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Disney World Closes Splash Mountain Ride to Remove Racist Themes

Disney World closed its popular Splash Mountain ride this week to remove references from a 1940s movie with racist themes.

The last Disney fans took a turn through the ride on Sunday, Walt Disney Co. said on its website. Splash Mountain, one of the theme park’s most famous rides, features music and characters from the controversial 1946 film, “Song of the South.”

The movie follows a young boy at a Georgia plantation during the Reconstruction era. The film has been criticized for using racist stereotypes and glorifying plantation life.

{snip} Disney said it would reopen the log-flume ride in Florida next year as “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.”

Tiana is the central character in the 2009 movie, “The Princess and the Frog.” {snip} It is the only original Disney film starring a Black princess.

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In 2020, Disney said it was planning to redesign its Splash Mountain rides following Black Lives Matter protests. {snip}

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Robert Iger, Disney’s chief executive, has said the movie isn’t appropriate in today’s world. The film isn’t available to stream on Disney+ or to purchase on home video.

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Some Disney fans are mourning Splash Mountain. Crowds lined up for hours on Sunday to take one last plunge down the mountain, social-media posts show. Dozens of people outside the ride that night counted down the seconds until it closed. {snip}