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.

Late Night Philosophy

I'll have to be honest with you folks. I'm feeling very lethargic lately. I have not felt hardly any drive whatsoever for what feels like a few weeks now. Because of this everything seems to be suffering: my grades, my comedy, my writing. I haven't even been able to enjoy some of these things. I don't know where this comes from, but I'm only writing because I need to force myself.

Often, I feel like I "need" to be funny. I feel that when people know that I'm a "comedian" the expectation is that I'm this hilarious person all the time. Tonight, for example, I attended a party that my wife's lab professor was throwing for members of his lab. This a big group of scientifically minded people, which immediately makes me feel uncomfortable. On top of that, they all know that I do stand-up comedy.

As I meet people I get comments like, "Oh, you're the comedian." or, "So, you're the funny guy." I really don't know how to respond to questions like this. I don't know what they expect. I often picture that in their minds I do some kind of little trick, like a monkey dancing around while a guy with a weird looking mustache cranks some kind of musical box. Then at the end of the dance I hold out my little hat and wait for the people to throw little coins inside. "Ta dah!" Here I am folks, the comedian.

It's like people asking me to tell them a joke. "You're a comedian? Well, tell us a joke." Next time someone does this I should respond with some witty cutting remark like, "You're an accountant? Well, do my taxes." This would be good because it would satisfy their desire to hear the joke as well as convey my loathing for that particular request.

Some comedians are "on" all the time. This means that no matter what the situation is, they are trying to entertain. I am definitely not one of those comedians. Some people, after they meet me, are surprised when they find out that I do comedy. I guess I don't come off as a funny person when I'm in normal situations. I really don't consider myself to be that funny. Every so often I'll come up with a really great response to something that is said during conversation, and when that happens I honestly feel very impressed with myself.

So why am I being so philosophical and boring? I don't know. It's really late and I just feel like I need to get this out. Why? Who knows. Nobody really reads my posts anyways. I get hits, but I don't think people really take the time to read the posts. Probably because most of my attempts at humor come up very short. I don't have much patience when posting a blog and so sometimes I end up writing things that I haven't fully thought out yet. This leads to trouble, and I've almost been sued because of it. (Maybe I didn't really get as close as I thought, but this guy's lawyer wanted to.)

I guess the bottom line is that I need to focus on writing about myself and my own experiences instead of trying to be funny. People would probably be more interested in what I really have to say instead of me trying to make a joke. If it turns out to be funny, it turns out that way.

Am I way off on this one? Please leave me a comment...please. (sniff, sniff)

Don Marco

Yet another video from Decaf Comedy Jam.

New Website Look

I renovated the look of my website. I added a new intro and changed the look of the homepage. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Spencer King: Comedian

fun with the flu!

Well, I have the flu. I'm not quite sure where I got it, but I have my guesses. My best guess is I got it from Floyd J. Phillips, who was sick when we went to do a gig in Grand Junction, CO. The crazy thing about the flu is that you always feel like you're freezing. I've been bundling myself up underneath a ton of blankets and then found out from my wife that it was a bad idea. As a matter of fact, my temperature went down an entire degree after I got outside of the blankets and put a cold rag on my head. So now my temperature is 101.9 degrees fahrenheit.

My wife is actually typing this for me as I sit here freezing and muttering words to her. If there's anything in this post that seems a bit off, it's probably because she took the liberty to write something that I didn't say. It is cool to have a scribe, though, because then you can just write how you think.

Now back to the flu. This couldn't have come at a worse time. I have a presentation tomorrow that I'm going to miss and I also needed to edit sound for the short film that I just got finished with. Hopefully my professor understands that I have the flu and that in the real world you don't knowingly go to any type of business meetings where you would infect *sneeze* the very same people that you're trying to sell something to.

Anyway, hopefully my wife doesn't get sick, because if I had to be her scribe, every other sentence would be something out of my own head.

So cold. So very cold.