1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello, and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,440 Speaker 1: a show that strives to know at least a little 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: bit more history every day. I'm Gabe Blusier, and in 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: this episode we're talking about the most infamous movie in 6 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: Disney's proverbial vault, the rarely seen Song of the South. Spoilers, 7 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: You're not missing much. The day was November twelve, the 8 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: controversial Disney movie Song of the South, premiered at the 9 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. If you've never seen the film, 10 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: and there's a good chance you haven't, it takes place 11 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: us in an unnamed region of the South during the 12 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: reconstruction era. The simple story follows a young white boy 13 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 1: named Johnny who goes to live on his grandmother's plantation. There, 14 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: Johnny befriends an elderly black man named Uncle Remus, who 15 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: delivers moral lessons and life advice by telling him the 16 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: stories of Breyer Rabbit. Anytime Johnny runs into trouble, he 17 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: consults Uncle Remus, who has a story to fit every 18 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: issue and occasion. Most of the film's ninety minute runtime 19 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: is live action, a rarity for the Disney Studio in 20 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 1: those days. The other twenty minutes or so features animated 21 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,479 Speaker 1: depictions of the stories told by Uncle Remus. In these 22 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: three hand drawn segments, viewers see how the cunning Breyer 23 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: Rabbit outwits his hungry foes Breyer Fox and Breyer Bear, 24 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: and in case you're wondering, Breyer is a Southern dial 25 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: electic take on brother, not the word Briar. Song of 26 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: the South has been the subject of controversy since before 27 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: it even premiered. One of the primary criticisms is that 28 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: the movie never clarifies the relationship between its black and 29 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: white characters. Though ostensibly set during the reconstruction era. The 30 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: only indication of this comes in the last ten minutes 31 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: of the movie, when Uncle Remus decides to leave the plantation, 32 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: something he presumably wouldn't be permitted to do if he 33 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: was still enslaved by Johnny's grandparents. Either way, the film 34 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: presents an idyllic view of relations between its black and 35 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: white characters, or put another way, between plantation owners and 36 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: their formally enslaved workers. There's no hint of animosity or 37 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: resentment between them, and both sides are depicted as equally happy, 38 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: though one group is obviously better off than the other. 39 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,959 Speaker 1: Aside from this rose tinted view of history, the other 40 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: main criticism leveled at the film is that the Uncle 41 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: Remus character epitomizes the so called magical negro trope in Hollywood. 42 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: This is when a black character exists mainly to dispense 43 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: folksy wisdom to a white protagonist and has little to 44 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: no story or agency of their own. The discomfort from 45 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: this kind of portrayal is compounded by the fact that 46 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: all six screenwriters credited on the film were white, even 47 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: though its stories and characters are rooted in black storytelling. 48 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: Song of the South was adapted from the work of 49 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: Joel Chandler Harris, a white author who copied down the 50 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: folk tales he heard from enslaved black people and published 51 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: them himself to great success. Walt Disney had heard Harris's 52 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: Uncle Remus stories during his own childhood in Missouri. Decades later, 53 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: he purchased the film rights, viewing the stories as the 54 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: perfect vehicle for his company to break into live action filmmaking. 55 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: Walt had hoped to mimic the success of the Southern 56 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: epic Gone with the Wind, which had been released in 57 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: ninety nine and is still to this day the highest 58 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. To 59 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: help link the films in the public's mind, Walt cast 60 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: Hattie McDaniel, who starred and Gone with the Wind and 61 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: became the first black performer to win an Academy Award 62 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: for her role in it. Walt even arranged for Song 63 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: of the South to premiere at the same theater in 64 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: Atlanta were Gone with the Wind was first screened. That 65 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: decision embodies some of the production's deeper flaws. At the time, 66 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 1: the city of Atlanta was racially segregated. That means that 67 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: if black cast members were to attend the premiere, they 68 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: would have been separated from the rest of the cast 69 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: and crew. James Basket, the lead actor of the film 70 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: who portrayed Uncle Remus, chose to spare himself that indignity 71 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: and did not attend the event. It would have been 72 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: easy to hold the premiere in a city where everyone 73 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 1: involved could have attended on equal footing, but Walt was 74 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: chasing the prestige of Gone with the Wind, even at 75 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: the expense of his own caste comfort and dignity. A 76 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: little over a year after Song of the South's premiere, 77 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: James Basket received an Honorary Academy Award for his role 78 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: in the film, making him the first black male performer 79 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: to ever receive an OSCAR. As For the box office, 80 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: Song of the South made just two hundred and twenty 81 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: six thousand dollars on a budget of over two million. 82 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: As you can probably guess, that's a whole lot less 83 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: than what Gone with the Wind made. Reviews of Song 84 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: of the South weren't so hot either. The technical artistry 85 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: was praised, including the dynamic anime its sequences, and the 86 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: blending of animated characters with live action performers like when 87 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:10,599 Speaker 1: a cartoon Bluebird lands on Uncle Remus's shoulder. However, the 88 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: film story was branded as predictable, saccharine, and pretty dull. 89 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: As you might expect, most attractors focused on the film's 90 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: flawed depiction of race and history. The n double a 91 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: CP picketed the premier, and one of the organization's leaders, 92 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: Walter Francis White, condemned the film for perpetuating quote, a 93 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: dangerously glorified picture of slavery. In his review for the 94 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: Afro American newspaper, Richard dear labeled the movie quote as vicious, 95 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: a piece of propaganda for white supremacy as Hollywood ever produced. 96 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: Despite the backlash, the film's black cast members defended their work. 97 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: In an interview, Hattie McDaniels said quote, if I had 98 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: for one moment considered any part of the picture degrading 99 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: or harmful to my people, I would not have appeared 100 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: therein Her co star James Baskett felt similarly. He said, quote, 101 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: I believe that certain groups are doing my race more 102 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: harm in seeking to create dissension than can ever possibly 103 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: come out of the Song of the South. Negative press aside. 104 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: In the first few decades following the film's premiere, Disney 105 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: routinely re released it to theaters. The first time was 106 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six, followed by return engagements in nineteen 107 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: seventy two, nineteen eighty, and finally in nineteen eighty six. 108 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: To this day, there hasn't been an official home video 109 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: release of the movie in the United States. Disney no 110 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: longer distributes Song of the South to theaters, and you 111 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: definitely won't find it streaming on Disney Plus. But the 112 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: company didn't bury the film completely. In fact, they've continued 113 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: to make money off it for the past forty years. 114 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: If you're like me, you never saw a Song of 115 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: the South as a kid, but you did watch a 116 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: Disney sing along VHS tape that included the Zippity Doo 117 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: Dah musical sequence from the film. That song won an 118 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: OSCAR for Best Original Song, and it took on a 119 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: life of its own Apart from the movie. The Jackson 120 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: Five did their take on it, as did everyone from 121 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: Miley Cyrus to Louis Armstrong. It was also a fixture 122 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: of the Disney parks, playing in a loop with other 123 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: cheery songs, though it has been pulled from that rotation 124 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: in recent years. Speaking of the Disney parks, I can't 125 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: end the show without mentioning Splash Mountain, the Song of 126 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:52,719 Speaker 1: the South themed ride that's still in operation as of one. 127 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 1: The popular log Flume ride borrows its characters, songs, and 128 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: locations from the movies animated segments, and features several animatronic 129 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: figures of Breya Rabbit, Brea Fox, and Brear Bear. The 130 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: ride was launched at Disneyland in nine, three years after 131 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: the movie's last release in theaters. It was later copied 132 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: into other Disney parks, in Florida and Tokyo, the designers 133 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: sought to avoid controversy by leaving out Uncle Remus and 134 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: other controversial elements of the movie and sticking just to 135 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: the adventures of Breya Rabbit. As for the name Splash Mountain, 136 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: that was suggested by then CEO Michael Eisner as a 137 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: strange and misguided way to promote Splash four, movie, in 138 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: which Tom Hanks plays a man who falls in love 139 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: with a mermaid. Today, many park guests love Splash Mountain, 140 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: but have no idea of its ties to Song of 141 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: the South or to Splash for that matter. However, in 142 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, Disney announced that the Splash Mountain ride in 143 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: California and Florida will eventually be re themed to the 144 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: two thousand nine animated movie The Princess and the Frog. 145 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: At the time of recording, no timeline for those changes 146 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: has been announced, and the Song of the South theming 147 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: is expected to remain at the park in Tokyo. In 148 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 1: the years since its release, the controversy around Song of 149 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: the South has grown larger and larger, partly because Disney 150 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: has made the films so inaccessible even as they continue 151 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 1: to market and monetize portions of it. In other ways, 152 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: there's an argument to be made for releasing the film 153 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: for posterity. It does contain a standout performance by James Basket, 154 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: and there are some lovely bits of animation and music, 155 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: but by and large, the movie just doesn't deserve the 156 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,719 Speaker 1: infamous status it's gained. Even if you look past their racism, 157 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: which is kind of the whole thing, you're left with 158 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,319 Speaker 1: a bland, not very good movie that would probably bore 159 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: most modern children, not to mention adults except for Zippity Dud, 160 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: that song still slaps. I'm Gabe Louisier and hopefully you 161 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,560 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 162 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's show, consider following us 163 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t D I HC Show. 164 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: And if you want to tell me how badly you 165 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: cringed when I used the word slaps, you can register 166 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: your complaint by writing to this Day at I heart 167 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 168 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,959 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 169 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another Day in History class. For more 170 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart radio, app, 171 00:11:57,280 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or where ever you listen to your favorite shows.