Posts Tagged ‘Song of the South’

Glee Season Finale — Sue Sylvester and the Briar Patch

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Last night’s episode of Glee got off on the right foot with a snarky nod to Song of the South. Sue Sylvester, the deliciously evil cheerleading coach, takes a shot at Will Schuster, the dopey glee coach:

“Your hair looks like a briar patch. I keep expecting racist, animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing about living on the bayou.”

Gosh, I’m not sure whether to buy Sue a drank or punch her in the throat.

I’m thankful that the writers at Fox (a) finally made a fresh joke about Will’s hair; (b) specified that the racist characters are Disney’s; and (c) had Sue Sylvester deliver the line on the season finale.

Yet as much as I like getting folks to think about the Uncle Remus stories, I can’t say that I’m thrilled that this dimension of Song of the South is being perpetuated in prime time. Sue Sylvester is always over the top, and this is no exception. But given the film’s, uh, reputation I don’t think people will take it as such.

And seriously, how many people watch Glee? Millions!

How many people have watched this video of Akbar telling the story of Brer Rabbit and the Briar Patch? Like, 4. And half of them can’t tie their shoes.

It’s awesome that Glee provided such a great reference to Brer Rabbit, but it’s a shame that it further brands him as something so negative.

Also, can we talk about how it’s at least a little ironic that a show so reliant on stereotypes is calling out other stereotypes?

Walt Disney’s Giant Golden Book: Uncle Remus Stories (1949)

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These illustrations of the Uncle Remus Golden Book are a delight.  Thank you, International Animated Film Society.

It’s a Disney book, but instead of having 3 stories like Song of the South, it’s got twelve.

Coincidentally, this particular illustration reminds me of Fantastic Mr. Fox too.   Oh!  And look: compare this picture from Disney to this one from Sid and Marty Krofft(!).

Song of the South Anniversary on WABE’s City Cafe

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Our local NPR affiliate WABE invited me to stutter speak on City Cafe the other day in light of the recent anniversary of Song of the South.

I sat down to speak with the indefatigable John Lemley about the controversy surrounding the film and its relationship with Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus stories.  Listen to the podcast here.

Unfortunately, while at WABE I did not see Lois Reitzes and thus could not challenge her to a rap battle.

1946 Promotional Program for Song of the South

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Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the release of Song of the South.

Weirdly enough, Disney first chose to market the film as an “Old South Romance.”  Here’s the cover from its 1946 program:

Bizarre, right?  It’s less Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and much more Gone with the Wind.

The program — 16 pages in all — gets a lot more relevant once you get past the cover. I’ve included it in its entirety below.  You’re welcome.

I dig this illustration that’s on the inside of the cover.  With this one exception, I’ve tried not to crop much out (as much as our almost-large-enough scanner allowed).

Remember, you can click on the pictures to zoom in and read the (quite lucid and informative, though sometimes not so factually accurate) text.  Enjoy!

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Tracy Morgan on Saturday Night Live: Uncle Jemima’s Mash Liquor

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Back before Tracy Morgan hit the big time on 30 Rock, he was consistently bizarre and hilarious on Saturday Night Live.

Here he is in a sendup of Aunt Jemima and Song of the South:

I can’t believe it’s taken me until today to post this clip.

You might think I’d have something to say here about dialect, stereotypes, or the conflation of Uncle Remus and Aunt Jemima.  Normally, you’d be right, but it’s Friday so I’ll leave that part up to esteemed journalist Reese Cleghorn:

“[Joel Chandler] Harris did not like the confusion between his authentic use of dialect and the minstrel-variety use of it, which usually simply amounted to the telling of racist jokes. He said he once intended “to apologize for the plantation dialect,” but then he realized that some of the greatest of English literature–in Chaucer, for example–is in the form of authentic dialect.”

That said, I think Tracy Jordan is so, so funny.  You might not.  If that’s the case, consider us broken up.  Seriously, did you not hear this nugget from last week’s episode of 30 Rock?

When Legends Gather

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Luana Patten, Ruth Warrick, and Bobby Driscoll join Joel Chandler Harris, Jr. and Richard B. Russell for the premier of Disney’s Song of the South.

Apologies to If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There’d Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats.

Writing (and Righting) History on Wikipedia

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A few weeks ago I was inspired to start editing the Joel Chandler Harris Wikipedia page when I read an article based on erroneous facts about Harris quite obviously culled from Wikipedia, everyone’s favorite encyclopedic punching bag.

Wren’s Nest Blog Original Gangstas might recall this is not our first encounter with the Joel Chandler Harris Wikipedia page.  Way back in 2007, one ambitious editor included some, uh, fan fiction –

Harris’ page hasn’t been vandalized again, but it has remained far from complete.  The criticism and praise of Harris were irrelevant, and the actual information on his life was minimal.

So, I decided to edit and expand the Joel Chandler Harris Wikipedia page as judiciously as possible, drawing from diverse, respected sources.

For a long time I felt uncomfortable editing Wikipedia on a topic where I have such an inherent, genetic bias.  But, I realized a few things once I started editing:

• Editing Wikipedia is a lot of fun.
• No matter how many times we link to the New Georgia Encyclopedia article and no matter how questionable the source, folks are going to use the Wikipedia page.
• Short of a Disney release of Song of the South and my subsequent interview on Oprah, this is probably the broadest way for us to execute our mission effectively.
• My work is only the start!

Please take a look at the article and let me know what you think.  If you’re feeling limber, I encourage you to help edit the article where you see fit.

I’m not quite done — particularly with the journalism section — but it’s a start at least.

Muppets Sing Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah with Alan Arkin

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David sends along this oddly violent clip of Alan Arkin on the Muppet Show.  The Muppets sing Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah, and Alan Arkin goes bonkers, terrorizing the animals.

Maybe we can reenact this when the Center for Puppetry Arts builds their Jim Henson wing.

Disney Buys Marvel, Crossover Speculation Ensues

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Yesterday Disney announced that it will buy Marvel Entertainment, famous for its comic book superheroes, for $4 billion.

Immediately folks began hypothesizing the potential crossovers between the worlds of Marvel and Disney.  Two of the most compelling Song of the South-related suggestions came from the Woot Blog:

Br’er Rabbit vs. Cyclops: Two brilliant tactical minds, fighting for the future of their outcast friends! They’re ready for anything – are you?

Power Man vs. Uncle Remus: The righteous fists of Luke Cage stand ready to drop a slaveship’s worth of pain on The Man’s favorite sharecropper – until a wise bluebird reminds him that we’re all brothers under the skin.

Luke Cage (a.k.a Power Man), a vestige of early 70s blaxploitation, is kind of a jive-talkin’ hero for hire.   He’s also one of the first African-American characters in the Marvel universe.  According to IMDB,  John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood, Shaft (2000)) is set to direct the film version, now being scripted.

Sounds familiar!

When the Uncle Remus stories debuted in 1880, Brer Rabbit revolutionized children’s literature.  Not only did the characters introduce children to animals that walked and talked with sass, but Harris created a fictional universe along the Big Road, where the critters co-existed in an often violent and amoral world.

Uncle Remus became one of the first fully-realized black characters in American fiction, unique in a subversive portrayal that bucked the minstrel tradition and gave a voice to the African-American oral tradition.

For the next 60 years, the Uncle Remus stories captured the imaginations of children around the world.  By 1939 Walt Disney, who had long dreamed to bring the stories to the big screen, bought the rights to the Brer Rabbit franchise for a whopping $10,000.

The rest is history.  Song of the South debuted in 1946 with great commercial success and ambivalent critical reviews.  The film has been perceived as more and more racist with each passing year, and Disney has neglected to release the film for home consumption in the United States.

The Disney Brer Rabbit and the Brer Rabbit of the African-American oral tradition are continually conflated.  And by “conflated,” I mean that “the Disney film is so iconic that many folks assume that the Disney version is the same as the stories written 60 years earlier, for better or worse.”  Usually worse.

It’s a shame, since Brer Rabbit serves as such a tremendous building block in our popular culture.  I’d hate to see Marvel’s characters suffer a similar fate if Disney ever deems them too controversial.

Previously:

• (500) Days of Summer and Happy Blue Birds
• Disney’s ‘Princess and the Frog’ Pre-Controversy Controversy Fun
• Disney to Release Song of the South on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2009

(500) Days of Summer and Happy Bluebirds

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Have y’all seen (500) Days of Summer?

If not, you should remedy that situation immediately.  It’s a charming lil’ piece of cinema.  It also sports a not-at-all subtle nod to Song of the South, as seen above.

It’s neat that despite attempts to sweep Song of the South under the rug, its cultural influence remains largely undiminished, especially in film.

I mean, it’s totally understood that a bluebird swooping in means good times aplenty.  And let me tell you — it’s a legit good times in the scene above, hoo boy.