I watched the Pixar shorts marathon on ABC Family a few weeks ago and noticed that, in Knick Knack, the boobs of the tanning lady have now been made smaller, and the starfish pasties on the mermaid have been replaced by a bikini top. The Wiki article discusses the changes: Knick Knack - Wikipedia
The edited version has been shown for years. I don’t remember seeing the blackface number as a kid in the 70s; I didn’t even know there was an issue until some time in the 90s. I have the DVD version, unedited, with the number in it.
I think the “insensitive” part of the idea of blackface wasn’t so much the fact that the faces were black, but rather the stereotypical blackface portrayal, which included some implied assertions by “white” culture about “black” culture at the time. That aspect is jarring, but then again, so is the fact that almost all “Asian” characters are played by non-Asians, etc.
I’ve never seen the censored version. It’s my favorite holiday movie. And thanks a bunch for the earworm “Abrahammmm” Now I have to go turn on the radio.
I started to semi-watch the movie on AMC last night. Got to February and noticed all of the servants walking around in blackface and decided “I don’t need to see that song & dance again,” (I’ve seen the uncut version before) so I turned the channel and watched something else.
Yeah, it was a rare thing for me to actually watch a movie on AMC. But then, Holiday Inn is one of my favorites and I have it on a VHS tape but no longer have a VHS player! (Unedited version, probably from the 80s.)
I could care less about that one way or another. In my opinion, the real loss in the revamped Knick Knack are Bobby McFerrin’s last two “blahs” during the closing credits.