In September, Storyliving by Disney shared new concept art and details about Cotino, their first community located in Coachella Valley in California. Amidst the plans was a dog park called Laughing Place Ranch, a reference to “Song of the South,” which was a surprise because nearly all references to the film have been scrubbed from Disney Parks as Disney aims to be more inclusive, diverse, and sensitive. The name of the park has now been removed from the September press release.

“Song of the South” Reference Removed From Cotino

Above is the original concept art, featuring a Laughing Place Ranch sign. The announcement read:

Residents of all ages and their four-legged friends can gather at Laughing Place Ranch designed to celebrate Walt’s love for horses with an equestrian-themed dog park featuring separate play areas for small and large pets.

The sign has been removed from concept art and the announcement now reads:

Residents of all ages and their four-legged friends can celebrate Walt’s love for horses at an equestrian-themed dog park featuring separate play areas for small and large pets.

Given that the park has always been equestrian-themed, the “Song of the South” reference seemed out of place, but was probably meant to be inspired by Walt Disney himself calling his home in Smoke Tree Ranch his own “laughing place.”

“The Laughing Place” was a traditional African-American folktale featuring Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox, and Br’er Bear that Joel Chandler Harris included in his “Uncle Remus” stories, which hit it big with white audiences and inspired “Song of the South.” While many of the stories have African-American origins, Harris’ and Disney’s adaptations of them were not approved by the African-American community and were considered offensive.

“Song of the South” References Removed at Disney Parks

Splash Mountain at both Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom have closed to make way for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, although Splash Mountain remains open at Tokyo Disneyland.

A Br’er Rabbit bronze statue was recently removed from Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris. It was identical to a statue that was also once in Magic Kingdom. Br’er Rabbit and the other Magic Kingdom statues were removed to make way for the golden Fab 50 statues in 2021.

“Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” has been removed from several locations, including the Magic Kingdom entrance. It was gone from the Festival of Fantasy Parade upon its return in March 2022 and from “Let the Magic Begin” in 2021. The song was removed from the Disneyland Resort esplanade in 2020, and from Tokyo Disneyland in September 2022.

Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Bear no longer appear in the Frontierland hoedown at Magic Kingdom.

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