Monday, December 8, 2008
Brer Rabbit Stories by Akbar Imhotep
Posted by: lain // Category: Akbar Imhotep, Brer Rabbit, Joel Chandler Harris, Storytelling // 1:13 pm
Akbar has been telling stories at the Wren’s Nest since the beginning of time.
.
But only now have I gotten my hands on his album of Brer Rabbit stories. We’ve got ‘em for sale at the Wren’s Nest, but I’ll also put the stories up on our main Stories page.
Here, listen to these two stories while I’m fooling around, getting the rest uploaded.
Akbar Imhotep — How Brer Coon Gets His Meat
Akbar Imhotep — How Brer Bear Lost His Tail
The echo in the recording wasn’t my idea, no sir, but I’ll take it.
Comments: 0Song of the South 62nd Anniversary — Your Questions Answered
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Brer Rabbit, Good Questions, Joel Chandler Harris, Song of the South, Uncle Remus // 5:38 pm
Out of the many things we do not have in this museum, Song of the South is the one we field the most questions about.
In honor of both Song of the South’s birthday (release date: November 12th, 1946) and my mom’s birthday (release date: undisclosed) here are some frequently asked questions and our typical answers.
Do you sell Song of the South?
Why no, no we do not. In fact, no one has been selling Song of the South since it’s never been released for home consumption in the United States.
Song of the South is really racist, right? Is that why it’s banned?
Well, first of all, it’s not banned. It’s just not distributed in the US. It was a different story over in Great Britain and Asia until 2001. And to answer your other question, well… how about you read this enlightened opinion and let me know what you think.
But Disney doesn’t have anything to do with the movie now, right?
Aside for their most popular amusement park attraction, Splash Mountain, nope!
Was Joel Chandler Harris pleased with what they did with his stories?
Tough to say, since JCH passed away in 1908, 38 years before the movie’s release.
Well, what about his family?
They sold a handful of stories to Disney in 1939 for $10,000. On the one hand, yay! $10,000! Renewed interest! On the other, there was probably some self-kicking later.
Do y’all have a relationship with Disney now?
See: self-kicking later. Not even a few royalties, guys? Please?
No, but really: you guys can sell it to me, right?
Not even a little. Try eBay! Or piece together a few YouTube clips–
Anything we missed? Use the comments!
Related–
- GPB’s radio show, Georgia Gazette. Tonight Lain will be on it, discussing Song of the South! It airs at 6 pm, but don’t fret–you can download it on iTunes, too.
- “In Search of Uncle Remus.” The AJC covered the 60th anniversary of Song of the South. We’re featured prominently.
Brer Rabbit in New York Times Sunday Crossword — November 9, 2008
Posted by: lain // Category: Brer Rabbit, Challenges!, Good Questions, Not As Cruel Games // 3:54 pm
45 Across, 11 Letters:
Warning sign outside of Br’er Rabbit’s home?
If you’ve got a guess at the answer, leave it in the comments. I’ll give you a few days before I post the answer.
Thanks to Wren’s Nest Theme Song singer-songwriter Jamie for the tip. You can thank him too by picking up a new Cold Weather Pocket Field Guide from the Duck and Herring Company. Our very own Program Director Amelia is published in this one, so you know it’s funny.
Comments: 4Rudy Ray Moore — Dolemite, The Signifying Monkey, and Brer Rabbit
Posted by: lain // Category: Brer Rabbit, Hip Hop Musings, Rudy Ray Moore, Storytelling // 12:23 pm
Rudy Ray Moore–comedian, actor, singer, and the “godfather of rap”–passed away last week. He was 81.
Remember Dolemite?
That’s Rudy Ray Moore.
On Friday, the New York Times published his obituary. After chronicling some of his more foul-mouthed and explicit exploits, the obit points out–
Mr. Moore could be said to represent a profound strand of African-American folk art. One of his standard stories concerns a monkey who uses his wiles and an accommodating elephant to fool a lion. The tale, which originated in West Africa, became a basis for an influential study by the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., “The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism.”
In one of his few brushes with a national audience, Mr. Moore, in a startlingly cleaned-up version, told the story on “The Arsenio Hall Show” in the early 1990s. Other characters he described were new, almost always dirtier renderings in the tradition of trickster stories represented by Brer Rabbit and the cunning slave John, who outwitted his master to win freedom. (emphasis mine)
If we ever become museum with a curator and extra space, maybe we could develop an exhibit that explores Brer Rabbit’s influence in blaxploitation films and hip hop.
There’s quite a bit, really. From Brer Rabbit of Coonskin to B-Rabbit of 8 Mile, the influence of the trickster using his wits and his words is hard to underestimate in hip hop and its forbears.
And though Rudy Ray Moore may have been a little more vulgar than the folktales he updated, let’s not forget that Brer Rabbit himself was no saint.
For example, consider Brer Rabbit’s frequent visits to the house of “Miss Meadows and de gals.”
Miss Meadows and the gals live together in one house, have no visible means of support, and are often courted by Brer Rabbit, despite the Misses and Little Rabs at home. Smoking cigars and playing piano weren’t the only things they were doing, I’m sure.
Comments: 0CNN en Español at the Wren’s Nest — En Familia Video
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Brer Rabbit, Fame and Fortune, Joel Chandler Harris, Storytelling, Uncle Remus // 6:56 am
Have you ever wondered what the Wren’s Nest looks like in Spanish?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8245944374249364941Me neither.
But, this particular episode of En Familia (as opposed to its usual tripe*) is pretty cool. It’s about storytelling around the (spanish-speaking) world. We talked about this in August. You remember.
Things to look for — Akbar plays a prominent role, and then Amelia, Jeri, and I have small cameos. If you stick around to the end and look closely, you can see that I forgot to wear socks that day.
Finally, recall that we were worried about if anyone in Spain or Latin America had heard of Brer Rabbit or Joel Chandler Harris.
Welp, turns out that CNN Producer Kevin’s intern–from Chile–was all like, “OMG I totally have that exact book at home!” And she speaks for 350 million people, so obviously our worries were assuaged.
* I’m kidding, CNN. Sheesh.
Comments: 2Six Flags Over Georgia — Tales From the Okefenokee
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Brer Rabbit, Historic Preservation, Joel Chandler Harris, Sing Songery, Six Flags, Technological Advances // 10:52 am
Yesterday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured an article about Six Flags updating their darkwater ride, “Monster Plantation.”
Come 2009, the ride will be known as “Monster Mansion.”
Before Monster Plantation, however, there was “Tales from the Okefenokee.” The ride was based on Joel Chandler Harris’ critter stories. Here’s what it looked like when it debuted in 1967–
I do not know what is up with the child is that explains the ride, but it did scare me the first time I heard it.
Six Flags updated the ride in 1968 to something much, much trippier–
What just happened!?!
Of note:
- This article will give you more information than you ever needed about Tales from the Okefenokee.
- The first time I kissed a girl was on Monster Plantation. I was 24.
- Since we’ve worked so hard to put on our concert fundraiser tonight, Amelia and I are skipping work on Tuesday to go to Six Flags. We’ll return with a full report, annotated and footnoted.
- No really, #2 is true. Mostly.
Disney’s 1956 Joel Chandler Harris Tribute
Posted by: lain // Category: Brer Rabbit, Historic Preservation, Joel Chandler Harris, Sing Songery, Song of the South, Storytelling, Tar Baby, Technological Advances, Uncle Remus // 4:53 pm
This tribute to Joel Chandler Harris aired on the television show “Disneyland” on January 18, 1956 to coincide with the theatrical re-release of Song of the South. Walt Disney himself hosted the program.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5306178916172912157The video concludes with the Song of the South version of “The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story” (37:45).
Items of note–
1. Young Joel Chandler Harris is played by David Stollery, who went on to design the Toyota Celica A40 series in 1978. Thank you, David.
2. Joseph Addison Turner is depicted as Colonel Sanders himself. In reality he was probably 35 or so when he hired Harris.
See what I mean?
3. My apologies if this video gets taken down. If I go to jail for posting this, please call my mom.
Comments: 9Brer Rabbit’s Poorly-Timed Campaign for Atlanta’s Olympic Mascot
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Brer Rabbit, Celebrity Requests, Failed Attempts at Looking Reputable, Olympic Mascots, Shameless Promotion, Trickery // 2:22 pm
Yesterday I stumbled across some Olympic propaganda from 1995 — a few boxes of bumper stickers and books suggesting that Brer Rabbit should be Atlanta’s Olympic Mascot.
These were published well after the actual mascot was chosen. Izzy (né WhatIzIt) was, let’s say, not the most popular choice.
Here’s the bumper sticker–
And the book–
To be fair, anything would have been better than Izzy. Even I knew that as a nine year-old, and trust me — I was not a very bright nine year-old.
The book does make a pretty good case for Brer Rabbit–
“I mighta known you’d have a fit about the blue fuzzball,” said Brer Buzzard. “So have most of the rest of the folks. But it seems like what happened is that, when it came to the pickin’ of the mascot, the big guys in charge didn’t do their homework.”
“Don’t they know that we come from a proud tradition?” Brer Rabbit said. “Why, I can trace my own line back to Anansi and the great trickster heroes of Africa! Brer Fox ‘n Brer Bear ‘n the other critters, they go ‘way back too! Why, there’s trickster stories told about critters like us in just about every country in the world!”
“…don’t they know that the ordinary folks around here are proud of us? We kinda remind the people of Atlanta of themselves ’cause we’ve got the local sassy spirit ‘n quick wits! Whoever it was that decided to choose that blue thing, it was folks that don’t event know us!”
“They thought they knew who you were,” said Brer Buzzard. “They thought you and the other critters were stereotypes.”
“Whaddya mean stereotypes?” said Brer Rabbit. “We come from the real history of Atlanta. What’s that dumb lookin’ blue gizmo got for a history?”
Not much! Though given the reputation of the Atlanta Games, Izzy was perhaps the most appropriate mascot.
The final image in the book is particularly inspiring–
We’re totally going to start selling the book and the bumper sticker in the gift shop. Believe it or not, the campaign for nothing left us with a few extras.
Comments: 9Brer Rabbit and Friends at the Center for Puppetry Arts
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Birds of a feather, Brer Rabbit, Center for Puppetry Arts, Gussying up, Shameless Promotion, Sing Songery, Storytelling, What Would JCH Do? // 11:55 am
Thirty years ago, the Center for Puppetry Arts opened its doors and became the first puppetry center in the United States. Brer Rabbit and Friends was the very first show.
This month the Center is celebrating their 30th season with — you guessed it — Brer Rabbit and Friends. Pretty neat.
We invited the puppeteers over for a photo shoot at the Wren’s Nest to promote the show. It opens September 30th. You should go.
Note the Wren’s Nest admission sign from circa 1938: Adults, 26¢ and Children, 10¢.
Was a quarter not enough? Two bits weren’t going to get the job done? Greedy.
It’s cool that the puppeteers chose to take pictures on this part of the porch.
Joel Chandler Harris penned many of the Brer Rabbit stories in the exact same spot.
Close enough.
Since I’m on a deal making kick — if you see Brer Rabbit and Friends at the Center for Puppetry Arts, hang on to your ticket stub, bring it to the Wren’s Nest, and get a tour of the house for a mere 26¢ one dollar.
For tickets, check out Brer Rabbit and Friends at the Center for Puppetry Arts.
Comments: 3Rich’s Children’s Menu Featuring Brer Rabbit
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Brer Rabbit, Burritos and Other Fine Foods, Joel Chandler Harris, Marketing Tricks, Uncle Remus // 7:43 am
Southern historian Tim Hollis sent us this Rich’s Menu featuring Brer Rabbit and his critter friends–
Click here for the full menu.
Isn’t it weird that the tar baby recommends desserts, but included in those desserts is tar baby ice cream?
For those of you who never had the chance to go, Rich’s was an Atlanta-based department store, founded in 1867. It was like the Macy’s of the south until Macy’s acquired Rich’s in 2005.
Comments: 2