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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

The Gist

Walt Disney World moves to update the Jungle Cruise's racist portrayal of indigenous people

Posted By Melissa Perez-Carrillo on Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 4:48 PM

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Concept art provided by Disney for the revamped Jungle Cruise - PHOTO COURTESY DISNEY PARKS BLOG

Photo courtesy Disney Parks Blog
Concept art provided by Disney for the revamped Jungle Cruise

The Jungle Cruise at both Disneyland and Orlando's Walt Disney World will undergo major changes in order to update racist portrayals of African people.

Since opening in 1955 (Disneyland) and 1971 (Walt Disney World), the innocuously titled Jungle Cruise ride included problematic descriptions of indigenous Africans as spear-shaking "savages" — or in Disney-speak "negative depictions of native people" — hidden among the corny skipper jokes, animatronic elephants and tropical greenery.

Finally, Disney is moving to update both rides, most likely this year, according to a post on the company's official Disney Parks Blog.

The move to revamp the ride follows Disney's decision to update older, also controversial attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain.

Disney fans on Twitter were, naturally, not holding anything back in their initial responses to these changes..

Not digging these changes. I miss the original Pirates of the Caribbean and now y'all butchering the Jungle Cruise? SMH Walt Disney >>>>>>>>>>> Woke Disney.
— Mitsu Miller (@MillerMitsu) January 26, 2021

Jungle Cruise is a classic and an iconic attraction so My first reaction was “Dont you touch my Jungle Cruise!”. However this seems like more of an enhancementso I am cautiously optimistic with excitement. Disney did great with Alice and Peter Pan attraction updates in Disneyland
— DisneyworldVacationer (@DVacationer) January 25, 2021

Twitter outrage or not, these changes to Jungle Cruise are as good as happening.

Carmen Smith, executive of creative development and inclusion strategies at Walt Disney Imagineering, spoke of the importance of updating the ride.

"As Imagineers, it is our responsibility to ensure experiences we create and stories we share reflect the voices and perspectives of the world around us," Smith told Disney Parks Blog. "With Jungle Cruise, we're bringing to life more of what people love — the humor and wit of our incredible skippers, while making needed updates."

Concept art released by Disney has shown updates to the "trapped safari" scene, which originally portrayed a white explorer on top of a tree avoiding a rhino attack, while indigenous safari guides are seen below him in a much more dangerous position.

According to Disney Disney Parks Blog, more updates on the Jungle Cruise revamp and any possible closures will come later this year.

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Tags: Disney, jungle cruise, orlando, florida, tourism, rides, attractions, Disney world, Disneyland, Image

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