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In a move reflecting the current state of Disney's efforts across both streaming and theatrical releases, Walt Disney Animation Studios will no longer be pursuing longform streaming content, as revealed by The Hollywood Reporter. As a result, the "Tiana" animated series, which has been in development for half a decade, has been canceled. The show would have seen Anika Noni Rose reprise her role from 2009's "The Princess and the Frog."

The change in mission isn't exactly shocking. It's widely known that Disney+ has struggled to make the money work on high-budget streaming originals, from live-action "Star Wars" shows to animated projects from Pixar. "Moana 2," in particular, was infamously meant to be a Disney+ series before it evolved into a theatrical film -- and given that movie's billon-dollar gross, coupled with the massive box office success of Pixar's "Inside Out 2," it makes sense that Disney would want to...

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Disney has a long legacy of storytelling, producing some of the most beloved adaptations of classic tales, but it has also inspired some of the most infamous mockbusters that fans will never forget.

Disney is a huge movie studio responsible for countless beloved films over the last century.For the most part, Disney's animated films are wholesome entertainment with messages of friendship and harmony. However, some scenes in certain movies have sparked controversy.

Even though the studio is known for being family-friendly, Disney has offered movie moments that are offensive to some audiences. This was more common during the studio's earlier years, like in Song of the South, Dumbo, and Fantasia. However, a few examples persist even in relatively recent films, including Tarzan. Some of these controversial Disney scenes are more shocking than others, but no matter what, all of them seem strangely out of place when revisiting their respective movies.

Updated on January 31, 2025, by Ajay Aravind: With the rising awareness of socio-political issues, today's viewers are a lot less tolerant of prejudice than their mid-20th century counterparts. Despite the concept of...

In June 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, Disney announced that Splash Mountain, a popular attraction at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, would be stripped of its theming — which was tied to 1946’s racially problematic Disney film “Song of the South” — and reopen in the next few years as something new. This time, the attraction would draw from 2009’s Oscar-nominated animated film “The Princess and the Frog,” a version of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale set in jazz-era New Orleans.

The transformation underscores Disney’s thorny history on the subject of race, and Black imagery, while highlighting the challenges and considerations necessary even when trying to bring something as seemingly benign as a theme-park ride into the 21st century.

Reflecting the company’s desire in modern times to do better in the areas of race and inclusion, “The Princess and the Frog...

The death of the Blu-ray has begun. Well, it has been very slowly advancing for a while, but Sony has announced that they will stop producing Blu-ray discs, along with MiniDiscs, MiniDV cassettes, and MD data for recording. In short, if you use any of these physical media storage types for personal recording or storage, then you will have to look beyond the company that pioneered the formats.

While some have taken this a sign of the end being nigh for physical Blu-ray movie and TV show releases as we know them, things have not quite gone that far yet despite this not being the first blow for physical collectors recently. In the short statement on their direct sales website for blank storage options, Sony said:

“As of February 2025, we will discontinue production of all Blu-ray Disc media, recording MiniDiscs, MD data for recording, and MiniDV cassettes. There is no successor model.

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This post contains spoilers for "Star Trek: Section 31."

There's a tendency among TV and film fans -- or consumers of any type of pop culture, really -- to let past portrayals off the hook by defining them as "of their time" or as something that "couldn't be made today." It's one of the most insidious habits we have as viewers, and it's usually flat-out wrong. Marginalized people have been fighting to be represented accurately on screen for as long as visual media has existed. Bigot-led '70s sitcom "All in the Family" was considered network poison before it became a hit, lesbian readers were already sick of sad gay love stories by the '50s, and Disney's famously racist film "Song of the South" was controversial even before its 1946 release.

It's easy to fall into the trap of assuming...

Fresh off of its record-breaking four Golden Globes nominations – the most ever for an animated film – “The Wild Robot” has officially taken the lead in the Best Song race at the Oscars. An impressive 100% of our editors and 96% of experts think the standout track “Kiss The Sky” will be nominated come the official announcement on Jan. 17, according to our current combined odds.

At the beginning of the month, “Emilia Pérez” led the category with “El Mal,” but the acclaimed track from the animated movie has been gaining momentum just as awards season kicks into full gear. “Kiss The Sky” is performed by Maren Morris and written by the team of Delacey, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Morris, Michael Pollack, and Ali Tamposi.

The song is not only a beautiful anthem of self-empowerment and facing fears, but it also serves as one of the emotional high points in a pivotal scene in the film.

Pop icon Ariana Grande is calling for Disney World’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to stay exactly as it is. In a passionate appeal, she’s urging Disney to keep this fan-favorite ride standing tall, honoring its nostalgic thrills and spooky ambiance.

Ariana Grande has made her love for Disney’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror known in a big way, and she’s not holding back. During a recent appearance on the Las Culturistas podcast, hosted by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, Grande spoke out in favor of preserving the classic Hollywood Studios attraction.

“Please allow the iconic and tremendous Tower of Terror to stand tall, permanently in the name of historical preservation, spooky honor, and good, old-fashioned fun,” she said, capturing the hearts of Disney fans who share her dedication to the ride’s eerie atmosphere and thrilling drop sequence.

Ariana Grande is very concerned about the...

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has soft opened to Annual Passholders at Disneyland, but not everyone is happy with the reimagining of the classic ride. Here’s why some guests are calling it “empty” and lacking the original charm.

Mixed Reactions to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the reimagined version of the beloved Splash Mountain, has faced a mix of excitement and criticism since its debut at Disneyland. While some fans were eager to see Tiana take the spotlight, others have voiced disappointment over what they perceive as a reduction in the ride’s magic and fullness.

Lack of Animatronics and Claustrophobic Design

Fluff Skwovet, in a tweet that gained considerable traction, criticized the ride’s emptiness, stating: “Tiana’s sucks on Disneyland, literal darkness & very empty, even more empty than Wdw’s version, terrible retheme no matter what version.” He pointed out the reduction in the number...

The passing of John Amos has been a reminder of his historic starring role in one of the more unlikely Disney live-action hits ever!

The news that John Amos died in August at the age of 84 has led to some looks back at his long acting career. Breaking out as weatherman Gordy Howard on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Amos took the lead role in the hit comedy Good Times. After leaving the show following a beef with the producers, Amos starred in the Emmy-winning mini-series Roots. 

After that, Amos was a familiar face on TV and in movies, with notable appearances in Coming To America, Die Hard 2, The West Wing, Men in Trees, and more. Yet amid all that, it's easy to forget Amos' starring role in one the weirder Disney films of a weird period.

The World's Greatest Athlete. 

This 1973 film was notable, with Amos in his...

Disney is making a significant update to one of its theme-park rides after continuous calls to action against racist depictions in Disney attractions and movies. One of Disney World's most popular rides at Magic Kingdom, Peter Pan's Flight, a staple of the amusement park, recently returned from refurbishment with a noteworthy alteration. While the original incarnation of the ride at Disneyland didn't feature Peter Pan or the Native Americans, they were added to the Magic Kingdom version in 1971. That version has resided in Fantasyland ever since until now.

According to Deadline, the Disney World version of the ride has already made the necessary changes to remove the outdated stereotypes. The ride's new facelift features updated versions of Native Americans in a more authentic setting. The Chief in a headdress has been entirely removed, and the classic character, Tiger Lily, is now depicted more gently, celebrating with her grandmother and other...

Some old Disney movies contain problematic scenes illustrating biases at the time of production. Song of the South is the most problematic Disney movie due to its romanticization of slavery and racial stereotypes. Certain Disney Princess movies rely on problematic romances and the main character giving up everything for a man.

Disney is known for its beloved animated classics, plenty of which feature moments that have not aged well. It is not surprising that parts of Disney's corpus are outdated or problematic when the studio has been producing movies since the 1930s. Even some titles which are considered among Disney's best animated movies demonstrate some bad moments like this, proof that most people are willing to accept such flaws when the movie is decades old.

The things in old Disney movies that wouldn't work today are illustrations of the biases that were much more prevalent in filmmaking 20, 50, or almost 100 years...

After waiting a year, the re-theme of the iconic Disney ride, Splash Mountain has opened in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. The new ride, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, turns the characters of 1946’s Song of the South into the 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog. On the ride we see Princess Tiana and her friends gather a group of musical critters to play at her party.

The re-theme has been surrounded by controversy, with many Disney fans wanting the ride to stay the same. However, a push to include more recent I.P. into rides (among other reasons) led to the change. The ride has been plagued with multiple technical problems ever since its opening. It has gotten to the point where riders were required to be evacuated. Despite adding new animatronics, the attraction still has the same 30+ years of wear and tear. Very few refurbishments seem...

The first hit album of Frank Zappa’s career, Apostrophe (‘), will be expanded into a comprehensive box set for its 50th anniversary. Available in a variety of formats on Sept. 13, the reissue in its most extravagant form, a super deluxe edition, will feature a remastered edition of the original album with bonus tracks, live recordings from Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, and Dayton from 1974, and a Blu-ray that includes the album in 5.1 surround sound and its original quadrophonic mix in addition to high-res audio.

The release, available to preorder now,...

On July 17, 1989, Splash Mountain opened at Disneyland Park; three years later, a version of the same ride opened at Disney World. It was a problematic attraction from the onset — the ride had all the classic charm of other timeless Disney fare like Peter Pan’s Flight and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, but this iteration was founded on a troubling principle.

The film the ride was based on, Song of the South, had been voluntarily removed from circulation by Disney three years before Splash Mountain ever opened. The film was widely known to be racist and was heavily criticized for romanticizing the plantation-era South in America, and for bolstering harmful stereotypes about Black people.

Now, over 30 years later, the uncomfortable subtext of Splash Mountain has been put to rest, and in its place splashes down something all the more charming, festive and fun.

Gone are the hillbilly-ish caricatures of Br’er Rabbit,...

Hollywood has had its fair share of good and bad cinematic projects, with some even exceeding the bar to be termed as “racist” or “controversial”. One of these movies was the 2004 comedy/crime White Chicks, starring the renowned Scary Movie actor Marlon Wayans. This film recently celebrated two decades of its existence and, in the meanwhile, also ended up sparking a heated debate.

White Chicks. (2004) | Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.

This debate was regarding the controversy surrounding the movie. Apparently, one viewer deemed this critically panned but fan-favorite piece of work as “the most racist movie that ever came out of Hollywood.” Ever since then, fans have been engulfed in a heated debate on whether this opinion is actually laughable, or laudable, when literal pieces like the live-action Dragonball: Evolution exist!

Marlon Wayans’ White Chicks Has Sparked a Controversial Debate on its 20th Anniversary

Helmed by filmmaker Keenen Ivory Wayans, one...

This piece was originally published in November 2019. It has been updated since and is most current as of June 12, 2024.

“Song of the South” remains the most controversial film in the history of Walt Disney motion pictures, live action or animated. But you’ll never see directors Harve Foster (handling the live action) and Wilfred Jackson’s (behind the animation) 1946 Uncle Remus adaptation on the Disney+ streaming service even as the company continues to roll out its vast library of legacy titles on the home-viewing platform. And not even with a disclaimer. Disney CEO Bob Iger made that clear back in 2020, even before the dated racial politics of classic movies returned heavily to discussion around the Black Lives Matter movement’s impact on entertainment later that year.

Set in a Reconstruction-era American south just as the Civil War has concluded and slavery has ended, “Song of the South” is most famous...

Janis Paige, the ebullient redhead who starred in the original Broadway production of The Pajama Game and in such Hollywood musicals as Silk Stockings and Romance on the High Seas, has died. She was 101.

Paige, who was discovered in the 1940s while performing at the legendary Hollywood Canteen, died Sunday of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, her friend Stuart Lampert announced.

Paige starred on her own network sitcom, playing a widowed nightclub singer struggling to raise her 10-year-old daughter, on the 1955-56 CBS series It’s Always Jan, and she had recurring roles as Dick van Patten’s free-spirited sister on ABC’s Eight Is Enough and as a hospital administrator on CBS’ Trapper John, M.D.

The actress also turned in two memorable guest-starring stints in 1976, playing an attractive diner waitress named Denise who tempts Archie (Carroll O’Connor) to cheat on Edith (Jean Stapleton) on All in the Family...

Disney is focused on remaking classic movies, but Song of the South is controversial and won't be included. Song of the South is criticized for its racist portrayal of Black characters, especially Uncle Remus. Disney won't include Song of the South on Disney+ or new boxsets due to its deeply ingrained problematic content.

Warning: This article discusses racist depictions of Black people.

Disney is riding a wave of nostalgia by remaking many of its classic movies however, Song of the South is one movie that's guaranteed not to receive the same treatment. The movie studio is keen to keep many of its older animated movies alive as live-action remakes, with classic cartoons such as The Lion King finding new generations of fans, and Snow White, the studio's first feature-length animation, next in the live-action pipeline. However, not only is Disney not planning to re-release or remake Song of the South,...

Tiana's Bayou Adventure is replacing Splash Mountain, offering a new experience with characters from The Princess and the Frog. Tiana's Bayou Adventure is slated to open in 2024, and it will be a water ride with the big drops that its predecessor was known for. Riders will join Princess Tiana on a journey through the Louisiana bayou, and there will be music from the 2009 film and twists.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure will replace Splash Mountain at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and there are already details about the upcoming Princess and the Frog ride surfacing online. Anyone who frequents Disneyland will have noticed that Splash Mountain is currently closed for renovations. The classic attraction will be very different when it reopens, as it's getting a story update and name change. Given all the problems with Disney's Song of the South, which Splash Mountain was based on, the changes are long overdue.

And...

Splash Mountain is currently undergoing renovations at both Disneyland California and Disney World Florida. The water ride will reopen in 2024, but it will be called Tiana's Bayou Adventure. The updated attraction will feature story elements from the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog.

Splash Mountain is a well-known ride at Disneyland California, but the attraction has been closed since May 2023 — and it will be quite a bit different when it finally reopens. A water ride located in Frontier Land at Disneyland Park, Splash Mountain opened back in 1989. The attraction was based on Disney's 1946 film Song of the South, and it featured several locations and characters from the movie during its nine-minute run. Riders sat in log boats and made their way through areas like the Critter Cave and The Fishing Place while listening to music from the film.

A 50-foot drop rounded out the experience, soaking riders right before letting them off.

Quick Links For Almost 30 Years, Illustrator Bill Peet Was an Animator for Walt Disney Bill Peet Presents a Gruff Image of Walt Disney in His Autobiography After Leaving Walt Disney Animation, Bill Peet Found Success as a Children’s Book Author Bill Peet worked as a key animator on many films during the Golden Age of Disney. Walt Disney and Bill Peet often had an antagonistic relationship during their time working together. Upon leaving Walt Disney Animation after almost 30 years, Bill Peet found success as a children's book author.

Disney enthusiasts might know about Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men." Animators of the Disney Golden Age that D23.com lists as his "key animators in the 1950s." The last surviving member of these Disney legends, Ollie Johnston, passed in 2008. Missing among this list of animation greats, however, is animator and children's book author and illustrator Bill Peet. Peet worked on a...

David Bordwell, the noted film scholar, teacher, author and researcher known for sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm of cinema with movie lovers everywhere, has died. He was 76.

Bordwell died Thursday after a long illness, the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced. He taught at the school from 1973 until his retirement in 2004 and was its Jacques Ledoux Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the time of his death.

For more than two decades, Bordwell supplied commentaries, visual and written essays and interviews for films in the Criterion Collection and was seen and heard on 50 insightful episodes of Observations on Film Art on the Criterion Channel.

In a statement, Criterion called him “a great, longtime friend and a tireless champion of cinema who spent decades imparting his wisdom and passion onto film lovers around the world.”

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Bordwell wrote his essential textbooks Film Art: An Introduction,...

He simply may have watched more movies than anyone else alive. That’s the kind of legendary detail that followed film scholar David Bordwell, dead at 76 after a long struggle with a degenerative lung disease.

Was that true? Impossible to determine, and Bordwell’s cinephilia was never about bragging or the accumulation of knowledge to score points — but instead, to share with others and enrich our collective understanding of cinema. If you studied film on any level in academia, you almost certainly have heard his name.

For several generations of film students, you read Bordwell’s “Film Art: An Introduction” in your fall freshman Film 101 class. That was me in 2004, and I believe that book was already on its seventh edition by that point — it had first been published in 1979. If you went deeper into your studies, you’d undoubtedly encounter his “Film History” textbook as well. Both of these...

Lunar New Year is a key box office period in several Asian territories, but nowhere was it more hotly contested this year than in Vietnam, where several local, Japanese and Hollywood movies were slugging it over the week-long holidays (February 9-15).

Tran Thanh’s Mai, a romantic drama that delves into the psychology of its female protagonist, was the clear winner — at the time of writing it was topping the box office with a haul of VND400BN ($16.4M). Produced by Tran Thanh Town and Cj Hk Entertainment, a joint venture between Korea’s Cj Enm and local outfit HKFilm, the film has the potential to break the record set by Tran Thanh’s own The House of No Man, released this time last year, which is Vietnam’s highest ever grossing film with VND476BN ($19.4m).

Also released over the holidays, known as Tet in Vietnam, was Nhat Trung...

Disney parks purists rejoice.

The company’s Imagineering team has released the first look at the actual Tiana character that will enliven the upcoming Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction at U.S. parks, and it is refreshingly old school.

Unlike the initial face-projection characters from Epcot’s Frozen Ever After, which creeped some guests out, Tiana is fully animatronic in the tradition of classic Disney rides like Pirates of the Caribbean. Catch your first look in the video below.

@disneyparks

First Look...

An is the main character of the Doan Gioi novel Song of the South. The Vietnamese author tapped into the spirit of adventure when he wrote about a son’s quest to meet his father. The emotional journey has a very interesting backdrop: the strife between the French army and the rebel army. The new Netflix film adapts the novel and tries to create a cinematic equivalent of An’s journey, and it works in most parts, especially when dealing with An’s story.

The novel was the foundation for the TV series in 1997, which was quite a hit in Vietnam, and it’s no surprise that Quang Dung Nguyen has tried to tell the story again by directing this film. The film immediately reminded me of stories that are quite profound, usually because of the journey of the protagonist. The coming-of-age aspect of the film is reminiscent of films...

The Vietnamese film Song of the South is based on the novel of the same name by Doan Gioi. It is a tried-and-tested story, as it was made into a television series way back in 1997. It is a beloved and epic tale of a boy named An who goes on an adventure to meet his father. The time period of the film also brings almost insurmountable obstacles for An, as this is a story set when Vietnam was a French colony. An’s father was the leader of the rebel army, trying to fight for the country’s freedom. He lived away from the family, and An’s mother was the one who had to take full responsibility for raising An. The story takes a turn when An and his mother have to escape as the French are going after the rebels and their sympathizers.

Spoilers Ahead

Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?...

By Le Chou

December 30, 2023

For the first time in modern Vietnam cinema since the establishment of its box office tracking, six local films topped the Vietnam box office in 2023 and combined to capture more than a third of the total box office receipts. This dominating performance by local films is a stark reversal of 2022, when the top local film only placed sixth in the year's overall ranking behind Hollywood and other foreign films.

As 2023 comes to a close, here's a look at the 6 films (in order of box office performance) and the directors who helmed them:

1. Nhà Bà Nữ (The House of No Man)

Directed by Trấn Thành, starring Uyển Ân, Song Luân, and Trấn Thành.

Trấn Thành marks his solo directorial debut with Nhà Bà Nữ (The House of No Man), which unequivocally became the box office champion upon its release during Tết (Lunar New Year). The film stars...

Old Disney movies perpetuated harmful stereotypes and outdated ideals, sending the wrong message about consent and racial stereotypes. Disney has made mistakes in the past with their portrayal of Native Americans, black characters, Asians, and the LGBTQ+ community. Historical inaccuracies and misrepresentation, such as in the movie Song of the South, would not be acceptable in today's world.

Disney classic movies featured elements that were acceptable back in the day but certainly wouldn't pass today's scrutiny. Disney has been creating movies for over eight decades, and during that time, the studio has faced a lot of controversy over problematic storylines, racial stereotypes, and inaccurate historical representations. Today's world is remarkably different from when some of the old Disney movies were created. Society now has different values and expectations of studios that were not taken seriously when some of the classic Disney movies were being released.

However, it is crucial to...

The period drama is the sixth film to reach vnd100 billion ($4m) this year.

Vietnamese period film The Last Wife has passed the vnd100 billion mark at the local box office, making it the sixth film to reach this milestone this year. It is equivalent to approximately $4m.

Directed by US-born Vietnamese filmmaker Victor Vu, the film has been dominating the Vietnamese box office since its opening on November 3. It crossed the $4.09m (vnd100bn) mark on December 8 for distributor Lotte Entertainment.

It also opened in North America through 3388 Films and Australia through VeOnline & Film Viet Tai Uc on December...

Exclusive: It’s not just Netflix that made a bid for Warner Bros.’ scrapped Coyote vs. Acme. Paramount, Apple and Amazon have seen the movie as well. Of those, Paramount has made a bid, and the plus there is a potential theatrical release. The Melrose lot could use it on the 2024 release calendar. Debt-laden exhibitors would want it, too.

Meanwhile, Amazon is mulling, I’m told, with no formal bid made. First, it takes longer over there to conduct business and get decisions through the proper channels. I also hear that marketing execs are trying to get their heads around the picture (seriously — there’s a lot of action scenes in the movie and hysterical jokes that easily could be used in trailers. I’ve seen the movie. Look out for the Porky Pig pant-less joke).

Warners is playing hardball as it wants to cover the $70M and then some.

Disney's earliest animated projects paved the way for the medium and showcased the studio's commitment to pushing the boundaries of animation. The Disney Renaissance of the 1990s proved that heartfelt stories could revive the studio's success, but recent financial struggles may necessitate another creative resurgence. Disney's focus on established franchises and CGI animation has overshadowed the potential for original stories and traditional hand-drawn animation, which were once the studio's greatest successes.

It's almost impossible to find a more iconic animated movie studio than the House of Mouse. For 100 years now, Disney has been producing some of the greatest and most influential animated films of all time. Their earliest animated projects date back to the dawn of the medium itself. For three-quarters of a century, traditional hand-drawn animation was the norm. However, as technology evolved, Disney did as well.

In 2005, they released Chicken Little, their first fully CGI-animated feature. They continued...

Ideally timed to Disney’s centennial, a short film entitled “Once Upon a Studio” assembles 100 years’ worth of animated characters from the company’s vaults for a group photo outside Walt Disney Animation Studios headquarters in Burbank, Calif. That’s the building, shaped like Mickey Mouse’s conical blue hat from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” where the walls are lined with images from a century’s worth of iconic toons.

Conceived and directed by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham, the project involves a live-action walkthrough of the place where the magic happens — that is, where much of the work on Disney’s animated features is done. But there’s an extra sprinkling of magic here, as cartoon characters leap out of their frames and wander the halls where they were originally drawn or rendered.

That hybrid style, where animation embellishes live-action footage, was first implemented by Disney on 1946’s “Song of the South,...

The influence of classic movies on modern culture is immense, and there remains a high demand for these timeless works, which is why many in the industry viewed Warner Bros. Discovery’s move to lay off key executives and otherwise reduce staffing at Turner Classic Movies with such alarm.

Parrot Analytics’ demand data — which takes into account consumer research, streaming, downloads and social media, among other engagement — allowed us to compile a list of the top 10 most sought-after movies released before 1970, which form a substantial part of TCM’s catalog.

These movies all achieved outstanding demand levels within the first five months of 2023, above the 97th percentile for the U.S. market. This suggests that despite a market saturated with modern blockbusters and franchises, classic films still command substantial attention from audiences. For streaming services, a quality library of such films contributes to retention. Warner’s Max streaming service has a TCM hub,...

Bruce Willis‘ wife, Emma Heming Willis, shared a video of the family’s recent trip to Disneyland in California.

Emma, who married Willis in 2009, has been posting family photos and videos, sometimes alongside Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore, 60, and her daughters Rumer, 34, Scout, 31, and Tallulah, 29. The two families have often been seen together publicly after the actor was diagnosed with aphasia in March 2022.

Last month, they celebrated Mother’s Day together after Rumer’s daughter was born this year.

In the Instagram clip, Willis, 68, can be seen riding the Splash Mountain attraction with his daughters, Mabel Ray Willis and Evelyn Penn Willis. He puts his arm around one of them and says, “You better watch out, I think we’re going to go again.”

The trip comes after Willis’ family announced his diagnosis in February 2023 of frontotemporal dementia (Ftd), a progressive brain disease that can have similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s.

It goes without saying that the history of animation is riddled with groundbreaking developments and touchstone moments that Disney continues to bring to the genre. The multiplane camera brought the illusion of depth. Xerography cut animation costs and sped up production. Caps (Computer Animation Production System) brought digital coloring, crisper animation, and CGI effects and environments, a big step forward for animation thanks to Disney's work with Pixar. Along those lines, Disney was among the first - but not the first - to marry live-action with animation in short-form, but was the first to do so for a feature-length project, 1941's The Reluctant Dragon, a live-action tour through Disney's animation studio with animated sequences. Since then, Disney has utilized the hybrid in a number of films: Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and (shudder) Song of the South. There was one film, in planning well before The Reluctant Dragon, that would...

The House of Mouse has decided to take a stand against Florida and its officials. It is against “Don’t Say Gay,” happily employs members of the LGBTQ+ community, and makes it very clear in its literature that everyone is accepted in their parks.

But what about in their movies? For Disney, it seems tokenism is the name of the game. Yet there is hope for the much-beloved juggernaut.

Acceptance First

The fact that Disney is prepared to stand up against very real governmental threats in support of their LGBTQ+ employees and patrons is admirable. They have stepped their foot in a culture war where one side is for unity and a live-and-let-live mentality while the other is shutting libraries and seemingly banning actual people.

One thing to remember is that Walt Disney himself was not the most progressive individual. He was on the record as associating with known antisemitic...

Halle Bailey Photo: Disney There’s something wrong with the Disney Vault. In the early 90s, the studio’s legendary safe housed all its classic animated masterpieces to force scarcity on the marketplace. Parents would have to run out to Suncoast Video and pick up a clamshell VHS copy of...

Halle BaileyPhoto: Disney

There’s something wrong with the Disney Vault. In the early 90s, the studio’s legendary safe housed all its classic animated masterpieces to force scarcity on the marketplace. Parents would have to run out to Suncoast Video and pick up a clamshell VHS copy of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs...

Disney confirms the closure of its popular yet polarizing Splash Mountain ride as it renovates the long-time Disney attraction.

Per Deadline, Disneyland officials said the upcoming renovation project will take over a year to complete once the closure takes place on May 30. The rebranded ride will be called Tiana's Bayou Adventure and is scheduled to open late in 2024. The reimagined attraction is named after the 2009 film, The Princess and the Frog, which was set in New Orleans and introduced Tiana, Disney's first Black princess.

Related: Disney Boss Admits Theme Park Pricing Is Too Expensive

This announcement from Disneyland comes after Florida's Disney World made similar changes to its own Splash Mountain ride, which was permanently closed in January ahead of renovations. Plans to change Splash Mountain were originally announced in 2020 after park patrons voiced complaints about the ride's ties to the controversial 1946 film, Song of the South. Splash Mountain is...

Splash Mountain, the Disneyland flume ride which has been criticized for racist and stereotyping related to its roots in the 1946 Disney film Song of the South, will officially close at the end of the day today to begin its renovation into an attraction based on the more modern film The Princess and the Frog. Walt Disney World closed its version of the ride in January.

According to Disneyland officials, the renovation project is expected to last more than a year. The re-imagined ride, which will be called Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, is scheduled to open in late 2024. When the attraction closed in Orlando earlier this year, Splash Mountain saw a record wait time of 220 minutes on its final day. It looks like there is a similar turnout at Disneyland today, with some reporting a 200-minute wait by 2 p.m.

How’s This for a Disneyland crowds check?! Here’s Adventureland...

Disney’s Song of the South is one of the most controversial Disney movies out there. If you have never heard of it, there’s a good reason. Disney has gone to great lengths to pretend that the movie doesn’t even exist. That’s why, despite Disney+ making most of their old and new movies available for everyone to watch, Song of the South will never be on the service.

Recently, it has come back into the public eye as Disney has now closed Splash Mountain in its Florida and California locations. This ride was one of the only ties left to Song of the South, as it was based on the movie’s animated segments/ The ride is now being converted into a Princess and the Frog theme. This has brought the company a lot of backlash, but it still leaves a lot of people wondering why they...

Disney has remade countless films and is working on more, but Song of the South must be left in the past. The Little Mermaid is set to hit theaters at the end of May, and Disney has already begun announcing cast members for the upcoming Lilo & Stitch live-action film. So far, the company has faced a lot of criticism for casting light skin actors in the roles when the original animated characters had darker skin, reflecting their Pacific Islander heritage. Disney had done a lot to correct their past mistakes, like changing lyrics in The Little Mermaid songs for the new film.

However, Song of the South is a film that can't be corrected or revived. Disney recently shut down the Splash Mountain ride at the Disney parks as it was based on the racist film. Instead, they are replacing it with a new ride based on The Princess and The Frog,...

The Country Music Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for 2023, with two of the genre’s most successful artists, Tanya Tucker and Patty Loveless, marking the first time since 2011 that two solo women have been inducted in one year. Songwriter Bob McDill rounds out this year’s inductees.

Tanya Tucker, who joins as the Veteran Era inductee, had already scored her first major hits when she appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone at age 15. Her long-awaited inclusion as a Hall of Fame member finds her basking in the...

Mark Russell, the sly satirist who skewered America’s political elite for more than a half-century by blending stand-up comedy with biting song parodies, died Thursday. He was 90.

Russell died at his home in Washington of complications from prostate cancer, his wife, Alison, told The Washington Post.

Perhaps best known for his series of one-man PBS comedy specials that aired from 1975-2004, Russell also served as one of the hosts of the popular 1979-83 NBC reality program Real People, and he wrote a syndicated column for the Los Angeles Times for several years.

However, he was most at home in front of a live audience, and he spent two decades on the speaking circuit, hitting his peak in 2000 when he racked up 100 appearances in 100 different cities.

“Mark Russell was a D.C. institution who did the hardest thing a comic can do … relentlessly and righteously mock his neighbors,” Jon Stewart said in a statement.

Lyrics from “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” have been quietly removed from the set list of Disneyland’s Magic Happens parade. The melody originates from the 1946 feature “Song of the South,” which has been criticized for featuring racist imagery and themes.

Disneyland officials confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that a lyric from the song was removed from the soundtrack of the Magic Happens parade, which is held twice daily at the Anaheim resort. The Magic Happens parade returned to the park on Feb. 24, ending a three-year hiatus prompted by the Covid pandemic. According to the report, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” has been replaced by a song from the 1953 feature “Peter Pan.”

Representatives for Disneyland were not immediately available for comment.

The change in the parade follows plans to close the park’s classic ride Splash Mountain, which was designed with references to “Song of the South.” The attraction will be reconfigured to feature themes and...

The history of Disney's Song of the South is one of cheer, racism, and the odd choice to build an amusement park ride based on a film generations have never seen, or ever will. The film is one filled with mixed messages, taking place in a time after slavery had been abolished, but still depicting black people as subservient to the white. The bright, fun animated characters that harbor a racist subtext, and often an outright proclamation of racism. It's a dark moment in the history of Disney, and one that poses a question about whether the film, or any part of the film, is salvageable in any way.

Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update discussed how former presidents and vice presidents have responded to the classified documents saga, while throwing in a dig at the Catholic Church and questioning a recent ride closure at Disney World.

“Representatives for Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama issued statements saying they all turned over all classified records before leaving office, while Jimmy Carter issued a statement saying, ‘Come and get ’em, you bastards!'” co-anchor Colin Jost joked while an image appeared on screen of the 98-year-old wielding a...

Colin Jost and Michael Che were back roasting the week in politics and pop culture on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” and this time Donald Trump, Kanye West and Walt Disney World took some hits.

Jost started off the night by poking fun at Trump after Facebook announced they were reinstating the former President of the United States adding, “But this time they’ll put guardrails in place to keep him under control, which I think is the same thing they said every time they tried to reopen Jurassic Park. Also, what even are guardrails on Facebook and can they apply to my uncle? Because he’s posted some very disturbing fan fiction about the green M&M.”

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