"Song of the South"

[DoleWhipBoi24]

Hi everyone!
I haave a question. I know this may have been discussed on here before, but I was wondering, does anybody know the story behind why the movie Song of the South was never released on video after it was in theatres? I heard it revolved around some supposed "racial" issues, but I am not sure. Does anyone know??

 

[DDPGambit]

That's exactly it. It portrayed slaves as "happy, jolly" people, when that was not the case. There are also certain phrases used that might be considered racial.

 

[Since1976]

I missed out on SPLASH MOUNTAIN on my last visit to WDW, so I still haven't ridden it. I find it interesting that Disney has swept the movie under the rug, yet based a ride on it.

Most of the kids riding it would probably have no idea what Disney property they were experiencing.

 

[MikeVarney]

The ride actually only uses the cartoon characters from that movie... you never see or hear Uncle Remus. The cartoon character voices sing the songs. They avoided referring to any of the movie's elements altogether that were decided to be controversial.

 

[cherrynegra]

Yeah, I used to wonder about that too until I did some research. You can find two different sites about "Song of the South" and they pretty much cover it in differing ways.

One tends to overlook the controversy of the film and focusses instead on the stories it was based on and the artistic merit of the animation.

www.songofthesouth.net

The other one covers in detail all of the problems with the film in terms of its race biases.

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/sots.htm

The interesting thing is that the actor who played Uncle Remus, James Baskett, was the live actor hired by Disney, and he couldn't make it to the premiere of the film in Atlanta because no hotel would accept a black man. Considering the times, I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[cherrynegra]

Ooops. I meant to say that James Baskett was Disney's first LIVE actor ever hired.

 

[sharky23]

The song of the south was one of my favorites as a kid and it's a shame it can't be purchased. I loved uncle remus!

The main thing that some find offensive is how brer fox catches brer rabbit in the film. On Splash Mountain, he catches him using honey and a beehive.

Wellllll, that's not quite how it goes in the film.

He makes a doll out of tar and puts it on a log, knowing brer rabbit would pass by and try to talk to him and when he wouldn't answer, brer rabbit would get angry and punch him, thus getting stuck in the tar. The "tar baby" as it was known, was obviously supossed to be a black person and it is a slang term.

But really, it's a story from a long time ago. I think most people are smart enough to recognize that -and don't condone such language in today's environment -but in the context of this film, I don't get the big deal. After all, it's ok that there's a movie called "white men can't jump!" Talk about a racist statement!

Hopefully this sheds a little light on your question,

-B

 

[mkt]

*looks at song of the south in movie collection*

hehe..

I bought a legitimate copy years ago in London, and now I'm glad I had bought it while there. I've since had an NTSC copy made for my enjoyment

 

[SpongeScott]

*secretly pays Rob for an illegal copy*

You lucky dog.....

 

[JLW11Hi]

I was watching the "One Hour in Wonderland" extra feature on the Alice in Wonderland special edition, and they actually have a scene (in full color by trhe way) right out of Song of the South that I had never seen before. It was pretty cool, but it is a shame that they don't release the movie anymore.

You'd think that the movie could be released as a "Disney Treasure" with Leonard Maltin hosting. On the "Mickey Mouse in Black and White" DVD collection, he continuously defends the cartoons in terms of the times that they were made in, and that to judge the cartoons in a contemporary mind set is simply ludicrous and unreasonable.

Song of the South is obviously a "hidden favorite" among Disney fans inside the company as well as outside. I always thought that Splash Mountain was Disney's way of showcasing the fun of the Uncle Remus characters while the actual movie is kept from the public.

 

[xfkirsten]

Originally posted by mkt
*looks at song of the south in movie collection*

hehe..

I bought a legitimate copy years ago in London, and now I'm glad I had bought it while there. I've since had an NTSC copy made for my enjoyment

(stares at her own copy in her VCD collection)

I agree, it's a wonderful movie. And honestly, the message is a very good one; it's a shame that a few people calling foul over it is keeping it in the vault. But I won't get started on the censorship of history, I'm not looking to get punched. :lol:

-Kirsten

 

[Sir Hiss527]

Do a thread search...I made a thread titled "Song of the South" I believe. There's much more answers there that you might want to see.

 

[SirNim]

Heh.. I've got a copy too. a LEGITIMATE one...

 

[Lovecraft]

The movie is considered to be insensistive to the plight of African Americans in the south because it shows no hatred between master and slave -- and, its been a year since I've watched the movie so I could be wrong -- but I don't think the word slave is even mentioned in the movie, for all we know, they could be sharecroppers... whatever the deal, the Disney Co. felt it was too controversial to be re-released on video in the US even though it depicts a true era in American history.

I just wish people would stop getting their panties in a wad over anything that for whatever reason might be considered "offensive" to someone.

Anything will offend somebody in a culture as large and diverse as ours.

It's time Americans stopped being so sensitive and just say "Screw it, if it offends me then I don't have to watch it." rather than crying and whining "But *I* find it offensive so *you* shouldn't watch it, it'll hurt my widdle feelings! Waaaaa!"

Pshaw. Give me a break. It's a wonder that we are a superpower seeing as that we seem to be a nation of whiney crybabies.

--Lovecraft

 

[mkt]

I've seen the movie many times and have found NOTHING which would be offensive. Not a signle thing.

Oh No! They say "Tar Baby." WAHHHHHH!!!

Such a racist term... especially when it's being said in reference to a small human shaped dummy that is MADE OF TAR!

 

[Becky]

Originally posted by mkt


Oh No! They say "Tar Baby." WAHHHHHH!!!

Such a racist term... especially when it's being said in reference to a small human shaped dummy that is MADE OF TAR!

Oh no, now you've done it The last time Tar Baby was mentioned on a SoS post someone quoted some "Professor" who claimed it was a racist term used years ago

My legal copy was English PAL format which I paid for and had converted to US VHS format. To keep it legal they sent the PAL with the converted copy. The PAL, of course, doesn't play on my VCR.

A toast to the hero of SoS, Uncle Remus

 

[xfkirsten]

Originally posted by mkt
I've seen the movie many times and have found NOTHING which would be offensive. Not a signle thing.

Oh No! They say "Tar Baby." WAHHHHHH!!!

Such a racist term... especially when it's being said in reference to a small human shaped dummy that is MADE OF TAR!

YES! That's exactly it. I saw the Tar Baby segment, and my first thought was... "They made a fuss... over THAT?"

-Kirsten

 

[Mad Stitch]

When was the last time Song of the South was released in the U.S.? 1986? I’ve been searching for a copy awhile now. No luck yet.

 

[mkt]

it was released in theatres in the 80's, but was never released for home-video in the US. Choices are the Japanese VHS/Laserdisc, or the UK VHS

 

[Mad Stitch]

I thought it was released on US home video at one time? O well, I guess I was searching in vain. Time to look into a copy converted from PAL format then.