It's been two years since Splash Mountain at Disneyland Park and Walt Disney World Resort‘s Magic Kingdom Park reopened as Tiana's Bayou Adventure; the same log flume ride was reimagined with a Princess and the Frog (2009)-inspired scene. As fans still debate the merits of closing an attraction based on the controversial and widely banned Song of the South (1946) film, one former Walt Disney Imagineer says she always knew Splash Mountain was a “horrible idea.”
Former Walt Disney Imagineer Speaks Out About Splash Mountain
In a recent episode of the “Dream Chasing” podcast hosted by former Walt Disney Imagineering President Bob Weis, fellow former Imagineer Kathy Magnum spoke about several projects she worked on for the Mouse, including Splash Mountain. Magnum retired in 2018 after 42 years at The Walt Disney Company, 40 of them spent in Imagineering.
In the episode called “A 42 Year Career of Creative Collaborations,” Magnum told Weis that she thought basing Splash Mountain on Song of the South was a “horrible idea” from the beginning. The 1946 film has long sat in the “Disney vault,” controversial for its sanitized portrayal of Black American life in the post-Civil War South and stereotypical depictions of Black characters.
“I knew building Splash Mountain based on a movie we would not show was not a great idea,” Magnum said. “It was a horrible idea.”
The former Walt Disney Imagineer said she was “not proud” of working on Splash Mountain. She recalled feeling “so uncomfortable” when an actor recorded the dialogue for Br'er Fox, a character from the animated tales in the partially live-action Song of the South.
“I wouldn't do it today,” Magnum said of creating Splash Mountain with characters from Song of the South. “Neither would Disney, but we did it.”
She concluded it was “the right thing” to transform Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure and remove all references to Song of the South, including the “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” song, from the Disney parks.
Tokyo Disney Resort, which is operated by the third-party Oriental Land Company (OLC) under license from The Walt Disney Company, is the only remaining Disney park with a Splash Mountain attraction still based on Song of the South.
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Splash Mountain, 100%