Which Disney movie inspired the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride?

Answer 1

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is one of the few Disney theme park rides not based on a film.

In the early days of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, designers created a number of concepts with no film basis. Most notably, these included the Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean (though many have had film adaptations after the fact). Imagineer Marc Davis designed a pavilion called Western River Expedition, containing a boat ride and mine train coaster, which was to appear instead of Pirates of the Caribbean at the Magic Kingdom. However, the ride's projected expense and guest requests for a Pirates ride stalled building of Western River Expedition.

In the mid-1970s, Imagineer Tony Baxter suggested a design which contained only the roller coaster. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened at Disneyland in 1979, with the larger version opening in Walt Disney World in 1980. The boat ride portion of Western River Expedition eventually became Splash Mountain (opening in Disneyland in 1989 and Magic Kingdom in 1992).