Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Disappoints Voodoo Fans At Disney World

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is replacing the iconic Splash Mountain across Disney Parks, but it’s not just longtime fans of the latter ride who are angry. In addition, it seems that the new Princess and the Frog (2009) attraction is once again letting down practitioners of the voodoo religion.

An animated scene featuring a woman in a yellow suit and red tie standing beside a large, friendly alligator. Both characters are smiling and appear to be in a forest setting with vibrant greenery and blue lighting. Another smaller character is in the scene as well. — Credit: Disney

The 2020 announcement that the Splash Mountain attractions being shut down at Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando and the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim was controversial, even by the standards of nostalgia-bound Disney fans. While Splash Mountain was not an original feature of either Disney World or Disneyland (opening in 1992 and 1989, respectively), they had become iconic aspects of the Disney Parks over the decades and were often treated with the same reverence as rides and theme lands envisioned by Walt himself.

It was considered notable that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, a new log flume attraction, was announced to replace Splash Mountain amid the racially charged George Floyd protests of 2020, though Disney claimed it had already been in development in 2020. An attraction themed around the first movie to star a Black Disney Princess replacing one themed on the incredibly controversial Song of the South (1946) caused the expected cries of Disney going “woke” and pandering toward racial equity movements, but it should be remembered that The Princess and the Frog received its own share of criticism upon release.

Dr. Facilier in a half-skull mask in a screenshot from Princess and the Frog — Credit: Disney

Among other things, The Princess and the Frog was condemned by practitioners of the real-life voodoo religion for depicting its central villain, Dr. Facilier (Keith David), as a voodoo bokor communing with “evil magic” and beholden to malevolent spirits. Religion Dispatches neatly summed up actual voodoo adherents’ general opinion of the film:

“I do not know where to begin my comments on how this film perpetuates offensive stereotypes about Voodoo. The loas are represented as evil spirits full of greed and anger. The masks themselves are vengeful, and end up killing Dr. Facilier when, in inevitable Disney fashion, his evil plan fails. This climax occurs, of course, in a graveyard, reaffirming the film’s association of Voodoo with death.

The terms Voodoo, Hoodoo, and conjuring are used interchangeably throughout. In the end one is presented with an evil religion that will ultimately fail.

I did not expect critical race analysis or a sophisticated presentation of Voodoo when I walked into the theater. It is, after all, Disney.”

A vibrant scene featuring various colorful characters from Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" is set in front of a lively, decorated New Orleans-style building. The characters are in mid-performance, with musicians playing instruments and others dancing and singing, the finale of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. — Credit: Disney Parks via YouTube

Now, Disney seems to be trying to smooth over that past offense…by simply removing any element of voodoo from the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure rather than presenting its narrative with any balance (per The Wild Hunt). The story of the new flume ride is being presented as a sequel to the original film and apparently has no connections to Dr. Facilier or voodoo, completely cutting out a vital, if offensive, portion of the original movie.

Considering Disney’s track record, maybe that’s for the best.

Do you think The Princess and the Frog depicted voodoo fairly?