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."
When I was growing up - many years ago - the holiday season would bring, on TV, many of the same old movies. One of them was "The Al Jolson Story", about a Jewish singer who stared in the first talkie. In real life, Jolson appeared in black-face. Not surprisingly, he appeared in black-face in the movie. As a result, the movie is never shown, despite the face it is excellent, has great music and acting, and is historically accurate.
Who are the white liberals who decide these things?
Why buy it and contribute to a company which pushes a "gay" child on us in "Ugly Betty" among other perverted propaganda? Download SOTS for free on BigTorrent.
Wow, I have the soundtrack album and a book. I should sell while it's 'hot'!
I found it humorous that Warner Bros. put such a disclaimer on a DVD collection of Speedy Gonzales cartoons. The kids loved them!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedy_Gonzales
I think that Harris patterned Remus after Aesop, who was also a slave. Fact is that human beings can rise above almost any condition. Witness the Italian actor who turned a film about concentration camps into a comedy! And won an Oscar!because it caught the real meaning of Comedy.
South, the word itself when capitalized has racist undertones and is whispered in polite company.
If someone calls you "Southern" he don't mean you're from Antarctica.
Let me axe you a question. Do they ever say "you peoples"?
Plantation workers were never happy, never laughed, and never told stories?
I loved that film too. Starred Larry Parks (I beleive) as Jolson. And the big song of the movie was Jolson's "Mammy."
I've seen the movie, and it is nothing compared to the original, great stories of Joel Chandler Harris (which are even more politically incorrect, since the "n" word is used frequently). I have a copy of a volume of the complete Uncle Remus stories, and they are an absolute treasure and make Song of the South seem absolutely pitiful in comparison.
Harris was a real folklorist as well as a children's author. He was also quite an interesting character . . . born poor and illigitmate, a deathbed convert to Catholicism, and the godfather of Groucho Marx's perennial foil, Margaret Dumont.
The complete Uncle Remus tales includes not merely the tales told by Uncle Remus but also the Gullah tales of Daddy Jake. I have always wished to hear actual spoken Gullah, but I have always had to be content with written transcriptions.
With all its faults and foibles, with all the history of degradation and triumph, this is real AfrAmericana.
As an old Southern Unionist/Republican, I will never forgive the Left for taking the most unique and gifted ethno-cultural community in the United States into an icon of Communism and anti-Americanism. Never.
Whether or not Song is ever re-released, I hope that Harris' actual stories have not been purged in a PC Hitlerian book-burning.
And while I'm on the topic, I also highly recommend the folklore collections of B. A. Botkin.
Which is caused, of course, by the "Nazi" redneck belief that every single human being who has ever lived is descended from a single human couple who were created directly by the Hands of G-d! [/sarcasm]
Seriously, there are people in the "conservative movement" to whom race is the be-all and end-all of everything (::cough:: V-Dare ::cough::), but I don't think they are Biblical fundamenalists!
Actually, there are quite a few... Mostly featuring "stereotypical" black, Japanese and Nazi characters. One of the episodes is called "You're a Sap, Mr. Jap".
i loved this movie... have been trying to get my hands on it for years... Zippity Do-Dah...
" Remus and other black characters' dialogue is full of "ain't nevers," "ain't nobodys," "you tells," and "dem days's."
So they speak better English than today's typical rapper, you mean? ;)"
Excellent point and I too love this movie. It is very warm and entertaining.
"Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs" (1943) is on YouTube now. I've always wanted to see it, and now I have.
The tar baby tale is at least 3000 years old and probably is one of the earliest stories since language was invented. Language was invented 40,000 years ago to tell that story.
Pleeeeease don't throw me 'n that thar briar patch!
Remus and other black characters' dialogue is full of "ain't nevers," "ain't nobodys," "you tells," and "dem days's."
So they speak better English than today's typical rapper, you mean? ;)
Hey . . . just remake it with funny, ignorant, silly rednecks instead of Blacks. That'll make it all right, and everyone can laugh at them without it being bigotry! [/sarcasm]
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