Kelly Hayes
More than half of Disney fans are opposed to the company’s move to close down Splash Mountain and other rides alleged to have racist origins and messaging, according to a new poll commissioned by conservative news agency The Daily Wire.
The poll, which questioned 1,098 adults between Feb. 26 and March 3, was conducted by Survey Monkey. It asked respondents, representative of the country by party affiliation and other demographics, a series of questions related to activism in pop-culture, especially Disney.
The poll found that overall, Disney still has a very favorable image among Americans — 77% found the company favorable, while 21% found it unfavorable. But, according to the poll, 36% of respondents who have heard something in the news recently regarding Disney say it made them feel “less favorable” about the company.
A majority of those who found the entertainment megalith unfavorable cite the company’s recent actions involving actress Gina Carano and its decision to shut down certain rides for racist undertones.
The poll found that 61% of those with a “less favorable” impression of Disney point to its firing of Carano and other “cancel culture” actions the company has taken recently.
Carano was let go from the “The Mandalorian” cast after many online called for her firing over a social media post that likened the experience of Jews during the Holocaust to the U.S. political climate, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Initially, 58% of respondents opposed Disney’s move to fire Carano. But, when the respondents were shown the post that resulted in Carano’s termination, opposition to the decision grew to 72%. Broken down into demographics, a majority of liberals, Democrats and Disney fans still disapproved.
The poll also asked respondents how they felt about Disney World shutting down rides like Splash Mountain, which is linked to a Jim Crow film, and The Jungle Cruise, which was subject to scrutiny over its depiction of indigenous peoples as savages. It found that 64% of the respondents were opposed, including 60% of self-identified Disney fans.
In addition to Disney, the poll also surveyed respondents on Hasbro’s move to change “Mr. Potato Head” to “Potato Head.” More than three-fourths of respondents believed the choice was “political correctness going too far,” with 23% supporting Hasbro’s steps.
The poll has a margin of error of 3.37%.
6 comments
TomC
March 7, 2021 at 4:50 am
There are also the 88,000+ folks who have signed a change.org petition to keep Splash Mountian as it is now. https://www.change.org/p/everyone-to-save-splash-mountain-and-keep-it-as-it-is-in-magic-kingdom-and-disneyland
Eric
March 8, 2021 at 1:07 pm
Thank you Tom. I signed
Rick
March 9, 2021 at 6:23 am
That’s four times as many people as signed the petition which caused the company to make this decision.
Matt Gill
March 8, 2021 at 10:14 am
#SaveSplashMountain
Cole B.
March 8, 2021 at 10:16 am
Song of the South isn’t a Jim Crowe era film. Disney is painting it as such because they want more of a reason to re-theme Splash Mountain. Disney’s C.E.O. recently spoke wrongly of the film saying it “depicted slaves as happy.” Anyone who has even done the slightest bit of research would know there are no slaves in Song of the South. Thank you so much for giving the hundreds of thousands of Splash Mountain fans a voice that has been tried to be sufficed.
Eric
March 8, 2021 at 1:07 pm
Political correctness must end and must end now along with the “cancel culture”. We are destroying not only Disney but our Country.
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