Disneyland to update Jungle Cruise after complaints of racism

The Disneyland Jungle Cruise has set sail for the Adventureland area of ​​the park steadily since 1955 and today is one of the remaining opening day attractions overseen by Walt Disney himself.

But the culture often evolves faster than the decades-old mechanical hippos.

On Monday, the Walt Disney Co. announced it was embarking on what many see as a long overdue course correction for jungle cruising. Many changes are planned to make the attraction more inclusive and less insensitive to racism in its representation of other cultures.

The move follows many updates to older attractions such as Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean, all of which were made to remove the now outdated tables that can be creaky at best and racist at worst. Already this year, the company revealed that Splash Mountain, originally inspired by the critters from the racist film “Song of the South”, will receive a themed makeover from “The Princess and the Frog”, the film starring featuring disney’s first black princess.

The jungle cruise, as one of the Disneyland opening day attractions envisioned by the park’s patriarch, is likely to be viewed with a more protective lens by the company’s vast fan base. Yet the merry-go-round has also been in almost constant evolution since its inception. His early influence was drawn from Disney’s own nature documentaries and the 1951 film “The African Queen,” a favorite of early Disneyland designers Harper Goff.

Its initial conception as “The Jungle Rivers of the World” was slightly more educational than today’s, more humor-based take. The disreputable tribal depictions of the ride, largely based on images from Papua New Guinea, were added in the years after it opened. These jungle cruise vignettes basically depict indigenous people as a tourist attraction, attackers or cannibals.

“Horribly racist” was a description by one of Disney’s peers in the theme park design community. This is how various scenes from Jungle Cruise were characterized in an essay by themed entertainment design company Thinkwell Group that was released shortly after Disney announced the changes to Splash Mountain.

A spear-waving war party was added to the Jungle Cruise in 1957, as was the character “Trader Sam,” a dark-skinned man today dressed in tribal straw clothing. The Disney tiki bars – one on each side – are named after the character who traffics in stereotypes. He will exchange “two of his heads for one of yours”.

“As Imagineers, it is our responsibility to ensure that the experiences we create and the stories we share reflect the voices and perspectives of the world around us,” said Carmen Smith in a statement provided by Disney. Smith is the Director of Creative Development and Inclusion Strategies at Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s division responsible for theme park experiences.

Concept art previewed by Disney showed an overhaul of the ‘trapped safari’ scene, in which adventurers rush up a tree to dodge a rhino’s horn. In his current state at Disneyland, a white traveler is at the top while native safari guides are in a more perilous position. The reimagined scene, originally envisioned by Disney master animator-designer Marc Davis, as an advertisement for the ride, only features hapless participants on a previous Jungle Cruise boat trip.

The changes, Disney pointed out, are made independent of an upcoming Jungle Cruise-inspired film starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Expect any scenes featuring unsavory portrayals of Indigenous characters to be updated, a Disney spokesperson said, though details of potential war party and finale scene changes. of Trader Sam have not yet been shared.

As stupid and overly pun intended as the jungle cruise may be, it has long been criticized as a vision of adventure through an imperialist lens. Non-Americans are described as servants or savages. While the ride is a collage of Asia, Africa and South America, the human figures of the regions are presented as an exotic, violent and dark humor, which in the 1950s and 1960s was embarrassing and smells today. hui racism.

It’s also a point of view that collides with the larger mission of the Disney cultural theme park, which over the decades has grown from cartoonish and simplistic representations of other cultures to a brand with a more global perspective. When Walt Disney World opened Animal Kingdom in 1998, Africa and Asia were presented in a more revered light, which only reinforced the outdated cultural representations of the jungle cruise.

Disney expects changes to be completed this year at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in Florida, where the ride is currently open. The company adds that the timelines could be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic since Disneyland has been closed for almost a year. Even with Governor Newsom’s stay-at-home orders lifted this week, Disneyland could remain closed for a while.

Once completed, the story of the attraction will be polished. Guests will follow the exploits of a jungle cruise gone awry and throughout the ride, glimpse this past expedition. Expect, for example, to see an old jungle cruise ship overtaken by monkeys, as the new scenes are designed to add fresh life, activity and characters to the attraction, while also fueling more jokes. old-fashioned tourist guides on the ride.

“When we are considering making changes to a classic attraction, we focus on ways to ‘more’ the experience,” said Chris Beatty, Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering. “The Jungle Cruise skippers bring irreverent humor to guests of all ages, and we are delighted to add to that legacy – with a new animated skipper figure – by celebrating their adventures and influence.”

While the ride has long been a nod to past excursions that ended badly, Disney plans to add action figures that will represent other tourists and, as Beatty noted, a not-so-accomplished skipper. This move will help achieve Disney’s goal of eliminating tribal cartoons and, in Disney’s words, “negative representations of indigenous people.”

“For the first time ever, the role of skipper will not only be that of a lively, experienced and witty guide, but also represented by a show character within the attraction itself,” said Kevin Lively. , editor of Walt Disney Imagineering.

For those who follow the parks, the changes shouldn’t be entirely unexpected, especially with a film starring Johnson and Blunt slated for theatrical distribution. “The Jungle Cruise,” like many recent films hit by pandemic-related closures, has been postponed from its 2020 release date to another next summer.

It should be noted, however, that in this case, Disney is not waiting to see how audiences react to the image. Take this as an indication that Disney realizes that the cultural transformation of the ride is a more urgent necessity than marketing timetables can allow. Additionally, a Disney spokesperson said the new figures will not represent the characters in the film.

None of the altered scenes were featured on the Jungle Cruise when Disneyland opened in July 1955, though that ride is very different for audiences today.

Animals were scarce then – only seven hippos and eight crocodiles were present in the water, according to documentation from the park’s opening year – and vast vegetation had yet to grow to obscure nearby buildings. Many of the ride’s most beloved scenes, such as the elaborate swimming pool for elephants, were dreamed up by animator-turned-Imagineer Davis and added in the 1960s.

Longtime fans of the attraction can expect to see nods to retired boats in the new scenes, but the goal is more inclusive driving that doubles the silliness. Lively said, “Ultimately, the jungle gets the last laugh.”