21stamps
Well-Known Member
True... so much of what biological women have gained in the past 50 years has been threatened again on so many fronts..but that’s for a different thread.
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Splash Mountain re-theme announced
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True... so much of what biological women have gained in the past 50 years has been threatened again on so many fronts..but that’s for a different thread.
Incomudro
Well-Known Member
"Can be compared to a racist song from the era the movie takes place."
Do you realize how ridiculous that statement is?
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Sign the Petition
To Save Splash Mountain and keep it as it is in Magic Kingdom and Disneyland
www.change.org
Incomudro
Well-Known Member
Sign the Petition
To Save Splash Mountain and keep it as it is in Magic Kingdom and Disneyland
Thank you so much!
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
But wasn't it a petition that gave them the idea to retheme the ride to The Princess and the Frog in the first place?
Well said. All of it.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
The problem starts with the first line.
We’ve somehow become a society where an accusation is made, and it’s considered true until proven false. Literally guilty until proven innocent.
Crazy times.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
It's worth noting that the film was already understood to be problematic back in 1946, even by reviewers who liked it:
The New Pictures, Nov. 18, 1946 -- Printout -- TIME
Song of the South (Walt Disney-RKO Radio) makes movie actors out of ol' Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and de creeturs an' crawlin' things. Adapted with freehanded skill from the famed...
Quoted from the first link:
Ideologically, the picture is certain to land its maker in hot water. Tattered ol' Uncle Remus, who cheerfully "knew his place" in the easygoing world of late 19th Century Georgia (Author Harris, in accepted Southern fashion, always omitted the capital from the word "Negro"), is a character bound to enrage all educated Negroes, and a number of damyankees.
And from the second:
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People expressed regret yesterday over Walt Disney's new production, "Song of the South," on the ground that it is helping to perpetuate the impression of "an idyllic master-slave relationship" in the South. Walter White, executive secretary, in telegrams to newspapers, stated the association recognized the artistic merit of the picture, but added, "It regrets, however, that in an effort neither to offend audiences in the North or South, the production helps to perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery. Making use of the beautiful Uncle Remus folklore, 'Song of the South' unfortunately gives the impression of an idyllic master-slave relationship which is a distortion of the facts."
Critiques from the past and the present. Including words from the African American stars of THE FILM.
What I take away from the movie," Leonard Maltin said, "is the following: That Uncle Remus is a warm, good-hearted character who captures the imagination of a lonely little boy who happens to be white. The boy is absolutely colorblind, and the audience relates to him. There is an incredible moment when Uncle Remus takes the boy’s hand in his, and there is an insert of the white and black hands clasped together. It’s the emotional climax of the movie."
“I wish Walt were alive", said Ruth Warrick, who costarred in Song of the South, in a May 2003 interview, "I’m sad it has not been released because it leaves out a whole chapter in the history of Walt Disney. The film is probably one of his crowning points...A labor of love, Song of the South was conceived by Disney as a celebration of Joel Chandler Harris’ “Uncle Remus” stories that inspired him and enchanted his children."
"It was a film he really wanted to do," recalled Diane Disney Miller, daughter of Walt Disney. "My dad quoted so much from Uncle Remus’ logic and philosophy."
Clarence Page, nationally syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune who also is African American, called the film one of his favorites from his childhood and one he had hoped to share with his son. He said in an interview, "There’s a deep African tradition in Song of the South. Br'er Rabbit is an emblematic figure of African folklore, a direct descendant of the trickster who gets by on his wits. Where "Political Correctness" gets ridiculous is when corporations trying to avoid a controversy just presume that if something is stereotypical, then African Americans aren’t going to like this. There is a diversity of images in the media now that reflect our diversity in real life. We can look at Song of the South with a new awareness and appreciation."
From the Cast:
From a February 1947 interview, printed in The Criterion, Oscar winning African American actress Hattie McDaniel who appeared in the film defended it by saying, "If I had for one moment considered any part of the picture degrading or harmful to my people I would not have appeared therein." In the same article:
James Baskett, who played the role of Uncle Remus and voiced other animated characters, commented, "I believe that certain groups are doing my race more harm in seeking to create dissension than can ever possibly come out of the Song of the South."
Crazy how timeless James' statement can be there.
What I take away from the movie," Leonard Maltin said, "is the following: That Uncle Remus is a warm, good-hearted character who captures the imagination of a lonely little boy who happens to be white. The boy is absolutely colorblind, and the audience relates to him. There is an incredible moment when Uncle Remus takes the boy’s hand in his, and there is an insert of the white and black hands clasped together. It’s the emotional climax of the movie."
“I wish Walt were alive", said Ruth Warrick, who costarred in Song of the South, in a May 2003 interview, "I’m sad it has not been released because it leaves out a whole chapter in the history of Walt Disney. The film is probably one of his crowning points...A labor of love, Song of the South was conceived by Disney as a celebration of Joel Chandler Harris’ “Uncle Remus” stories that inspired him and enchanted his children."
"It was a film he really wanted to do," recalled Diane Disney Miller, daughter of Walt Disney. "My dad quoted so much from Uncle Remus’ logic and philosophy."
Clarence Page, nationally syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune who also is African American, called the film one of his favorites from his childhood and one he had hoped to share with his son. He said in an interview, "There’s a deep African tradition in Song of the South. Br'er Rabbit is an emblematic figure of African folklore, a direct descendant of the trickster who gets by on his wits. Where "Political Correctness" gets ridiculous is when corporations trying to avoid a controversy just presume that if something is stereotypical, then African Americans aren’t going to like this. There is a diversity of images in the media now that reflect our diversity in real life. We can look at Song of the South with a new awareness and appreciation."
From the Cast:
From a February 1947 interview, printed in The Criterion, Oscar winning African American actress Hattie McDaniel who appeared in the film defended it by saying, "If I had for one moment considered any part of the picture degrading or harmful to my people I would not have appeared therein." In the same article:
James Baskett, who played the role of Uncle Remus and voiced other animated characters, commented, "I believe that certain groups are doing my race more harm in seeking to create dissension than can ever possibly come out of the Song of the South."
Crazy how timeless James' statement can be there.
Musical Mermaid
Well-Known Member
How far along in development will this get before they realize a fairytale princess from the 1920s doesn’t belong in 1800s frontier America and does belong with the other fairytale princesses in Fantasyland? That’d seem so much more inclusive to me. Maybe Disney wants to appease the small group of people the cheapest and easiest way possible, but eventually that will bite them in the rear too. I can see the complaints now: “Why is the only black princess segregated from the other princesses? That’s racist!” (Honestly, it does seem more racist than anything in Splash Mountain.) If they have to give her a ride at Magic Kingdom, it’d be so much better in Fantasyland and wouldn’t lead to awkward questions. I know, I know, they can’t spend too much $ on this project and that’s why they have to make the same ride on 2 coasts instead of having some variety and being more in theme, but I’m so tired of the excuses and them acting like they care.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I don’t think anyone is denying that Song of the South has also been positively viewed, including by people of colour. But to claim or imply (as some here are doing) that we’re judging the film unfairly by modern standards is to ignore the fact that the film was already controversial back when it was first released.
Incomudro
Well-Known Member
And even if there so comparison that can be made, so what?
Nothing - particularly music, exists in a vacuum.
Isn't everything though?
That is why I think Baskins' words are so appropriate for this discussion. It talks about the hate that comes from people finding offense far more damaging then the likely unintentional material itself.
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Whenever race is a part of discussion, things are going to be problematic...and this is why I think context and intent need to be taken into account. I'd forgotten about the end of the film that was mentioned up-thread...the boy and Uncle Remus holding hands...there is an important message there.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
But the offence that people took in 1946 (and that most still take now) centres on the film’s romanticisation of plantation life, which was certainly intentional (though obviously not intended to be offensive).
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I definitely think the film was well intentioned and ideologically in keeping with the era in which it was made. But I also think it’s worth recognising the fact that the controversy surrounding it isn’t a modern “woke” invention.
Again, that does not seem to be different from anything that happens today and proves my point that there is no differnet. Since there was art, there were critiques. There are groups who practice pagenism who were against the new Sabrina series on Netflix as well as Christians who were ciritizing it for different and some similar reasons.
With Walt's focus,everything in a children's film is romantacized. Actually, everything in a fictional film is. People take offense to everything. There is always a group of I would even just say individuals who take offense to various aspects of a fictional piece of work.
Should we be so angry at Main Street USA because it romantaizes how walking down the street in an entire small town block would be at the turn of the century? Walt knew he was telling the story for children and never said he was going for gritty realism. Main Street, Poppins and post Walt you have Bedknobs and Broomsticks(I am offended that the musuem artifacts and armor could take down enemy soliders when there were real heroes doing it..etc."...the list goes on and on.
Tell the truth, but tell it slant for works of great fiction when you know your audience. The audience for Song of the South was family with children when a child has trouble at home and wants to run away. You find kindness in a place and in a person that has every reason to be hateful, but are kind and teach morals anyway.
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Joel
Well-Known Member
I did not intend to imply that Song of the South is only objectionable by modern standards, merely that it is laughable by any standard to expect a Disney movie from the '40s (or even 2020, for that matter) to be anywhere close to an accurate and unobjectionable depiction of the tough realities of life.
Exactly
You would have to want to walk down Main Street USA and trip over gravel and avoid stepping in many....things.
Let's put it this way, I am fine with Liberty Square having painted sides of the road rather than actual sewage to get that gritty realism so people do not think that those folks had it wonderfully charming.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
Impossible standards. If we want every single thing to be strictly pure and innocent or set a requirement that it must be exactly related to something pure and innocent, no stains at all.. then we’re going to take everything down until nothing is left.
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