Tales Of The Okefenokee (Subtitled: The Old Plantation Legends)[1] was a dark ride at Six Flags Over Georgia, from 1967-1980. The ride was an adaptation of the Uncle Remus Tales by Joel Chandler Harris. The ride loosely adapted the tales into different scenes along an artificial riverbank, and shown using simple Animatronics.
The first season of the ride was significantly different from the rest of the run. The ride was likely designed by Gene Patrick, who was a major contributor to The Speelunker's Cave attraction in Texas.[2] The figures were small in stature and limited in movement, The attraction was around 4 minutes long and featured multiple scenes to depict a story about B'rer Rabbit (renamed Mr. Rabbit). These scenes included a rhythmic animal band, Mr. Fox & Bear's weapon arsenal. a storm, and Rabbit children playing. [3]
The ride was met with a very underwhelming reception in it's first season. They marketed the ride with including it in promotional materials, having mascot costumes, and a Mr. Fox plush toy. Still, the ride was getting below average attendance and needed a make-over. [4] So, the next year the ride got a complete renovation led by the Kroftt Brothers, popular television puppeteers, The ride's figures got completely replaced, with the exception of a bullfrog animatronic,[5] and were replaced by bigger more expressive characters. All of the character audio and set pieces were also removed. The only things to remain were the backgrounds, the track layout, and the 4 minute Queue theme.
Because of the audio and the figures disappearing so long ago, it is presumed that the original audio reels have either been destroyed or is owned by a private collector. The only remaining media from this version of the ride is two video clips from Six Flags promotional material and photos from that season. One of the videos does include audio, but sadly it is the Queue theme and not the audio reels used in the scenes.
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