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."
SOTS paints Uncle Rhemus as a gentle, adored man with great wisdom.
This is a good thing.
Didn't Whoopie have her then-boyfriend, Ted Dansen, wear blackface to some event?
What kind of business are you in???
That's not exactly "money speak"!!!
Actually, such speech is of British Isles origin and has been used by whites in the past. Recall the "stereotypical" feudin' hillbillies in that Bugs Bunny cartoon where the hillbilly says "Be ye a Hatfield, or be ye a Coy rabbit?" Pirates are also sterotyped as speaking that way.
Similarly "ax" is Chaucerian Middle English and is used by whites in New Orleans.
Black English doesn't come from Africa. It comes from England and preserves anachronistic features of classes of British English speakers of former times.
Of course I'm only a redneck myself, but I've always wondered why the crows in Dumbo haven't been censored out. It seems to me that they are a much more negative stereotype than Uncle Remus.
I paid about $100 for a legal PAL release of this film and had it converted to NTSC to give it to my Father as a birthday present, it was his favorite Disney film of all time.....
I didn't tell him what it was, just gave him the unlabled coverted tape and told him to watch it.
Needless to say, I think I pleasantly suprised him. Best $100 I ever spent.
My one complaint was that they changed Brer Tarrypin to Brer Turtle (don't nobody know what a tarrypin is?). He was the character who related the stories to a young Black girl. (In Gullah stories, he's Buh Cooter.)
Thanks. I'm going to have to check that out tonight.
Its about being PC not racist. Because the film doesn't show slavery in a wretchedly bad context, it will never be considered PC. Even though the slavery in incidental to the story line.
Just as a black woman crying rape against white MUST BE THE VICTIM DISPITE THE FACTS... You may not show slaves without them being whipped beated and broken by tyrannical white masters in a film and be considred PC.
Tell Dr. Pappas he can kiss my ass.
Ironically, Gone with the Wind is one of the most anti-poor Southern white movies ever made. There are frequent references to "white trash" and in the KKK scene (didn't catch that, did you?), the vigilantes clear out a disreputable area, not of Blacks, but of "white trash." As a matter of fact, a Black former slave rescues Scarlett from the "white trash" who are going to rape her.
Just who did those aristocrats think did their fighting for them, huh???
That said, I'd buy it.
If fact, several from your list are there (maybe they all are!) -- how long they'll be there, who knows?
Disney will rerelease it, but the guns will be replaced by walkie-talkies.
Yep. but if I said what I think of that, I'd be off to rehab...
Historically, Disney seemed to almost ignore the existence of Black Americans. The company seems sometimes to be overcompensating for that today.
At any rate, it's interesting that the name of the show is "The Proud Family" because one of the things the contemporary Left hopes to redistribute to historically oppressed minorities is the alleged pride of the majority. Just as the Left seeks to tear down the pride, nationalism, patriotism, etc., of the "priveleged" group, so it seeks to instill in the "oppressed" a pride, a nationalism, and a patriotism that is almost downright national socialist (Afrocentrism merely attributes the "creation of civilization" to Africans instead of "aryans"). Witness that Leftist American ethnic leaders, who dismiss American patriotism, are quite insistent on the maintenance of "race patriotism." It's not so much that the Left is opposed to patriotism per se, but that they seek to redistribute it.
What I don't understand is why anyone with half a brain thinks that poor trailer-park or backwoods rednecks are stuffed to the gills with racial pride or patriotism. This is another reflection of the Fist World/Third World Left dichotomy. Where do they get this nonsense?
The original Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris are explicitly set after the War.
Ironically, in the old days Hollywood made fun of Blacks as the stereotypical religious fundamentalists, just as they do poor Southern whites today. Ironic, huh?
I'm not in any way a fan of Whoopie Goldberg, but she's a big fan of "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs," (I'm not kidding) so maybe she'd approve. ;')
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.