The racial and religious politics of Disney’s new theme park ride

Race is at the center of the dramatic transformation of Disney’s popular Splash Mountain ride, which was based on the 1946 movie “Song of the South.” The film, long beloved by many white Disney fans but deeply offensive to many African Americans, became a new water ride on Friday, featuring the studio’s first African American princess.

The made-over log flume ride now is called Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, based on the 2009 animated feature “The Princess and the Frog.” Set in New Orleans’s French Quarter...