Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain attraction, positioned within the Magic Kingdom park, will likely be closed down beginning Jan. 23, 2023, because the trip undergoes a long-awaited rebranding.
From its inception, the Splash Mountain trip used music and characters from the racially controversial 1946 Disney animated and live-action movie “Tune of the South.”
The film drew controversy for its depiction of postbellum plantation life and has by no means been launched on dwelling video or streaming in consequence.
“I’ve felt, so long as I’ve been CEO, that ‘Tune of the South’ was — even with a disclaimer — was simply not acceptable in in the present day’s world,” just lately returned Disney CEO Bob Iger stated in a 2020 shareholder’s assembly.
Regardless of the long-standing controversy, Disney used the film for the three Splash Mountain rides at California’s Disneyland in 1989, Japan’s Tokyo Disneyland in 1992, and the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, additionally in 1992.
A deadline for California’s Splash Mountain has not but been introduced.
When the attraction reopens in 2024, it can revolve round characters from the animated 2009 film “The Princess and the Frog”, altering its identify to Tiana’s Bayou Journey.
The trip will revolve round a deliberate Mardi Gras celebration for the town of New Orleans. A brand new rating for the trip has additionally been written within the New Orleans zydeco type, which Disney emphasised as a key a part of the brand new theme.
“It’s emblematic of what we’re all the time striving for with our points of interest — bringing folks of various backgrounds collectively via timeless Disney tales,” Disney wrote in an announcement.
