Song of the South Rumor

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Taken from www.newsfromme.com

Sounds pretty cool!


Floyd Norman has worked in animation as long as almost anyone I know. A few years ago, a book about Walt Disney was discussing how white his staff was back in the fifties, and it referred to a "lone Negro" who could be seen in the hallways. That was Floyd. He was working at Hanna-Barbera when the book came out and, instantly, all the other artists in his department began whipping out cartoons of Floyd in a cowboy suit and a mask, galloping down the Disney corridors as The Lone Negro. I'm still surprised Barbera didn't sell this as a series.
Over in his column at Jim Hill Media, Floyd writes about his experiences in the industry with regard to racial concerns. And he mentions the rumor that Disney is thinking of finally releasing Song of the South on DVD. I have also heard this rumor...and from someone who oughta know. The way it goes, the film will be issued in the "Walt Disney Treasures" series. Those are the ones that come in the little tin boxes, and which are available for a limited time. There would be extra material on the DVD, in which some prominent historians and black celebrities would attempt to put the material in historical context, and this could all happen in time for this coming Christmas. Or maybe not. The person who told me this says that there's still time for someone to chicken out and cancel or postpone. I suspect that if they go ahead, there will be a brief, two-day flurry of news stories because someone will smell some opportunity to get attention by being outraged. And then, since no groundswell of objection will follow, it will all be forgotten...and before long, folks will be wondering why such a fine movie was ever hard to see or own.
:snap:

[Isaac]

A year ago I heard its going to be released as a 60th anniversary edition DVD in 2006.

Maybe it'll happen.

:)

[MickeyLumbo]

i sure hope so. i still vividly remember seeing this wonderful film at the Brookhurst Theatre with my sister.

i would love to watch this again and again.:)

[Motorboat Cruiser]

The article at Jim Hill media is a pretty good read. Thanks for sharing!

[cirquelover]

Oh please let this be true!

I loved Song of the South as a kid and would love to be able to show my boy. He knows the songs and has seen a storybook, but that's not the same thing.

[Tito's Kitten]

I got a bootleg of on DVD from a friend of a friend for my brother for xmas. He was thrilled since he had not seen the film since it was in the theater. We had been trying to get the laserdisc from Japan (since we actually have a laserdisc player) but it was too expensive....

It would be nice to see it restored and released properly.

[Gemini Cricket]

Someone marvelous gave me a copy of this film. I enjoyed it. I can understand the opinion that this piece is racist, but Uncle Remus is the hero of the story. And back when it was made, African American actors were not used often for the lead character...

[Chernabog]

Since it appears under the JHM banner.... I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Disneyphile]

That reminds me - I need to set aside some time to hook up my DVD burner........

[blueerica]

Hmmm... Sounds interesting...

It would be nice to see it released officially in some way. I say there's no sense in hiding it, controversy or not. You cannot hide the past, especially if the patch up job is really shoddy, and you can get bootleg copies with relative ease. It would also be nice to have context stuff with it. I'm down with it!

[Ponine]

I would also love for this to be offcially released. I was given a copy by a lovely person, but I fear that none of my players are adept at playing burned DVD's, save my laptop.
<I could cry> My mother would love to watch it, but alas, not with my laptop on her lap.

[mamabot]

That reminds me...I owe someone a DVD. Or two.....

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Captain Eo!!!

:p

[mousepod]

I was reading an editorial this week about the current troubles over the PBS cartoon with the lesbian mommies. The writer showed the episode to her 6-year-old son and asked him what it was about. The kid replied, "Buster visited a dairy farm!"
When I saw Song of the South as a kid, I was traumatized by the scene with the bull. I never thought about any racism, because to me Uncle Remus was as much a father figure as Bert in Mary Poppins.

I've always been disappointed that Splash Mountain uses characters and songs for which American kids under 30 have no point of reference.

Bring back the movie, with whatever contextual explanation Disney needs to make itself not seem dirty. A 'treasures' tin seems perfect.

[belleh5]

I can't even find it on video anymore:(

[HTHBellcaptain]

I love "Song of the South." It bothers me that it is seen as being racist by some. The African American characters are the smart interesting and caring characters in the film. Outside of the Grandmother, the white characters have a lot of problems. It's the white characters that are mean (the two bullies), selfish (the boys father), and bland (the boys mother). Yes, it takes place during a time of American history that we all wish would have been different, but the stories have some wonderful morals.

I sure hope that they do release it on DVD.

[flippyshark]

I agree with HTH's assesment of SOTS. There is only one brief scene that struck me as being a tad condescending - Uncle Remus at one point is seen gathering firewood and singing a cute little ditty that basically says he'd rather sleep than have to work. This plays on a very common "lazy negro" stereotype. (The movie came out around the same time that Willie Best was making movies as "Sleep N' Eat.") It's kind of a charming song, but it certainly plays off of a long-discarded image. (Of course, James Baskett is completely disarming at all times in the film, which makes it hard to criticize. He's just amazing.)

Actually, I don't think most of the voices speaking against the movie see it as overtly racist. I get the feeling that they mostly find it's portrayal of poor but happy sharecroppers as being condescending and over-romanticized, selling the notion that the social order we see in the film is "mighty satisfactual."

I read a piece by Alice Walker in which she described seeing the movie as a child, and feeling angry that her own people's folklore had been appropriated by the white establishment. She seemed to feel that Brer Rabbit stories should have stayed in the oral tradition among African-Americans, not become fodder for mass entertainment made by whites for whites.

I would be interested to see how much of this discussion makes it's way onto any eventual DVD. It will certainly have to provide lots of context, but I imagine that the vast majority of people will have no trouble responding to the warm emotional core of the story, and will regard the other issues as secondary.

For what it's worth, I have had plenty of African American guests at the parks ask me if Song of the South is ever going to be released on video, and telling me that it was one of their favorite movies.

[HTHBellcaptain]

What I find amazing is that there are several of the World War II cartoons that were recently released in a tin set, that (by today's standards) are racist against the Japanese. Some of these are (in my opinion) fairly mean spirited. I am able to watch them because I can put them into there proper context. We've changed a lot as a society since then. I think that if it were released in the Disney Treasures tin set, that people would be able to distinguish between story and reality.

[flippyshark]

I think it will happen - of course, if the wartime tin is any indication, we will never be able to start the movie without first being forced to see Leonard Maltin's cheesy grin and "golly gee whillikers" persona.

I couldn't agree with you more - I think audiences are ready to decide for themselves on SOTS.

[BarTopDancer]

I have it on VHS and I have yet to watch it!

[belleh5]

BTD, What?! How long have you had it?

[BarTopDancer]

3 years maybe longer. I keep forgetting about it. Someone burned it for me.

[Mousey Girl]

I remember seeing it at the Drive-In...well sort of seeing it.

[belleh5]

I saw it along time ago on TV. I don't really know what it's about. Is the plot kind of like Splash Mt.?

[Name]

I saw it at Walt Disney World when I was a young lad. Just recently found a poor copy floating around the net that I watched. Miss seeing it in its full quality.

[Not Afraid]

Great discussion! I adore this film. I have it as a really rough copy of VHS but still love to watch it. I see Remus' philosophy as akin to Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" or several other sentiments that are popular today. I think the message is a good one. It is set in a time period where there was a great divide between black and white. It would not be historically accurate to portray it any other way. I think the essential thought divide is between those who don't want to see it and those who don't want to forget.

I was representing my company at a "Black Expo" last year. As I walked around the Expo I saw a lot of African textiles and art, Black literature and several booth of "Mammy" style collectables. I stopped to look at one of these booths because there was a copy of Little Black Sambo which I LOVED as a child. I talked a bit to the pripritor for a bit and found myself feeling guilty for liking that book as a child. I found it to be a really difficult conversation to have, which indicates to me that it is an area that needs more exploring and discussion. Difficult stuff, but, regardless, SOTS is a wonderful film.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Flippyshark has it right. The controversy not really about any overt stereotypes. It's about the fact that the movie glosses over the struggle that blacks still had, even post-slavery. It made it look like these farm hands were just living it up, completely happy with their simple life. And of course, that's far from the truth. But if every movie that didn't portray reality correctly were pulled, there wouldn't be a whole lot to watch.

[Name]

WHAT!!! Movies arn't real??!?!?!?! Shocking;)