Movie Monday: Song of the South

Movie Monday: Song of the South

Released on November 12, 1946, Disney’s Song of the South has seen both criticism and praise in its eighty-year history. The film is based on the Uncle Remus stories by author Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908), an American author, newspaper journalist, and magazine writer and editor. He wrote for several Georgia and New Orleans newspapers before landing a position at the Atlanta Constitution where he remained for twenty-four years.

What is thought to be his first piece, “Tar-Baby” was published in the Atlanta Constitution in 1879. One site indicated the story may have been inspired by William Owens’ work on black folklore that appeared in the same newspaper. Different than stories of the day, his “dialect fiction” became popular, and Harris published several children’s books featuring Uncle Remus and his friends.

Very little background is available about the film, which I’m assuming is because of its controversial nature, however, I did find one quote from Walt Disney that said, “I was familiar with the Uncle Remus tales since boyhood. From the time I began making animated feature, I have had them definitely in my production plans.” Before purchasing the rights from Harris’s family in 1939 for $10,000 ($229,000 in 2025 value), Disney had two research reports done in 1938 to determine the “feasibility of transferring the stories to the screen.”

Over the course of several months, Disney had his storyboard artists draw up four possible plot lines

with sketches. Meanwhile, he debated with himself whether to produce an entirely animated film or create separate two-reel shorts. Two sources indicated that Disney’s brother Roy had “misgivings” about the project doubting that it was “big enough in caliber and natural draft to warrant a $1 million budget and more than twenty-five minutes of animation.” Disney is said to have planned a series of films if the first was successful. When all was said and done, the decision was to combine animation and live-action, and the budget increased to $2.125M.

A parade of writers was involved in the script, with some quitting on their own and others being let go. Reportedly, the Hays Office (censorship board) reviewed one of the outlines, a significant amount of terminology be removed. After several iterations of the script, Disney brought in African-American performer and writer Clarence Muse as a consult, but after writer Dalton Reymond refused to accept his suggestions, Muse quit.

Set in Georgia during the Reconstruction Era, on the surface the film seems “tame enough." Seven-year-Johnny runs away from home and meets Uncle Remus on a plantation where he is telling stories about Br’er Rabbit to the other sharecroppers. Eventually, Uncle Remus takes the boy to his cabin where he offers him food for the journey home. While there, Remus shares African-American folklore. Various incidents occur including one in which Johnny is badly injured. His father arrives, and Johnny asks for Uncle Remus who comes and shares more stories of Br’er Rabbit. After Johnny recovers, characters from the stories come to life, surprising Uncle Remus. Everyone begins to sing, he gets over his shock, and they walk into the sunset.

Where most people take issue with the film is its development of Uncle Remus’ character that is seen as subservient and demeaning to African-Americans. Some have referenced the dialect as demeaning as well. Current reviews that I found are divided with opinions respectfully and thoughtfully given.

Sadly, because of Atlanta’s laws about segregation, James Baskett who plays Uncle Remus was prohibited from attending the film’s premiere. He later responded to criticisms for taking the role saying, “I believe that certain groups are doing my race more harm in seeking to create dissension, than can ever possibly come out of the Song of the South.” He received a posthumous Academy Honorary Award on March 20, 1948.

The Disney Corporation rereleased the film in theaters several times over the years, most recently in 1986, but has since withheld it, and the movie has never been released in the US on home video.

Have you seen Song of the South?

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Can a woman be blamed for her ancestors’ crimes?

After her mother’s heritage as the granddaughter of a Lakota chief (Running Bear) comes to light, Quinnlynn becomes a societal outcast in Boston, taking her marital prospects to zero. Her best friend, Eloise Berwyn, who is leaving town as a mail-order bride suggests she contacts the Westward Home & Hearts Mail-Order Bride Agency to find a husband and a new start. The perfect solution until she arrives in South Dakota to discover that her prospective groom’s sister and brother-in-law were killed by Lakota by a raiding party during the early days of the Great Sioux War in 1876.

Isaiah Libby is in over his head. He’s been raising his niece, Violet, since her parent’s death at the hands of Lakota warriors, but at eight years old, the girl is a holy terror, having caused more than a few nannies to quit. If he finds himself a mail-order bride, the woman will be forced to stay - the perfect solution, until he discovers that his bride is from the very tribe that tore his family apart.

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Sources:
https://medium.com/popular-culture-reviews/song-of-the-south-1946-b426ca8a7fd8 https://d23.com/a-to-z/song-of-the-south-film/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South 

https://www.tellytalk.net/threads/song-of-the-south-1946.16077/ 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Song-of-the-South 

https://letterboxd.com/film/song-of-the-south/

Photo Credits:

Movie Poster: By Unknown author - Scan via Heritage Auctions. Cropped from the original image., Public Domain

Walt Disney: By Boy Scouts of America - eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain

Publicity Photo: Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10352939