Song of the South. Anybody have it? Anybody seen it? I bought it a couple months ago on laserdisc and just got around to watching it yesterday. I was kinda excited for it, because of the controversy surrounding it. Watched it, and I kinda enjoyed it. The Uncle Remus character was very entertaining (not for racial reasons, he was just a very entertaining character to watch) and the animated parts were interesting. I felt that the main protaganist (Johnny) was a bit of a boring character, but for the most part, its an entertaining movie. The transfer wasn't terrible, and i couldn't see any evidence of rot. there were some artifacts in the picture, but not distractingly so. I didn't really see what the big deal was and why it is such a controversial movie and why it still hasn't been released on home video in the US. Honestly, i think the indians in Peter Pan are more offensive than this movie (not that i find Peter Pan offensive, its one of my favorite disney movies). Of course, i'm a 25 year old white guy, so i don't really have any say in what is offensive i suppose..

so what do you guys think of this release? it can be your thoughts of the actual movie, the controversy, the transfer, the sound, whatever you want to talk about.

The controversy on this movie has been confusing. People say that it's about slavery and shouldn't be seen for that reason, but it took place after slavery had ended so that argument is moot. If it's racially insensitive, then why does the daughter of the man who played Uncle Remus is begging and pleading for the movie to be re-released?

I've never seen it and would like to, but I'm pretty much waiting on getting the LD myself before I see it.

I own the disc too. (and I paid a lot of money to get it.)

As for the controversy, some people are offended by the portrayal of the sharecroppers being contented in their abject poverty. (They live in shacks while the white family lives in a mansion. Surely that family could afford better accommodations for their hired help?) Uncle Remus is also the "Uncle Tom" stereotype -- a black man who lives to please his white overlords. Even in 1946 this stereotype was outdated. The movie sentimentalizes the old south, and propagates the myths that their was racial harmony there in the late 1800s.

*EDIT* I forgot, the original folktales of Br'er Rabbit that Joel Chandler Harris based his book on were allegorical stories of how the African slaves would outwit the slave owners. This was neutralized in the Disney version. The blacks don't outwit the white folks in the movie. Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox are voiced by black actors too, so any allegory to slave/master is gone.

Disney, because it made its name with "family entertainment," has been overly sensitive to any controversy that its films may cause. I guess the executives fear boycotts if they release Song of the South domestically. Under Michael Eisner, this sort of "political correctness" ran rampant. They changed an offending stanza in the song in Aladdin, for example, and re-animated Jessica Rabbit's dress in one scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The studio was too fearful at first to release older cartoons that contained stereotyped images or anti-Nazi propaganda on home video, too. "Der Fuehrer's Face" was such a cartoon that had been locked in the vaults for a long time. It was only released on Disney's Treasures DVD when Eisner was on his way out. Years ago they had re-dubbed one of Donald's lines in the cartoon "Clock Cleaners" because the crazy Rev. Donald Wildmon thought the duck said "F-ck You!" (Donald actually said "Sez You!" and it was re-dubbed as "Aw, nuts!")

Interesting stuff. i'm actually about to buy that Disney Treasures dvd with the wartime cartoons as well. The strange thing though, about the post-civil-war aspect of the film, is other films have done the same stuff (if not a bit more drastic even) and continue to be released and celebrated. a classic example would be Gone with the Wind. The way african-americans are portrayed in that film to me seem more offensive than anything i saw in Song of the South, but it remains a classic (i personally hated Gone with the Wind, but i will admit its importance readily). But, i suppose, as you said, it is Disney, and they probably would prefer not to cause any controversy, even if there is no real controversy present (good example with Donald Duck above).

Its a shame too, because there are some of us that are 'purists' i suppose, and would rather the movie remain as it was originally intended. or, at the very least, we would rather there be both versions of a movie available. a good example i saw on here a week or so ago was Lady and the Tramp. while they are in the pound, one dog is taken outside, and in the original version, a gunshot is heard. i haven't watched the blu-ray release to see if it was put back in yet, but i'm assuming it wasn't because it wasn't on the dvd. i'm sure there are a lot of other examples of self-censorship by studios, and i see the corporate reasoning for it, but i would rather a movie not be censored just because somebody might get offended.

The "tar-baby" sequence in Song of the South is considered racist, but like you I think it's pretty mild compared to other "classic" films. I think Disney has created a bigger problem by not releasing the film. They have created a desire among people to see how bad it is and so the entire focus of the film now is racism instead of how good it is. Americans (most of us at least) have come a long way in our thinking in the last 100 years and I think it's pretty sad that we are choosing to bury our history or update it for modern sensibilities.

Ron

I just saw this review about the movie: blip.tv

i saw that too. that's what prompted me to finally watch it. i saw that she reviewed it and wanted to actually watch it before watching the review, so i watched her review right after i finished watching the movie. i watch her reviews fairly often, and a couple other people on the site she's featured on, www.thatguywiththeglasses.com

I agree. I own Song of the South on Laserdisc and watched it. I can see where the Tar Baby sequence could be considered racist.
But, as stated before, Disney already allowed cartoons with racial stereotypes and jokes out in the Treasures collection — with warnings. The same with the Looney Tunes Golden Collection. I found Whoppi Goldberg's disclaimer more offensive than the cartoons. Same disclaimer over and over. It would of been better to explain the offensive sequences than just have a generic boilerplate message.
I was very excited to learn Warner Brothers might release the Censored 11. But it has not happened yet. Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarfs is over the top.

My favorite censored cartoon is Knick Knack. If you own the Toy Story Laserdisc Box set check it out. Only place to get the uncensored version besides You Tube.

just look at the jungle book! the crows are obviously black dudes

Don't you mean Dumbo?

haha yeah, been a while since i watched me some disney lol

Got the Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines in the mail a couple days ago, just finished the first disc. Theres a lot of content in there, and i still have another disc to go (each disc has about 4 hours of stuff on it). Stuff like this i think is very important, because you get a feel for the time period and the emotions surrounding it. even the propaganda stuff is interesting. "Der Fuehrer's Face" was definitely indicative of disney around that time, with the comedy and the surreal bit toward the end (like stuff they had done for dumbo and fantasia). even though its not an LD, i recommend it to anybody on here that hasn't seen it.

Song of the south is a great movie.

I have this on order, new and second hand and shall finally look forward to owning this hopefully by early summer.

I understand the sensitivity around the slave issue, but appreciated the content as the director had intended the viewer to receive with the respect and dignity in which it rightly deserved.


jeb86home wrote:
I recommend it to anybody on here that hasn't seen it.

Il'e second that.

I never wrote that. I think you're confusing me with jeb86home.

You guys sure have money to burn buying that LD. I got a DVD that is copied from the Jap LD and loving that!

i waited a long, long time to find one at a price i was comfortable with. most of them are on ebay for $100+, but i got mine from an auction on there for about $65. if you wait long enough, you can get a decent price. and for me, owning an actual version of the movie, instead of just a dvd rip, is always more fulfilling. even if i have to spend more for it lol.

Wonder if its easier to buy now

One of the few LDs I purchased outside of thrift store colletions. I felt my son should watch it and the racist tones were over emphasized by those holding the movie from rerelease. I had last seen it in theaters when I was 6 or 7 when they had it out in then 80s.

I saw the Japanese laserdisc in a store about 15 years ago for about $50 and let it go buy. Been kicking myself ever since.