The last Splash Mountain attraction in the United States will send its final riders plummeting down Chick-a-Pin Hill today as Disneyland shutters up the homes of Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear in preparation for its overhaul as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Even in 1989 when the first version of the attraction opened at Disneyland, Tony Baxter’s ambitious take on the controversial source material seemed like an odd choice. It did, however, fit well into an underutilized area of the park — Bear Country which soon became Critter Country — and allowed the company to re-introduce a few of its most famous songs (Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, Everybody’s Got a Laughin’ Place) in a format a little distanced from the film from which the characters were drawn, Song of the South (1946). It also had some effective cost savings with the repurposing of many of the animatronic characters from America Sings (1974–1988) which was in the process of shutting down as this was moving into production.
The attraction also served a cross-promotional purpose, at least in early plans where it was intended to promote the Tom Hanks/Darryl Hannah hit film, Splash (1984), though Baxter talked Michael Eisner out of that before it got too far. Still, without that influence the ride would’ve been likely have remained named The Zip-a-Dee River Run as per the Disney Legend’s original concept.
The ride was ambitious, a construction nightmare, and ultimately, a big hit. It was, perhaps, the most elaborately themed thrill ride ever: a surprisingly lovely mood piece with a charm seemingly more related to Walt Kelly’s Pogo and its Okefenokee Swamp than anything having to do with the Disney film.
And that drop was terrifying.
Eventually, though, its connection to a film that was likely to never be re-released as well as its aging animatronics inevitably caught up with it and it was time to say goodbye. The old mountain flume structure will soon begin its conversion to a new Princess and the Frog (2009) attraction (which, oddly, may promote Randy Newman to being the most represented composer in the Disneyland Resort) and will be outfitted with newer solid-state animatronics, high tech effects, and a brand new storyline, all leading to that same terrifying drop.
I can’t wait.
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Kelly McCubbin is a columnist for Boardwalk Times
