Have You Ever Seen Song Of The South?

[quiden]

I've never seen the movie, but I would like to. I live in the US and am legally at the mercy of disney. I would like to compare this to the Disney Treasures, though. There are many things on those that many would consider to be offensive that have Leonard Maltin apologizing for at the beginning. I wonder what the chances are of having Song of the South released as a treasure for archival purposes instead of a much heralded 2 disk special edition. It seems that they are a little more willing to release things in the Treasures/historical type of framework.

By the way, my kids have watched the treasures and love them. Any racial stereotyping just goes over their heads.

[Escapay]

There are many things on those that many would consider to be offensive that have Leonard Maltin apologizing for at the beginning.

Renata would back me up as the only thing offensive in the movie is Johnny's lace collar (which he thankfully gave to Ginny)

Escapay

[ohmahaaha]

The more that I have watched Song of the South,
the more I feel like I'm watching a kid-friendly
version of Gone With the Wind.
In some respects, I feel as though Disney
and his team were in some ways trying to recreate
the feel of Gone With the Wind in the live action sequences...
and weave their own magical animation into the hybreed.

I don't know about that - I thought that it was always just because Walt Disney had always liked the idea of adapting the stories of Joel Chandler Harris (author of Uncle Remus & friends) for animation by his studio. I really don't think the flavor of those stories as they are written could have been captured any other way than as portrayed in this film.

When were the stories written by Harris? Perhaps even before the Civil War and therefore the reason behind the story of the live action framework?

[Escapay]

When were the stories written by Harris? Perhaps even before the Civil War and therefore the reason behind the story of the live action framework?

According to http://www.songofthesouth.net :

The Origins of Uncle Remus

Uncle Remus was a character created by a man named Joel Chandler Harris who initially began using this fictitious character in the Atlanta Constitution newspaper in 1876. The editor had asked him to carry on a column which had been featuring a black character, Uncle Si. Harris did not like the name or the way the column was handled, so he created his own. The stories Uncle Remus told were all based upon a composite of African-American storytellers he had known and grown up with as a child.

Two of these individuals, Bob Capers and Old Herbert, are largely credited as being the men who introduced Harris to these fantastic stories at a young age. As of recently, Bob Capers (also, Uncle Bob Capers) has been given the credit of being Harris' model for Remus. Allegedly, biographies and letters of Harris' indirectly deny that claim.

Another man, allegedly named Uncle Remus, who was a gardener in Forsyth, Georgia, was said to be the model for the Uncle Remus of Harris' books. According to a 1946 Song of the South press article, Harris also denied this in his private papers. In that same article, it states that Uncle Remus was probably not in fact based upon any one or two men, but at least a dozen different storytellers.

Whether any of the three men were direct models of Uncle Remus or a composite of a dozen storytellers or a combination of both, it remains clear that Uncle Remus is a combination of storytellers, and not necessarily just one man.

A common misconception is that SOTS takes place before the Civil War. While never stated in the movie, it obviously takes place AFTER the war as Uncle Remus can go to Atlanta if he wants in both the beginning and the end of the movie.

Escapay

[dvdjunkie]

I own this great Disney film on VHS, LaserDisc, and have just recently transfered my VHS copy to DVD+RW.

The big stink over this film is the bone tossed by the ACLU, one of our greatest enemies in the world. They say that the film portrays black people in a stereotypical light. Whatever that means.

Back in the time this film was supposed to take place, black people were slaves, and that's history. Uncle Remus was a story teller that all the kids used to sit and listen to around the campfire. Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Bear and all the other characters were characterizations of some of the finest black actors at that time. I have no problem with this film and I show it to anyone who wants to watch it.

I am hoping that they will get over their guilt complex (the ACLU, that is) and drop their lawsuit that prevents us from seeing this Disney classic.

[bmadigan]

The big stink over this film is the bone tossed by the ACLU, one of our greatest enemies in the world. They say that the film portrays black people in a stereotypical light. Whatever that means.

I am hoping that they will get over their guilt complex (the ACLU, that is) and drop their lawsuit that prevents us from seeing this Disney classic.

Can you give details on this? The ACLU has always stood against censorship. I can't believe they are an impediment. Could you mean NAACP instead?

[quiden]

I thought this was interesting:

No less an authoriy than movie critic Roger Ebert has stated that "Song of the South" should be withheld from general audiences.


"I am against censorship and believe that no films or books should be burned or banned, but film school study is one thing and a general release is another," Ebert wrote in his Movie Answer Man column for the Chicago Sun-Times (www.suntimes.coindeebert.html). "Any new Disney film immediately becomes part of the consciousness of almost every child in America, and I would not want to be a black child going to school in the weeks after 'Song of the South' was first seen by my classmates."


Others are quick to defend the film, as well as the source stories by Harris.


"It is my belief that this man (Harris) was compassionate towards the slaves he grew up listening to," writes "Song of the South" aficionado Christian Willis on his Web site (www.songofthesouth.net). "And, after the Civil War had passed, cared about them as free Americans as well. I do not believe that a man who spent literally his entire life immersed in the language of the African-Americans could have any malicious intent towards them."


Willis' belief is that the tales Walt Disney would later base his movie upon were created with the honorable intent of preserving and publicizing the 19th-century stories of African Americans.


That's why Willis is among those clamoring for a U.S. video release of "Song of the South."


Count Mobilian Tommy Praytor in, too. He's a major animation fan and proprietor of Praytor Animation, a Mobile-based company that buys and sells animation art.


"Will we look back 50 years from now and refuse to print some of the political cartoons we've published in the last four months because they are racist?" Praytor asked me when I told him I would write about the absence of "Song of the South." "Cartoons only express the mood of the country, and they should be played if for no other reason to show how far we have come in racial understanding."


About this movie, he said, "This is truly a classic story with many themes that prove true for today's children as they did for you and I when we were kids. Also the smartest guy in the movie is Uncle Remus. How can that be racist?"


At the time of its release, "Song of the South" gamered serious objections from groups such as the NAACP and the National Urban League, although these days the NAACP staunchly insists that it has not threatened boycotts, protest or any other actions against Disney if the company decides to release the film now.

It is from the following page:

http://www.songofthesouth.net/news/arch ... ister.html

[wizzer]

i'm sure we will eventually see this as a treasure tin in the future with a big standard apology from leonard maltin about how we should appriciate it as a sign of the times and how we wouldn't make something like this these days yadda yadda yadda.

one cartoon i go back to and have rewatched about 20 times since i got the dvd is pluto's dreamhouse. the uncle tom voice or the stereotypical old black slave voice is what makes the cartoon so funny to me and that might be a bit racist or something of me to enjoy that part of the cartoon so much. i'm not sure. but if they can release something like that (which i would not want to have playing on my TV if someone who was black was visiting my house) then i'm sure we will soon see song of the south on dvd. which isn't even close to as offensive as pluto's dreamhouse. as someone else mentioned, the only part of the movie that is offensive is that girly outfit that jonny wears for the party.

[meekochick]

Seen it...Love IT!

It's not racist! That's like saying ROOTS was racist, and I was forced to to see that in Junior High. It deals with a touchy subject, and it's not "PC," but how can any film dealing with that time period be "PC"? By banning it, it's like saying it doesn't exist, or "That never happened." What if we did the same thing to Anne Frank's Diary. "We can't show this. It would hurt Jews, or Germans" Can you imagine that some people still believe the massive genocide of thousands during WWII was just a hoax. AAHHH!!! It's true some of the characters are racist, But the film looks beyond the color of the skin, and at the end both colors are united, and you see a gleam of hope in the young boy, holding Uncle Reamus's hand. That part moves me to tears.

[dvdjunkie]

I mispoke BMadigan, you are right it is the NAACP, since I despise both organizations I just got my letter fouled up.

"Song of the South" is a genuine classic. How many years have we been singing "Zip A Dee Do Dah"? And how many people remember Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, or Brer Rabbis's Laughing Place. I, for one, wish big brother would quit watching over us and let us have our Disney movies as we want them, when we want them.

That is just my opinion.

[ohmahaaha]

A common misconception is that SOTS takes place before the Civil War. While never stated in the movie, it obviously takes place AFTER the war as Uncle Remus can go to Atlanta if he wants in both the beginning and the end of the movie.

Escapay

You're right Escapay ... I just rewatched it, and although there were lots of African Americans working on a large southern plantation, there was no mention one way or the other about whether or not they were in slavery. And no mention of the Civil War, so your logic about Uncle Remus being free to go to Atlanta makes sense.

I just can't undestand though ... if you watch this movie, I saw great animation surrounded by a story of a white boy who becomes friends with an African American boy from the moment they meet, and how he grows to love an African American man. How come nobody talks about that in reference to racial relationships?

[DreamerQ18]

Nope i have yet to see it. Its kind of depressing really casue most people talk aboutit . I have seen a few sequences but beyone the song zipadiduda and the ride at Disney World my knowledge of the movie is slim. One day though I hope to be able to see it.

[Escapay]

I just can't undestand though ... if you watch this movie, I saw great animation surrounded by a story of a white boy who becomes friends with an African American boy from the moment they meet, and how he grows to love an African American man. How come nobody talks about that in reference to racial relationships?

Because the good in this film is largely overshadowed by its controversial reputation.

Escapay

[Rebel]

I just can't undestand though ... if you watch this movie, I saw great animation surrounded by a story of a white boy who becomes friends with an African American boy from the moment they meet, and how he grows to love an African American man. How come nobody talks about that in reference to racial relationships?

Because the good in this film is largely overshadowed by its controversial reputation.

What is the basis for the reputation though? Have the people opposed to it ever sat down and watched it?

I have watched it. I own a PAL VHS release that I imported several years ago. The ONLY issue that I can imagine anyone complaining about would be the abuse of the tar baby, but even that is nothing compared to what is in modern movies and on tv these days.

[PocahontasPride]

Never seen it, but I have the zip-a-dee-do-dah sing along and I love that song, so I'm going to try and find a place to purchuse it soon, so I can see the whole movie.