October 29, 201015 yr Having just visited Disney World and riding Disney's Splash Mountain (based on the characters, stories and songs from the 1946 Disney film Song of the South) I got to thinking about why this movie isn't released in it's entirety on DVD. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The film has never been released in its entirety on home video in the USA, because of content which Disney executives believe would be construed by some as racist toward black people, and is thus subject to much rumor. Some portions of this film have been issued on VHS and DVD as part of either compilations or special editions of Disney films. When the film was first released, the NAACP acknowledged "the remarkable artistic merit" of the film, but decried the "impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship. It's my feeling that a truely great kids film from 1946 has been unfairly labled as racist. I tend to agree with Floyd Norman, the only black animator working at the Mouse House during the 1950's and 60's who said "Overly sensitive people see racial or ethnic slights in every image." "And in their zeal to sanitize and pasteurize everything, they've taken all the fun out of cartoon making." I'm curious as to what other BGPers thoughts on the movie are.
October 29, 201015 yr Having just visited Disney World and riding Disney's Splash Mountain (based on the characters, stories and songs from the 1946 Disney film Song of the South) I got to thinking about why this movie isn't released in it's entirety on DVD. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The film has never been released in its entirety on home video in the USA, because of content which Disney executives believe would be construed by some as racist toward black people, and is thus subject to much rumor. Some portions of this film have been issued on VHS and DVD as part of either compilations or special editions of Disney films. When the film was first released, the NAACP acknowledged "the remarkable artistic merit" of the film, but decried the "impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship. It's my feeling that a truely great kids film from 1946 has been unfairly labled as racist. I tend to agree with Floyd Norman, the only black animator working at the Mouse House during the 1950's and 60's who said "Overly sensitive people see racial or ethnic slights in every image." "And in their zeal to sanitize and pasteurize everything, they've taken all the fun out of cartoon making." I'm curious as to what other BGPers thoughts on the movie are. People and the media especially percieve nearly every dealing with some sort of minority as racism. It's almost as if they will it and want racism to occur for purpose of news.
October 29, 201015 yr I remember loving that film as a child. Edited October 29, 201015 yr by coldweatherfan
October 29, 201015 yr Author Don't remember anything about it.It's the movie where the hit song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" came from. Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox or Br'er Bear don't ring a bell?
October 29, 201015 yr Where some have a problem with the racial overtones is in the song itself that includes the line in the chorus "zip-e-do-da zip-e-da-day" which is straight from a minstrel character from the 1800s called "Zip Coon." You can imagine that black folk aren't too happy with anything that derives its origin from a minstrel show.
October 29, 201015 yr I think this is similar to changing the lyrics to "My Old Kentucky Home". It is difficult to judge by today's standards what was produced 2 or 3 generations ago. I am not saying that these things don't cause people to feel certian feelings, just that the works were produced in a different era. Reminds me of when I heard an African-American professor from Harvard speak in Louisville some years ago - he argued that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was actually not racist given the depth of character of Jim and Huck's feelings for him and the time which Mark Twain wrote it. Same could be argued for Song of the South. I don't think any society should try to act like things were not different in the past. A society should learn and grow from it's past, not try to pretend it didn't happen.
October 29, 201015 yr Author Where some have a problem with the racial overtones is in the song itself that includes the line in the chorus "zip-e-do-da zip-e-da-day" which is straight from a minstrel character from the 1800s called "Zip Coon." You can imagine that black folk aren't too happy with anything that derives its origin from a minstrel show.It's more than just the song, which I don't believe was meant to be a bit racist, it's some of the characters as well. Again, I think it was more of people looking for racism simply because they see racism in everything.
October 29, 201015 yr Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay My, oh my, what a wonderful day Plenty of sunshine headin' my way Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder It's the truth, it's actual Ev'rything is satisfactual Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay Wonderful feeling, wonderful day, yes sir! Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay My, oh my, what a wonderful day Plenty of sunshine headin' my way Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder It's the truth, it's actual Ev'rything is satisfactual Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay Wonderful feeling, feeling this way Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder It is the truth, it's actual... huh? Where is that bluebird? Mm-hm! Ev'rything is satisfactual Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay Wonderful feeling, wonderful day! This does not seem racist to me unless you are really looking to make it so.
October 29, 201015 yr here is a good read if this thread really interests you: http://www.songofthesouth.net/movie/overview/defense.html
October 29, 201015 yr I've been waiting for Disney to release the movie "Child of Glass" that was filmed in Danville. I can remember back as a kid trying out for a part in this movie and never got picked. The movie came out back in the 70's. I can remember watching it on a Sunday night, on NBC's Walt Disney Show after Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" starring Marlin Perkins. In the 80's I dated a girl that lived in the house that the movie was filmed at, and would like to watch it again but never had any luck.
October 29, 201015 yr Author here is a good read if this thread really interests you: http://www.songofthesouth.net/movie/overview/defense.html Excellent find, sports fan! I think he does a good job pointing out that the objections people have about Song of the South are because they are misinformed about the movie.
October 29, 201015 yr BlueBird in the song, oh No! On BGP, they always turn it into a Highlands football thread.
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