Song of the South (1946)

It inspired one of the most popular rides at the Disney parks, so let's take a look at the controversial Song of the South.

The Movie:

Song of the South was Disney's first movie incorporating live-action as part of the narrative storytelling.  (Disney had several earlier releases that incorporated live-action, but this was done in a documentary style.)  Though the animated segments were generally praised, the live-action segments were thought to be more lacking in Disney magic.  Also, even upon the film's initial release, the film faced some criticism for telling a generally upbeat story taking place during the Reconstruction Era.  Because of the controversy, Song of the South was last released in theaters in 1986 and has never been release on home video of any sort in the United States, though the animated segments have appeared in other anthologies.

Song of the South is essentially two different narratives, one live-action and the other animated.  The live-action segments are the movie's framework, and they take place in Georgia during Reconstruction.  They tell the story of a young boy named Johnny who moves with his mother to a plantation owned by his grandmother while his father returns to Atlanta for work.  Johnny is unhappy and wants to run away to his father in Atlanta, but he is stopped by the African-American sharecropper Uncle Remus, who keeps Johnny from running away by telling him the stories of Br'er Rabbit.  Over the course of the film, Johnny befriends an African-American boy Toby and a white girl named Ginny, and the three of them enjoy several stories as told by Uncle Remus.

The stories Uncle Remus tells are the animated segments.  These stories are old African-American folk tales as told by Joel Chandler Harris in his book Uncle Remus.  In each story, Br'er Rabbit is captured by Br'er Fox (sometimes with the help of Br'er Bear), and each time Br'er Rabbit uses creativity to outwit Br'er Fox and escape.

Ok, so let's get to the elephant in the room.  Is Song of the South racist?  I don't know if I'm really the best person to judge.  While the movie doesn't disparage African-Americans in any way, I can see how people might be offended by the idealistic portrayal of a harsh time in American history.  It's not The Birth of a Nation, while a milestone film from a technical standpoint, is indeed horribly racist.  I would put it along the lines of something like Gone With the Wind, which in many aspects hasn't aged well either.  However, Gone With the Wind isn't associated with a brand like Disney, which has become synonymous with family-friendly.  And nuance and historical considerations don't always mesh with family-friendly.

That said, how is the movie as a movie?  Well, I tend to agree with the critics on this one.  The animated segments are really well done.  The stories are fun, the voice work is nice, and the animation looks good.  However, the live-action story is somewhat less interesting.  Much of the acting is way too melodramatic.  The actor who does the best is James Baskett as Uncle Remus.  He was even awarded an honorary Oscar for this role, his last before he died.  Another Oscar winner is also in this movie, Hattie McDaniel, who was the first ever African-American winner for her role in Gone With the Wind.  The child actors Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten are the other well-known names as this movie marked the first of each for Disney.  (In fact, they were the first two actors to be put under contract with Disney under the old studio system.)  Their performances in this film are rather uneven.

Besides being controversial, Song of the South is best known for the Oscar winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert.  The song is one of Disney's best known, and it has become a part of the larger American culture, being named to AFI's list of Top 100 Movie Songs and MENC's collection "Get America Singing Again," a list of the essential songs of American culture.  The other two best known songs from the movie are "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place," also by Wrubel and Gilbert, and "How Do You Do?" written by Robert MacGimsey.  (These are also the songs used on Splash Mountain.)

Presence in the Parks:

Song of the South is the basis for the popular attraction Splash Mountain.  The Disneyland version began construction in Critter County (renamed from Bear Country) in 1987, and opened in 1989.  The versions in Magic Kingdom and Tokyo both opened in 1992, with the Magic Kingdom's version being placed in Frontierland since the park has no Critter Country.  The ride is a log flume ride that basically tells the story of the animated portions of Song of the South with animatronics.

Splash Mountain, Magic Kingdom, March 2007

Splash Mountain, Magic Kingdom, May 2015

It seems odd that Disney would even build such a popular attraction based on Song of the South in the first place, given how they are distancing themselves more and more from the movie.  However, it actually makes sense at this point.  Most people born in the last 30 years are probably more familiar with the ride than the movie, if they even know the story at all.  Thus with Splash Mountain, Disney can keep promoting three popular characters and one of their best songs without having to acknowledge Song of the South.  (And it's not like it would be the only case where a song was best known for being from a theme park ride.  See "It's a Small World," "There's a Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow," "Yo Ho! (A Pirate's Life for Me)," etc.)

Splash Mountain queue, Magic Kingdom, January 2001

Splash Mountain, Magic Kingdom, May 2015

As for the characters, Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear have been seen around the parks, but their appearances have been less common lately.