25 Jan 2021
Woke activists successfully canceled Splash Mountain. Now they have pressured Disney into changing another well-known theme park ride.
Disney is giving its popular Jungle Cruise an overhaul following complaints that it glorified “colonial” attitudes and contained racist imagery.
The plan includes modifying “negative depictions” of native people currently featured in the riverboat adventure.
The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that the makeovers will affect the Jungle Cruise rides at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando and Disneyland in Anaheim. In a press release, Disney said the changes will “reflect and value the diversity of the world around us.”
“Imagineers are constantly looking for opportunities to enhance experiences, and when it comes to updating classic attractions, they employ a very careful and thoughtful approach,” Disney said in a statement sent to multiple news outlets. “In this particular case, Imagineers created a storyline that builds upo
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 by Danielle Prieur (WMFE)
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
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Disney is updating the Jungle Cruise ride at its Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme parks to address criticisms over its depictions of indigenous people.
Exciting enhancements are coming to the Jungle Cruise in Disneyland park at @Disneyland Resort and Magic Kingdom Park at @WaltDisneyWorld Resort later this year! Here’s a first look from Walt Disney Imagineering at some of the “gnu” magic being added: https://t.co/B8HF1peLdFpic.twitter.com/2mWI8RPl3K
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Source: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
The Jungle Cruise ride has been a staple at California s Disneyland since 1955. But it has also been accompanied by years of complaints about its supposedly racist depictions and themes. Particularly, critics say its “negative depictions of native people.” At at least one point during the attraction, natives are depicted as wild and threatening. As you eyeroll at the corny humor of your
Jungle Cruise skipper, your boat bobs around a corner and to a horrifyingly racist vignette, the Thinkwell Group, a design and production agency specializing in theme parks, wrote this summer.
Walt Disney Imagineering has announced that it will update the Jungle Cruise scenes featuring shrunken head dealer Trader Sam and a rhino chasing a safari group up a tree while adding a new scene with a half-sunken boat overrun by chimps. You can take a look at the new designs, as explained by Disney employees, in the video below.