Disney has released more information about animatronic characters that will inhabit Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction, which is set to open at Magic Kingdom sometime this summer.
A selection of these creatures can be spotted on the official poster for the ride, which also was revealed this week.
The newly revealed animals will be representing the Rara genre of music. Park visitors will encounter musical bobcats named Octavia and Pawpaw as well as a family of Louisiana black bears known as Claude, Bernadette and Sebastian, according to a post on the official Disney Parks Blog. Phina, a gray fox, will be on drums. The item also lists characteristics of the animals, such as adventurous, devoted, supportive and imaginative.
“Often found at festivals and street processions, Rara is a musical tradition from Haiti that’s part of the musical history and melting pot of New Orleans,” writes Ted Robledo, an executive creative director for Walt Disney Imagineering. “The genre includes unique instruments with beautiful, distinctive sounds.”
These are freshly created characters, so they were not seen in Disney’s 2009 film “The Princess and the Frog.” Disney did not share photos of the animatronics.
Previously, Disney unveiled a zydeco grouping of animatronic animals for the ride, including Rufus, a turtle; Apollo, a raccoon; Beau, an opossum; Timoleon, an otter; Gritty, a rabbit; and Byhalia, a beaver.
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A smattering of these characters appear on the new attraction poster, which centers on Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose in the film) standing in front of the reimagined water ride’s dramatic drop as well as the tiara-topped water tower that has been added to the Frontierland space. Tiana is flanked by drawings of the bear family, Apollo on squeezebox and Beau on a gourd-based upright bass.
Also appearing on the poster are film characters Mama Odie (voiced by Jenifer Lewis), trumpet-toting alligator Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) and Ray, a firefly (Jim Cummings).
Attractions posters have long appeared in different of the parks, notably along the Magic Kingdom entryway below the train station.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, a replacement for the Splash Mountain attraction, is set to open this summer. A precise date has not been announced. Disneyland will open the same attraction later this year.
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