I’m surprised it took this long.
Disneyland has removed the “zip-a-dee-doo-dah” lyric played during its park parades because it comes from a movie that has been criticized for racist portrayals of Black Americans.
The lyric initially appeared in the “Magic Happens” parade when it debuted in March 2020. The parade recently returned after a nearly three-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
And no more magic is allowed at Disneyland. Just joyless wokeness and non-stop merchandising.
Back in the day, zip-a-dee-doo-dah won an Oscar. It was recorded by the Jackson 5. Now it’s “controversial”.
The song “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah” originated in the 1946 film “Song of the South” that has long been criticized for stereotypes of “spiritual” black men and its seemingly nostalgic view of the antebellum South.
Disney buried Song of the South a while back. Now it’s on a woke quest to eliminate anything that the movie influenced because you can’t have the song without the movie. And you can’t even have a ride without the movie.
Disney is in the process of cutting references to the film in other parts of it parks. In 2020, Disney Parks and Resorts announced that Splash Mountain was being “completely reimagined” at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, because the log flume ride is based on “Song of the South.” It’s being revamped to star the characters from the 2009 animated film, “The Princess and the Frog,” which features Disney’s first Black princess.
… which no one watched. Probably because they were racists. Or because it was terrible.
Disney (DIS) said at the time that the new Splash Mountain concept is “inclusive” and “one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by.”
What people want from rides are “inclusive” experiences that they can “connect” with?
Meanwhile, things are going really well for Disney.
Disney Plus has enjoyed plenty of success since its March 2020 launch – but the wheels have have now started to come off its subscriber-filled wagon.
During its Q1 2023 earnings report(opens in new tab), Disney confirmed that Disney Plus lost subscribers for the first time in its history. Between October and December 2022, the streaming platform’s global user base shrunk by 2.4 million.
And more bad news in the home of Mary Poppins and Peter Pan.
Disney is losing a ton of money on Disney+ and content, it’s making money from theme parks.
Theme parks, which have come roaring back to life after the grueling struggle with Covid, powered the quarterly performance. Revenue and operating income in the Parks, Experiences and Products division jumped 21% and 25%, respectively. The only significant blemish on the numbers was a decrease in operating days at Shangai Disneyland due to a wave of Covid shutdowns in China during the quarter.
Operating losses in direct-to-consumer streaming narrowed to $1.1 billion from $1.5 billion, which was better than the company’s forecast for a $200 million reduction.
In the Media and Entertainment Distribution unit, linear networks revenue slid 5% to about $7.3 billion, while operating income fell 16% to $1.3 billion. International channels revenue dropped 21% to $1.2 billion and operating income was down 64% to $131 million.
Direct-to-consumer revenue increased 13% to $5.3 billion.
At this point, Disney has blown a lot of money on Disney+ and it’s being kept afloat by idiots going to see comic book movies in droves and theme parks. And it’s busy trying to kill whatever people like about its theme parks.
Well zip-a-dee-doo-dah.
“ The parade recently returned after a nearly three-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Because of the lockdown hysteria.
Currently the woke investors are propping up the ESG (Environmental Social Governance) but people are waking up to the green-wash virtue signalling that the likes of Disney does.
Shall we all agree to call this “awake” or “woken”
“Disney (DIS) said at the time that the new Splash Mountain concept is “inclusive” and “one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by.”
These people are absolutely clueless. There isn’t one person walking around Disney (other than some idiot Disney exec) that is thinking “wait, I’m not going on Splash Mountain because the ride is based on “Song of the South.” Nobody is thinking Disney needs to change Splash Mountain to connect and be inspired because it’s racist.
I’d think Disney is losing customers with their woke nonsense, and the fact that their prices are extremely expensive. How do many middle Americans afford a trip to Disney?
I remember seeing “Song Of The South,” and most of the classic Disney animated movies at The Fox Theater around 1970. I learned a lot from those fables, and actually used them then and throughout life. They would be lost to history if a white guy hadn’t hung out with the slaves in the evenings, listened to their fables, and wrote them down. He even credited the slaves by name. The ‘woke’ would rather they be lost, erased, like much of the history of black people and Indians in this country, because it doesn’t fit their narrative.
Saw the movie when I was a kid in the 50’s and loved it. Saw it on video as an adult, and realized again how hysterically funny the cartoon parts were. As for racist, Uncle Remus was the smartest guy on the plantation. He solved all the white folks (definitely not as smart as Uncle R) problems for them and the movie was as much pro black propaganda as anything else. The actor was given a special Academy Award (with helpful lobbying from Uncle Walt) The award was well deserved for a brilliant performance by James Baskett, And, to the wokesters, ante bellum means after the Civil War was over. There were no slaves in the story.
You made one mistake. Antebellum means “before the war”, not after. Just like you ante up before the poker game starts. And the Uncle Remus stories were written by Joel Chandler Harris based on the African=American oral tradition.
An oft repeated statement – Go Woke Go Broke.
Or as Trump told us (in more profane fashion), everything woke turns to crap.
I lived near Disneyland for decades and visited regularly. I never knew the genesis of Splash Mountain until Disney started beating their chests and tearing their garments in contrition for their many sins. I suspect I’m in the majority. It’s almost like they are playing Russian Roulette with a semi-automatic pistol.
No Song of the South but lots of the other
Personnel is policy even if you’re losing money.
Woke Disney is in market free-fall. In their flailing about trying to find another woke answer, Disney might be addled enough to ban parachutes.
Its also getting attention from investors. Here’s a letter to the (now gone) ceo.
https://strive.com/strive-asset-management-letter-to-disney/
Hopefully the replacement ceo brought out of retirement will heed it.