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Disney may release Song of the South on Region 1 DVD in 2006

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ManaByte

Gold Member
http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=1313

I know that it's been a really rough winter so far. But who would have thought that Hell was gonna to freeze over?

"What do I mean by that?," you ask. Well, I just got word that Buena Vista Home Entertainment will be releasing "Song of the South" on DVD in the Fall of 2006.

That's right. "Song of the South." The Academy Award winning film that former Disney Feature Animation head Thomas Schumacher once told Roger Ebert was on "permanent moratorium" has reportedly been greenlit for release late next year. A special 60th anniversary edition that -- thanks to a plethora of extra features -- will try & put this somewhat controversial motion picture in historial context.

With the hope of avoiding that, BVHE reportedly plans to really pile on the extra features with "Song of the South." Among the ideas currently being knocked around is producing a special documentary that -- through use of clips from that TV movie version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella" that Disney produced back in 1997 as well as sequences from "The Proud Family" & "That's So Raven" -- would demonstrate that a person's color really doesn't matter at the modern Walt Disney Company. There's also talk of including Walt Disney Feature Animation's seldom-seen short, "John Henry," as one of the disc's special features.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment is also supoosedly toying with approaching a prominent African-American performer to serve as the MC on the DVD version of "Song of the South." You know, someone who could then introduce the film, explain its historical significance as well as re-enforcing the idea that "SOTS" was a product of a much less enlightened time in Hollywood's history. I'm told that -- up until recently -- Bill Cosby was actually at the top of Disney's wish list. But now that Dr. Cosby has been accused of inappropriate behavior with several ladies ... Well, let's just say that Bill is no longer Mickey's top choice for this position.

If Disney does this, they better be ready for a firestorm. Disney was considering doing a re-release in 2000 and they sent out copies to certain people to get their reaction. Maya Angelou said that she would spark a nation-wide boycott of all things Disney if the movie was ever released to the public again. Jesse Jackson was also super pissed.
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
Well, they said it would be put out in a "historical context," which isn't that bad a way to present the movie. They recently released all of their World War II shorts - "Jap" and German jokes and all - on DVD. Disney was very careful to make sure nearly every short was preceded by a short commentary on its place in history, no matter how ugly it may appear to us now.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
xsarien said:
Well, they said it would be put out in a "historical context," which isn't that bad a way to present the movie. They recently released all of their World War II shorts - "Jap" and German jokes and all - on DVD. Disney was very careful to make sure nearly every short was preceded by a short commentary on its place in history, no matter how ugly it may appear to us now.

They were going to do the same thing with Song of the South in 2000 with a similar format to the WWII shorts collection, but that didn't stop the threats of a nationwide and very loud boycott.
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
ManaByte said:
They were going to do the same thing with Song of the South in 2000 with a similar format to the WWII shorts collection, but that didn't stop the threats of a nationwide and very loud boycott.

The World War II disc gives them precedent, a template if you will. Considering the rather...patently offensice caricatures on the disc, I'm amazed that made it out. There's no way that Disney would market a 2006 release of SotS as any kind of entertainment, nor should they. But what good does hiding from this movie do? It exists, people know it exists, and plenty of bootlegs are available. It's a piece of pop-culture history, and unfortunately history is sometimes a little bitter to swallow.
 

fennec fox

ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
Bout time. No point in pretending that people had no notions about anything before 1970, after all.
 

border

Member
All the threats seem pretty retarded. Nobody is boycotting the publisher of Noel Chandler Harris's books. =\

I think I have a DVD-R of the Laserdisc rip around here, but I never got around to watching it since I heard it was missing some scenes and content anyway. I don't recall exactly what it was that people hated about it.....just that the black characters were a bit stereotyped in dialect?
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
border said:
All the threats seem pretty retarded. Nobody is boycotting the publisher of Noel Chandler Harris's books. =\

Nor are people up in arms that Birth of a Nation is available on R1 DVD.
 

android

Theoretical Magician
Mike Works said:
err, could someone explain why this movie is so racist?
I think its a case of Disney being overly worried about a backlash, even though people are smart enough to put it into context.
 

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
border said:
I don't recall exactly what it was that people hated about it.....just that the black characters were a bit stereotyped in dialect?

"a bit" is putting it mildly. Likely the fear of release is due to this being a production that would be viewed mainly by kids.

Like already mentioned, there are many films with modern releases that contain horrific depictions of casual and non-casual race relations. One that sticks out in my mind is "Holiday Inn" where Bing Crosby does an black face performance on stage while the black servants listen and sing along from the kitchen. Always a scene that stirred my stomach even as a kid.

But I feel that it's much more productive for works like this to have as much exposure as possible. Hiding them doesn't help people, only allows the companies who created it to conveniently erase it from their catalog of works.
 

border

Member
Mike Works said:
err, could someone explain why this movie is so racist?
People are offended by thick black dialect ("I sho be's gwine to de sto' Miss Sally"), and the depcition of black-white relations in the South (not enough mistreatment of blacks).
 

ohamsie

Member
Is Song of the South the movie that has Brer Rabbit in it? I never really considered those to be racist, I thought of them as more like redneck characters like the Beverly Hillbillies. It wasn't until my late teens that I learned about racist undertones, like how the Tar Baby is supposed to be like a black kid or something.
 

Dreamfixx

I don't know shit about shit
Thanks to these politically correct ass-hats, I've never seen this movie. In fact, I don't think anyone my age has. I seriously doubt that it's THAT bad.
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
Dreamfixx said:
Thanks to these politically correct ass-hats, I've never seen this movie. In fact, I don't think anyone my age has. I seriously doubt that it's THAT bad.

Oh, I'd think that "Tar Baby" alone pretty much puts it over the top.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
ohamsie said:
Is Song of the South the movie that has Brer Rabbit in it? I never really considered those to be racist, I thought of them as more like redneck characters like the Beverly Hillbillies. It wasn't until my late teens that I learned about racist undertones, like how the Tar Baby is supposed to be like a black kid or something.

Dreamfixx said:
Thanks to these politically correct ass-hats, I've never seen this movie. In fact, I don't think anyone my age has. I seriously doubt that it's THAT bad.

Exactly.

The funniest thing about Disney's hiding of Song of the South is Splash Mountain. They opened a major ride at their theme parks based on a movie no one could see because they pretended it never existed.
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
ManaByte said:
Exactly.

The funniest thing about Disney's hiding of Song of the South is Splash Mountain. They opened a major ride at their theme parks based on a movie no one could see because they pretended it never existed.

I'd have to do some digging, but I'm fairly certain the ride opened before Disney vowed to never let the movie out again.
 

border

Member
"Tar baby" is directly rooted in African folklore, as are pretty much all of the "Brer" characters and tales. The story, essentially about how the main character's pride and arrogance get him "stuck" in a life-threatening problem he cannot escape, ended up working as a nice allegory for black-white relations at the time. Though everybody has their own personal tar babies, so it's an accessible myth....
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
xsarien said:
I'd have to do some digging, but I'm fairly certain the ride opened before Disney vowed to never let the movie out again.

Disney put Song of the South on "permanent moratorium" shortly after its 40th anniversary in the 80's.

Splash Mountain opened in the 90's.
 

Dreamfixx

I don't know shit about shit
It's also funny how they still use the song "Zip-a-dee-do-dah" at theme parks and on compilation CDs.
 

Future

Member
Older folks are probably more offended than anyone else. The movie depicted slaves (or ex-slaves, can't remember, regardless they were still on a plantation working for white men) content and happilly singing in that lifestyle. The dialect was also really over the top, and seemingly based on the typical uneducated black slave. No doubt that people that grew up during the mid 1900's and experienced the thick and blatant racism during that time might find it insulting for Disney to re-release it.

Even though that Zip-iddy-Doo song was the shit. :p Sung that crap all the time as a kid
 
can't wait to get my Tarbaby on. I swear that was one of the funniest stories (never got to see the movie) I read when I was little. Didn't know it was a bad thing until later, and even then I didn't really see it. (I'm not much for allegory)
 

border

Member
II. THE WONDERFUL TAR BABY STORY

"Didn't the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?" asked the
little boy the next evening.

"He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you born--Brer Fox did. One
day atter Brer Rabbit fool 'im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox
went ter wuk en got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime,
en fix up a contrapshun w'at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish
yer Tar-Baby en he sot 'er in de big road, en den he lay off in
de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine ter be. En he didn't
hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer Rabbit
pacin' down de road--lippity-clippity, clippity-lippity--dez ez
sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come
prancin' 'long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his
behime legs like he wuz 'stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she
did, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"'Mawnin'!' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee--'nice wedder dis mawnin','
sezee.

"Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox he lay low.

"'How duz yo' sym'tums seem ter segashuate?' sez Brer Rabbit,
sezee.

"Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby, she
ain't sayin' nuthin'.

"'How you come on, den? Is you deaf?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee.
'Kaze if you is, I kin holler louder,' sezee.

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"'You er stuck up, dat's w'at you is,' says Brer Rabbit, sezee,
'en I'm gwine ter kyore you, dat's w'at I'm a gwine ter do,'
sezee.

"Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummick, he did, but Tar-
Baby ain't sayin' nothin'.

"'I'm gwine ter larn you how ter talk ter 'spectubble folks ef
hit's de las' ack,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Ef you don't take
off dat hat en tell me howdy, I'm gwine ter bus' you wide open,'
sezee.

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"Brer Rabbit keep on axin' 'im, en de Tar-Baby, she keep on
sayin' nothin', twel present'y Brer Rabbit draw back wid his
fis', he did, en blip he tuck 'er side er de head. Right dar's
whar he broke his merlasses jug. His fis' stuck, en he can't pull
loose. De tar hilt 'im. But Tar-Baby, she stay still, en Brer
Fox, he lay low.

"'Ef you don't lemme loose, I'll knock you agin,' sez Brer
Rabbit, sezee, en wid dat he fotch 'er a wipe wid de udder han',
en dat stuck. Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox, he
lay low.

"'Tu'n me loose, fo' I kick de natchul stuffin' outen you,' sez
Brer Rabbit, sezee, but de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin'.
She des hilt on, en de Brer Rabbit lose de use er his feet in de
same way. Brer Fox, he lay low. Den Brer Rabbit squall out dat ef
de Tar-Baby don't tu'n 'im loose he butt 'er cranksided. En den
he butted, en his head got stuck. Den Brer Fox, he sa'ntered
fort', lookin' dez ez innercent ez wunner yo' mammy's mockin'-
birds.

"Howdy, Brer Rabbit,' sez Brer Fox, sezee. 'You look sorter stuck
up dis mawnin',' sezee, en den he rolled on de groun', en laft en
laft twel he couldn't laff no mo'. 'I speck you'll take dinner
wid me dis time, Brer Rabbit. I done laid in some calamus root,
en I ain't gwineter take no skuse,' sez Brer Fox, sezee."

Here Uncle Remus paused, and drew a two-pound yam out of the
ashes.

"Did the fox eat the rabbit?" asked the little boy to whom the
story had been told.

"Dat's all de fur de tale goes," replied the old man. "He mout,
an den agin he moutent. Some say Judge B'ar come 'long en loosed
'im--some say he didn't. I hear Miss Sally callin'. You better
run 'long."
 

Future

Member
-------------
what's wrong with zip-adee-doo-dah?
-------------

Nothing. Meant that the song was THE shit. :p

Yeah, again I don't remember the details of the story. But I remember talking about it class a long time ago, and remember people pretty convinced that it was portraying a master-slave relationship. A quick google probably shows why

http://www.metrobeat.net/gbase/Expedite/Content?oid=oid:1811

--------------------------------------
One problem with Song of the South concerns exactly when it takes place. Is it pre- or post-Civil War? According to Karl Cohen, author of Forbidden Animation, the film clearly takes place after the Civil War. “Disney did not make it clear that it was after the Civil War,” Cohen says. “Part of the confusion is that he [Walt Disney] was warned by the censors in Hollywood who read the scripts, the Hayes Office, to please make it clear that the film takes place in the 1870s or 1880s. He did not do that. They suggested that he open it with a card that said ‘Georgia’ and a date. He ignored that, and so you don’t know when it took place.”

As such, many are left to wonder if Uncle Remus and his fellow African Americans are slaves or free men and women? “What I enjoy talking to my students about the film is its deep confusion about the time period that it is supposed to represent, and that is both tricky in Uncle Remus and the movie,” says Susanna Ashton, professor at Clemson University and a specialist in post-Civil War literature. “The film has some people who are wearing costumes that are clearly Edwardian, that are clearly from the 1890s. But then you look at the movie and all of the people are in hoop skirts and pretty clearly everybody is a slave, so clearly we’re in a pre-Civil War era.”

Arguments over settings aside, let’s be honest here. Song of the South may be a charming family film, but the fact that some folks find it offensive shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Even its fans recognize the trouble spots.

“It’s simple. It has racist elements,” Cohen says. “When Disney made it, he didn’t realize that he was making something quite volatile as it could be. If anything, the basic problem is with Disney. He was insensitive.”

The problem for Cohen: the live-action segments of the film present a beautiful, idyllic world where whites live in mansions and work indoors, while blacks live in lovely, little shacks and work in the fields all day long, singing songs and carrying on. Make no mistake about it: the whites are in charge, and the blacks bow and scrape before their masters. “It comes across as a idealized master/slave relationship for the people who see it,” Cohen adds. “[Disney] found it to be a very beautiful, sympathetic depiction of the South, but he didn’t realize that his depiction was a Southerner’s depiction.”

R. Bruce Bickley Jr., an English professor at Florida State University and author of Joel Chandler Harris: A Biography and Critical Study also acknowledges the trouble with Song of the South. “Disney does kind of a whitewash of the stories in the Song of the South. I’m afraid that a lot of people who think they know these stories know Disney’s five animated tales,” says. “There the Uncle Remus character is very much kissing up to ‘massa.’ [He’s] a cooperative sort of figure, not as complicated a figure by far as the Uncle Remus in Harris’ stories.”
--------------------------------------


Disney probably should release this with the correct historical context, but certain activist groups and people like Jesse Jackson will be all over it like flies on fresh shit
 
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