 Because of copyright problems involving a real "Cotton Blossom" show  boat sailing the Mississippi in the 1930s, the name of the showboat  in the film had to be changed to "Cotton Palace". This required  omitting the second half of the opening chorus, in which the  townspeople sing about the boat while the stevedores continue  singing about their daily work, and the "cotton blossom" growing on  the levee. The section sung by the stevedores is still heard in the  film.