Song of the South

WVParkfan · Post by **WVParkfan** » Apr Tue 29, 2008 11:38 am

A couple of years ago, my neighbor purchased a copy of the Disney movie "Song of the South" from overseas. She made us a copy that we never got around to watching. Truthfully, I just forgot we had the tape.

Well, last month during our trip to Disney World, my DD7 finally got up enough courage to tackle Splash Mountain. She had decided to ride with "Daddy." As soon as we went down the first small hill and she got wet, she began to get scared. So, I tried my best to explain the story of Splash Mountain by explaining about Brer Rabbit and Uncle Remus. She listened intently, and the stories seemed to take the mind off of her fear of the "big drop."

We survived the experience, and she can now proudly boast that she was on Splash Mountain! But one of the interesting results of our ride is that she has begun to ask me many questions about Song of the South. She wanted to know more about Brer Fox, Brer Bear, and Brer Rabbit.

I found the tape this week, and we watched the movie together (spread out over three nights). She absolutely loved the movie! The VHS copy I have is in poor condition, but was good enough for her to see the story.

Now, I know why Disney removed it from the USA, and I certainly don't want anyone of any race to be offended. But it really is a wonderful movie, with a wonderful story to tell. I wish that they could bring it back for sale in America. Watching the movie certainly made the entire Splash Mountain ride make sense to my daughter.

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Apr Tue 29, 2008 2:56 pm

I know there's a petition online to have the movie released and every year Disney seems closer and closer to giving in. While maybe not int he very near future, it almost seems inevitable that it will be released eventually.

While the ride does a great job of delivering the story on its own, viewing the movie makes you notice so many more details and get a better understanding of the story. It's almost like comparing a book to it's movie. (Although for this similie, the ride would be the movie and the movie would be the book

) For instance, before seeing the movie, I always thought the bees were just there to add atmosphere, but the bees play an important role in one of the stories.

I guess it could also be a bad thing because part of what makes rides like PotC and HM great is their open-endedness which Splash sort of provides. Although Splash Mountain was based on a movie, I've always deemed it ok to be placed outside of fantasyland just because the movie isn't well-known by Americans and most people don't realize that they're movie characters anyway. If they release the movie, I may have a problem with it being in Frontierland...but I'm weird when it comes to theming like that.

edit- here's the petition site, but it has loads of info about every aspect of the film and Splash Mountain.
http://www.songofthesouth.net/home.html

ericpabear · Post by **ericpabear** » Apr Tue 29, 2008 7:39 pm

The people that would have you believe that this film is offensive are also attacking other WALT Disney films. Don't listen to them. There is nothing wrong with this film or any other Disney films.
http://animatedfilms.suite101.com/artic ... ney_racist
http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_9- ... cters.html

How about some history.
Did you know Joel Chandler Harris wrote Uncle Remus folktales, from stories he had heard from the slaves at Turnwold Plantation. (This is only one link, there are a few others)
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ ... p?id=h-525

This next link tells alittle of what happened when "Song Of The South" premiered.
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ ... ?id=h-2428

Esmeralda · Post by **Esmeralda** » Apr Wed 30, 2008 8:18 am

There are a lot of movies that I've seen from that era that could easily offend, but I always watch them with the knowledge that much has changed since then. Check out the original Tarzan (they're not the same era, but you get the idea).

Having never seen Song of the South, I don't know how offensive it is, but would be happy to watch, maybe with a disclaimer? You know, and introduction talking about the beloved tales and how we don't view race in the same way today?

I know this has been discussed elsewhere, but thought I'd put in my two cents.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Wed 30, 2008 10:56 am

ericpabear wrote:There is nothing wrong with this film or any other Disney films.

Well, I wouldn't say that, but I think trying to sweep them under the rug is not the right way to handle it.

I think it's helpful for young people to understand how things used to be, so they know why some old people are still so angry and can't seem to "just get over it". (I'm not saying this and similar cartoons are the actual way things used to be, I'm talking about the presentations themselves and what used to be considered socially acceptable entertainment.)

I suppose it makes sense to try to ensure that kids don't see these things without context, so they probably shouldn't run them on television when parents are unlikely to be monitoring what their kids are watching (which is another issue entirely, but whatever). But I think kids should absolutely be able to see them, with a parent around explaining the context.

This is assuming the parent gets the context, but we can't Nerf the whole world to protect the ignorant.

While some of these old shows are pretty offensively racist, there's also a lot of overreaction. The crows in Dumbo, for example, are talented, clever, a little on the mean side, but ultimately positive characters. And they probably have the best song.

It's unfortunate for Song of the South that "tar baby" has become a racial epithet, because that story is a pretty good one. I'd imagine that the specific use of that term has doomed the movie more than anything else, since that's a bumper-sticker level complaint you can make about the film (and that's about all anyone is willing to pay attention to these days).

bbowen13 · Post by **bbowen13** » Apr Wed 30, 2008 4:17 pm

I love this movie and hope to see it released at some point. I have also talked with some who have been to Disney and had no idea that Splash Mountain is related or heard of Song of the South. I think the ride loses a little of the charm if you don't know the back drop.

elizabethswann · Post by **elizabethswann** » Apr Wed 30, 2008 7:43 pm

I'm pretty sure my mom has seen Song of the South before but I've always been curious in wanting to check it out myself.

bluebayougirl · Post by **bluebayougirl** » May Thu 01, 2008 1:26 pm

I would love to watch this movie, perhaps someday disney will release it. Guess I better not hold my breath though

- blue

ericpabear · Post by **ericpabear** » May Thu 01, 2008 5:37 pm

bluebayougirl wrote:I would love to watch this movie, perhaps someday disney will release it. Guess I better not hold my breath though - blue

There is always hope. It was released four times already. (1956, 1972, 1980, and 1986)

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » May Thu 01, 2008 11:14 pm

I would love to see this released on dvd (and have signed that petition, as I recall). I would agree that making sure the film is presented in context is important; I think it'd be hard for Disney to trumpet its re-release the same way they did Cinderella without getting a lot of flack for it.

Given the technology available with dvds though, it shouldn't be all that difficult to present it in a way that'd give the 'wouldn't fly by today's standards' parts context, though. Something like a pop-up-video style track to go along with the presentation, maybe? Might be involved to create, I imagine, but could be a good way of pointing things out to youngsters (and oldsters who don't get what the problem is).

Really, if they approached the release the right way and wanted to make the most of it, they could include a lot of historical material as bonus feature stuff. I'm just not sure they'll ever want to put their toe in that water. Disney has a way of skirting around tricky historical topics like that - see also the creative editing of the 'Day of Infamy' speech in The American Adventure.

casrin · Post by **casrin** » May Fri 02, 2008 7:14 am

Song of the South was always my brother's favorite. When he was in the hospital, Mum (nancynohorse) had to read the book of it to him over and over and over! We were fortunate to have someone give us a VHS version of the international copy of the film since its not available here.

Erik adored the story and, as I got older, I was flabergasted to learn all the racial connotations that people saw in it. I mean, yeah, I guess its there and its a product of its time (which is unfortunate in that sense). However, Gone with the Wind has its moments now, looking back, and yet TNT runs it every year!

disneydreamer58 · Post by **disneydreamer58** » May Fri 02, 2008 8:26 am

I am not gonna even touch this subject because I have some very strong opinions that don't need to be expressed here on this site about this topic

so I will just say.....You can't ignore or erase history and all the bad things that happened, you can only learn from it (education is always the key to righting wrongs) and try not to repeat them.

I haven't seen the movie in years and years. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. I liked Uncle Remus, he was sweet and had a softness about him and was a great story teller.

Interesting information on this film at www.songofthesouth.net

skull · Post by **skull** » May Fri 02, 2008 8:58 am

I really wish they would re-release this movie. I seen it once, but it was a really bad copy.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » May Fri 02, 2008 12:18 pm

bostoncg wrote:You can't ignore or erase history and all the bad things that happened, you can only learn from it (education is always the key to righting wrongs) and try not to repeat them.

This is an excellent point. Just about the worst thing you can do is pretend the past doesn't exist.

Japan is trying to rewrite its history with regards to China by using flawed textbooks with generations of kids, and it's really depressing for humanity as a whole.

The thing that separates us from the beasts having access to all the information accumulated by past generations. If lab mice had access to all their ancestors' knowledge, they'd all be in Harvard Med School by now, wearing little thick-rimmed black glasses and tailored white lab coats.

They'd probably still poop on the floor, though, because that's just fun.

RREng77 · Post by **RREng77** » May Sat 03, 2008 10:00 pm

I saw the movie when I was young, and would also love to get a copy for my family. We have a DVD containing the original cast of animated characters (Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, etc.) that my kids both love. This is alright for getting the kids prepped for the Splash Mountain attraction.

With regard to its ban in the US, I find it funny that almost every literature teacher I had in high school (not long ago, by my standards) insisted we all read and review books from the "banned books list." Their opinions, if I were to summarize, were that any book that actually had a good story to tell or made a great moral challenge was banned.

I tend to believe this is the category into which "Song of the South" fell. Yes, its context was outside the time in which it was written and made, but the same was true for many movies with pointed themes (e.g. Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, and as someone mentioned earlier, Gone with the Wind).