Song of the South

[Beehn]

I'm sure this has been discussed here somewhere, but it isn't coming up when I search.

What does everyone think of Song of the South? My kids have been on SM several times, but of course don't know anything about the original movie. I would like to see if I can find it on YouTube or something, but I don't want to scar them forever! I can only remember it through my child eyes from many years ago. I don't remember anything bad about it. Im not sure I really knew Uncle Remus was a slave. I guess I thought he was hired by the family (wasn't there something about him moving away?) Is there any mis-treatment of him? Why is it so controversal? Is it approporate for kids under 10?

TIA

 

[cmwade77]

He wasn't a slave and that's one of the things that is controversial. It reminds us that some slaves were treated so well that they decided to stay on and started getting a small wage in addition to room and board.

It reminds people that history isn't always what we think it is and sometimes it's not politically correct to say so.

 

[JB2K]

My opinion on SOTS -- it's a classic movie that was produced by Walt Disney, himself (plus, it was groundbreaking as it combined live-action and animation). For those reasons, alone, it shouldn't have an indefinite stay in "the vault".

Discussion on this subject usually comes-up every couple of years, and normally, if Disney leadership gets an idea they want to release it, they are usually met with protests from various groups, which is why the film has been shelved for over 25 years.

As for "legal" versions outside of official Disney sources, there are very few -- since the movie's last theatrical release was in 1986, that was still before home video became commonplace meaning there is yet to be a home video release in North America. There have been releases of SOTS in other regions of the world, but due to many of those being subtitled or on formats not compatible with North American video players (i.e., PAL), it's pretty much moot.

YouTube appearances are doubtful, as Disney still owns/maintains all the copyrights to this film (and Disney is very protective with all their characters/films).

Now, for the "contorversial" stuff -- the slavery angle in the film is more or less implied (best I recall, there are no scenes in SOTS that harken to films like "Roots" or "Mandingo") -- I saw the film as a 6 year-old in the early 1970's, and it didn't scar me for life, or anything like that.

So, in that regard, I think Walt Disney Productions should give SOTS an eventual release, as you can't ever close the doors on history (even if the story told may be unfavorable to some). But, I don't think it should be part of the current DVD/Blu-ray collections that are marketed to young children (perhaps, it should be aligned with some of their non-animated "classics"?).

My .02 ...

 

[cmwade77]

I remember when the latest remodel of tomorrowland at Disneyland first opened they had a machine that allowed you to make your own Disneyland soundtrack on CD. With all if the technological advancements since then, I think they could do something similar with Bluray/DVD. You could pick one or two movies and three or so related bonus features. Your DISC would then get burned and labeled. They could easily put the more controversial films out this way with little to no publicity and as a result little to no protest. I think Song of the South would be a perfect candidate for this.

 

[Babbletrish]

So, I had the opportunity to watch "Song of the South" earlier this month. (Don't ask me how. And I was doing it only for the purposes of being an armchair animation/Disney historian.) I wrote at length about the experience at my blog and you may want to read that.

There are a few things I want to emphasize from my review:

1) Yes, "Song of the South" is a racially problematic movie.

2) But so are a lot of conspicuously not censored films Walt Disney supervised. (What's up, Tiger Lily's father, Si and Am, Tony and Joe...)

3) With that in mind, I don't think this film would be as notorious as it is if Disney hadn't kept it in the vault for so damn long. (I was expecting something face-meltingly racist, when it's really more weird and awkward. Actually, it is probably just as offensive as "The American Adventure". Ye Gods, that scene with Chief Joseph.)

 

[Kimbo67]

I obtained a copy of SOTS last year at The Eastern States Expositon fair in MA. and recently watched it again. It is a version from England but plays on my DVD player but not in surround sound. I do not find this movie any more offensive then some of the movies, music or videos from today. I do not believe that young children would even pick up on any underlying issues, just the story of Briar Rabbit, Fox and Bear. And of course the song. Disney should let this one out of the vault.

 

[CurlyJo224]

I think they should do like Warner Brothers did with their Looney Tunes collection. When they got to the volume with the really much more racist than Song of the South cartoons, they had a disclaimer at the beginning by (I think) Whoopi Goldberg. It was something to the effect of, "These were made in a different time, with different sensibilities. These do not reflect the current views of the artists or the company."

I recently saw SotS for the first time since I was small, and it was not as bad as I had expected considering the fuss. Yes, parts of it were problematic, but I was expecting something like Sunflower the centaur from Fantasia.

 

[Babbletrish]

I think they should do like Warner Brothers did with their Looney Tunes collection. When they got to the volume with the really much more racist than Song of the South cartoons, they had a disclaimer at the beginning by (I think) Whoopi Goldberg. It was something to the effect of, "These were made in a different time, with different sensibilities. These do not reflect the current views of the artists or the company."

I recently saw SotS for the first time since I was small, and it was not as bad as I had expected considering the fuss. Yes, parts of it were problematic, but I was expecting something like Sunflower the centaur from Fantasia.

And I was expecting something like the Abraham Lincoln tribute in "Holiday Inn" (a scene that I would define as face-meltingly racist that, and this is astonishing, took me totally by surprise as I've never heard anyone make a fuss about it before. Huh.)

That Looney Tunes collection is terrific, but I love the Leonard Maltin VHS compilations "The Wartime Cartoons" and "Cartoons for Big Kids" even more. In those, Maltin introduces all the cartoons and gives the historical context for each of them, even the ones that aren't particularly controversial. It is, dare I say, educational.

Now the problem with "Song of the South" lies almost entirely in the live-action segments. Disney's usual approach to the uncomfortable scenes in it's films is to cut them out (ie the aforementioned Sunflower), but you can't do that to "SOTS" without the film ending up incomprehensible...

Unless you put out a DVD of the animated sequences hosted by a Disney historian? I'd be down with that because, frankly, those controversial live-action sequences are also amazingly boring.

 

[fhtpdw20]

The best way for Disney to release this is to make it a Disney Movie Club exclusive. They can do a historical disclaimer of the times and they should do a featurette presenting opposing perspective. They can print a disclaimer too in the film synopsis. All bases would be covered and they would probably boost there membership for a while in the process.

 

[Beehn]

OP here. I just watched Song of the South on YouTube with DD8. I'm not sure if it was abridged somehow, but the version I saw was very appropriate for DD. She did have a few questions while we were watching but most of them weren't race related. She loved hearing the songs and I think she will have a better understanding of SM during our next trip. Anyway, just wanted to let all the parents out there know, it's not as scary as I thought it would be!