Amid continued uprisings against systematic racism, Disney is the latest mega company grappling with how to address a racist history.
One move they’re taking is recreating their popular theme park ride Splash Mountain. According to a Thursday announcement, the attraction will be “completely reimagined” in light of its ties to a movie filled with racist tropes.
According to CNN, the log flume ride was based on the 1946 movie “Song of the South,” which was notorious for racial stereotypes of Black people and romanticized portrayals of the antebellum South.
The movie is so controversial that Disney has kept it away from most public platforms for decades. They even keep it out of their extensive library for their new streaming service, Disney+.
Because Splash Mountain was connected to such a film, a Change.org petition surfaced online calling on Disney to change the ride’s theme from “Song of the South” to “The Princess and the Frog,” the movie featuring Disney’s first Black princess. The petition was signed by over 20,000 people.
