Disney will update the theme of its popular Splash Mountain rides away from "Song of the South" to "Princess and the Frog" -- and conservatives lost their minds online.
The 1946 film has been out of circulation since its 40th anniversary theatrical release, due to persistent criticism of racist undertones, although its Splash Mountain log flume rides at Disneyland and Disneyworld pay homage to the combination live action and animated feature.
“No matter how much one argues that it’s all childish fiction,” wrote New York Times critic Bosley Crowther not long after its release, “the master-and-slave relation is so lovingly regarded ... with the Negroes bowing and scraping and singing spirituals in the night, that one might almost imagine that you figure Abe Lincoln made a mistake. Put down that mint julep, Mr. Disney!”
In the wake of new pressure to update the rides, which started construction in the late 1980s, Disney agreed to change their theme to the 2009 animated film "Princess and the Frog, which takes place in 1920s New Orleans and features Disney's first Black princess.
Many conservatives expressed outrage at the change.
