Posted on 12/30/2023 5:49:43 PM PST by DoodleBob
Walt Disney World Resort omitted or replaced lyrics containing the words “gay” and “queer” at Disney Jollywood Nights, a hard-ticketed event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This special event celebrates the magic of the holidays in old Hollywood, bringing together Disney Characters, musical entertainment at the Hollywood Brown Derby and Tip Top Club at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, the Jingle Bell Jingle BAM! fireworks, exclusive dining options, and all-new stage shows. It runs from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on select nights through December 20.
The first Disney Jollywood Nights was a bit of a disaster, with long lines for food and meet & greets, limited merchandise, and a messy check-in experience. Walt Disney World Resort quickly worked out the kinks – adding new Disney Characters and scheduling more Disney cast members to decrease wait times.
Walt Disney Imagineers created the two shows exclusively for Disney Jollywood Nights, and they play multiple times throughout the event at Theater of the Stars and the Hyperion Theater. While Disney Holidays in Hollywood is inspired by old-time holiday television specials, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) combines a sing-a-long and theatrical performance.
But while both shows feature holiday music and Disney classics, only one altered its lyrics. In writing Disney Holidays in Hollywood,Walt Disney World Resort purposely changed a song lyric containing the words “gay.”
Inside the Magic attended Disney Jollywood Nights on Monday, December 4, and watched Disney Holidays in Hollywood. During Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse’s portion of the television special, the two Disney Characters sang Christmas carols and planned to surprise each other with festive decorations.
After Mickey Mouse sang the traditional lyrics of “O Christmas Tree,” Minnie Mouse began a rendition of “Deck the Halls.” But instead of “Don we now our gay apparel… Troll the ancient Yule-tide carol,” she sang, “Don we now our cozy sweaters… I can think of nothing better.”
While “Deck the Halls” uses the “happy” or “cheerful” definition of the word “gay,” some LGBTQIA+ activists oppose changing the lyrics to quell backlash. In 2013, Hallmark apologized after writing “Don we now our FUN apparel” on a Christmas ornament.
Nevertheless, The Walt Disney Company publicly supports the LGBTQIA+ community. They marched in more than a dozen Pride parades last year and continue fighting a legal battle against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after condemning the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Tickets for the remaining Disney Jollywood Nights on December 18 and December 20 are available here. The December 16 event is sold out.
Actually I like the new words better
It will drive the alphabet people insane
Interesting. Never figured that out myself, but it makes sense now.
I sure do. But I never knew there was more than the first two verses. It’s possible it was re-used in a shorter version. I recall a collection called G.O. Fizzical Pogo, where I might have seen it. The reference was to the “International Geophysical year” from mid-1957 to the end of 1958, and the swamp characters commenting that it was an eighteen month year, and would there be one and a half Christmases?
Don’t say gay?
I do
Hey guys….I got it! Let’s really stick it to them. Let’s get rid of “gay” in that Christmas song…ya know, the one that has that “fah-la-lala-laaa” thing in it?
Wow…yeah! That’s so funny! Great idea!
Right? It is SOOOO obvious. And it’ll annoy sooooo many of those Nazi MAGA people, that they’ll never stop writing about it!
Ooooo….will we get interviewed by Anderson Cooper?
Uh huh…I bet we will get lots of press!
We will be heroes!
All that Mouseketeering was exHAUSting! Let’s go out and have some quiche.
Thanks! Love it!
Actually I like the new words better, fa la la la laaa, la la, la, laaaaa
It’s catchy.
Interesting. This is from Vocabulary.com.
The word doff and its antonym don date to the mid-14th century. Doff is a contraction of “do (take) off,” and don is short for “do (put) on.” By 1755, these words were all but obsolete, but they came back into vogue thanks to Sir Walter Scott, author of works like Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, and The Lady of the Lake. The popular Scottish author used them frequently, and he and his readers kept doff and don alive.
Well, there are also the original lyrics of My Old Kentucky Home......I guess we wont be seeing those.
So what other lyrics did they have to change to rhyme with "sweater"? In the original song, "apparel" rhymed with "carol" in the next line.
Yeah, I’m thinking Old Black Joe is probably right out.
Correct….they could have said warm apparel .
…
Twistin’ the Night Away By Same Cooke (1962 hit)
Let me tell you about a place
Somewhere up-a New York way
Where the people are so gay
Twistin’ the night away.
I feel pretty.
I feel pretty and witty and gay.
When you’re with the Flintstones
Have a yabba dabba doo time.
A dabba doo time.
We’ll have a gay old time.
We’ll have a gay old time!
But I feel so gay
In a melancholy way
That it might as well be spring
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let the yuletide be gay
From now on our troubles will be miles away.
Don we now our gay apparel
Fa la la la la la, la la la!
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol
Fa la la la la, la la la la!
I recall a time when men used to doff their hats.
Hmm. I guess “Allon, Gay Bergeres” would be right out. It’s filled to the brim with it.
Anywho, I woulda guessed that’d be one song they’d put front and center and made sure you heard it right!
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