As the signatures add up on a petition in favor of re-releasing Song of the South, the Birth of a Nation of children’s movies, Disney has remained undecided on whether it will make the highly sought after 1946 film available for purchase or keep it tucked away.
Disney officials admitted recently that they are concerned that the images and messages in the movie would be misinterpreted by modern audiences without “appropriate context”. The movie is about a kind-hearted, black “plantation worker” named Uncle Remus who spins heart-warming tales to the white children of “big house inhabitants.” The bigger concern should be that kids will interpret the movie correctly, with or without disclaimers. I mean, it is what it is. All the more reason to keep it in the vault and let the Frog Princess (the in-production Disney animated feature starring a black heroine) alter the company’s pretty dismal racial legacy.
[AlterNet]
There are so many racialized cartoon characters that it’s nearly impossible to catalogue. My very left–Ha! Who am I kidding?–ONE of my very left professors lamented the racial depiction, but suggested that the Uncle Remus stories were still of much value. He said the same thing of Birth of a Nation.
To be frank, while I’ve never watched any Uncle Remus vehicle, and therefore won’t comment on any potential benefit–Birth of a Nation does have values that are found in its narrative (complicated) and in its production (less complicated).