Sh00tingstar wrote:call me a kiwi, but i havent seen song of the south, whats it about and why is there so much controvesy about it?
I'll try and summarize it as best I can:
It starts with a picture of Uncle Remus' cabin, and some words on the screen I can't remember. Uncle Remus narrates, and we go to Johnny, his mother Miss Sally, his father, and Johnny's mammy Aunt Tempy. They're in a carriage and they're on their way to see Johnny's grandmother (Miss Sally's mother), Miss Doshy. While in the carriage, Johnny's father (who I think has no name) talks about how they used to play at the plantation when they were young, and how Uncle Remus would tell them stories about Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Frog (who goes "Knee Deep Knee Deep" in a husky voice).
They then arrive at the plantation, where Johnny meets Toby, a black boy who looks after him. Then Johnny's father leaves them (marital problems I guess, they don't really go into it). Johnny is visibly upset, and later that night, he plans on running away back to Altanta. Whilst running away, he comes across the houses where Miss Doshy's workers (WORKERS, NOT SLAVES) are living, they're all out singing a song, "That's What Uncle Remus Said". Anyways, Johnny is trying not to be noticed, and he comes across Uncle Remus, who's telling stories to some of the workers' children. Aunt Tempy and Aunt Chloe then come over to tell Uncle Remus that Johnny's missing. Uncle Remus, who noticed Johnny in the brush, tells them to tell Miss Doshy that Johnny's with him.
Johnny then tries leaving, and Uncle Remus follows him. He grabs Johnny by the hair and throws him in a river.
Just kidding on that part. Johnny leaves again, and Uncle Remus follows, and they go to Uncle Remus's cabin, to get some grub. Uncle Remus says he'll go with Johnny to Atlanta. Johnny says he's never coming back, to which Uncle Remus laughs. Uncle Remus then tells a Br'er Rabbit story.
Uncle Remus first sings Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, then sees that Br'er Rabbit is boarding up his home in the briar patch. According to Br'er Rabbit, the briar patch is "nothin' but trouble and mo' trouble". Anyways, Br'er Rabbit starts leaving, when he gets caught in a trap set by Br'er Fox, way up on Chickapin Hill. Br'er Rabbit tries to get down before Br'er Fox gets there, and fortunately for him, the rather slow Br'er Bear happens to be walking by. Br'er Rabbit convinces Br'er Bear that he's earning a dolla' a minute to keep the crows out of the corn field, and gives Br'er Bear his "job".
When Br'er Fox arrives, he sees Br'er Bear dangling from the trap singing Zip-A-Dee, and throwing in a few "Dolla' a minute" in the song. Br'er Rabbit is watching from a rock, and when Br'er Fox cuts down the trap and argues with Br'er Bear, Br'er Rabbit starts laughing at them. Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear then pounce on him and start fighting in a cloud of dust and dirt and such that Br'er Rabbit somehow gets out of it (and leaves them fighting), and runs back to his briar patch.
After he tells the story, Toby arrives, saying that he can't find Johnny. Johnny reveals himself, and the three walk back to the plantation.
The next day, Toby's coming into the bedroom with water for Johnny's wash basin, and gives Johnny a frog he caught at the mill pond. They plan on catching more, but Miss Sally has Johnny dress up in such a sissy black suit with a lace collar, and he can't get it dirty. So rather than go to the mill pond to catch frogs, Johnny and Toby walk to the mill pond to release the frog and just look at the rest. While walking to the mill pond, they pass by the Favers, a poor white family. The two Faver brothers (forget their names) are talking about drowning a puppy that belongs to their sister Ginny. Toby tells Johnny that his mother doesn't like them playing with those boys, and Miss Sally probably wouldn't either.
The Favers notice Johnny and Toby, and after some taunting, Toby runs off. The Faver boys then make fun of Johnny's collar (I probably would too), to which Johnny walks off, sits down by the mill pond, and angrily throws his collar on the ground. Ginny follows him, and gives him her puppy, Teenchy. Johnny gives her his collar. The two and the puppy get into the boat at the mill pond and ride around.
Aunt Tempy tells Johnny that they can't keep the dog, so Johnny has to return it. But he doesn't want to, so he asks Uncle Remus to take care of him (conveniently not telling him that Miss Sally didn't want the dog). Then Toby arrives, and Uncle Remus tells the two boys another Br'er Rabbit story.
Uncle Remus is going fishing, but before he does, they gotta sing a song ("How do you do?"). Br'er Rabbit then goes off on his own. Meanwhile at Chickapin Hill, Br'er Fox is making a tar baby to distract Br'er Rabbit. They set it up, and Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear wait for Br'er Rabbit to come around. Br'er Rabbit sees teh tar baby, and says "how do you do?" but the tar baby doesn't answer, so Br'er Rabbit tries a couple more times before he gets angry and starts fighting with the tar baby, until he's trapped. Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear come out and talk about how they're gonna kill and eat Br'er Rabbit. Br'er Rabbit tries to think of ways to escape, and sees a briar patch. He keeps telling them things like "You can knock my head clean off, but don't throw me in that briar patch!" and "You can hang/skin me, but don't throw me in that briar patch!". Br'er Fox the proceeds to throw him into the briar patch, figuring the thorns would stab him to death. But Br'er Rabbit outsmarted him again, as he was "born and bred in the briar patch", and escapes once again.
(At this point, I'm tired of typing so I'm taking the easy way out and copying part of the synopsis from
www.songofthesouth.net )
Johnny heeds the advice of how Brer Rabbit used reverse psychology on Brer Fox and begged the Favers boys not to tell their mother about the dog. They do and get a good spanking for it. Enraged, both boys go to the plantation and tell Johnny's mother, who is upset that Uncle Remus kept the dog despite her order, unbeknownst to Uncle Remus. She orders the old man not to tell any more stories to her son.
The day of Johnny's birthday arrives. Johnny picks up Ginny to take her to his party. Ginny's mother used her wedding dress to make her a beautiful dress for the party. On the way there, however, Joe and Jake pick another fight. Ginny gets pushed and ends up in a mud puddle. With her dress ruined, Ginny refuses to go to the party. Johnny doesn't want to go either, especially since his father won't be there. Uncle Remus discovers the two dejected children and cheers them by telling the story of Brer Rabbit and his "Laughing Place". When Uncle Remus returns to the plantation with the children, Sally meets them on the way and is angry at Johnny for not having attended his own birthday party. Ginny mentions Uncle Remus telling them a story and Sally draws the line, warning Uncle Remus not to spend time with Johnny any more.
Uncle Remus, saddened by the misunderstanding of his good intentions, packs his bags and leaves for Atlanta. Johnny, seeing Uncle Remus leaving from a distance, rushes to intercept him, taking a shortcut through the pasture where he is attacked and seriously injured by the resident bull.
While Johnny hovers between life and death, his father returns and reconciles with Sally. But Johnny calls for Uncle Remus, who had returned in all the commotion. Uncle Remus began telling a tale of Brer Rabbit and the Laughing Place again, and the boy miraculously survives.
