Disney Imagineer Jim Shull recently revealed his thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding Snow White’s Enchanted Wish ride.
- Shull said in a tweet that people can feel however they want about the ride, according to Deadline.
- “Allowing for the fact that cultural changes occur over decades it must be acknowledged that in the context of the tale on which the film is based that the ride is accurate,” Shull said, according to Deadline. “People are of course allowed to dislike the story but the Imagineering team did a spectacular job!”
Shull also pointed to another version of “Snow White” in Germany, where a “comatose young woman is revived when one of the prince’s servants drops her body which dislodges the poisoned apple from her throat and the prince didn’t kiss her.”
The recent controversy over the Disneyland “Snow White” ride began when writers for the San Francisco Gate suggested the ride depicted a romantic scenario that did not show consent.
The new grand finale of Snow White’s Enchanted Wish is the moment when the Prince finds Snow White asleep under the Evil Queen’s spell and gives her ‘true love’s kiss’ to release her from the enchantment. A kiss he gives to her without her consent, while she’s asleep, which cannot possibly be true love if only one person knows it’s happening.
The writers said the ending consent “is a major issue” in early Disney films, which should be fixed in modern rides and films.
Disneyland has changed the Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain rides because they have included cultural depictions that are considered insensitive today.
- “Imagineers are constantly looking for opportunities to enhance experiences, and when it comes to updating classic attractions, they employ a very careful and thoughtful approach,” Disney officials said in a statement, according to The Orange County Register. “In this particular case, Imagineers created a storyline that builds upon what people love the most while addressing negative depictions simultaneously.”