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."
know this is a pipe dream but...I wish the whole world would "Just get the hell over it" And I mean everything !!!
Sheeesh!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Oh, what a wonderful world it would be if people would just do that.
I saw it as a kid, and never had a negative thought about race. It was about animals and people who talked "southern" as I recall. I thought it would be great to have an "Uncle Remus" who could tell great stories like that. And if you think about it, it was the generation who grew up watching that film who also said no to Jim Crow.
Release it. I also want the WWII Warner Brothers Loony Toons released. Even the ones with Bugs shooting at the 'Dirty Japs" or "The Gremlins from the Kremlin" Those were great cartoons.
This stuff is history. Stop trying to hide it.
Or $harpton.
That was what I always thought too, It was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, and even then, I knew Tigers were in India, not Africa.
What I got out of it was that Sambo was a really smart kid who made the tigers chase them until they turned into butter --- and then he put them on his pancakes --- and I LOVED pancakes.
I never understood the racism part but back then (at lest where I lived) we did not call Negroes, Black. That would have been an insult. Colored or Negro were fine. But to call them black would have likely started a fight.
thanks!
Dixie Ping - thanks groanup!
I saw it back then, too. I thought it was mostly boring. No derring-do, no charging machine gun nests, no Japanese dive bombers. No metal porn. No Comanches. Yawn.
But then, I was about eight, too.
You mean the way liberals portray poor white hillbillies?
Because Kipling didn't retire to a ranch in California?
Mowgli didn't fight the Ant Men or go to the center of the Earth, either.
Seriously though, Kipling's Mowgli is superior in a literary sense, but Tarzan is King of the Jungle when it comes to the Pulps. Plenty of period racism in Tarzan as well: Gomangani vs the Tarmangani.
free dixie,sw
LOL.
I still have a copy of Tarzan and the Monkey Men which was written during WWII and concerns the Japanese.
"Tarzan and the Foreign Legion" is set during WWII, and has Tarzan crash landing on Sumatra and fighting the Japanese with orangutangs.
I have that DVD!
That is the same story, but I distinctly remember being disappointed that they were Japanese and not monkey men. I need to dig that back out; maybe my memory is just not kicking in right.
Some of the old Popeye cartoons also had some of this. There are several where he goes into a jungle and you can hardly tell the natives apart from the monkeys. There were also WWII era Popeye's where the "japs" were always portrayed has having huge buck teeth and big glasses and always saying, "So Solly".
I saw all those cartoons as a kid and they had no big ompact on me - they were just cartoons.
I used to love the old Little Lulu cartoons - but those aren't shown any more because Lulu had a black maid. There are new versions of Little Lulu - but they've changed the original lyrics from the Little Lulu song. Most baby boomers will remember:
"Little Lulu, Little Lulu
With freckles on her chin
Always in and out of trouble
But mostly always in,
Using Daddy's necktie for the tail of her kite,
Using Mommy's lipstick for the letters she writes
Though the clock says seven-thirty,
It's really after ten
Looks like Lulu's been repairing it again,
Though you're wilder than any Zulu
And you're just as hard to tame,
Little Lulu I love you you just the same, the same
Little Lulu I love you you just the same."
I'll let you guess which line has been changed in the new version.
Some of the old Popeye cartoons also had some of this. There are several where he goes into a jungle and you can hardly tell the natives apart from the monkeys. There were also WWII era Popeye's where the "japs" were always portrayed has having huge buck teeth and big glasses and always saying, "So Solly".
I saw all those cartoons as a kid and they had no big ompact on me - they were just cartoons.
I used to love the old Little Lulu cartoons - but those aren't shown any more because Lulu had a black maid. There are new versions of Little Lulu - but they've changed the original lyrics from the Little Lulu song. Most baby boomers will remember:
"Little Lulu, Little Lulu
With freckles on her chin
Always in and out of trouble
But mostly always in,
Using Daddy's necktie for the tail of her kite,
Using Mommy's lipstick for the letters she writes
Though the clock says seven-thirty,
It's really after ten
Looks like Lulu's been repairing it again,
Though you're wilder than any Zulu
And you're just as hard to tame,
Little Lulu I love you you just the same, the same
Little Lulu I love you you just the same."
I'll let you guess which line has been changed in the new version.
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