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.
The Dave-Guy
“since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx
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.
–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.
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”.
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.
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.
“[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
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.
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.
“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?
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!
The Dave-Guy
“since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx
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?
–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.
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.
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.
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.”
–Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny
