I've seen this multiple times, but not in eons (as in not since I was a kid). I remember really enjoying it, however no longer recall anything specific, unfortunately. Having said that, I do still readily recall and can easily sing all the words of "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah".

Thanks for drawing attention to this delightful film. It's always great to see new posting about productions from prior to the 1950s.

I was looking forward to seeing this on Disney+ but it's nowhere to be found

@GusGorman said:

I was looking forward to seeing this on Disney+ but it's nowhere to be found

I was able to retain a digital copy not too long ago but it is very difficult to find. I remember my father dragging me to the theaters to watch this as a kid. I honestly do not see the problem with the film. Yes, it was fucked up having slaves but it happened and many had relationships with their slaves like depicted in the film. I think they overreacted by banning the film.

@acontributor said:

Disney is the only one calling this movie racist which is ironic because it's a Disney movie. I think it goes to show how out of touch the wealthy media are today.

I watched this for the first time recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. This film about a nice old black man who befriends a young privileged white boy is the exact opposite of racism. The best version I could find was modified for an old CRT TV screen. It would have been nice to see it on wide screen.

The only notes I have about this movie is that they should have used proper English spellings in the closed captions. I understand that they chose to use misspelled words in the closed captions on purpose to help to illustrate the problem of illiteracy in those days but it makes it hard to read.

For example they misspelled words like "says" as "sez" This is not really a complaint. It's just that future generations will have a hard time understanding this as these old dialects become less common and it doesn't help that the closed captions aren't spelled in readable English.

I agree with what you say with one exception, there is no wide screen version.

Any version shown on a CRT would be 1.33:1 ratio and this film was shot in 1.37:1 ratio. Pretty much the same.

Sorry to be a pedant.

@acontributor said:

Disney is the only one calling this movie racist which is ironic because it's a Disney movie. I think it goes to show how out of touch the wealthy media are today.

Actually, it's been awhile since I heard anything about the topic, but I thought that black people who are in the know are aware that ol' Walt had his racial issues. I won't call him a White Supremacist, but maybe you get my drift.

Once, a relative and I were watching some old Disney cartoon together on TV. There was a hand rendering an illustration of a pretty white girl on the screen; she had what black men would call a "black girl's ass." The white girl looked back at her derriere as if to suggest that something was wrong, and then the hand erased the backside and replaced it with an "ironing-board" rear end.

That really tripped me out!

@CelluloidFan said:

@acontributor said:

Disney is the only one calling this movie racist which is ironic because it's a Disney movie. I think it goes to show how out of touch the wealthy media are today.

Actually, it's been awhile since I heard anything about the topic, but I thought that black people who are in the know are aware that ol' Walt had his racial issues. I won't call him a White Supremacist, but maybe you get my drift.

Once, a relative and I were watching some old Disney cartoon together on TV. There was a hand rendering an illustration of a pretty white girl on the screen; she had what black men would call a "black girl's ass." The white girl looked back at her derriere as if to suggest that something was wrong, and then the hand erased the backside and replaced it with an "ironing-board" rear end.

That really tripped me out!

Whoa! That's crazy! Just the fact they pointed out the drawing of the butt is shocking enough. Especially for a kid's cartoon. What you described reminded of that show The Wonderful World of Disney but I would never imagine it showing something like that.

@movie_nazi said:

@CelluloidFan said:

@acontributor said:

Disney is the only one calling this movie racist which is ironic because it's a Disney movie. I think it goes to show how out of touch the wealthy media are today.

Actually, it's been awhile since I heard anything about the topic, but I thought that black people who are in the know are aware that ol' Walt had his racial issues. I won't call him a White Supremacist, but maybe you get my drift.

Once, a relative and I were watching some old Disney cartoon together on TV. There was a hand rendering an illustration of a pretty white girl on the screen; she had what black men would call a "black girl's ass." The white girl looked back at her derriere as if to suggest that something was wrong, and then the hand erased the backside and replaced it with an "ironing-board" rear end.

That really tripped me out!

Whoa! That's crazy! Just the fact they pointed out the drawing of the butt is shocking enough. Especially for a kid's cartoon. What you described reminded of that show The Wonderful World of Disney but I would never imagine it showing something like that.

Bear in mind, I am not with the modern-day expectations of famous people that require almost-antiseptic, PC standards of them. None of us is perfect. As far as I'm concerned, we were all put here on this Earth to learn and grow. However, this article points out some remarkable details about Walt that you might not have known.

The url to that article is: vulture.com/2013/12/walt-disney-anti-semitism-racism-sexism-frozen-head.html

Bear in mind, I am not with the modern-day expectations of famous people that require almost-antiseptic, PC standards of them. None of us is perfect. As far as I'm concerned, we were all put here on this Earth to learn and grow. However, this article points out some remarkable details about Walt that you might not have known.

The url to that article is: vulture.com/2013/12/walt-disney-anti-semitism-racism-sexism-frozen-head.html

I read the article and I mean, I guess? Doesn't really seem to have too much evidence and it does look like it was written looking in today's over sensitive lens. I grew up in the 80s and we used the N word and we were by no means racist. Not saying it was right or OK but it was not done with hate in the heart. Its just the way people were and in his time it was much worse. What kinda gave me the impression that the article was reaching was when they mentioned Song of the South as" a movie so offensive that the Disney company will no longer let it be seen in public." to which I say, so what? I myself do not see the issue with the film. It was a complete overreaction. I'm still waiting for someone to show me what was so offensive about the film. And before you jump to any conclusions I am of the mind that all all Confederate statues be taken down from public property immediately. Those people do not deserve any reverence or honor. These were people who believed so strongly in such a repugnant practice that they were willing to send their boys to die for such a cause. I don't give a damn about their military genius or their southern pride. They are traitors, period. But what is depicted in Song of the South IS what it was like back then, no question. To deny that is to deny history.

@acontributor said:

To deny that is also black erasure which itself is racist. Like you said that's really how it was back then. If you watch it you'll also notice that the white people weren't all privileged. Johnny's little girl friend for example.

I'll be devil's advocate and say I don't think that the statues should be taken down because you shouldn't erase history. But I agree with you that slavery is a repugnant practice.

The "erase history" doesn't really hold water. Should a statue of Hitler be erected in Berlin because hey, it's history? Statues are reserved to honor and remember our heroes who served our country with dignity and values worth venerating. A call to rebel arms is not worth honoring. We should always remember our history and teach what happened but there are better ways to do that than by honoring these traitors with statues.

@acontributor said:

I didn't say anything about erecting statues of villains from history. I said that historical monuments shouldn't be torn down because then where does it stop?

It stops when there are no more statues of villains. Granted if you want to erect a statue on your private property of whomever, go for it. Just not on public property.

@acontributor said:

I'll be devil's advocate and say I don't think that the statues should be taken down because you shouldn't erase history. But I agree with you that slavery is a repugnant practice. I'm not a Southerner so I'm not the best person to be defending the statues. But if you start taking down historical monuments where do you stop?

I'm a southerner now, so I will weigh in on this. I'm pretty lukewarm on the statues being taken down here, there, wherever, and here's why. A statue is like a flag, it's a SYMBOL. We shouldn't burn the American flag, not because it's traitorous but because it's a symbol. Symbols don't perpetuate good ol' racism (meaning white supremacy), people do. I saw statues of Civil War soldiers being taken down around here on the news, and I saw the white guys standing around the statues expressing remarkable anger at those statues. Even if the way that statue made this black person, that person feel ends, the people, the institutions helping to maintain racism, sexism, etc. are still intact. And it's like that.

For some reason, the statues don't bug me that much. It bugs me to hear about them being taken down here and there on the TV like "So much progress is being made on account of this." Bullshit.

You should never express anger or hatred toward a flag, a geographical area, or posibly, even a statue.

I don't know if I've seen the film that's under discussion or not, but I will also say a little something about the poster for the film. In the poster's upper left corner, there's a little creature that looks a lot like some of the "coon" faces that Spike Lee highlighted in his 2000 film Bamboozled. It seems to look like a stereotypical depiction of a black face, and that's not good. Rather, it looks like the type of representations that are meant to destroy people from the inside out!

I dig American History X, I feel that's a pretty good film.

Just to clarify an earlier remark, what I meant to say is, you shouldn't say that any place is "racist." Places or geographical areas can't be racist. Remarks of that kind aren't really correct.

@CelluloidFan said:

@acontributor said:

I'll be devil's advocate and say I don't think that the statues should be taken down because you shouldn't erase history. But I agree with you that slavery is a repugnant practice. I'm not a Southerner so I'm not the best person to be defending the statues. But if you start taking down historical monuments where do you stop?

I'm a southerner now, so I will weigh in on this. I'm pretty lukewarm on the statues being taken down here, there, wherever, and here's why. A statue is like a flag, it's a SYMBOL. We shouldn't burn the American flag, not because it's traitorous but because it's a symbol. Symbols don't perpetuate good ol' racism (meaning white supremacy), people do. I saw statues of Civil War soldiers being taken down around here on the news, and I saw the white guys standing around the statues expressing remarkable anger at those statues. Even if the way that statue made this black person, that person feel ends, the people, the institutions helping to maintain racism and probably sexism are still intact. And it's like that.

For some reason, the statues don't bug me that much. It bugs me to hear about them being taken down here and there on the TV like "So much progress is being made on account of this." Bullshit.

You should never express anger or hatred toward a flag, a geographical area, or possibly, even a statue.

Well the virtue signaling is BS but imagine being a black man or woman and walking in a park with your child and the child asking who general Stonewall Jackson is. "Oh honey, that is a man who thought so strongly that you and I should be property than not only did he agree with sending little white boys to their deaths but also died in the process as well. They deserve much respect, doncha think? Thus, this grand statue is now erected". I mean like, WTF? This is why I bring up the Hitler statue as example. Imagine how insulting that would be to the people of Germany. It would be a reminder saying, "Remember when you people were so fkn stupid you fell for this guy's BS?" . Also the fact that 90% of these statues went up after the civil rights movement makes their existence suspect or as the kids say nowadays "Suss" .

What is… “virtue signaling?”

I don’t have any kids.