“Song of the South,” which was set on a Georgia plantation after the Civil War, mixed live-action filmmaking and animation in a way that was groundbreaking for the time, and it won an Oscar for the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
But critics have long objected that the film, based on the books of Joel Chandler Harris, a white folklorist who collected traditional African American tales and attributed them to the fictional Uncle Remus, romanticized slavery and promoted racist stereotypes.
Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said in 2020 that the movie would never appear on Disney+, the company’s streaming platform, because it “was just not appropriate in today’s world.”
When the rides reopen in the parks next year, visitors will encounter Princess Tiana, Disney’s first Black princess, and Louis the alligator as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance. “The new concept is inclusive,” Disney said in 2020. “It speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year.”
In the meantime, it’s buyer beware time for fans of the original ride.
Phillip Halfacre, 42, of Fayetteville, Ark., saw social media posts about the eBay listings for Splash Mountain water and wanted in.
A self-described “huge Disney fan” and collector, Mr. Halfacre took a plastic bag with the Splash Mountain logo from one of his visits to Disney World a few years back (the bags are handed out to keep valuables dry), filled it with tap water and listed it on the auction site for $25,000.
Nearly 10,000 people viewed his listing before eBay took it down, Mr. Halfacre said.
“It was not meant as a rude gesture or even a rude gesture to Disney, I love Disney,” he said, having ridden Splash Mountain 20 times. “It was something to make everybody’s Monday brighter.”
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