Veteran Disney World character Liver Lips McGrowl is no more. He has been unceremoniously renamed after 50 years of service because his original moniker was deemed “insensitive and outdated” — and could offend the delicate sensibilities of alcoholics.
Liver Lips McGrowl is one of the 18 animatronic bears of the “Country Bear Jamboree” at Magic Kingdom and has now been hastened to the exit as Disney continues its “woke” agenda before allowing the character’s return with a new name.
Loyal fans and those who have longed to make his acquaintance will now be disappointed because the bear not be making his grand return alongside the other robotic mammals when the attraction reopens Wednesday after a seven-month break, the New York Post reports.
“Liver lips,” which is considered derogatory and offensive, is associated with alcohol abuse and the damage it does to the liver, Disney blog Inside the Magic claimed.
Nevertheless some fans took to social media and lamented his demise.
According to the NY Post, McGrowl will be replaced and renamed as Romeo McGrowl, a bear with the same last name and a similar facial appearance as Liver Lips but with a James Dean-esque head of hair.
The removal of Liver Lips is part of a bigger trend in Disney under which the park has made a “commitment to addressing and rectifying outdated or culturally insensitive elements within its attractions,” the blog post said.
The updated attraction, a “knee-slappin’ good time” inside the rustic theater Grizzly Hall, will reopen as the “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” ride at Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland.