A first post on an internet blog that has no general direction can usually be hectic, since you can't really decide what to post about first. Ideally, as a writer, you'll want to wow your audience, except who knows when you'll actually start to get readers. Now, if you're reading the title of this blog, you are either thinking "This is a Doctor Who blog" OR you're asking yourself "What the hell is a Dalek?". Well this is not a Doctor Who blog; I am a fan of the show and will talk about it from time to time, but it's not the focus. If you don't know what a Dalek, just imagine a terribly dangerous killer robot shaped like a pepper pot.
So then, for the first blog entry, I've decided to talk about Splash Mountain ... Yes, the Walt Disney theme park ride. Why? Because why the hell not?! Splash Mountain was one of my favorite things about going to Disney when I was a child, aside from the Haunted Mansion ride and Spaceship Earth at Epcot. I still find it odd, because even when I was a kid, I HATED getting wet if I wasn't in a swimsuit. Yet I still love that ride so much. Splash Mountain originally opened in Disneyland in 1989, then in 1992, it opened in Tokyo Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, which is a bit odd to me, considering the history of the characters. You see, the main characters of the ride, Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear come from a 1946 Disney film called Song of the South , which has been considered "permanently retired" by the Disney Corporation, because the film contains material that could be offensive to black people.
I've seen Song of the South, it was a bootleg copy my dad owned, and it was fairly poor in visual quality, but I have seen the film in it's entirety. Personally, I don't find the film racist, but it does have content that Disney doesn't want associated with the image of their company, in that the live-action scenes of the film take place on a plantation with slaves. There's no shocking scenes or upsetting language used, but I can see how the setting itself might upset black people, because the film doesn't demonize the white slave owners or really make any negative statement toward slavery. To that end, I think the film should be available special order for film buffs, but not released in general stores, because children take Disney films on a much deeper level when they're so impressionable, and you don't want to send them that kind of message.
But I digress, if only slightly, let's talk about Splash Mountain, which now that I think on it further, I remember exactly what my favorite thing about it was. And that is the vultures. The ride features two vultures dressed like old west-undertakers ( wearing top hats and cuff-links). They taunt Brer Rabbit and the people riding the ride during the ride. When I finally saw Song of the South, I was shocked to find out that they are not in the film, and there's a pretty interesting reason as to why. You see, there was originally a Disney attraction known as America Sings, which featured animals sing that sang popular American songs from various past eras, for example, Yankee Doodle sung by an eagle named Sam (not the Muppet). Well those vultures happen to originally be from this attraction. Their official names are The Boothill Boys, and in the attraction, they sang a song called The End of Billy the Kid
When the Disney was creating Splash Mountain for Disneyland in California, apparently the ride had gone so far over budget that Disney decided the only way to salvage their financial disaster was to shut down America Sings and use the animatronic puppets for the new ride. Which is why there are so many characters in the ride that did not com from the film, especially my two favorite lads, the Boothill Boys
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