GrimPrecise
I'll tell you why so serious
Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Tymon Sutton
The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
mark.waltz
Only one thing in this film disturbs me: the implications of violence towards Brer Rabbit from Brer Bear and Brer Fox. First, they want to cook him alive, then Brer Bear with his big club wants to bash his head in. They stupidly forget their initial intentions of eating him by tossing him into a briar patch to supposedly bleed to death from the sharp thickets. I did not recall this from my only viewing of this back in an early 1970's rerelease but I think that part as an 8 year old would have disturbed me. I however was extremely touched by the affectionate friendship between young Bobby Driscoll and the sweet character of Uncle Remus played with great heart by James Remus. Obviously a former slave, Uncle Remus was either too tired to fight his battles, more concerned with helping young Driscoll learn about humanity by teaching him about dealing with real life rather than the racial tensions and hatred between adult whites towards blacks, now free if not completely liberated.I recall as a youngster having my own Uncle Remus with my preschool teacher, an elderly black woman, whom my parents would hire as a baby sitter. Like Uncle Remus, she told my siblings and I stories, played games with us, and embedded herself into my memory with her loving nature and humanity, subtly teaching us about the evils of racism without preaching or lecturing. She reminded me of a combination of Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniel with her gregarious nature, and seeing the gentle but no nonsense performance of McDaniel here, confirmed my memory. Unlike her mammy in "Gone With the Wind", her character here isn't overly cynical, quite gentle and closer to Louise Beavers' character in the Bobby Breen folklore "Way Down South". While the bear and fox are the official villains, it's Driscoll's mother (Ruth Warrick) who is the human antagonist, ordering Bassett to stop telling Driscoll the same stories he had told her as a child. Warrick against the will of her own mother (Lucille Watson), as gentle a plantation owner that you can imagine, and a character greatly white washed, especially when she sweetly tells Bassett that she could never be mad at him. Warrick quickly realizes her mistake, setting up an emotional vigil when Driscoll is injured. The look on the face of Driscoll's young black friend Toby during this ordeal expresses the innocence of children who sometimes have more wisdom and sense than adults.Certainly, this film has its questionable moments, but there are so many timeless values to learn from this. Audiences today are smart enough to realize that life in the post-civil war South was not all singing and fun for the former slaves who were trying to make their own lives after decades of slavery. If you are not touched by the special relationship between Driscoll and Bassett, then try to open your heart to the final reprise of the Oscar-winning Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah when everything comes together and truly is satisfactual.
colaof
I'm 30 years old, and before today I had never even heard of Song of the South. After learning of it I knew that I had to see it, and judge it for myself. Well, I did, and I thought it was a pretty good movie. Is it the best Disney has to offer? In my opinion, no, but had I been allowed to see it as a child I might have viewed it more highly than I do as an adult. For the life of me I can't understand why Disney banned it. Because it portrays slaves as happy? Because it portrays them at all? It's a kids movie, and one that was made when segregation was still prevalent for that matter. Frankly, I'm surprised a movie like this got made at all in 1946. With everybody up in arms over political correctness these days, I feel Song of the South hasn't got a chance of getting an updated release, and it's a shame. My four year old watched part of it with me, and he thought the animated scenes with Br're Rabbit were hilarious. I'd love to see a version of this movie cleaned up and restored as the version I saw was pretty dark, and some parts were hard to make out. It baffles me how James Baskett could win an honorary Oscar for his role as Remus, and Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah could win for original song, and then Disney pretend that this movie never even existed. How does this happen? It's a disgrace that more children aren't given the chance to see Song of the South. I hope one day that changes, but for now I'm not going to hold my breath, and just be glad I was fortunate enough to see it at all.
Rainey Dawn
This is a very good movie. In all honesty I think that if James Baskett (Uncle Remus) felt in any way this movie was racist then he would have never accepted the role (just my opinion). And he was so wonderful as the story-teller Uncle Remus! Uncle Remus is really is a wholesome character, with good morals and a wonderful teacher.Segregation was alive and well during the time of this film - and what is so good about the film - it shows how people of different races and backgrounds can come together. There *might be* an underlying and deeper message to this film - we can desegregate ourselves and live in peace with one another.On a lighter note - there is a fun yet meaningful cartoon withing the live-action picture. Plus this film contains one of Disney's most popular and famous songs 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" 8/10
The_Rook
The sad truth is this movie is part of our American History and yet because of labeling for no legitimate reason the movie is not sanctioned by those like the NAACP. The irony is movies that are offensive to other Americans are granted free license for distribution because there is a double standard.Song of the South is merely a tale like many fairy tales told prior to the 1960s. This tale is told from a perspective of the South that is closer to the truth of our culture at that time than some want to reflect on. As a child I saw this movie and it did not skewer my ideas about any people in the movie at all. It was the animals and the music that are the true entertainment. I hope some day everyone of every color will appreciate that and stop censoring anything they don't think reflects them as perfection throughout history.
