attraction's plot compared to the film are the exclusion of the Uncle Remus character as a storytelling device (although quotes from Remus are displayed in the attraction queue) and changing Br'er Rabbit's method of capture from being stuck in tar to being stuck in either honey (Disneyland) or a beehive (Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland). History Splash Mountain was originally conceived in the summer of 1983 by Imagineer Tony Baxter while stuck in rush-hour traffic on his way to work. He wanted to attract guests to the often-empty Bear Country land in Disneyland, with the only attraction as the Country Bear Jamboree (which later closed in 2001), plus a souvenir shop, and make use of the Audio-Animatronics figures from the Disneyland attraction America Sings, which was also poorly attended. It was Dick Nunis (then-president of Walt Disney attractions) who insisted that the Imagineers create a log flume for Disneyland, but the Imagineers were initially unenthusiastic about it, feeling that log flumes were too ordinary a theme park attraction to include in a Disney park. While trying to solve the problems of including a log flume, bringing people into Bear Country and reusing the America Sings figures, Baxter thought of Song of the South. Baxter and his team developed the concept of Zip-a-Dee River Run, which would incorporate scenes from Song of the South. The name was later changed to Splash Mountain after then-CEO Michael Eisner's suggestion that the attraction be used to help market Walt Disney Studios' 1984 film Splash. The character figures from America Sings were used in many scenes, though all of the Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear figures were specifically designed for Splash Mountain. Plans to build the ride were unveiled in January 1987. At the time of its unveiling, Disney officials stated they would not be expecting criticism for its Song of the South theming due to the ride only including the film's animated characters. Construction began at Disneyland in April of that year. By that time, Splash Mountain, whose budget had risen greatly to $75 million, had become one of the most expensive projects created by Walt Disney Imagineering. The entire park cost around $17 million to build in 1955, which translates to around $80 million in 1987. According to Alice Davis (wife of the late Disney animator and Imagineer Marc Davis), when America Sings closed in April 1988, production of Disneyland's Splash