Some say he played Jolson better than Jolson.
Of course he was lip sync-hing Jolson all the way. It was Jolson in the recording studio doing the songs.
Jolson was too old to play himself. But the Swanee runway scene, at a distance, was 100% Jolson.
Posted on 03/25/2007 7:43:17 AM PDT by Ellesu
ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney Co.'s 1946 film "Song of the South" was historic. It was Disney's first big live-action picture and produced one of the company's most famous songs _ the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It also carries the story line of the Splash Mountain rides at its theme parks.
But the movie remains hidden in the Disney archives _ never released on video in the United States and criticized as racist for its depiction of Southern plantation blacks. The film's 60th anniversary passed last year without a whisper of official rerelease, which is unusual for Disney, but President and CEO Bob Iger recently said the company was reconsidering.
The film's reissue would surely spark debate, but it could also sell big. Nearly 115,000 people have signed an online petition urging Disney to make the movie available, and out-of-print international copies routinely sell online for $50-$90, some even more than $100.
Iger was answering a shareholder's inquiry about the movie for the second year in a row at Disney's annual meeting in New Orleans. This month the Disney chief made a rerelease sound more possible.
"The question of 'Song of the South' comes up periodically, in fact it was raised at last year's annual meeting ..." Iger said. "And since that time, we've decided to take a look at it again because we've had numerous requests about bringing it out. Our concern was that a film that was made so many decades ago being brought out today perhaps could be either misinterpreted or that it would be somewhat challenging in terms of providing the appropriate context."
"Song of the South" was re-shown in theaters in 1956, 1972 and 1986. Both animated and live-action, it tells the story of a young white boy, Johnny, who goes to live on his grandparents' Georgia plantation when his parents split up. Johnny is charmed by Uncle Remus _ a popular black servant _ and his fables of Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox, which are actual black folk tales.
Remus' stories include the famous "tar baby," a phrase Republican presidential hopefuls John McCain and Mitt Romney were recently criticized for using to describe difficult situations. In "Song of the South," it was a trick Brer Fox and Brer Bear used to catch the rabbit _ dressing a lump of hot tar as a person to ensnare their prey. To some, it is now a derogatory term for blacks, regardless of context.
The movie doesn't reveal whether it takes place before or after the Civil War, and never refers to blacks on the plantation as slaves. It makes clear they work for the family, living down dirt roads in wood shacks while the white characters stay in a mansion. Remus and other black characters' dialogue is full of "ain't nevers," "ain't nobodys," "you tells," and "dem days's."
"In today's environment, 'Song of the South' probably doesn't have a lot of meaning, especially to the younger audiences," said James Pappas, associate professor of African-American Studies at the University of New York at Buffalo. "Older audiences probably would have more of a connection with the stereotypes, which were considered harmless at the time."
Pappas said it's not clear that the movie is intentionally racist, but it inappropriately projects Remus as a happy, laughing storyteller even though he's a plantation worker.
"Gone with the Wind," produced seven years earlier, endured the same criticism and even shares a common actress (Hattie McDaniel, who won an Oscar for "Gone" for playing the house slave "Mammy").
However, Pappas said he thinks the movie should be rereleased because of its historical significance. He said it should be prefaced, and closed, with present-day statements.
"I think it's important that these images are shown today so that especially young people can understand this historical context for some of the blatant stereotyping that's done today," Pappas said.
From a financial standpoint, Iger acknowledged last year that Disney stood to gain from rereleasing "Song." The company's movies are popular with collectors, and Disney has kept sales strong by tightly controlling when they're available.
Christian Willis, a 26-year-old IT administrator in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., started a "Song" fan site in 1999 to showcase memorabilia. He soon expanded it into a clearinghouse for information on the movie that now averages more than 800 hits a day and manages the online petition.
Willis said he doesn't think the movie is racist, just from a different time.
"Stereotypes did exist on the screen," he said. "But if you look at other films of that time period, I think 'Song of the South' was really quite tame in that regard. I think Disney did make an effort to show African Americans in a more positive light."
Though Willis is hopeful, there's still no telling when _ or if _ the movie could come out (beyond its copyright lapsing decades from now).
For this story, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney's distribution arm, issued a statement: "Song of the South is one of a handful of titles that has not seen a home distribution window. To this point, we have not discounted nor committed to any distribution window concerning this title."
On the Net:
"Song of the South" fan page: http://www.songofthesouth.net
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
"In today's environment, 'Song of the South' probably doesn't have a lot of meaning, especially to the younger audiences," said James Pappas, associate professor of African-American Studies at the University of New York at Buffalo. "Older audiences probably would have more of a connection with the stereotypes, which were considered harmless at the time."
I have read it. Can't you tell?
Of course I don't agree with it 100% (specifically the obscenities, the Marxist anti-banker, anti-Federalist, pro-IRA, and [especially] anti-Israel bias, as well as his being an atheist, which renders all his causes groundless). But no cracker can read it without feeling exactly the same righteous rage that all members of victimized groups do when awakened for the first time.
DISNEY being the one to spit in the face of political correctness?!? I'll believe that when I see it.
MM
"Of course I don't agree with it 100% (specifically the obscenities, the Marxist anti-banker, anti-Federalist, pro-IRA, and [especially] anti-Israel bias, as well as his being an atheist, which renders all his causes groundless). But no cracker can read it without feeling exactly the same righteous rage that all members of victimized groups do when awakened for the first time."
I felt the same, I disagreed with him on some things, but there was so much good in it, and it is something of a one of a kind.
Are you sure you don't mean "Green Pastures"?
Absolutely. I wish more people would read it.
The thing is, as a Theonomic Positivist I reject the idea of any morality independent of G-d, and Goad makes it clear (in between all his righteous indignation) that he is an atheist and doesn't know why he's here. The whole problem with the Left is that it doesn't know why we're here but still insists on imposing a non-Theistic moral code on the world.
When I say that the book is anti-Israel, I don't mean it is flagrantly so, but Goad obviously considers the Palestinians (along with the Irish) as victims rather than beneficiaries of political correctness, which requires the Israelis (and the British) to be portrayed as villains. He's also extremely naive to see a connection between the Irish Catholics decimated by Cromwell and the white Protestants of the American Heartland. America's Irish Catholics are an urban historically liberal community and they have historically been quite hostile to the people Goad is championing.
Goad's attacking the fractional reserve banking system while simultaneously advocating the US government "circumvent" the "central bankers" by printing paper money backed by absolutely nothing whatsoever is a bit of stupidity a great many "palaeos" share, for some crazy reason.
You'd better go to the store and have a look at Aunt Jemima she doesn't look the way she used to look. ;)
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=1353&si=126
Music is awesome from that short...
"Clean Pastures" was a cartoon that parodied "Green Pastures."
Same stereotypes as the other banned cartoons.
Link to "Clean Pastures":
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2714387
"Question: If "Song Of The South" is too offensive to be released, then why are Aunt Jemima's Pancake Mix and Uncle Ben's Rice still being marketed?"
The companies that make those products paid their racism offsets to Je$$e Jack$on, so now their diversity footprint is balanced.
This is the real deal:
Go to www.songofthesouthdvdremastered.com
Some say he played Jolson better than Jolson.
Of course he was lip sync-hing Jolson all the way. It was Jolson in the recording studio doing the songs.
Jolson was too old to play himself. But the Swanee runway scene, at a distance, was 100% Jolson.
Similar things can be said for Kipling's "Just So Stories". I simply explained to my kids that the way people treat race now is a lot better than back then. Just as they were wrong about what they thought of space travel, they were also wrong about other races.
I downloaded a free copy several years ago. I encourage everyone to either do the same or to make their own copies available to others via home produced dvds or via email.
Disney's sat around too long on this. In my opinion, the phrase "use it or lose it" applies here.
"Go to www.songofthesouthdvdremastered.com"
Now THAT'S what I'm TALKIN' 'bout!
I must admit that I was quite amazed that the classic "Aunt Jemima" image survived as long as it did - it was a very stereotypical image of the "happy darky" working as a domestic, or maybe even a slave. It was still in use long after the general public attitudes towards such things had changed. "Uncle Ben" I never thought about as much, maybe because he wasn't as stereotypical looking to me, and I had completely forgotten about Cream of Wheat's "Rastus". In any case, I always just thought of "Rastus" as a chef, no racial connotations particularly, although blacks may have felt otherwise.
I remember reading the Brer Rabbit story in elementary school in the 50's. It was part of the English curriculum. I believe we were told that it was an example of American folk literature.
I'm surprised that Uncle Walt's alleged pedophilia wasn't skewered, too.
It was the cartoon issued during WWII where Bugs mocks the Japanese, who are portrayed as buck-toothed, nearsighted morons.
I've had a bootlegged copy for years, clearly taken from a VHS tape.
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