Disneyland is finally redesigning elements of Jungle Cruise after decades of complaints about racist depictions seen throughout the ride.
Los Angeles Times revealed that the Jungle Cruise ride, which debuted in 1955 at Disneyland, will finally get a long-overdue update. Originally an educationally focused ride, it's moved to a more humorous approach over the years. But much of that "humor" involved depicting various non-Western characters and cultures as savage. Just a few years after its introduction, racist caricatures of Indigenous people were added, attacking the white explorers who serve as protagonists on the ride. Now, these scenes will be excised and reimagined.
“As Imagineers, it is our responsibility to ensure experiences we create and stories we share reflect the voices and perspectives of the world around us,” Carmen Smith, the creative development and inclusion strategies executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a statement.
The updates will see the explorers turned into Jungle Cruise riders who are escaping various wild animals, removing the negative scenes of non-white peoples. Walt Disney Imagineering released concept art of the new scenes.
The move not only follows complaints from parkgoers but also similar redesigns to Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain, the latter of which is based on the racist Song of the South. Pirates saw its marriage auction scene removed, while Splash Mountain will now feature characters from Princess and the Frog. For each of the rides, it has been a long time coming, but Disney only recently made strides to bring its content into the modern day. The company has similarly tried to reconcile with its racist past by adding warnings to content on Disney+ or refusing to add it entirely.
Though the company claims the move is an independent one, it must be noted that a Jungle Cruise film is on the way starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. The film, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, is the latest of the company's theme park rides to be transformed into a film.
Disney says it expects to finish the update at both Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida this year but admits that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could impact that timetable. As it stands, the California park is targeting a reopening this year, which will see the launch of the new Avengers Campus, but with the Golden State currently the epicenter of the virus, that remains unlikely.
Source: Los Angeles Times