It seems as though the Stories Matter department at Disney has struck once more at the heart of Walt Disney World by altering Peter Pan’s Flight.
Promotional image of Peter Pan’s Flight via Disney World website
Stories Matter is a department within the Walt Disney company that looks for potential problematic elements in Disney entertainment and experiences and updates them for the mythical modern audience.
This time, the Stories Matter department went after one of their favorite targets: Peter Pan. After adding disclaimers to the original animated film on Disney Plus, Disney altered the movie’s Walt Disney World attraction, Peter Pan’s Flight, changing a scene involving the Native American village.
An image of the original Peter Pan’s Flight at Walt Disney World via Blog Mickey YouTube
Initially, this scene showed the Native characters from the original film sitting around a fire. One of these was Tiger Lilly, the Native American princess. Now the scene depicts Tiger Lilly and her grandmother performing the “Fancy Shawl Butterly Dance.”
The chief and drummers have been completely removed and even the teepees have been replaced with new ones.
Walt Disney World’s Peter Pans Flight reopened. Disney Imagineers reworked the scene. What are your thoughts on the changes? pic.twitter.com/DyTHmtI0RW
— TraditionalAnimation (@Traditional2D) August 17, 2024
Disney commented on the change, saying, “A serene lagoon transitions into a mountaintop community where brightly colored teepees frame the Never Land Tribe’s harvest celebration. Here, Tiger Lily and her grandmother gracefully performs the traditional Fancy Shawl Butterfly Dance by the fire, capturing the vibrant spirit of the occasion.”
This change was a huge surprise to longtime fans of the attraction, as it was completely unannounced. Disney closed Peter Pan’s Flight for a six week refurbishment, with no specifics given as to what was being done. That led many to believe it was just a routine closure to patch up some maintenance issues on the 51 year old attraction.
But it appears as though Disney Imagineering purposely withheld news of the change to avoid any controversial backlash.
an image of the updated Peter Pan’s Flight at Walt Disney World via Blog Mickey YouTube
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Peter Pan’s Flight, despite its age, is still one of the most popular attractions in the Magic Kingdom. The slow moving dark ride boasts wait times of over an hour, even during slower periods.
It was renovated several years ago to install a new interactive queue area that could hold guest attention for waits often in excess of 70 minutes.
An image of Peter Pan’s Flight at Walt Disney World via Blog Mickey YouTube
The Stories Matter department was responsible for another big change in the Magic Kingdom recently. It had identified Splash Mountain as being problematic, which led to it being replaced by Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, an attraction that sees multiple hours of downtime every day.
On its official webpage, the Stories Matter department shares its mission by stating, “We are reviewing our offerings beyond the screen, which include products, books, music and experiences. While advisories for negative depictions of people and cultures may be added to some offerings, others will be reimagined. We are also investing in new ways to better reflect the rich diversity of stories in our world. This work is ongoing and will evolve as we strive toward a more inclusive tomorrow.”
Promotional image of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure via Disney World website
What do you think of Disney changing yet another classic attraction to appeal to modern political correctness? Does this have a positive impact on society or is it just posturing and virtue signaling? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Marvin The Movie Monster Montanaro is a YouTube commentator and personality specializing in movies, TV, video games, and professional wrestling. He can be found on his channels Tooney Town TV and Tooney Town Wrestling with daily content and weekly livestreams. He can also be found on That Game Place, the That Park Place video game channel.
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