Disney Park Reimagines Classic Attraction: “it’s a WOKE WORLD after all”
A Guest-favorite classic Disney Parks attraction has recently been reimagined by a former Disney animator, and Disney didn’t even file a permit for the work. The animator has now used his talents as an artist to reimagine one of Disney Parks’ classic attractions, illustrating his beliefs that The Walt Disney Company has suffered a “hostile internal takeover.”
In 2021, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic saga began to wane somewhat over the summer. Even those who had been among the most dedicated to “slowing the spread” began to feel more at ease in social settings like grocery stores and their local churches. They felt less angst and hesitation about sending their school-age children back into a brick-and-mortar setting as school districts all over the country started welcoming students back to a predominantly in- education setting.
And though there seemed to be progress in the fight to slow the spread of COVID (barring, of course, the Delta and Omicron variants of the disease, which showed up late to the game and then made up for lost time), the United States saw a myriad of events in 2021: political, social, economic, and natural, each one stealing more than its allotted five seconds of fame.
From a riot in Washington, D. C., against the White House, raging wildfires, and an unprecedented deluge of several “one-in-a-thousand-years” weather patterns like temperatures in the Pacific Northwest of more than 116 degrees Fahrenheit, to the passing of new voting legislation in 19 out of 34 states that many felt was restrictive in nature and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the country had plenty to fill its proverbial plate without the constant reminders of a pandemic looming overhead like a dark, ominous, electrically-charged storm cloud.
But something else was brewing in 2021, and rather than it rushing toward us all at one time as the pandemic had, it slowly seeped in as many began to loudly voice their opposition to current and proposed , world events, political unrest in foreign nations, and, of all things, Disney Parks’ decisions in regard to the reimagining of several Guest-favorite attractions at and Disneyland like Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain, among other moves made by the company.
But the practice wasn’t new that year. had already made modifications to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in 2018, trading the potentially offensive scene in which pirates were invited to “take a wench for a bride” for a scene in which the “redhead” herself plays the auctioneer charged with mediating the fate of droves of chickens.
But the push against what some describe as a “ Disney” only grew as many disagreed with changes like these. For many, it wasn’t about feeling convicted over a disregard for himself, but rather about their views that The was caving, surrendering to pressure, and succumbing to the demands of a few, rather than listening to its core audience, its base.
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In August 2021, conservative radio talk show host and founder of Blaze Media, hosted a former on his broadcast. At the time, the chose to remain anonymous as he promoted a he created based on the popular it’s a attraction at and Disneyland.
In the , the former presents a version of the Fantasyland attraction in which every “room” of the famed boat ride has been modified to reflect what the artist calls the “hostile internal takeover” at Disney. Even the attraction’s name has changed; in the , the attraction is called “it’s a .”
The video is 2 minutes, 15 seconds in duration, and during that short timespan, the former touches on the subjects of white privilege, slavery, , foreign refugees, the border wall, Disney’s Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, Black Lives Matter, c, colorblind ideology, impact biases, the Chinese Communist Party, and Marxism, among others.
The employs the technology and magic of computer animation to paint a picture of the artist’s views on Disney’s recent stances on issues like equality and .
In March 2022, however, the mystery returned to the Blaze Media radio program, choosing to remove his cloak and reveal his identity. His name is Bob Arvin, a former Disney animator and artist. During the Glenn Beck Program, Arvin explained that he hasn’t worked for Disney in more than 20 years, but that he has several friends and colleagues employed by Disney with whom he keeps in contact.
Today he’s the founder and creative director of PolitiZoid, a website that makes its political statements through animated videos. PolitiZoid’s website homepage features an animated likeness of Walt Disney’s head in a cryogenic suspension chamber. A “WED Reanimation” banner can be seen faintly in the background, presumably a tongue-in-cheek reference to the ever-ruminating rumor that Walt’s body (or only his head) was cryogenically frozen at the time of his death in an effort to improve his chances for reanimation, the proposed process of bringing a frozen human body back to functional life.
READ HERE to Learn What Actually Happened If It’s True That Walt Disney is Cryogenically Frozen
On the program with Glenn Beck, Arvin spoke out against the “internal hostile takeover” he says is happening at Disney. Arvin blames “ activists” who he believes have alienated Disney’s core audience in pursuit of what he calls a “far-left agenda.”
During the broadcast, Arvin told Beck that today’s “ Disney” had its beginnings in the late 1990s when, according to him, Disney had “sleeper cells” of activists within the House of Mouse. He went on to name the catalyst in the coming forward of Disney’s “ agenda”: the death of ‘s nephew, Roy E. Disney, in 2009. Arvin says it’s at that time that things began to really change within The because those “militant activists,” as he calls them, inside the company became far more active.
“They’re emboldened, and they’re using the smear campaign against the bill in Florida to push their agenda,” Arvin said, referring to Florida’s in Education bill, which was signed into law by on March 28, 2022.
“It’s kind of like an internal hostile takeover at Disney is what’s happening right now,” he added.
Bob Arvin described The as a microcosm of how he views the United States as a whole right now.
“It’s a small active minority that’s steering the ship,” he explained, “and the majority are afraid to speak out, or only now just waking up to what’s going on and trying to figure out what can be done.”
Arvin says Disney is trading its core audience for a new agenda, and he says that even if Disney doesn’t destroy itself, it will have damaged itself for an entire generation.
“They are abandoning their core audience in favor of this agenda,” Arvin said.
The former ‘s has gained more traction in recent months, translating to almost 520,000 views on the PolitiZoid YouTube Channel alone. Other channels have posted the video as well, including YouTuber Gary Burke, on whose channel Arvin’s video has amassed more than 73,000 views.
The of the “it’s a ” attraction is chock full of subtle subtleties and nods to specific political and social issues that have taken over the headlines in recent months. So subtle are some of them, they’re almost missed unless viewers watch the video more than once.
For example, one scene depicts the dolls from the “it’s a ” attraction at the entrance to a Disney Park that displays signage for “Equitable Admission” rates. The same scene depicts a welcome plaque with words reminiscent of ‘s welcome speech on July 17, 1955, at Disneyland California, except the plaque reads, “To all who come to this place . . .”
Another scene depicts two children playing a game like volleyball, but at second glance, the “volleyball” is actually representative of the coronavirus.
One of ‘s favorite attractions, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, is featured in the . As the ride vehicle passes the life-size audio-animatronic robot, Mr. Lincoln can be heard saying the words, “If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be the authors and finishers.”
Not only does the show computer-animated images inspired by the “it’s a ” attraction at and Disneyland, but it also plays the familiar Sherman Brothers tune Guests hear in the Disney Parks attraction.
In the , however, 100% of the lyrics have been revised to perpetuate PolitiZoid’s message. Some of the lyrics are quite sensitive and potentially offensive and include references to President Biden and the refugee crisis, capitalism, political parties, and more.
In one scene of the video, the “children” sing, “There is a land where you once lived free, as the of the bourgeoisie . . . “
The lyrics to part of the chorus of the song read, “It’s a ; it’s a ; it’s a ; it’s a , .” Another chorus features lyrics that read, “We’re all Marxists after all” in succession.
The concludes with the “end” of the ride. In the scene, the ride vehicle (boat) approaches the exit of the attraction, and just before reaching the outdoor part, the huge “Partners” statue that features and Mickey Mouse hand in hand falls down across the waterway, presumably to serve as a symbol of Walt’s legacy having been taken down by what some feel is a new version of Disney, a “ Disney.”
You can see the entire POV video here:
The has made no comment on PolitiZoid’s video. Disney continues to speak against exclusion, touting “inclusion for everyone,” as evidenced by a statement on its Reimagine Tomorrow website, which reads:
“At Disney, inclusion is for everyone. Reimagine Tomorrow is our way of amplifying underrepresented voices and untold stories as well as championing the importance of accurate representation in media and entertainment. Because we are all greater than a single story and we all deserve to feel seen, heard, and understood.”
