Song of the South

Release Date: November 12, 1946

Of all the movies made by Walt Disney, this is the most controversial. When I was younger, I thought it was because of the tar baby scene. It wasn't until I grew older that I learned about all the issues with this movie. The stories themselves are controversial, as is the dialect used by the slaves in the movie. One of the most offensive aspects of the movie is that the slaves happily sing as they go to and from work. Instead of slavery being shown for the brutal and horrific thing that it was, the movie makes it seem like the slaves were happy in their situation, something the NAACP asked Walt Disney to change. Their plea was ignored, and now the movie is banned and treated like an embarrassing blemish in the Walt Disney movie catalog.

Personally, I like the movie and I think banning it is the wrong idea. Granted, I am a white American male, and I recognize that I cannot speak for the hurt this movie may cause other people. As I give my opinions, I am not trying to diminish or disregard anyone's feelings. I acknowledge the issues with the movie, but I think the movie would serve better as a discussion piece, rather than being banished to a dark corner of the Disney vault.

First of all, the Uncle Remus stories are stories Walt Disney grew up with when he was young. He probably first heard them while living on a farm in Marceline, Missouri. Although he only lived there for four years, Walt Disney remembered his time in Marceline with a lot of fondness, and these stories were probably wrapped in nostalgia for him. Walt did not create this movie to be controversial; he was sharing something from his childhood.

Although not a perfect man, Walt Disney was very progressive for his time. Song of the South was created during the time of the Jim Crow laws and segregation. In fact, James Baskett, who played Uncle Remus, wasn't even allowed to attend the premiere of the movie in Atlanta, Georgia because of segregation laws. Up to this point, black actors did not usually play lead roles for general audiences, and if they did, they were usually comic relief characters. James Baskett's portrayal of Uncle Remus was one of the first times a black actor played a serious character for general audiences. Walt was so pleased with Baskett's performance, he felt he deserved an academy award. Praise for his work was so broad that two years after the movie was released, James Baskett received an honorary academy award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus. Baskett died just a few months after receiving his honorary Oscar. He was the last actor to receive such an award.

While Walt ignored the wishes of the NAACP to not depict the slaves as happy workers, he did add elements to his movie to portray blacks as fellow human beings instead of an inferior race. Let me explain.

Johnny is the main character of the movie. He is a young boy and he and his mother are going to live with his grandma on her plantation. His father leaves his family to write for a newspaper in Atlanta. It is mentioned that the things his father is writing are making people very angry. The father tells Johnny about Uncle Remus and the fond memories he has with him. From his conversation, I get the feeling that his father is writing about racial equality, and that is what makes him so unpopular.

On the plantation, Johnny befriends a young black boy named Toby and a white girl named Ginny. He treats them both equally--an on-screen example of how we should behave as adults. Every black person in the movie is portrayed in a positive light. In fact, all human antagonists in the movie are white.

On the surface, the tar baby story seems problematic. Brer Rabbit says, "Howdy" to what he thinks is a black child, and when the child doesn't answer, Brer Rabbit hits him, only to find the black child is actually made of tar. Brer Rabbit's behavior seems incredibly racist--demanding a certain respect from a black person, and then beating them if that respect is not given. But the whole point of this story is that what Brer Rabbit did was wrong, and if he had never behaved this way in the first place, he never would have gotten stuck. If anything, this racist scene has a strong anti-racist message.

Perhaps the most significant message in the movie comes at the end. Johnny has been hurt by a bull on the plantation and is in a delirious, almost coma-like state. His grandmother, mother, and father are all in the room trying to help him with no success. Outside the front door, the slaves are praying for Johnny, and Uncle Remus is with them. Finally, the grandma comes outside and invites Uncle Remus to come into the bedroom and tell one of his stories. Uncle Remus does so, and his story guides Johnny out of his state back to consciousness.

Essentially, the blacks and whites were depicted as being segregated. The wealthy white people were in the bedroom inside the house, and the blacks are kept outside. But when the grandma brought Uncle Remus inside, she broke that segregation. It was only by ending the segregation that they were able to help Johnny. While this was only temporary for just that moment, it is a powerful lesson that segregation doesn't do any good, and the most good happens when all races are brought together.

Those are my thoughts on the movie. Yes, there are problems with it. Yes, it is historically inaccurate and is an incorrect representation of what slavery was like. Yes, even the dialect is offensive to some. But instead of hiding this movie away, I think it should be brought into the light. Before the movie begins, someone should talk about what is problematic in the movie, but then also talk about what was progressive about it for its time. The movie has some great songs that should not be forgotten or lost to history. We should not forget about James Baskett, the award he received, and the fact that he wasn't even allowed to attend the premiere. These things should be discussed. Lessons should be learned. Uncle Remus and his stories about Brer Rabbit can still teach us some lessons our society really needs today.