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Disney said on Monday that the river boat
attraction would be updated to "reflect and value the diversity
of the world around us."
Critics have accused Jungle Cruise, which was first launched in
1955, of having racist overtones in its depiction of some
non-Western characters as savages and cannibals.
The updated ride will include new scenes and a new storyline,
Disney said in a blog. No date for the launch was given, but
Disney said the changes were not connected with the upcoming
"Jungle Cruise" movie, starring Dwayne Johnson, which is due for
release in July.
"This is not a re-envisioning of the entire attraction. It’s the
Jungle Cruise you know and love, with the skippers still leading
the way, and at the same time, we're addressing the negative
depictions of 'natives,'” Chris Beatty, an executive with Walt
Disney Imagineering said in an interview.
The changes follow a cultural reckoning in the United States
over systemic racism that has led to overhauls of several
television shows and movies.
Disney said in June that its Splash Mountain ride was also being
overhauled to remove its associations with Black stereotypes in
the 1946 film "Song of the South," on which it was based.
The entertainment giant last year also posted advisories on some
of its classic animated movies, including "Peter Pan" and "The
Aristocrats" warning that they contain outdated or stereotyped
depictions of people of color.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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