Singing the "Song of the South"...

I was looking through my film collection today and ran across "Song of the South." What a great movie! Ever since I was a small child, I've loved this movie. And to me, one of the great tragedies, is that there's a whole generation out there that's never seen this movie. Why? Because there's some people out there that believe that this movie is racist and I believe that includes the fine people at Walt Disney. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the movie's original release. And I believe it's been about 25 years or so since its last release in the U.S. This is one of the best movies Disney ever made, and certainly with its combination of animation and live action, and great music it was ahead of its time when it was originally released (or at least state-of-the-art).

I've been told by some people, that I can't see the racism because I'm not black. That's pure BS; I know racism when I see it and it's not in this movie. Yes, it takes place on a plantation in post Confederate days, but the story is not about slavery or the effects of slavery or the emancipation or about the way black people were being treated at that time. There are no slaves in this movie; the blacks depicted are employees on a post Confederate War plantation. Maybe you don't like the way they spoke in the movie; get over it. They talked that way in real life. It's a story of a little boy and his friend Uncle Remus. The little boy is having problems with his parents, and Uncle Remus uses the stories about Brer Rabbit to help the boy understand. I think the movie shows blacks in a very positive light. And in that era it was way ahead of its time. Some have said that it should be released with some sort of explanation put in front of the movie to explain its historical position. To me, this is sort of like the Indian government wanting a fictional disclaimer at the beginning of the da Vinci code.

This is a very funny movie, and it has some really touching moments, not to mention some very toe tapping moments in its music. "Zippity Doo Dah" is probably one of the best-known songs of all time. Disney didn't seem to have a problem with insulting Arabs with their movie "Aladdin," nor American Indians with "Pocahontas," so what is there fear with "Song of the South?" which is benign in all its aspects.

Joel Chandler Harris learned the stories of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox from some elderly slaves George Terrell and Old Harbert and wrote them down. Harris wove complicated stories filled with humor and pathos and the "Song of the South" has obscured the true Uncle Remus tales that are more complex than presented in the movie, but because of censorship in the U.S. there's a whole generation of people who don't even know who Joel Chandler Harris is or how great his tales of the Briar Patch are. Having seen the movie as a child, I was eager to seek out the actual works to read more.

People who really want the movie have gotten copies of it from outside the United States, where Disney doesn't seem to have any problems with its release. So, Disney should release a 60th anniversary version of "Song of the South," and let's all sing "Zippity Doo Dah" all the way to "The Laughing Place." And the Disney Company can make a lot of money on a great film and laugh all the way to the banking place.