Disney's "Song of the South"

Does anyone remember the Disney movie, "Song of the South"? I have fond (but vague) memories of it, and want the video...but Disney no longer sells it because of the racial aspect -- and that's what I'm asking the teeming millions about. I recall that the movie was about an old slave telling the master's son (live action) all about brer rabbit and brer bear, the tar baby, etc. (animated). As I recall, when the video came out, many blacks complained and wanted it withdrawn because of the slave. Well there have been many movies about slaves since then, so why can't I buy it? I'm speculating that perhaps (not sure) the movie portrayed the slave as being happy with his lot in life and that's why blacks wanted it banned. I've searched the Net, and found someone selling the video for over $100. Anyone have a better recollection of these events and how I can get hold of the video for a lot less than $100?

I saw it years ago, when I was quite young. I think it was on video, or maybe the Disney Channel. I wasn't even aware that Uncle Remus was supposed to be a slave until now, but maybe I just forgot about that. I thought the animated stories were alot of fun, and I was rather upset when the ultra-sensative types got Song of the South pretty much banned.

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"I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms." -The Secret of Monkey Island

"Song of the South" is based on the tales of a young white journalist named Joe Harris. He published his first collection of Uncle Remus stories in 1879, and claimed that he wrote them as they were told to him by an elderly ex-slave. I don't know if anyone was ever able to substanciate this claim. The objection to the tales may be on the basis that they have absolutely no foundation in African-American folklore and that they are the fabrication of a white writer using a fictitious black narrator (Uncle Remus). I believe that blacks may have the same objections to the stories in the same way that the Japanese might object to G&S's The Mikado.

Its been a while since I've read about Harris and I don't know if the existence of Uncle Remus has ever been proven to be either an actual person or a composite of several black storytellers.

BTW, Zipidy doo dah was the first song I learned to sing all the way through. My Dad took me to a re-release of the film when I was 5 years old. That was the last time I saw it. I don't think Disney is concerned about people being offended by the story. Disneyland created a ride (splash mountain) around the movie in just the last ten years or so.

I've seen that movie lots of times, on the disney channel, even. It couldn't have been banned, because this would have to have been within the last few years (I haven't had that channel very long).

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The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
-- Henry David Thoreau

I've checked out Disney's web site and you can buy every animated movie they ever made except that one. Interestingly, among the recordings they're selling is Zippedy-do-dah from the movie. I get the Disney channel and will keep an eye out for it. Thanks.

I hadn't heard that the movie was dropped because of civil rights pressure. Disney tends to cycle through their older films when releasing them to video. I'd say it's probably due to come out again in the next couple of years.

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"The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life." -George Carlin

Sorry PB, the author's name is Joel Chandler Harris, not Joe.

SONG OF THE SOUTH is available for purchase in the U.K., but not in the U.S.

The movie has a live-action story line about a little (white) boy who moves to the South, I think set in post-Civil War era (I don't recollect exactly) but it could be pre-Emancipation, now I think on it. His parents are fighting and about to divorce, his life is pretty tumultuous. He makes friends with the plantation blacks, and with Uncle Remus, the old black story-teller. When the kid is upset, Uncle Remus tells him stories (three or four animated short cartoons within the movie) about B'rer Rabbit overcoming obstacles by being clever... and then the kid adapts that to his own situation to outwit bullies, etc.

The climax of the movie has the father leaving, the kid runs after him through a bull pasture and is attacked and injured -- very scarey scene, even for Disney -- this brings the parents back together and all ends happily ever after.

OK, that's the film. The movie has not been released on video in the U.S.; the last theatrical release was about 20 years ago, if I remember aright.

The ride at Disney World is based on the cartoon stories-within-the-story, and I suspect that anything you've seen on the Disney channel has also been the cartoons, not the live action part.

Now, why is this movie not released in the U.S.? In part, because black organizations contend that the image of the plantation blacks is very, very stereotypical of the 1950s attitude. I personally don't remember this, but then I'm not black; my memory is that the black characters were given a great deal of dignity and individual character, but I'm sure that there are some of those stereotypes in the story.

The kid's mother, for instance, scolds him for hanging out with the blacks (reflecting the segregationist attitude) but the film shows that she's wrong, he learns a great deal more from Uncle Remus's stories than he does from her hypocrisy.

The other side of the story is Uncle Remus. Based on a character created by Joel Chandler Harris, Uncle Remus tells wonderful folk-lore stories. But Uncle Remus has come to be a symbol, like Uncle Tom, of black subjugation. I don't know why this should be so; I personally think Uncle Remus would be a fantastic example of black history and culture within the U.S. But the mere mention of Uncle Remus draws scorn from blacks, who haven't read the stories, as though they were somehow derogatory. I would like an explanation of this.

That's my take.

I concur with CK, I saw the movie, I guess 20 years ago now. From recollection I do not remember anything that was negative about blacks.

My parents went on a trip to Europe a few years ago and bought the video. Being that European VCRs are somewhat different, they had to have the tape converted to our regular VHS.

I have not watched the movie again, but I do not know what the problem is. I remember it is a fun movie for children and maybe the adults could learn something too.

Jeffery

The last theatrical release must be more recent than 20 years, though I'll acknowledge the possibility of it being 15 years or so ago. (I saw it in the movie theater and I remember it and I'm only 24.) I don't remember it real well. It seems like I saw somewhere that Disney hasn't ruled out the possibility of releasing it again in the theaters or on video, since the racial aspect isn't "that bad" all things considered(and/or Disney denies that the reason they've not released it recently has anything to do with race). But, it seems likely that they are in no rush to release it, in part because of concerns about protests from oversensitive people.

I am not a folklore scholar, so I cannot say whether Harris's book has any connection with "African-American" folklore (whatever that may mean), but there are certainly suggestions of African roots to it.

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John W. Kennedy
"Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays."
-- Charles Williams

I did see "Song of the South" in a theater around 1973. I am pretty sure it was rereleased once after that, although only for a brief time and there was quite a bit of controversy over it at the time, IIRC.

"Splash Mountain" at Disneyland (I don't know if it's at the other parks) is not a very scintillating ride except for the big drop at the end. It's four or five minutes of floating through little tableaus of scenes from the cartoons of the film.
Then you get to go down a flume. Not too scintillating.

I had the book as a kid, and I remember something about a "Tar Baby" being made out of tar, and set in the middle of the road, and having brer fox trying to talk to the tar baby, getting upset that he wouldn't talk back, punching it, and getting stuck in the tar.

That's, I would assume, the most incindiary part. Not so bad, really.

Also, the original Fantasia has never been released (the one with the Aunt-Jemima-looking pegasus shining the hooves of the bride-to-be pegasuses.) It's been altered in all subsequent releases.

And I don't know if anyone wants to go here or not, but I found it sort of unsettling in the Jungle Book, to hear the jazz-playing black-actor-voiced monkeys singing how they want to be like men too.
"I wanna be like you... I wanna walk like you, talk like you, it's true... You see, an ape like me... can learn to be human too."

-Quadell

The voice of the ape is Louis Prima. So much for the "black voice" actually being one...unless I am wrong that it's Prima, but I think that it is.

"Song of the South", as CK noted IS set in the post Civil War years.

Disney has never commented publically on it's lack of release. It is available elsewhere besides the US; I have a Japanese imported laserdisc. Apparently they feel that foreign sensibilities are less sesnitive to the racial issues. They also have tentative plans for a month and a half festival where all of their animated features will be released for one day each, culminating in the release of "Fantasia 2000" but it's yet to be seem whether this feature will be part of the program.

The consensus seems to be that Disney wants to try and distance themselves from this film as much as possible, just to save themselves any possible trouble. On the other hand, the policy at Disney seems to be "never say never." After all, they did once say that they would never release 'Snow White" or "Fantasia" on video.



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Saint Eutychus
www.disneyshorts.org (http://www.disneyshorts.org)

Funny they find this movie racist. What about the crows in Dumbo? Even the fact that African American characters are portrayed as crows could be offensive.
I still think Dumbo is good movie to teach children about compassion. I can't watch it without crying.


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Gail
"Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you, my friend--
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again...."
-Steely Dan

According to Leonard Maltin (http://us.imdb.com/Maltin?song%20of%20the%20south), this movie is only available on Laserdisc from Japan.

Further, the Laserdisc's (http://us.imdb.com/Laserdisc?song%20of%20the%20south) English soundtrack is on the right channel and the Japanese on the left channel, the songs are subtitled, and it contains previews for Dumbo, Robin Hood, and Mary Poppins.

This movie was rereleased in 1986. I remember, because I was in college, and involved in the big brothers/big sisters program, and took my little sister to it. At the time of the release, we read a newspaper article that stated this was the last time Disney would release the film, because it was so dated in so many ways-- not just the Black character, but the unrealistic picture of divorce.

I wish I could remember more details from the article; it explained very saliently the African-American perspective on Uncle Remus, and having just seen the movie, I absolutely sympathized.

I suppose you could do a search. It would have been late 1985 or 1986. I'm pretty sure it was an AP article in the local paper.

I seem to recall one objection was that even though the movie was sympathatic to the Black character, it did so it a way that was inappropriate for the 80's-- in other words, it began with the assumption that Black characters were beneath the ability to teach something to whites, but the white kid learns that (gasp!) Black people might actually have something to say worth listening to. For an 80's kid to return to that perspective in order to sympathize with the white kid, was actually a step backward.



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--Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny

Also, IIRC, tar baby was a derogatory term for black person or black child.


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Mastery is not perfection but a journey, and the true master must be willing to try and fail and try again

I think one of the main reasons Song of the South is considered somewhat racist is not how Blacks are portrayed, since Uncle Remus is shown to be a kindly and intelligent person, but rather that, in spite of this, he speaks with that "Southern Negro" patois that really is pretty insulting. Regardless of his quality of character, hearing him say things on the order of "Dat boy is sho' nuff teched in the haid" is hard to take, and more than a little derogatory. I could see many people, both Black and White, objecting to the film's portrayal of ex-slaves.



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The Dave-Guy
"since my daughter's only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?" J.H. Marx

Think that one is hard to find?

Try finding the Warner Brothers spoof of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs starring the all animated black cast. Supposedly its buried big time but supposed to be very good if you look past the mame terms and such.

Even Disney has cut some things because of worry of upsetting black audiences. Fantasia had a black girly centaur at one time that "shined" the hooves of the girl centaurs.

Funny though I have seen a lot of durogatory remarks in the funniest of cartoons. Tex Avery's Droopy, Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, etc. Strange that it was so accepted back then.

Davewoo71 writes:
>>Regardless of his quality of character, hearing him say things on the order of "Dat boy is sho' nuff teched in the haid" is hard to take, and more than a little derogatory. I could see many people, both Black and White, objecting to the film's portrayal of ex-slaves<<

--Dave, this was my take on it too. The film represents what might be considered middle-class White attitudes of 1946. I guess the good news is that is beats the middle-class White attitudes of 1915 (if "Birth of A Nation" is an example).

Has anyone seen any of the really early cartoons of Mickey Mouse? Pickaninnies were really common in some of the barnyard cartoons-- which they never show on those afternoon kids shows-- you have to see them at three am, filling in time between lat-night movies. Anyway, early Mickey looks disturbingly like those pickaninnies.

And yes, I know "pickaninny" is an offensive term, but these characters are really offensive, and I can't think of another word to describe them.


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--Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny

And what about the earliest Loony Toons starring Bosco! Some Bosco cartoons actually showed up on Nickalodion a couple years ago. I think the programers must have thought Bosco was some sort of animal and not the black stereotype he was. I hate to admit it, but those cartoons are hilarious. Then again I'm not the one being made fun of.

You guys haven't seen some of the Warner Brothers cartoons they won't let on the air anymore. I'll cite two examples and let it at that.

1. Bugs Bunny in the jungles of South Asia during WWII, planting hand grenades in ice-cream cones and passing them out to the Japanese soldiers along with comments like, "Here ya go, slit-eyes", or "Here, monkey-face".

2. Elmer Fudd as a Canadian Mountie pursuing Bugs; at the end of the cartoon Bugs is facing a firing squad and is asked if he has any last requests. Bugs: "Yes, I do. I wish... I wish... *sings* I wish I were in Dixie!" whereupon Fudd and the firing squad all turn into Blackface minstrels with banjo, washboard, bones, tambourine, etc. (albeit in Mountie uniform) and mug it up for the fadeout.

The first example I remember reading in a newswire story in the Nashua Telegraph many years ago, and the second example I had the misfortune of seeing for myself on Russian TV when I was living in St. Petersburg.

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Cave Diem! Carpe Canem!

I think the programers must have thought Bosco was some sort of animal and not the black stereotype he was.

That's interesting because Steven Speilberg's Tiny Toon Adventures dedicated an entire show to Bosco and Honey, his girlfriend. The Tiny Toons series was done during the early 1990s when the animators at Warner Brothers should have known better.

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"[He] beat his fist down upon the table and hurt his hand and became so
further enraged... that he beat his fist down upon the table even harder and
hurt his hand some more." -- Joseph Heller's Catch-22

Concerning the early Disney toons ...

Most of the early Disney toons that have anything that could possibly be considered offensive have been edited for most current showings on TV. (In fact, the only show that they currently show them on regularly on The Disney Channel is "The Ink and Paint Club.") You can every now and then catch an unedited short on a rerun of the original "Mickey Mouse Club" or "Walt Disney Presents" but they are few and far between.

The biggest things that Disney had to worry about editing out in the early days were the racial stereotypes. On of Disney's favorite gags was to have a character, by some sort of accident, end up in blackface and come back to exclaim "Mammy!" I've counted at least five or six times that this gag was used and subsequently cut out. There were also Chinese stereotypes edited out of a Chip 'n' Dale cartoon, among others. They've also edited out a lot (but not all) scenes showing what might be considered irresponsible gunplay and, apparently haunted by the ghsot of Joe Camel, a lot (but not all) scenes showing one of the main characters smoking.

However, most of the edits have been done very recently, circa the late 80's and early 90's. There was only one edit that Walt Disney himself had a hand in. That was a short scene in "Steamboat Willie" where, after Mickey finishes playing "Turkey in the Straw" by pulling on some baby pigs' tails, he removes the piglets from the teats and pulls the mothers teats to make his music. Disney, sometime in the 50's when the short was about to be shown on TV, felt that this was too over the top for him in those days.

The most recent edit was in the video release of "Melody Time" in the sequence "Pecos Bill." They actually used computer imaging to erase a cigraette for Bill's mouth, and removed a whole verse of his song which mentions him rolling one.



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Saint Eutychus
www.disneyshorts.org (http://www.disneyshorts.org)

All this reminds me that I haven't seen any Tom & Jerry cartoons on TV in years! Probably has something to do with the black maid, and Tom occasionally ending up in blackface after an explosion.

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"Age is mind over matter; if you don't mind, it don't matter." -Leroy "Satchel" Paige

All this reminds me, someone told me that there is an old Porky Pig cartoon where he says something like:

"Well son of a b-b-b-b-b-gun."
Then he looks at the camera and says,
"I bet you think I was going to say 'son of a b-b-bitch.'"

Being the Warner Bros. fanatic I am, I think I would have heard it from a more authoritative source. (I had heard it from several second hand persons.) Might be an UL, but I can't find anything on it. Anyone else hear about this?

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Carpe hoc!

pathunt - I've read comments by former inmates of Termite Terrace (WB Cartoon Studio) that confirm the "Son of a b-b-b-b..") story. This and many other bits of animation were created for the staff's own amusement and have long since been destroyed. The origional cels would have been cleaned and recycled. IIRC, the Disney people created some pretty raunchy stuff as well. The most notorious piece being one of Mickey humping Minnie. I doubt that these films ever saw the outside of the studio.

I've seen the "Son of a b-b-b-b-gun" clip. It was in one of those composite videos, along the lines of Bloopers or "funniest moments" -- one of those types of things. I believe I rented it at Blockbuster, and I'm dipped in creosote if I can recall the name of it.

But rest assured, it does exist. I'm sure studio animators did lots of stuff like this to blow off steam, relieve boredom, kill time or even stimulate a little creativity. But I'd really be interested in seeing some off-color Betty Boop. Hubba-hubba!

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The Dave-Guy
"since my daughter's only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?" J.H. Marx

Song of the South does take place in the post-civil war era, but Uncle Remus is not a slave, but a semi-retired share-cropper.

For more information, check out: http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/sots.htm

Of course I haven't performed that comprehensive a search online, but one show that I'm curious about is Amos n Andy. Apparently that show is no longer in circulation for the same reasons people list above, but according to everyone I've heard, it was an extremely funny program. I've never seen it.

I understand why these programs are no longer broadcast or released - at least you can purchase AnA videos - but it is disappointing that someone else has made that decision for me. I would guess that it's likely, as someone has mentioned above, that many of the people making these decisions have never actually seen the offending program.

Well, in the cases discussed, it's the original production company that has chosen to pull the videos, not the government, or some board of censors.

If the current Board of Directors looks at some of the older stuff, and shakes its collective head, saying "My G-d, I can't believe this-- I don't want to be associated with this," it has that right. I mean, didn't you do stupid things when you were a kid, which you don't want to be reminded of over and over?


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--Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny

Yes, Rowan, I see your point - I realized too, as you said, it's the producer's right to not release it. I confess I don't remember a great deal of the movie, but if it's Uncle Remus's way of talking that's offensive, I have to wonder -- since slaves were not allowed to go to school or read, then might'nt they really have talked like that? My reaction as a child was that he was simply a kindly old man who entertained the boy with wonderful stories. And don't movies and t.v. stereotype other cultural/ethnic groups? Hispanics were in an uproar over a Seinfeld episode. Italians still complain about mafia stereotypes, etc. As for Amos and Andy, which someone brought up, I do remember that series - saw it as a child - and don't recall why blacks would be offended -- the characters weren't criminals or dopers-- sort of a black "Honeymooners." But I realize that if I saw that show now (and the movie) - as an adult and more sensitive to racial stereotyping, I might have a different reaction.

Since we are talking about very un-PC cartoons, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the 1943 Disney short "Der Fuerher's Face." It won an Oscar but Disney had banned it from American reissue.

Here's IMDB's plot summary.
http://us.imdb.com/Plot?0035794

And here's a still from the movie: Donald Duck in a Nazi uniform! Creepy...
http://www.intergraffix.com/walt/der2.jpg


Alphagene

Disney hasn't actually "banned" it. They just don't show the whole thing anymore, and won't comment on it's abscence. But it does get mention every now and again, just lately in the "Once Upon a Mouse" special that they've been showing lately in the early morning hours.

Quite a few of their Wartime films have either been shelved or snipped. Another great propoganda short was called "Education for Death" and features the education of a yound boy as he is indoctrinated into the nazi way of life, with very un-Disney-like tragic results. Also snipped were any scenes in the 1944 short "Commando Duck" which shows the Japanese as the enemy.



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Saint Eutychus
www.disneyshorts.org (http://www.disneyshorts.org)

Sycorax:if it's Uncle Remus's way of talking that's offensive, I have to wonder --and (earlier) theoperaghost:Remus is not a slave, but a semi-retired share-cropper.
Uncle Remus's language is not the biggest issue. Although the setting is supposed to be post-war South, at one point Uncle Remus leaves the plantation to make his way in the world and complains that he does not want to leave, but "they" (enforcers of emancipation?) say he has to. Later, he returns (although the how and why are not explained), and rejoices at being able to return to the plantation--indicating that he is happiest at the site of his former slavery. This is a pretty uncomfortable message, especially given the strictures of your typical Disney-flick one-dimensional view of the world.

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Tom~

The sad thing is, if the film contained any kind of realistic explanation, such as "They promised me forty acres and a mule, but I never got them, and since I am illiterate, because when I grew up, it was against the law to teach me to read, I ended up living on the streets. I never did anything but work on the plantation, because I was never allowed to do anything else, so it's all I'm qualified to do. So I came back here where at least they know I'm a good worker. And now they have to pay me to work, and if they try to beat me, I can leave and not be arrested and forcibly returned by the sherrif."


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--Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny

OK, grammatically incomplete post above.

Yes, IF Uncle Remus had given any kind of realistic explanation-- hell, maybe he did and it got cut by the censors.

Oh, there is no subject.

Just forget it.


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--Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny

Elsewhere under General Questions is a thread about "Another Urband Legend?" This has a linke to website that will tell you all about SONG OF THE SOUTH.

Basically, at one time there was some official objection to the film, but now the only thing holding up the video release is Disney reticence over past objections.

Despite the attempt to portray Uncle Remus in a positive light, the film garners objections because in the world the film portrays, the former slaves' biggest concerns are for the welfare of the white child of the plantation owner--not for their own well being or that of their own children. Sure, Uncle Remus is supposed to be a "good" character, but what makes him good in the film is that he's so concerned about the white kid. Meanwhile, the white kid hangs out with a young black companion who receives no attention from Uncle Remus or another other black character, and when the white kid has a birthday party, he doesn't bother to invite this black friend. In other words, it's okay to go fishing with him but not to bring him into the plantation house; is this so very far from saying that blacks are fine as long as they stay "in their place"?

There are far more egregious examples of cinematic racism, and what's wrong with SONG OF THE SOUTH probably doesn't justify its continued absence from video. But the people objecting are not just "ultra-senstivie" types looking for something--anything--to compalin about. There are legitimate grounds from criticising some aspects of this film.

Papa Bear mentioned that he believed that the objections to "Song of the South" had to do with the Brer Rabbit stories themselves--that they were really stories of a white man pretending to recount black folklore. I think most of the objections to the film are directed at the depiction of Uncle Remus, not the Brer Rabbit stories. Indeed, many people believe that the Brer Rabbit stories do derive from African-American folklore. Julius Lester has written a award-winning compilation of the Brer Rabbit stories, and Straight Dope readers may want to check them out.

By the way, what do you think of "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs"?

OK; I checked out the snopes URBAN LEGENDS page, [www.snopes.simplenet.com] and yes, the NAACP originally objected to the way the film dealt with the black child Toby, and not so much Uncle Remus per se, except that he ignores Toby, and pays so much attention to the white child.

After reading this page, I'm getting my memory back-- it's been at least 12 years since I last saw the film. The site confirms what i remember-- there was a release when I was a freshman in college, in 1986.

The NAACP is now not taking a stand on the film at all. It is not being release because of a decision from inside Disney.

It is true that there are much more dangerously racist films, but this film has three things that make it particularly insidious:

1) the intended audience is children; 2) the film takes an overt stand against classism, when genteel Johnny pleads with his mother to be able to invite a poor white girl to his birthday party; BUT Johnny makes no plea on behalf of the black child Toby. If the film did not take such a clear stand on one issue, while ignoring the other, we could assume that all prejudices are equally bad in the movie's world, but we can't; 3) the film is idyllic. Black people who "know their place" have no place in an ideal world.


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--Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny

Well that was then; as I said before, we've had lots of films since about slavery and the way things were. Anyone - children included - watching it today is not going to suddenly become a racist as a result. There is, after all, something to be learned from history - the good and the bad. I learned something new (and ugly) about slavery from watching Amistad -- and I was appalled; if anything, it made me more sensitive to the issue. Just as with any potentially controversial film or t.v. show, they are springboards for enlightment and discussion.

...the original Fantasia has never been released (the one with the Aunt-Jemima-looking pegasus shining the hooves of the bride-to-be pegasuses.) It's been altered in all subsequent releases.

However, there is one brief scene in Beethoven's "Pastoral," the part with the centaurs and pegasuses, that shows the old boozer on the donkey (Bacchus? Dionysus? Silaenus? well, not Bacchus because he's not old and fat...) being attended by two fan-waving African centaurs (human parts black, equine parts zebra). I'd consider this just as subservient as a shoe-shining gig, and maybe worse.

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Live a Lush Life
Da Chef

[Lady Severus]

In response to the original post, I got Song of the South, already converted to VHS, on Ebay for about $30.

I know it's been re-released in theatres since the 70's because I was born in '82, and I saw it in the theatre with my parents when I was very very young. I also had the books with the little red cassette that told you when you turn the page. Remember those? (ahh, memories...moving on)

Anything that deals with slave issues in less than a reverent-to-the-African-American-race in America is going to have some backlash simply because people still get worked up about this issue. The same can be said for the term, "concentration camp." A lot of people don't know that we had camps for Japanese people living in the States during WWII, but we called them "work camps" or something of that nature because "concentration camp" = Hitler, and Hitler = badness and evil.

My Political Science professor last semester showed us "Education for Death" ("marching and heiling, heiling and marching") and the Donald Duck one where he ends up looking like Hitler because he wants to go in to a club and spend his money on fun stuff in their complete versions. That was an interesting day.

[Cisco]

You can get Song of the South at most comic book conventions and the like for about 10 or 15 bucks.


BTW - Is it possible that every single poster in this thread was a guest or is that some kind of bug?

[CalMeacham]

I've got a copy of SoS from a friend who dubbed it from a UK tape. It looks very muxch like the theatrical version I last saw in 1982-83. Most of the resentment towards this film probably stems from its showing the post Civil War blacks as apparently happy with their lot. The portrayal of Uncle Remus is a positive one, though -- he's the Wise Old Storyteller.

If you want to see a picture of the "Aunt Jemima" centaurette from Fantasia (she actually looks like the kid who "don't know nothin' about birthin' babies from GWTW), see Cartoon Confidential

[Ferret Herder]

Originally posted by Cisco
BTW - Is it possible that every single poster in this thread was a guest or is that some kind of bug?

They were guests at the time - this thread was resurrected from June 1999! :eek:

[vivalostwages]

A friend of mine works in Legal Clearance at Disney and receives requests all the time for Song of the South; she has to turn them all down. The policy there is that the film contains racially offensive material, and she says the company is afraid of getting into hot water over it if they release it officially.


I noticed the weird "guest" thing in this thread right now...What the hey???

[Hockey969]

Here is something interesting that I remember. Although I do not have it with me, there is a book about Disney Films called Mouse Under Glass, by David Koeing I believe. In it, it gives a plot summary of the movie, and also lists some of the reactions that people had. Also it may or may not contain re-release dates for the theatres and also for VHS release. From what I remember, I doubt that Song of the South will ever be re-released again.