On IMDb, there was a thread in the "Princess and the Frog" forum that argued there weren't any significant black Disney protagonists - at all - that Disney has avoided African American characters in their animated films. My response partially delved into the issue with "Song of the South" so I'm going to post it here fully - it's late and I'm too tired to edit it into being a response just for this thread but most of this relates.
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I won't deny Disney has largely avoided African Americans in its movies, but you must look a little deeper:
First off, Disney's been making movies since 1937. The black civil rights movement didn't really get big until the mid 50s and lasted until the late 60s. By that time, Disney had already made 15 classics - up through "Lady and the Tramp". That's one quarter of its total films today. No company was hiring black actors for big productions yet. By the time the movement was drawing to a close - four more films had been made - up through "The Jungle Book".
Disney tried making a movie featuring a black protagonist in 1946 - "Song of the South". It was based off a collection of stories written by a black slave.
It features two white children hearing these tales from Uncle Remus. Although its never stated outright, it's assumed he is a slave by many critics who say his happiness while telling these stories is wrong because no slave would be happy.
Which is true, they probably wouldn't be happy to tell two white kids stories. Nonetheless, it's never stated he's a slave. In fact, he says he'll be leaving the plantation soon. So it seems more like he's hired work, not a slave - and there was a major difference between the treatment of the two.
Critics say that the 'tar baby' character is like a black effigy. Well, if it was 'glue baby' no one would have said anything.
And since it was the 40s, the lead actor James Baskett who played Remus was barred from the films own release party. Disney treated their actor better than society at the time.
So Disney tried to make a film for African Americans and they played the race card so badly, it drove Disney to paranoia.
Sidney Poitier and Mayou Angelou threatened to boycott Disney if they let this film release in the U.S. So, it's never come out here.
Disney also erased and now denies what was once meant to be a social statement about the stereotypes of Blacks - Sunflower the slave centaurette in Fantasia. While vain white centaurettes got dolled up, the black centaurette served them. This wasn't racism - this was how blacks were really treated. Well, it has since been removed Fantasia and never showed again.
Here's her picture:
http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/_C1/_F1/Sun ... P64738/gfo rum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=4119;guest=15446447
Recently, Disney's gotten much better. Still afraid to release "Song of the South", but trying to improve. I mean, how can you blame them? When they announced this film [Princess and the Frog] - people freaked. Cinderella was a chambermaid and that's okay because she was white, but when Maddy was going to be one - that alluded to slavery.
I'm not a racist, but African Americans advocate for equality yet they then play the race card and when comparing a white vs. black situation - it's okay when the character is white, but racist when the character is black. This is why Disney's so nervous.
Nonetheless - here's some more examples of them improving by including black characters in their animated classics::
1997's "Hercules" - the muses who narrated the film were African American.
1999's "Fantasia 2000" - One of the main character's in 'Rhapsody in Blue' segment was a black steel worker.
2000's "John Henry" - A short that portrayed the life of the African American legend
2001's "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" - Audrey Rocio Ramirez was one of the crew who went to Atlantis. She was the chief mechanic.
2002's "Lilo and Stitch" - Cobra Bubbles was the C.I.A. agent who returned over and over throughout the film.
2003's "One by One" - a short that showed African children flying kites to traditional African music. Intended for a third Fantasia.
2004's "Home on the Rage" - Buck, the horse, and one of the main characters was voiced by Cuba Gooding Jr.
2007's "Meet the Robinsons" - the matron of the orphanage was African American.
2008's "BOLT" - the network executive was African American
2008's "Tinker Bell" - Iridessa, one of the main five fairies and friend to Tinker Bell, is black.
And don't forget such shows as "That's so Raven" and "Cory in the House", and "The Proud Family".
As for films, there's "Haunted Mansion", "College Road Trip", "Remember the Titans", the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' trilogy, and "High School Musical 3" - all of these star blacks in important roles.
As for films about blacks? "Selma, Lord Selma", "The Color of Friendship", and "Ruby Bridges".
No, Disney isn't perfect in their track record for featuring black characters - but it wasn't really "safe" so to say until the 70's when over a fourth of their current canon had already been made. With the scrutiny they get for "Song of the South" over 60 years later and the anger they are getting now for "The Princess and the Frog" - why shouldn't they be a little wary about how to portray African Americans?
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Someone said it sounded like I was saying blacks are more sensitive than other ethnic groups. He also said "Song of the South" wasn't a well enough known movie to count as Disney putting in an effort to portray blacks. Here was my response:
>>>>"Song of the South" was a major movie for its time, and it still has a theme park ride modeled after it - 'Splash Mountain'. In fact, it used to be considered part of the same line as "The Little Mermaid" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". It was because of the threats from figures such as Maya Angelou that Disney quietly removed it from this list, hoping to quell the negativity.
So, if it was still a part of that line and if it had ever been released here, it would be a sibling to "Cinderella" and "BOLT" and all the other 'animated classics'. It would be as prominent as they are.
I do not pretend to know what it's like to be an African American or even pretend to really know African Americans, period. I am living and was raised in a white bread town. My 'town' has less then 800 citizens, and three are black (a mother, father, daughter). They didn't even move here until three years ago. Because of this, I'm 'inherently racist' - I'm ignorant about the affairs and issues of African Americans, but I do not hate them, hold and prejudice against them, or plan to/want to discriminate against them. The closest I've been 'inside their head' is through the book "Black Like Me" which we read for Sociology class.
There's no way to write this without sounding racist so I won't make exuses I'll just write it - yes, I feel that African Americans sometimes are more sensitive than those of other ethnicities. "Pocahontas" was scrutinized by Native Americans, as was "Brother Bear" - but not enough for changes to be demanded of the films. There were no major threats of boycotts against "Aladdin" or "Mulan". Yet, a year away from release, and people are already blogging to skip this film - already demanding changes from Disney. Maybe I am just an ignorant white boy, but it's what I'm seeing.
Like the examples I gave before - 'tar baby' was a racist character in "Song of the South" because tar is black so it's like an effigy. If that had been 'glue baby' with white glue, would anyone have even blinked an eye?
Cinderella was a chambermaid, but that was fine because she was white. Maddy being a chambermaid alluded to slavery. What if this film was about another white princess - named Maddy - would anyone have said anything at all?
And here's a personal example. When I was about 9 years old, I was at a mall where they had indoor rides and play areas. My sister and I were waiting our turn to go down a slide on a playground - it was a tube slide. There was a young, about 6 year old African American boy sitting in the tube. My sister kindly asked him to go down so we could have our turn. He wouldn't. She gave him a few minutes and asked again but he still refused. Finally, after a third refusal, she lightly pushed him so he'd go down. He told his mom and she went and got mall security and my sister and I were asked to leave the mall. The worst part was our parents had gone shopping and felt we'd be safe in the play area without them watching, so imagine their surprise when they found us sitting outside. We had tried to go find them but on request of the boy's mother, the security forbid us to. My parents tried to explain the situation to him and he kept accusing them of raising racist children.
If that had been a white boy in the slide that my sister pushed, would any of this had happened? At worst, he would have cried and been upset but we wouldn't have been forced to sit outside of a mall for two hours alone.
So no, I don't understand the affairs of African Americans and don't pretend to - but when it comes to Disney's classics and various real-world issues, I do believe they 'play the race card' and get more riled up about things than members of other ethnic groups.
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I was merely pointing out that the film is racist, it is offensive, and I personally think Disney is doing the right thing by not releasing it.
Very well said, Nathan. I agree. Walt Disney loved the stories that SOTS was based on...it's not like his purpose in making the film was to portray African Americans in a bad light.
