After about 25 years, I finally had the chance to watch Disney's "Song of the South" again. My children had never seen it before--only the "Zippadee Doo Dah" song on a sing-along tape--so I was glad for them to watch. I know that nowadays it is considered a very politically incorrect movie & that's why it isn't sold here, but the film was made in a different era and about a period in history that no longer exists, and putting aside the racial stuff, it is good storytelling and keeps alive those interesting Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris. Harris painstakingly wrote them in the actual dialect, specifically to preserve that type of speech along with the stories themselves. Seeing this movie as a kid, it was one of my very favorite Disney movies. Having seen it as an adult more than once, it is no longer necessarily my favorite, but I still am fascinated and entranced by it. I enjoy the live action storyline of the kids and Uncle Remus and the adults (who don't quite understand), and the cartoon segments involving Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox are very colorful and fun. James Baskett is very believable as the storytelling Uncle Remus; the two kids, Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten, are cute; Hattie McDaniel plays Sis Tempy as only she could; and it was wonderful to see the young Ruth Warrick in the role of the boy's mother. Yes, the racial stereotypes are there, but every era has its own stereotypes and that is not a good enough reason for me to ban an entire film, sorry. I am glad I was able to finally view this again and for my children to have the opportunity as well.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
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