIATION!
EXCRUTIATION! 🎶
@20:56 funny thing about Birth of a Nation: l live, and including my neighborhood block, in the former area that housed the studio lot owned by DW Griffith. Hell, the area that housed the main office, which has a Historical Landmark plaque, now sells Propane and propane accessories.
I’m honestly surprised that no KKK members live here. I guess my diverse neighborhood kicked them out at some point.
My take is that the brer characters and their story (that’s told through the ride), due to Disney’s suppression of SOTS, kinda evolved past SOTS and it almost seemed like they became park-based IPs like Figment, the Country Bears, or the Hatbox ghost. They were the characters from Splash Mountain and Critter Country first, then characters from SOTS second.
Also the ride is just... so good. It’s fun. I love the music from it so much and its presence at all will be probably be ripped from the parks :(
So i will be sad to see characters almost exclusively now associated with the parks go away, but Princess and the Frog is my favorite Disney movie so I’m glad to see it get rep in the parks as well
Everyone knows the REAL reason they're closing this thing is because of that little incident with animatronic Brer Fox threatening to marry some poor guy's dad.
Did that happen or is that a joke?
@@bonkman64 It's a creepypasta.
31:02-31:41-Actually, another big reason as to why Eisner gave to okay to build Splash Mountain was because, while Song of the South was being surrounded with controversy, praise was still given to the animated portions of the movie (even among those who hated the film), which further excited the Disney Imagineers.
Princess and the frog fits it so well! Instead of those awful bramble vines imagine beautiful bayou trees as you splash down.
Couldn't agree with you more.
Well…missed opportunity 🤦🏻♀️
Thank you, truly. Too many theme park channels think the issues of removing the white supremacy from the parks and giving Tiana a ride of her own are two seperate issues, and they are not. I really appreciate your perspective on this topic and how you approached sharing it. You brought up a lot of points I didn't even think about. I think this is probably the best video explaining why removing these characters from this ride is so important. Its educational, honest, and still very funny and for that, I thank you :)
Just discovered your channel, and MAN, you are criminally underrated!!! I don't usually watch long-form content but I've been watching one after the other of your videos. These are so well written and performed and are so consistently quality all the way through. Hope you keep up the great stuff my friend!!
Thanks! I've kinda left videos behind for now, and I'm devoting most of my attention to my weekly podcast, check it out! escapefromvaultdisney.libsyn.com/
@@TonyGoldmark awesome! Will check it out later today
I want to see Princess and the Frog-themed splash mountain, there's a lot of cool stuff they could do with the swamp theme and music
Honestly I didn't even know that Splash Mountain was based on something, I thought it was just a big ride whose thing was being a huge landmark like Space Mountain.
I'm just excited at the idea of Keith David in a Disney Attraction.
Anon E. Mousse keith David is the most perfect being on this planet
@@anone.mousse674 it just occurred to me, this movie includes a scene of Goliath crushing Darkwing Duck! A Disney Afternoon fan's nightmare!
The possibilities are endless. Dig a little deeper could be the finale to the ride, they could reuse a lot of the older animatronics (not that I don’t want new ones (I do!), but the animals and a lot of the other character models could fit well to the existing skeletons), and the drop having friends on the other side. Oof so many good things to come.
I'm fine with this as long as the ride itself isn't changed beyond a "repair" to make it smoother. There's so many cool things they could add with the new Princess and the Frog theme and I just hope they don't cheap out on it.
That "Are You Ready!?" dub over the climb was EXCELLENT! I agree with Jake Peralta it gave me literal chills!
James Baskett is the only actor to technically win any Oscar for a voice performance. 94 years and only one actor.
And it wasn't even JUST for a voice performance, he also physically played Uncle Remus.
@@TonyGoldmark That’s why I said technically because of James Baskett’s performance as Uncle Remus making this clear.
@@TonyGoldmark What I’m fascinated as I’m reading the history of the production. I keep thinking about the role of the voice actor in narration, voice acting and now motion capture and despite the significance of radio, TV and video games in voice acting with how prominent it is. In cinema, it never officially gets recognised in acclaim.
The gag before the credits was AWESOME!!!!!
Splash Mountain has need a good full deep refurbishment for the last decade. You can only repair 40 year-old animatronics for so long before it would just be cheaper to replace it all.
Also, Princess and the Frog and Waterslides make sense.
This is why I don’t go on Twitter
Can't say I blame you.
RIP Chadwick Boseman.
40:50 Actually, the animated segments from Song of the South were included as extras on the DVD and Blu-ray of Alice in Wonderland, so maybe that's what that family was thinking of.
"..where criticism means cancelling and cancelling means nothing at all!" XD Tony, I love you!
Wait, did anyone else see that yellow hat go flying in the Splash Mountain ad at 32:46?
"Take a ride on Splash Mountain so we can get your money and your belongings!"
I think that was a balloon
@@TonyGoldmark Possible but I'm seeing a potential brim as it turns. In either case, I'm retroactively misremembering that as the slogan for the ride to forget the fact that the song from the other ad is on loop in my head.
@@Keopro Huh. Upon closer inspection, you're right. It was a hat.
Well, that's what the lost and found is for.
Years ago when my family went to visit my relatives in California, we went to Disneyland. I seem to remember my cousins finding a sword from the Pirates of the Carribean gift shop just floating in the water... hey, free sword!
A part of me will miss the Splash Mountain music, but if we get better animatronics, better projections, more songs, and Dr. Facilier, I will definitely prefer this retheme.
@ 40:47 I can see how they came to that conclusion: one of the DVDs of Alice in Wonderland had the animated segments of Song of the South as a bonus feature.
Splash Mountain being made in the 80s is my favorite corporate twist since Ouija Boards being invented by Hasbro
7:40.....man the Emperor's New Grove deserved a ride
2:00 Well, that aged like fine wine *sarcasm mode*
....yeaaaaaah, sorry about that.
That Wild clip probably made me more uncomfortable than any horror film I’ve ever seen. Also, are you considering moving one movie later to a podcast like state of the parks? (You know, whenever we can go see a movie again)
I mean, Escape From Vault Disney kinda already IS One Movie Later in podcast form, but with older movies and TV shows.
Have you tried his "Escape from Vault Disney" podcast?
Tony Goldmark Fair enough, I guess there probably aren’t enough movies yearly with theme park connections to devote the time to either videos or podcasts. Been following the podcast since it started and love it. You make consistent great content.
"The local bear sheriff, or "beariff" if you will."
Thank you so much for making that stupid word pun. I love it.
I always thought Princess and the Frog screamed for a ride. It had a great stylized world and just makes so much sense. The only things good about Song of the South are the technology of the Animation blending and the Uncle Remus performance.
I don't even think it should be looked at politically. Princess and the Frog is just flat out much better and well known than Song of the South. Hell, a lot of people don't even know Splash Mountain is based on Song of the South, that's how rich that world is.
12:18 - 12:45 is an accurate representation of how I feel whenever I go on Facebook
Yep
I believe that this video was Tony’s last attempt at any video format, before he dedicated his full time to Escape from Vault Disney
It’s funny because it released the exact same day that I had to take a gap year and return to my home country because of COVID-19
To be fair, running a podcast isn't exactly a small project
I used to watch song of the south when I was younger the only thing I remember is zip-a-dee doo dah. Actually I think I just kept rewinding that part.
Same here! I think Zip-a-dee-doo-dah is the only interesting or good thing to come out of that movie. Except for maybe splash mountain itself.
It's is done...
What did it cost...?
....Absolutely nothing, so I don't know what everyone was complaining about.
It seems to me (a white guy, so take it with a grain of salt), that they could do a remake of Song of the South pretty easily and eliminate the issues. The book was supposed to be stories African Americans told their kids for moral lessons, so have it be Uncle Remus telling his kids, or grandkids, not some white kids. He's happy go lucky and upbeat, BECAUSE HE'S A FREE MAN NOW. You don't need to have more than a line of dialog referencing that slavery did exist and they are very glad to be out of that terrible time, but there are still lingering effects. Go lighter on the stereotypical accents and don't have the broken English. Have them living in their own little makeshift town in the middle of nowhere instead of a plantation, since without the pointless white boy plot the setting isn't as important. And the animated sections would be mostly the same. Just don't have the tar baby one, there are plenty of other stories from the book to use.
Good idea, but I don't see Disney as an entertainment entity willing to take that risk. Then again maybe I'm jaded by how many of their recent movies these last two years felt a bit hollow to me.
Maybe have him tell his grandchildren, "These stories we told among ourselves, in slave days...well, children, the rabbit's the most vulnerable animal I can think of. He's at the mercy of all the big animals and their claws and teeth. And yet, don't Br'er Rabbit always come out on top? Maybe these stories of ours were our way of tellin' ourselves...if a rabbit can outsmart the ones keepin' him down, what's to stop us from doin' the same?"
The Jurassic World retheme also somehow made the ride inferior to the original version from both a technological and storytelling perspective, so we can safely assume that the Princess & the Frog retheme will make the ride superior to the Song of the South theming in both categories.
Honestly....why not give the Princess and The Frog a ride? I mean it may be the last traditional animation disney film we ever get, the music was amazing, and lets be absolutely honest here, why maintain a ride for a movie that is super dead. I mean, even from a pure business standpoint, it makes sense.
- The theming of the ride is not based on Song of the South, but on the Br’er stories. These are genuine African folklore, which the NAACP describe as “beautiful Uncle Remus folklore”.
- The Princess and the Frog is based on a novel by ED Baker, a white women, who had based her novel on a fairytale by Brothers Grimm, who were white men
- The songs in Princess and the Frog were written by a white man, who repeatedly uses the N word in another of his songs (ruclips.net/video/hTLHxpUQ_B8/видео.html)
- PatF features several problematic scenes featuring racial stereotypes (which were written by white people)
- To remove actual African folklore from the park, to replace it with white people’s impressions of southern Black culture, feels like whitewashing
Again, if Disney’s aim is to make the parks a more friendly and inclusive place - a move which I absolutely embrace & welcome - more good would be served by retaining actual African folklore, James Baskett’s award winning rendition of Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and spending the budget earmarked for changing the ride, to build around it with education on the stories.
There are so many inspirational Black stories that Disney could tell - ripping one of them out of the parks to replace it with white people’s caricatures does not feel progressive.
And while we're discussing Song of the South, it would be nice for someone to actually do something to right this wrong: one of the lead actresses, Hattie McDaniel, was unable to have her wish of being laid to rest in the Hollywood Cemetery granted, as it was for whites only. I would like everyone who reads this to pause and reflect on how disgusting, narrow minded and stupid that is. In death, where our bodies return to dust, racism persisted.
Splash Mountain WAS in fact based on Song of the South, which was in turn based on Joel Chandler Harris' "interpretations" of the Br'er stories. Harris was white. Walt Disney was white. The screenwriters he hired were white. The songwriters of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" were white. The current version of Splash Mountain also contains watered-down "white people's caricatures" and practically zero authentic "genuine African folklore." And incidentally, one of the screenwriters of The Princess and the Frog was Rob Edwards, a black man. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Edwards_(screenwriter)
@@TonyGoldmark There is zero reference to the actual setting of Song of the South and the Br'er stories have been released in animated shorts as well as in animated books as standalone features. Once you remove the overly idyllic framing story (which Splash has done), you are suddenly left with inoffensive stories brought to America by Black people. We can all agree JCH profiteered off the back of someone else's stories, but multiple organisations including the NAACP all acknowledge that the stories are genuine African folklore. They refer to them as beautiful. Others have also publicly denounced the live action framing story, whilst promoting the Br'er stories.
It's rather astounding that in 2009, Disney had ONE black screenwriter in a movie where they attempted to depict Black culture.
Zip was performed by a black man - the first black man to win an Academy Award. In fact, this was the award winning performance. And it took A LOT of protesting to get him that award (he had been given a rather condescending "honourary" award, while others all received full awards for the same work).
In my opinion, if the aim is to make the parks a more inclusive place, it makes a lot more sense to build on actual African folklore than it does to spend millions ripping it out of the park and replacing it with something that has no actual connection to African Americans or their history.
I should also point out that Alain Locke & Hattie McDaniel also had input on the screenplay & script - both of whom were black. And Walter White, then secretary of the NAACP was invited to work on script revisions (though declined) - so your assertion that there was no non-white input in to the script is also wrong.
@@nicksmith6647 Okay, now you're just moving the goalposts. "Princess and the Frog was written by white people!" No, they hired a black screenwriter. "Oh, just ONE black screenwriter?" Do you think Mr. Edwards would appreciate you devaluing his contributions to the screenplay OR his blackness?
McDaniel acted in the movie, she didn't write the screenplay. It's possible she suggested a line change here or there, but I'm sure Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley
, Jenifer Lewis
, Oprah Winfrey and Terence Howard all did too when they recorded their P&tF dialogue. And as for Locke, he offered Walt some advice, but there's a huge difference between offering some advice and actually being hired as a screenwriter.
And your defense of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" having been "performed by a black man" doesn't really hold water here, since the character that black man portrayed was never anywhere to be found in the ride. And while Disney has indeed released the Brer stories separately over the years, they are no longer officially available today due to their connection to a movie that discomforts Disney's current executives. They are retheming Splash Mountain for marketing reasons, basing it around a movie kids have heard of, as opposed to one they haven't. Kids in particular don't give a shit if the rabbit animatronic is based on African folklore (nor will they likely care to learn, since no one goes on vacation to be taught shit) but they WILL recognize a black princess as a black princess, and that can be incredibly meaningful to black little girls in particular, regardless of whether older white people such as yourself approve.
Lemme ask you this, Nick - were you this upset when Disney changed the Tower of Terror into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride, or California Screamin' into The Incredicoaster? If so, have you considered that you just don't like change? And if not, if I were you I'd take a moment to ask yourself why you're ONLY selecting your outrage in instances when companies try (not always succeed, mind you, but try) to be less racist.
Either way, you're clearly more interested in sticking with your pre-arrived-at dogmatic conclusion than in altering your opinion to reflect newly-learned facts. It's disingenuous and childish and I have no time for it, especially today. I'll let you respond one more time IF it's to apologize for bothering me, but I have no interest in prolonging this argument any longer, so any further comments of yours in which you attempt to do so will be deleted, is that clear?
Really cruel for Disney to announce this during where most African-American children won’t be able to see this open because of COVID-19 (Black people disproportionately represented in essential jobs)
Montogmery Tan I mean they have plans to reopen soon
The only comfort I can offer is that, if things go at all right with COVID there will probably not be much risk left by the time the refurb is done. I could be wrong but I think that they've actually been deferring maintenance on both parks' versions because they're going to have to redo the entire show building's exteriors as well as interiors. May as well replace all the water track too. That will take at least a year from the shutdown date, probably closer to 18 months.
Still find it funny that Disney is the only "bad" company for opening during the pandemic. Where was the outrage towards Universal and Sea World.
(Shrug) this video is primarily about a Disney ride. I guess we've come to expect more from Disney.
Disney is jut the lightning rod for these things because of popularity. I am sure that if you ask most people including me they go: Huh Universal and Sea world are opening too. Well that is bad too.
The ride needs changed badly, and personally I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with the princess and the frog theming, I’m just hoping for actual animatronics and not face projections.
And song wise, the only thing I’ll miss is people reaction when they think a frog has asked them to show him there balls.
So glad to see your work again. I really appreciate the balance of "Oh God the world is on fire and we're all gonna die" with some solid insights that are well-expressed.
Tony, this has been one of your best (and I think most important) videos up to date
Does anybody have a connection to song of the south that is as strong as a young child finally seeing themselves as a princess
I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally doubt it. I don’t think anybody sees themselves in SotS the way kids see themselves as princesses or pirates.
I find it abit hard that princess and the frog will be “problematic” to warrant another ride change.
Especially since we’re gonna have that Tiana followup on Disney plus no doubt just helping to solidify her place in the park.
Besides if that were the case we better be planning to remove the Peter Pan, Aladdin, and freaking DUMBO rides too!
True, I'm just addressing that particular criticism. And I'm talking like DECADES into the future.
I am still obsessed with the return of the *ding* "toldja!" Bit. Like yesss a reference to my favorite video that also continues the point you're making? Astounding
It was too perfect.
I for one look forward to one day riding "Princess Tiana's Splash Mountain Mardi Gras Bayou Adventure"
You're the greatest writer and performer that's only doing RUclips videos
I believe
Thanks Freddy!
I wasn't there opening day, but it was close. With that context out of the way, am I sad? You bet. I'm not even likely to get a last glimpse in before the work walls cover everything up, and I suspect Tokyo Disneyland will have done the refurb by the time I go back there, if I ever do. I'm going to miss the ride, the occasional bits of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on the loop, the classic style animatronics. If we could have both versions, I'd be all for it.
But, at the same time, I'm as white as they come. If this thing is making ANYONE uncomfortable when they visit Disney parks, go ahead, get out the wrecking ball and smash it flat. Even if I never get over it, my nostalgia does not outweigh some other family not being able to get everything possible out of their day at the castle park. I'll probably enjoy the new one just as much, and someone else is probably going to enjoy it more.
...but I would still like the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah track back in some of the ambient loops, if possible.
No? Okay.
I've been too busy working two jobs, seven days a week, to keep up with the videos from Mr. Goldmark. (I only met him once, years ago, so I don't feel comfortable addressing him too familiarly.) But he astounded me again with this video. He got deep into the problems and the controversies about race depictions in popular culture, and still left me grinning. A pity he doesn't feel safe enough to shoot video in the parks again, even while masked.
It's not just about safety. I don't have the energy to make those in-park videos anymore.
I know SOTS was going to hurt. I mean the animations good, but that's it. It's Pure BORING Racism and nothing more. Walt should have known better because he is a great filmmaker, Animator, and pioneer of the Theme Park with Disneyland. But sometimes people made some bad choices man.
I'll tell you a big reason the Florida parks reopened earlier: the DVC. Pandemic or not, Vacation Club members either use their points or they lose their points. It's also why WDW recovered so quickly after the 9/11 travel drought compared to Univeral Orlando.
I remember hearing rumors from like year or two after the movie came out that splash mountain was going to changed.
There may be a wait for your videos, but they are always worth it.
I fully admit I was waiting for the Ric Ocasek clip during the Zip A Dee Doo Dah supercut. You did not disappoint.
This was a very well done, thoughtful and measured look at a subject like this. Really don't have much to say other than that, this was really damn good.
As for the stuff about the ride in question... I was fine with this change from the beginning. I mean even when setting aside all the oddities of the fact that this was a ride based on a movie that Disney themselves has deemed too insensitive to even think about rereleasing in the US, I never saw any reason why they should keep an attraction based on something that is so irrelevant and I say this as someone who really does love the original attraction.
But... if given the choice between hearing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" the hundredth time and riding on something based on one of my favorite Disney movies which has the possibility of giving me the chance to hear "Friends on the Other Side"? I mean... goddamn it I know exactly what I'd choose.
Tony: I Think The Movie Ends With Charlotte Grooming A Kid
Also Tony: ^Shows The Clip Of Charlotte Being Creepy While Dancing With A Six & A Half Year Old Boy^
Me: ^Looks Over At The Official Charlotte Doll That I Have On Display In My Room^
Also Me: 😭🙀I’ll Never Think Of You The Same Way Ever Again!🙀😭