"Song of the South" to be Imancipated from the Disney Vault?

When my kid's high school band marched at Disneyland they played the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" which comes from a Disney movie that few living today have ever seen - "Song of the South". Because the movie features themes that would be outrageously politically incorrect these days, Disney has never released the movie to video or DVD. They haven't completely hidden the film from sight, though, as the Splash Mountain ride features scenes and songs from that film, though they leave out the black star of the film or any references to the "tar baby".

Disney chairmen Bob Iger is now considering the release of this groundbreaking film:

Walt Disney Co.'s 1946 film "Song of the South" was historic. It was Disney's first big live-action picture and produced one of the company's most famous songs -- the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It also carries the story line of the Splash Mountain rides at its theme parks.

But the movie remains hidden in the Disney archives -- never released on video in the United States and criticized as racist for its depiction of Southern plantation blacks. The film's 60th anniversary passed last year without a whisper of official rerelease, which is unusual for Disney, but President and CEO Bob Iger recently said the company was reconsidering. ...

"Song of the South" was re-shown in theaters in 1956, 1972 and 1986. Both animated and live-action, it tells the story of a young white boy, Johnny, who goes to live on his grandparents' Georgia plantation when his parents split up. Johnny is charmed by Uncle Remus -- a popular black servant -- and his fables of Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox, which are actual black folk tales.

Remus' stories include the famous "tar baby," a phrase Republican presidential hopefuls John McCain and Mitt Romney were recently criticized for using to describe difficult situations. In "Song of the South," it was a trick Brer Fox and Brer Bear used to catch the rabbit -- dressing a lump of hot tar as a person to ensnare their prey. To some, it is now a derogatory term for blacks, regardless of context.

The movie doesn't reveal whether it takes place before or after the Civil War, and never refers to blacks on the plantation as slaves. It makes clear they work for the family, living down dirt roads in wood shacks while the white characters stay in a mansion. Remus and other black characters' dialogue is full of "ain't nevers," "ain't nobodys," "you tells," and "dem days's."

"In today's environment, 'Song of the South' probably doesn't have a lot of meaning, especially to the younger audiences," said James Pappas, associate professor of African-American Studies at the University of New York at Buffalo. "Older audiences probably would have more of a connection with the stereotypes, which were considered harmless at the time.

"Pappas said it's not clear that the movie is intentionally racist, but it inappropriately projects Remus as a happy, laughing storyteller even though he's a plantation worker.

I've only seen a couple of clips from the movie. They were included in the "Sing-a-Long Songs" videos that we bought our kids when they were little. I would be interested in seeing the whole film.

As far as racism is concerned, there were a lot of things in early Disney films that would probably be considered racist today. Anyone who has seen "Dumbo" and the scene with the crows will recognize a lot of black stereotypes that would upset the politically correct today. However, most people are not stupid and are able to place things in historical perspective. The film has some good music, and the mix of live action and animation was innovative for its time. It should be released.