Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Bear, and all the other characters of the beloved Splash Mountain ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World are taking their final bows: it has been announced that Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain as we know it will be closing forever on January 23, 2023.
At that time, it will be under an extended closure for re-theming the ride as “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure”, based upon the characters from Disney’s 2009 film The Princess and The Frog.
The iconic ride opened in 1989 in Disneyland, and in 1992 at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. It is unknown at this time if Tokyo Disneyland will also be rethemed or will remain as is, but no announcements have been made that I’m aware of.
In 2019, a petition was opened by Alex O. to re-theme Splash Mountain to “remove all traces of this racist movie”, and after 20,000 signatures, Disney agreed to it. Meanwhile, a petition to Save Splash Mountain opened by Eric Thibeault garnered over 80,000 signatures, but predictably fell upon deaf mouse ears.
In other news, Bob Iger unexpectedly returned in November as Disney CEO to replace Bob Chapek, who was originally his successor in 2020. Both Bobs have been outspoken in their opposition to releasing Song of the South (even with disclaimers) to the public, so it’s unlikely this move will have any effect on the film remaining buried.