Disney explained that this decision comes from almost a year’s worth of interest in updating the ride but found it necessary to announce changes earlier due to a petition started on Change.org. The current theme of the ride features the movie Song of the South, which has been locked away by Disney since the late 1980’s. The movie has been criticized for years for perpetuating racial stereotypes and glorifying the antebellum South.
While many argue the controversy surrounding the ride is driven primarily by the recent advances in the Black Lives Movement, the controversy of the film dates back to even before it hit theaters in 1946. The first and only screenplay created by Southern writer Dalton Reymond, the original work was met with resistance from multiple parties, including the NAACP and the American Council on Race Relations, all to no avail.
Originally, African-American actor and writer Clarence Muse was brought in to consult on the script. He pushed for a dignified representation of the African-American characters but was swiftly shut down and later removed from the project. Writer Maurice Rapf was the next to advise on the script. He, too, worried the film portrayed African-Americans as submissive and catered to stereotypical views of the time. Like Muse, he left due to disagreements with Reymond.
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