Song of the South [1946]

Product Information

Inge, M. Thomas (September 2012). "Walt Disney's Song of the South and the Politics of Animation". Journal of American Culture. 35 (3): 228 . Retrieved July 2, 2016.

Song Of The South (U)". British Board of Film Classification. October 23, 1946 . Retrieved November 28, 2015. Markstein, Don. "Br'er Rabbit". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 1, 2015 . Retrieved January 18, 2007. The film has sparked significant controversy for its handling of race. [74] [75] Cultural historian Jason Sperb describes the film as "one of Hollywood's most resiliently offensive racist texts". [76] Sperb, Neal Gabler, and other critics have noted the film's release as being in the wake of the Double V campaign, a propaganda campaign in the United States during World War II to promote victory over racism in the United States and its armed forces, and victory over fascism abroad. [77] Early in the film's production, there was concern that the material would encounter controversy. Disney publicist Vern Caldwell wrote to producer Perce Pearce that "the negro situation is a dangerous one. Between the negro haters and the negro lovers there are many chances to run afoul of situations that could run the gamut all the way from the nasty to the controversial." [13]Related: Disney Fans Respond to Theme Park Diversity Review Team Rumor How do I watch Song of the South? Credit: Disney As early as October 1945, a newspaper strip called Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit appeared in the United States, and this production continued until 1972. There have also been episodes for the series produced for the Disney comic books worldwide, in the U.S., Denmark and the Netherlands, from the 1940s up to 2012. [84] Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear also appeared frequently in Disney's Big Bad Wolf stories, although here, Br'er Bear was usually cast as an honest farmer and family man, instead of an antagonist in his original appearances.

But what is Song of the South and why do people still discuss it nearly 75 years after its release? What is Song of the South about? Credit: Disney As had been done earlier with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney produced a Sunday strip titled Uncle Remus & His Tales of Br'er Rabbit to give the film pre-release publicity. The strip was launched by King Features on October 14, 1945, more than a year before the film was released. Unlike the Snow White comic strip, which only adapted the film, Uncle Remus ran for decades, telling one story after another about the characters, some based on the legends and others new, until it ended on December 31, 1972. Apart from the newspaper strips, Disney Br'er Rabbit comics were also produced for comic books; the first such stories appeared in late 1946. Produced both by Western Publishing and European publishers such as Egmont, they continue to appear to this day.

Uncommon Knowledge

Song of the South Memorabilia". Song of the South.net. Archived from the original on February 13, 2007 . Retrieved January 18, 2007. Song of the South was re-released in theaters several times after its original Walt Disney Productions/RKO Pictures premiere, each time through Buena Vista Pictures: in 1956; in 1972 for Walt Disney's 50th anniversary; in 1973 as the second half of a double bill with The Aristocats; in 1980 for the 100th anniversary of Harris' classic stories; and in 1986 for the film's own 40th anniversary and in promotion of the upcoming Splash Mountain attraction at Disney's theme parks. Opening (Original 1982 release) [ ] Closing (Original 1982 release) [ ] Opening (1991 Re-release) [ ] I think we all end up being very biased when we try to evaluate Disney movies—perhaps because they will always be inevitably connected to the nice memories of our first viewing experience as children. In the movie Fletch Lives, Fletch has a dream sequence in which he is a plantation owner singing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" complete with animated animals similar to those in Song of the South.

Despite this, there have been numerous requests that the film be made available over the years. The possibility of a DVD release was brought up at least four times (in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010) at the annual Disney shareholder's meeting, and in 2017 Whoopi Goldberg added to calls for it to be released at Disney's D23 conference in Anaheim, California. Walt Disney had long wanted to make a film based on the Uncle Remus storybook, but it wasn't until the mid-1940s that he had found a way to give the stories an adequate film equivalent, in scope and fidelity. "I always felt that Uncle Remus should be played by a living person," Disney is quoted as saying, "as should also the young boy to whom Harris' old Negro philosopher relates his vivid stories of the Briar Patch. Several tests in previous pictures, especially in The Three Caballeros, were encouraging in the way living action and animation could be dovetailed. Finally, months ago, we 'took our foot in hand,' in the words of Uncle Remus, and jumped into our most venturesome but also more pleasurable undertaking." [2] During one of Disney’s annual shareholder meetings, Iger answered an audience question about what will and won’t be made available to stream from the Disney library, adding that this film is “not appropriate in today’s world” and therefore will not be re-released. Let the Rain Pour Down": (uptempo) Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by the Hall Johnson ChoirThe Magic Happens parade, which returned February 24 after multiple years on hiatus, now instead features a song from 1953’s “Peter Pan.” Disney was initially going to have the screenplay written by the studio animators, but later sought professional writers. [8] In June 1944, Disney hired Southern-born writer Dalton Reymond to write the screenplay, and he met frequently with King Vidor, whom he was trying to interest in directing the live-action sequences. [9] Barnes, Brooks (November 12, 2019). "Not Streaming: 'Song of the South' and Other Films Stay in the Past". The New York Times . Retrieved November 13, 2019. VHS Videos with Walt Disney Home Video's children's trailer from Late 1991 (announced by Brian Cummings) Top 100 Animated Features of All Time. Online Film Critics Society. Archived from the original on 2003-04-24. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.

Brantley, Mike (January 6, 2002). "Song of the South". Alabama Mobile Register. Song of the South.net . Retrieved January 18, 2007.

Unlike some Disney titles that come with certain content warnings on the Disney+ streaming service, “Song of the South” will never be available even with an “outdated cultural depictions” disclaimer on the platform. Thomas, Bob (1994) [1976]. Walt Disney: An American Original. New York: Hyperion Books. p. 205. ISBN 0-7868-6027-8. The score by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott was nominated in the "Scoring of a Musical Picture" category, and " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert, won the award for Best Original Song at the 20th Academy Awards on March 20, 1948. [70] A special Academy Award was given to Baskett "for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney's Song of the South". For their portrayals of the children Johnny and Ginny, Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten were also discussed for Academy Juvenile Awards, but in 1947 it was decided not to present such awards at all. [71] Disneyland's popular ride " Splash Mountain" is based on "Song of the South," utilizing animatronic characters from the film to act out scenes and songs from the film.