Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

So, for some reason last week in my audio class, we got into a discussion about the old Disney movie, "The Song of the South." You might remember that movie to be the origin of that infectious little song, 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.' Well, anyway, we were talking about how it isn't produced in on DVD in the United States because it contained a number of racist themes. I wanted to find out for myself, so I obtained a rare copy of it and watched it this weekend, and I have concluded that Disney doesn't produce it on DVD because...well...it sucks.

This has to be one of the worst Disney movies ever made. It was made as the first in a series of live action/animation movies. As a matter of fact, James Baskett, the actor who played 'Uncle Remus', was the first live actor that Disney ever cast. This is what it says on the IMDB:

His portrayal of Uncle Remus in "Song of the South" was the crowning achievement of his career, for which he won an honorary Academy Award. Ironically, his performance cannot be seen in the United States as Wat Disney Co. will not release the film on the home video market due to the controversial nature of the film, which was denounced as racist by the NAACP when it was premiered in 1946. a further irony is that the NAACP currently has no public stance on the film.

I found this to be interesting since they have a public stance on pretty much everything else.

I didn't find the film to be blatantly racist at all. I did find it odd that the "slaves" were portrayed as very happy people. I also thought it odd that a group of "slaves" singing a black spiritual were obviously dubbed over with a white choir. Anyway, back to my point about it just being a crappy movie.

It was made in 1946 when Disney first developed the technology to have live actors be on screen with animated characters. Obviously, Disney decided that instead of waiting for a decent script or interesting story, they would grab the first thing they could think of that showcased this new technology. It happened to be this story about an old black man who told stories about a rabbit and a fox. Disney thought, "That's great because we can animate the rabbit and the fox and the other stuff can be real!"

Well, the project was green-lit and "Song of the South" was produced. Besides "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" there is really no other redeeming quality in this movie. However, the young actor who plays the lead boy, Johnny. He had a screwed up life. His name was Bobby Driscoll and well, this is what it says on the ole IMDB:

Bobby Driscoll's life was a short and sad story. Charming as a child actor, he made his mark in films like Song of the South (1946) and Treasure Island (1950). Unfortunately, as he got older and acting offers became fewer, he got involved with hard drugs, which ultimately ruined his health and reduced him to poverty. Years of drug abuse severely weakened his heart, and he died of a heart attack alone in a vacant building in New York.

Now that is sad.

So, afterwards, Disney went and conquered the live action/animation genre with much better films like, "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", "Mary Poppins", and who can forget, "Pete's Dragon."

So most likely we won't ever see a DVD release of "Song of the South" but if you ever do get to watch it, just remember one thing: In 1946, Disney was still learning to make timeless movies.