Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs <<gardenrooms: While the stories in Song of the South were very memorable, the actual stories as written down are VERY dark and scary. As a new teacher, I wanted to share some of this cultural heritage with my students, especially since they LOVE my Disneyland CD and especially the music from Splash Mountain, but they have no idea who any of the characters are or what kind of trouble Br'er Rabbit gets himself into, but found I really couldn't. Probably like the original fairytales, I imagine these stories helped the slaves cope with some of the terrible things that happened in their own lives so many of the stories treat matter-of-factly some very sad and/or scary happenings.>> I actually found the tales of Uncle Remus at my local library (all four volumes) and read them when I was in junior high. These would be the one by Julius Lester and are in 'modern' English. They are the complete tales, but easier to read. A few years ago I found The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus at Borders and bought it; this is the one with original illustrations and written in the Southern dialect. I found the Tar Baby waving to you on the cover to be cute. Here is what the books look like; You'll want to look at the first and third items in the list: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/104-1286206-6950354?platform=gurupa&url=index" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/searc h/ref=br_ss_hs/104-1286206-6950354?platform=gurupa&url=index</a>%3Dblended&keywords=uncle+remus
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs Let's try that again... <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/104-1286206-6950354?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&keywords=uncle+remus" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/searc h/ref=br_ss_hs/104-1286206-6950354?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&keywords=uncle+remus</a>
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs Curses... anyway, both those books can also be found in bookstores such as Borders and Barnes & Noble.
Originally Posted By seanyoda Here's 5BR's link... <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ksuk8" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/ksuk8</a>
Originally Posted By mawnck >>One might get this movie on DVD off of Ebay for not too much.<< But not legally.
Originally Posted By kennect OK, I did the link in the first message...Now where is the bit about this film...If it is there I don't see it....For anyone wanting the film it seems that Disney doesn't care that numerous folks are ripping them off on Ebay...But wait, you don't even to pay for it...It is all over the place on file sharing sites....It is a great little film that deserves to be released...Of course it will have critics responding to the socalled racial apsects of it....Those folks will scream about this film but they don't seem to say anything when "Gone with the Wind" gets its lastest restoration release...The film is a classic and Disney should be proud of it instead of hiding or shying away from a major home release of it....
Originally Posted By littlelorilove I would love to see ''SONG OF THE SOUTH''come out on a dvd. I tried to talk about it to some people, but they do not remember it.
Originally Posted By basil fan Could they slap a big ugly rating on it, like NC-17, so that no impressionable kiddies will see it and be turned into racists? Only us grown-ups could buy it. Just a thought. The Great Mouse Detective <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/basil/bakerst.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ basil/bakerst.html</a>
Originally Posted By kennect Basil, I guess they could but I don't get what the big deal is about it...Other than Uncle Remus is black...I just can't seem to remember anything about being black in the film more offensive than what we have seen in other films that are constantly shown to the public...Is the term "tar baby" offensive? I am just saying that off the top of my head...It has been so long since seeing the film I can't remember if it is in there or not...All I know is we have a historic tribute to the writer of the stories here in Atlanta...Now shouldn't we be ashamed of having such here? Apparently not....To me this debate is about nothing...I can't imagine that the Disney company would get major grief over a film that so many love...From my view I can't even see how race figures in to the whole thing....
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Well except for the fact that the movie takes place on a slave plantation prior to the Civil War. And the major character in the movie is the son of the Plantation Owner. All the blacks in the movie are slaves. Don't get me wrong. Good or bad its part of our place. I do remember the movie and find it to be optimistic and uplifting. Its a great movie and should be released even if its just on mail order DVD.
Originally Posted By seanyoda ^^ One of the faults of the film is the nebulous time period. Still, when I first saw the film, I had the impression that it took place during Reconstruction. Later on, I read David Koenig's "Mouse Under Glass" which includes the following: << Although [the film's storyman, Dalton S.] Reymond had set the action in the Reconstruction period, there was little evidence of it. >>
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>Well except for the fact that the movie takes place on a slave plantation prior to the Civil War. And the major character in the movie is the son of the Plantation Owner. All the blacks in the movie are slaves.<< This is one of the great misconceptions about this film. It is clearly set during the period after the Civil War. The little boy's parents do not own a plantation; he is visiting his grandmother. The blacks in the film are not slaves, they have been liberated. That said, a legitimate complaint with this film is that it does depict a decidedly paternalistic view of race relations during Reconstruction. The blacks in the film are happy to live on the plantation where they had previously been slaves. That this issue is not addressed in the film is not surprising, since the intention was to simply create a framing device to present some of the famous Uncle Remus stories. When the film was released, it was considered quite inoffensive. Walt was very much aware that Gone With the Wind had created residual bad feelings in the black community. He had no desire to have anything controversial in this film. But times and attitudes change. That, coupled with some basic misunderstandings about Song of the South have moved it off the cultural radar.
Originally Posted By basil fan << Although [the film's storyman, Dalton S.] Reymond had set the action in the Reconstruction period, there was little evidence of it. >> The tip-off is when Uncle Remus refuses to stop telling Johnny stories, yet he is neither beaten nor sold. Then, when he gets fed up with Mrs. Harris, he up and leaves the plantation. Beyond Experiment 626 <a href="http://www.whatistsgalore.com/disney/stitch.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatistsgalore.com/ disney/stitch.html</a>
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <This is one of the great misconceptions about this film. It is clearly set during the period after the Civil War. The little boy's parents do not own a plantation; he is visiting his grandmother. The blacks in the film are not slaves, they have been liberated.> Yes, good points---I was gonna bring that up too. Of course, with so many people not having the film, many remember/think of it that way. It's so surprisingly inoffensive IMO when you watch it.
