I think this is a good time to bring this up.
Song of the South, without refute, is an offensive film. HOWEVER, having watched the film, and based on what is known about the creation of the film, there was absolutely no intent to make a mockery of or insult black people. It’s racist, but it’s “casually racist” (Meaning racist without intent). That’s still bad. However, it creates a bit of a strange paradox.
You look at the Cannibals in the Mickey Cartoons. That’s racism with the intent to mock. The Natives in Peter Pan. You can be the judge on that, but I feel it lies closer to mockery than innocent racism. The Simese Cats From Lady and the Tramp. I think you get the point.
Why is it okay to celebrate these films, despite these intentional cultural appropriations? Why can’t we put a disclaimer on SotS, but we can on these films?
The reason? Well there’s two:
1) SotS had a major E Ticket it was based on. Hiding it protected Splash. Well, look how that turned out.
2) SotS, despite being casually racist, is casually racist and awkward through much of the films runtime. 6/130 Mickey cartoons are racist. A very small amount of Peter Pan is dedicated to the stereotypes. Etc.
Should this be the merit to judging what is and isn’t okay? Who am I to make that call? But it’s interesting to note.