Last Month, Walt Disney World closed Splash Mountain, one of its most popular rides, in response to criticisms regarding the racist stories at the heart of the ride.
When Splash Mountain opened in 1992 it was also met with pushback and for three decades it weathered the storm, but all of that changed in 2020. In the wake of the brutal killing of George Floyd and the protests that engulfed the nation, the controversy over Splash Mountain reemerged. In response, Disney decided to make the change to follow the wishes of their park guests for a more accepting park environment.
The 2020 announcement to close the ride was met with strong objections from fans who grew up riding the attraction:
“Splash Mountain has never included depictions of slaves or any racist elements and is based solely on historical African folktales that families of all ethnicities have been enjoying for nearly a century… It is absurd to pander to a small group of ‘Disney haters’ that don't understand the story, and re-theme such a nostalgic ride," a petitioner posted on Change.org.
On Splash Mountain, the rider follows the story of Br’er Rabbit and his decision to leave the Briar Patch, where he lives. After running away from home in hopes of a better future, he encounters Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear, who are keen on capturing him. The ride takes the audience through a series of scenes which culminates in the Fox and Bear catching Br’er Rabbit, but the rabbit tricks the fox into throwing him back into the Briar patch (The descent into the Briar Patch is symbolized by the large drop on the ride).
Br’er Rabbit can fool Br’ers Fox and Bear into throwing him into the Briar Patch because it is an inhospitable place filled with thorns and prickly briars, but also the place where he was born and grew up. Br’er Rabbit can survive the Briar Patch because he is already accustomed to the environment.
The story seems fairly harmless at first, but when necessary context is applied, Splash Mountain is a case of propping up ethnocide to preserve oppressive traditions.
The classic trickster tale of the hare and the fox were popularized in America by folklorist Joel Chandler Harris, but the stories originated in Africa, told by slaves that were brought to America. Living in Reconstruction-era Atlanta, Harris worked on a plantation, often interacting with formerly enslaved people, and hearing various tales about the hare and the fox. There is a clear message throughout the tales: the hare, who represented an escaped enslaved person, would use quick-wit and intelligence to outsmart the fox, who represented white Southerners trying to catch the enslaved persons.
The Bear, as the dim-witted sidekick frequently gets caught in the fox’s traps. Br’er Bear represents poorer whites who worked for wealthy land-owners, but probably were not wealthy enough to own slaves. This group supported slavery in the hopes that one day they would gain the power that landowners held, further distancing themselves from enslaved people. But their lack of wealth also meant that they could fall into the traps created by wealthy white Americans.
Harris’ first book was released in 1880 under the title Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings. The story followed a fictional Uncle Remus telling tales about characters Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox and various other creatures (Br’er being an abbreviation for brother). The publications were written using heavy broken English and African-American Vernacular English, and historians have debated over Harris’ choice to write the stories “exactly how he heard them.” Harris stated that he wanted to “preserve in permanent shape those curious mementoes of a period that will no doubt be sadly misrepresented by historians of the future.”
Disney’s film Song of the South follows closely some of the stories told in the original book. Uncle Remus, played by James Baskett, told a group of white children the stories of Br’er Rabbit, including the most well-known story of the tar baby.
The story of the tar baby follows Br’er Fox setting out a doll made of tar in order to catch Br’er Rabbit. When Br’er Rabbit passes the doll and says hello, the doll doesn’t answer. Br’er Rabbit becomes insulted by the doll’s manners, attacking it out of anger and getting stuck. In the story, the tar baby represents white slave owners’ control over Black bodies, and the usage of this control to trap and oppress other Black Americans.
The more Br’er Rabbit tried to get unstuck from the tar, the more entangled he got. Br’er Rabbit pleads to the fox: “Do anything you want with me – roas' me, hang me, skin me, drown me – but please, Br'er Fox, don't fling me in dat brier-patch." The Fox throws Br’er Rabbit into the Briar Patch to inflict maximum pain, but doesn’t know that the thorns of the patch allow Br’er Rabbit to get out of the sticky tar and escape once again.
Upon its release in 1946, the film was met with protests by the NAACP despite white film critics' positive reviews. Additionally, Baskett was not allowed to attend the premiering of the film due to Atlanta’s segregation laws despite being depicted as having a familial “Uncle Remus” relationship with white America.
The film became popular amongst Disney fans, and would occasionally show in movie theaters until the 1980s. After that, it was never shown again and never got a release on home video due to itsf racist themes. In the wake of the George Floyd killing, Disney announced that it would re-theme the Splash Mountain attractions at both of their North American Parks to a Princess and the Frog theme.
The announcement was met with fierce pushback, including petitions and drawings using the phrase “Br’er lives matter,” which highlights either a lack of understanding or a willful ignorance among fans that want to keep the ride open. Turning Black oppression into a family film, amusement park ride, and entire franchise shows that American culture will go out of its way to reframe ethnocide and the horrors of the antebellum South into a narrative of Black and white familial togetherness that never existed.