Log in or link your magazine subscription. Account Profile. Sign Out. One of the biggest critiques of the film was its romanticization of slavery. As the film takes place shortly after the abolition of slavery, many have read this as Uncle Remus longing to return to bondage. Needless to say, this and other problematic elements have led Disney to quietly lock the film away in the Disney Vault. These stories, now divorced from their original context, would eventually become the storyline of Splash Mountain.
Readers interested in the history and controversy of Song of the South can listen to You Must Remember This , a podcast by film scholar Karina Longworth, which goes into detail about the history of the film in several episodes, including the eventual creation of Splash Mountain.
However, this area of the park was often empty, as guests sought out more exciting attractions in other lands. At the same time, America Sings , an animatronic revue featuring singing animals, was playing to empty theaters.
Walt Disney Attractions chairman Dick Nunis insisted Imagineers create a log flume ride for the parks, but many Imagineers were reluctant. Log flumes, a common fixture at many amusement parks, were considered too ordinary for a park like Disneyland. Bear Country was renamed Critter Country, after a quote from the film, and work began on its marquee attraction in Aside from a scene where a character sings Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah, the attraction has nothing to do with the film, and this decision baffles scholars to this day.
Disney would take many of the animatronics from America Sings and install them into the attraction as miscellaneous residents of Critter County.
Several other animatronics were transformed into characters from the film, though others were built specifically for the ride. The drop that serves as the climax of the attraction was initially too intense, at one point decapitating a test dummy and completely soaking early riders. The ride also suffered from staging and technical issues, leading to several extensive redesigns. One surprising issue? Reprogramming the recycled figures.
Animatronics, especially older ones like you see on Splash Mountain, are only designed to perform a set sequence of movements. While modern animatronics have a wider range of movement and can even respond to outside stimuli, the animatronics of America Sings were designed to perform a single show sequence and little else.
The process took months and was far from perfect. The show was born to celebrate the nation's coming bicentennial, but by , the bicentennial was long gone, and the show was showing its age. America Sings was already on the chopping block and was getting ready to be replaced. The timing, at least with this part, couldn't have been more perfect. America Sings was the last attraction designed by Imagineer Marc Davis.
He had been with Disney since he was an animator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , and in the s, before he made the jump from animation to Imagineering, Davis designed another group of animated characters: the animals from Song of the South. Because Marc Davis had designed the characters from both Song of the South and America Sings, the style of the anthropomorphic animals was incredibly similar. This meant the menagerie of America Sings animatronics could be transported across the park to the new Splash Mountain attraction, and they'd fit the Song of the South theme perfectly.
Most of the animals you see on Splash Mountain never appear in Song of the South, but they all look like they belong there. Eisner was especially concerned about getting teenagers into Disneyland, so much so that he reportedly brought his own teen son along to the meeting with Imagineering.
According to those who were there, It was only after the son told his dad that the attraction looked cool that Eisner gave it the green light. The Song of the South connection was apparently okay with everybody at the time. The only thing Michael Eisner didn't like was the name. It was also used because, at the time, Disney was working on a live-action movie called Splash , that Eisner wanted to see integrated into the attraction in some way.
We learned via D After it's popularity in Disneyland became apparent, versions of Splash Mountain were brought to both Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland! While all three versions have a few differences, they all share the adored tune "Zip-a-Dee-Dooh-Dah" and the plot line of Br'er Rabbit escaping Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear's dangerous clutches. Watch Splash Mountain's plot unfold here for yourself!
Without further ado, let's look at Splash Mountain fun facts! We hope you've enjoyed the secret history of Splash Mountain! Hop here for Splash Mountain wait times, ride details and more!
We'd love to hear any stories of your own adventures aboard this Disney log flume ride — let us know in the comments below!
Stay tuned for more history and insights on other Disney rides. I like splash mountain because it has audio animatronics. Splash mountain looks nice. Nobody has mentioned that when the ride first opened, people were getting so wet that they had it temporarily shut it down and re-design the boats to make them lighter.
I had to wait for the following year's trip to S. I'm suprised that you didn't include the fact about the tiny muskrat that pops down from the celing right before the drop. He yells "LSU" and was placed there by a imageneer who went to florida state university. They are certified facts, and for curious Disney park lovers like ourselves, it would do good to check it out! All rights reserved.
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