Disneyland’s theme park in Anaheim, California, which has been closed since the start of the pandemic reopened Friday showing off its newly revamped “Snow White’s Enchanted Wish” ride. But the revamped Snow White ride didn’t come with open arms to some as it has become the latest target of “cancel culture” — because it features the iconic kiss by Prince Charming that happens as she sleeps and “without her consent.”
It was immediately attacked in a review by SFGate reviewers Katie Dowd and Julie Tremaine. The two stated the park should have “re-imagined” the 1938 cartoon classic to avoid ending with the iconic “true love’s kiss” that awakened Snow White. They also noted that the ride includes 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.” “Haven’t we already agreed that consent in early Disney movies is a major issue?” the pair wrote on the site, the digital home of the San Francisco Chronicle.
“It’s hard to understand why the Disneyland of 2021 would choose to add a scene with such old-fashioned ideas of what a man is allowed to do to a woman,” they wrote, highlighting other changes to questionable themes in rides.
“Why not re-imagine an ending in keeping with the spirit of the movie and Snow White’s place in the Disney canon, but that avoids this problem?” they asked.
All we have to say about this is: Ughhhhh, can we just leave Disney alone? Some of us have pretty wonderful memories of that magical place and that’s what it is all about. Magic. Let the magic stay.
Disneyland did not immediately respond to messages about the criticism. However, before opening day, the park said it expected visitors to be “absolutely blown away by this dazzling attraction and such a sweet storyline.”