Mad Seasons

25.Disney World Winners!(Long Chapter)

We walked through the park entrance like two conquerors at heart, ready to head to Splash Mountain which was part of Magic Kingdom. We were eager to discover Bibi the rabbit. If you don't know, it's a feature film that was made in 1946 by Disney Studios, inspired by Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus' Tales, written between 1880 and 1905.

Bibi Lapin is the good guy while Basil and Boniface are the bad guys who try to catch him. In the comic strips inspired by the movie, published in Mickey's Journal, Bibi Rabbit teams up with other good guys like Li'l Bad Wolf, the three little pigs, while Basil and Boniface team up with Zeke Wolf, Big Bad Wolf, Big Wolf, the meanest of the mean and other rogues, such as Vittorio; Brer Weasel, Brer Buzzard and Brer Badger. Zeke Wolf, Brer Fox, Brer Bear, Brer Buzzard, Brer Weasel, Brer Wildcat are also part of the Foul Fellow's Club, a sort of crime syndicate and a den of thieves commanded by Zeke Wolf and Brer Fox. Bibi Rabbit has a fiancée, a rabbit, named Molly Cottontail. He also has two nephews, and Molly has two nieces. His best friend seems to be Lambin. Brer Terrapin, a turtle boy.

In Melody of the South, Brother Rabbit is the smartest one, able to get out of traps but also to get out first. The appearance of the character, by his drawing, makes him smaller than the other two main characters, Brother Fox and Brother Bear but also much cuter. He has big feet, a bright and cheerful look, the ideal image of a child's stuffed animal, lowered but alert ears, a red nose, two big spaced teeth, a cheeky white tail, as well as blue pants and a pink shirt.

I had seen him when I was little. I was curious to see if it was faithful to the animated film. When we finally got there, we lined up for almost forty-one minutes before we boarded a log boat that then went on a closed circuit. The floating log ride was partly done inside and we passed through various scenes of Bibi's story. 

We could see for example his two enemies Basil the fox and the bear Boniface who tried to catch him. According to what we had read before, 965,000 gallons of water were used for the attraction. Originally it was to be called Zip-a-Dee River Run, but was renamed Splash Mountain before it opened, due to the release of the movie Splash. Bibi Lapin has about seventy audio-animatronics that can be seen in the various scenes of the story. The attraction presented scattered scenes from the animated part of the film Melody of the South. These pieces told the adventures of Brother Rabbit, a mischievous rabbit who leaves his Briar Patch burrow to search for his piece of paradise.

Unfortunately for him, Brother Fox and Brother Bear, the villains of the story, have decided to catch him. Brother Rabbit outwits the other two several times but in the end they decide to trap him and take him to Brother Fox's cave on Chickapin Hill. It is from the top of this hill where a spring gushes out that Brother Rabbit narrowly escapes at the last moment by throwing himself into the Briar Patch. The final scene, celebrating Brother Rabbit's safe return, features animals perched on a paddlewheel boat transformed into a performance space and singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah. The ride on the water was nine minutes and thirty seconds.

We saw the hollow tree stump at the top of Splash Mountain which was inspired by the exterior of Br'er Fox's den in Song of the South and is called Chickapin Hill. The story of the "Br'er Rabbit Leaves Home" ride was told in the dark ride segment on the winding river. The canal converts to a roller coaster style ride in total darkness to get to the caves; The Laughing Place.

After Br'er Rabbit's capture, the logs ascended the attraction's predominant hill in the Tar-Baby although in the attraction, the tar baby was replaced by a beehive. Br'er Rabbit, now captured by Br'er Fox, deceives the villain by throwing him into the heather. The drop itself mimicked Br'er Rabbit's fall and the log went down a fifty-six foot drop into a briar patch before continuing into the mountain, where numerous audio-animatronic animals sang a chorus of Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.