Disneyland updates racist Jungle Cruise ride after backlash

Adventureland: The Jungle Cruise ride has been accused of perpetuating 'racist' tropes. Photo / Hash Light, CC

Jungle Cruise, one of the original Disney parks' rides, is getting a 21st century remodel, criticised for its depiction of animatronic indigenous people as savages or head hunters.

It's the latest update to a legacy theme park ride criticised for implicit racist overtones.

The ride will be updated by Disney "imagineers" at the Disneyland park in California and the Magic Kingdom park in Florida with a new storyline and characters that "reflect and value the diversity of the world around us," Disney said in a blog post Monday.

"As Imagineers, it is our responsibility to ensure experiences we create and stories we share reflect the voices and perspectives of the world around us," said Carmen Smith, a Disney executive, in the blog post.

The ride first opened at Disneyland in 1955.

Legacy ride: The Jungle Cruise has been largely unchanged since 1955. Photo / Supplied

There are also versions of the popular river ride at Disney's Hong Kong and Tokyo theme parks.

66 years on the park has deemed some of the tropes as outdated and has been under increasing scrutiny, in spite of the park being closed to guests since March last year.

A Disney film adaptation based on the Jungle Cruise ride and featuring actor Dwayne Johnson is set for release in July this year.

Tradesman Sam: Depictions of cannibals and 'head hunters' were deemed racist. Photo / Tom Simpson, Flickr CC

Three years ago, Disney eliminated a "Bride Auction" scene, deemed offensive since it depicted women lining up for auction, from its Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which also received movie treatment.

Last summer, amid calls to change the Splash Mountain theme park ride over its ties to "Song of the South," the 1946 movie many view as racist, Disney officials said it was recasting the ride so that it is based on "The Princess and the Frog," a 2009 Disney film with an African American female lead.

The 1950s ride was criticised for colonialist depictions. Photo / Supplied, Wikimedia Commons

Disney said at the time that the changes had been in the works since the previous year, but the announcement came as companies across the US were renaming racially charged, decades-old brands amid worldwide protests for racial justice after the police custody death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

- Associated Press with additional reporting