Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[celluloid]

Crowther of the NYT likewise thought the film was set in the antebellum South. From the piece I shared earlier:

While Harris' stories identify "Uncle Remus" as a former slave, the film does not clearly establish Remus' status nor the exact time period of the story. According to the film's file in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, PCA officials advised the studio that in order to minimize "adverse reactions from certain Negro groups," they should "be certain that the frontispiece of the book (appearing in the opening credits) establishes the date in the 1870s." Despite Breen's admonition, the frontispiece does not specify the time period, and both contemporary and modern sources disagree as to whether the film is set before or after the Civil War.​

The fact that Uncle Remus is free to leave the plantation settles the matter, of course, but the film isn’t as explicit as it might be in this regard, and the relationship between the black and white characters certainly perpetuates an idealised master-slave dynamic.

Some people missquote Star Wars all of the time, it should have been written to how some people have the common misconception?
Some people claim great Zoological facilities and Aquariums abuse their animals because they feel it and look for it, it does not make it true.

 

[LittleBuford]

Some people missquote Star Wars all of the time, it should have been written to how some people have the common misconception?
Some people claim great Zoological facilities and Aquariums abuse their animals because they feel it and look for it, it does not make it true.

I’m not debating the merits or otherwise of such assessments. I’m merely trying to provide some relevant context about the film’s historical reception.

 

[celluloid]

I’m not debating the merits or otherwise of such assessments. I’m merely trying to provide some relevant context about the film’s historical reception.

When you keep sharing something to prove your point, that seems like you are giving it merit. My mistake, but why share something that every piece of art has?(love and dislike)
People are well aware by now that the movie has always had some controversy because artwork always does along with the fact that Disney as a company blocked it from the US catelogs. Splash Mt was the third time the property was represented in the theme parks(fourth if you count outside the Disney theme parks using the Joel Chandler Harris Uncle Remus' stories as source material). And as an attraction was then featured in three theme parks. The company was not concerned enough to stop rereleasing it until 1986 where it was still making money in theaters. Home Video was just over ten years old and Song of the South, being an older movie was not a priority. For reference, another 40's film, Fantasia was not released until 1991. Disney finally caved out of fear and delayed the thought of home video again to where on the spot it was easier to just say we are not going to let this one out of the vault IN THE US. There was no complete avoidence of it as evidence by the fact that it was and still is avalible on home video purchase in other countries. Disney, like Sea World and other big companies essentially ingored the issue allowing the public to often be misguided further and hurting their business(in this case, it was locallized to one movie's sales in the United States only, not a hard cross for a big company to bear) That is how we get to the point of people making wild claims to the extreme degree of Brer Fox refuses to get a job within the story of Splash Mountain. DIsney created the Splash Mountain out of a molehill.

 

[thomas998]

Crowther of the NYT likewise thought the film was set in the antebellum South. From the TCM piece I shared earlier:

​

While Harris' stories identify "Uncle Remus" as a former slave, the film does not clearly establish Remus' status nor the exact time period of the story. According to the film's file in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, PCA officials advised the studio that in order to minimize "adverse reactions from certain Negro groups," they should "be certain that the frontispiece of the book (appearing in the opening credits) establishes the date in the 1870s." Despite Breen's admonition, the frontispiece does not specify the time period, and both contemporary and modern sources disagree as to whether the film is set before or after the Civil War.​

The fact that Uncle Remus is free to leave the plantation settles the matter, of course, but the film isn’t as explicit as it might be in this regard, and the relationship between the black and white characters certainly perpetuates an idealised master-slave dynamic.

You've made the assumption that simply because the movie review was in the NY Times that the reviewer had actually seen the movie. That is not always the case. Sometimes writers just make up reviews based on other reviews without ever actually seeing the movie they are reviewing. Is that what happened here? Who knows. But the review does contain an error that would not have been there if the person writing the review had carefully watched the film as a reviewer should.

 

[Incomudro]

We happen to have a bootleg copy of SotS and we all watched it (including my POC friends) - you know what the reaction was? “That was a sweet movie about people being friends no matter your race” ... which is the message of the movie.

The argument that it makes the post-slavery era too nice and friendly or that it doesn’t address the serious issues ... well, okay ... it’s a Disney movie, what did you expect? Disney is about showcasing the idealized version of something, not addressing the harsh realities in a kids movie.

At the end of the day the movie is about friendship across races ...

Bingo!

 

[LittleBuford]

When you keep sharing something to prove your point, that seems like you are giving it merit. My mistake, but why share something that every piece of art has?(love and dislike)

Because of this sort of denialism:

You've made the assumption that simply because the movie review was in the NY Times that the reviewer had actually seen the movie.

 

[thomas998]

Because of this sort of denialism:

Cherry picking a line out of context now? Maybe you should just make up quotes for people it would be as meaningful.

 

[LittleBuford]

Cherry picking a line out of context now? Maybe you should just make up quotes for people it would be as meaningful.

Have a magical day.

 

[LittleBuford]

In this thread as in others, I’ve found that people confuse acknowledging something with endorsing it. It should not be beyond us to agree on a common set of facts that are separate from our personal opinions. Without such a starting point, productive good-faith debate becomes impossible.

 

[thomas998]

When you keep sharing something to prove your point, that seems like you are giving it merit. My mistake, but why share something that every piece of art has?(love and dislike)
People are well aware by now that the movie has always had some controversy because artwork always does along with the fact that Disney as a company blocked it from the US catelogs. Splash Mt was the third time the property was represented in the theme parks(fourth if you count outside the Disney theme parks using the Joel Chandler Harris Uncle Remus' stories as source material). And as an attraction was then featured in three theme parks. The company was not concerned enough to stop rereleasing it until 1986 where it was still making money in theaters. Home Video was just over ten years old and Song of the South, being an older movie was not a priority. For reference, another 40's film, Fantasia was not released until 1991. Disney finally caved out of fear and delayed the thought of home video again to where on the spot it was easier to just say we are not going to let this one out of the vault IN THE US. There was no complete avoidence of it as evidence by the fact that it was and still is avalible on home video purchase in other countries. Disney, like Sea World and other big companies essentially ingored the issue allowing the public to often be misguided further and hurting their business(in this case, it was locallized to one movie's sales in the United States only, not a hard cross for a big company to bear) That is how we get to the point of people making wild claims to the extreme degree of Brer Fox refuses to get a job within the story of Splash Mountain. DIsney created the Splash Mountain out of a molehill.

I think this is one of those rare times when you should just click ignore on the poster. He seems dedicated to ignoring facts and refusing to acknowledge reality even when gift wrapped and documented.

 

[thomas998]

[


When asked to explain why he felt the characters of Splash Mountain evoked the negative African American stereotypes, he said this:

I added no words to this. How does anyone ever ride Splash Mt and see that Brer Fox refused to get a job? And then also adding because of the simple brute character style of Brer Bear he must also evoke those stereotypes, rather than just be a character trait. Matt apparently sees that as evidence of Brer Bears negative evocation. which is an incredibly racist thing to state.
It is very odd that he felt that is "literally" in the ride but never gave an example of dialogue or scenary that shows Beer Fox refusing to get a job or trying to make money by catching Brer Rabbit. and he was never able to why that would make the characters a race.

You can pull up a complete copy of the script quite easily, the not wanting a job had nothing to do with bear being lazy. The reason he didn't want a job was that he already had enough money... so I guess some people don't accept that when you achieve your goal that you should have the right to stop working.

 

[Willmark]

Along these same lines as this thread, how long will it be before statues of Walt are brought down? And the company itself is renamed?

Far fetched? Maybe, then again, maybe not in today’s current climate.

Its going to be interesting what the response from the Disney fans will be should that come to pass.

 

[LittleBuford]

Along these same lines as this thread, how long will it be before statues of Walt are brought down?

How is it along the same lines?

 

[Matt_Black]

Along these same lines as this thread, how long will it be before statues of Walt are brought down? And the company itself is renamed?

Far fetched? Maybe, then again, maybe not in today’s current climate.

Its going to be interesting what the response from the Disney fans will be should that come to pass.

Ford isn't getting renamed, and Henry Ford was pen pals with Hitler. Can we please calm down with the slippery slope arguments?

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I know you're not picking on me.
Yeah, It's always somebody else's fault.

That's not what I was getting at.

I was actually saying the opposite: according to today's thinking, we are all born guilty.

It is somewhat akin to the idea of original sin.

Though it appears some people are born more guilty than others. The current thinking isn't quite clear on how much guilt each person is supposed to feel. I haven't seen any clear metrics.

It is very Orwellian, VERY dystopian, and not at all in alignment with freedom of thought. Those who disagree are labeled thought criminals.

 

[aw14]

How is it along the same lines?

I’d say it actually is along the same lines. Just two years ago, everyone said that Trump was crazy for saying that statues of the founding fathers would be coming down. Now in 2020, here we are. Not so far fetched.

 

[LittleBuford]

I’d say it actually is along the same lines. Just two years ago, everyone said that Trump was crazy for saying that statues of the founding fathers would be coming down. Now in 2020, here we are. Not so far fetched.

I was asking how it related to this specific thread.

 

[Sue_Vongello]

I was asking how it related to this specific thread.

Because it’s said Walt was anti-Semitic and misogynistic.

 

[Brer Panther]

I think that if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that racism is a horrible thing.

 

[aw14]

Because it’s said Walt was anti-Semitic and misogynistic.

Exactly right, and with the standards changing on a regular basis, let’s see how quickly Disney will jump(and many here as well) if the desire to alter Disney more fundamentally.