Jungle Cruise ride to eliminate ‘negative depictions’ in Disney theme parks
In California and Florida, the Jungle Cruise ride at Disney theme parks is getting a makeover to remove what the company calls “negative depictions” of some cultures.
Disney said it would update the river boat attraction to “reflect and value the diversity of the world around us.”
Jungle Cruise, which was first launched in 1955, has been accused by critics of having racist overtones in its representation of some non-Western characters as savages and cannibals.
New scenes and a new storyline will be included in the updated ride, Disney said in a blog. No launch date was given, but Disney said the changes were not linked to the upcoming movie “Jungle Cruise” starring Dwayne Johnson, which is due to be released in July.
“This is not a re-envisioning of the whole attraction. It’s the Jungle Cruise you know and love, with the skippers still leading the way, and we’re addressing the negative depictions of ‘natives,’ at the same time,” said Chris Beatty, an executive with Walt Disney Imagineering in an interview.
In the United States, the changes follow a cultural reckoning over systemic racism that has led to overhauls of several TV shows and movies.
In the 1946 film “Song of the South,” on which it was based, Disney said in June that its Splash Mountain ride was also being overhauled to erase its ties with Black stereotypes.
Last year, the entertainment giant also issued advisories on some of its classic animated films, including “Peter Pan” and “The Aristocrats” warning that they include obsolete or stereotyped representations of colored people.
Source: Japan Today
