No one more raucous

The tenth hole of the Gardens Course at Fantasia Gardens features an unusual colored green. In fact, the grass has been stained entirely by the spilt wine of the jolly fellow at the top of the hill, Bacchus. The course calls for guests to put up the knoll and watch their ball drop down amongst the bubbles, towards the cup. Here’s the poetic preview and hint of the hole:

In all of the land there’s no
one more raucous
Than the fell here,
the infamous Bacchus
He’s poured you a path that
you simply putt up
Hit it just right and it
spills to the cup

So, who is this spirited character? Bacchus is the Roman name given to the Greek god Dionysus, the god of wine and intoxication, and from the looks of things he definitely has intoxication under control! In the world of Disney he, obviously, appears in the 1940 classic Fantasia. Bacchus first appears during the third movement of The Pastoral Symphony. In this scene the jolly, rotund, clearly intoxicated Bacchus rides in on his donkey-unicorn hybrid, Jacchus (no, I’m not making this name up), who seems equally willing to partake in a drink or two… or three. He is clearly drawn to the centaurettes and pursues them tirelessly, until he final believes he has caught up to one of the lady centaurs and puckers up for a kiss. Wine goggles were obviously firmly in place, as the centaurette he plants a kiss on is none other than Jacchus. The duo return later in the piece, delighted with a flood of wine unleashed by the destruction of a wine vat by one of Zeus’ thunderbolts. Their antics are some of the more memorable moments of the Fantasia segment.

It is worth noting that Bacchus returns in an altered form in 1997’s Hercules. Hercules also features Philoctetes pursuing nymphs in much the same fashion as Bacchus did the centaurettes in Fantasia, and with the same result.

In the scene set up on hole ten at Fantasia Gardens, Bacchus obviously remembers the Zeus instigated wine flash flood and is seeking to recreate it for passing putters!