Episode 102 · Film year 1946
Song of the South (1946)
- Special Guests
- Bruce Bickley, Jim Korkis, Jason Sperb
Show notes
We celebrate Black History Month by looking at the controversial Disney film Song of the South. Based upon Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus tales, we discuss Ralph Bakshi's satire, Coonskin, and the complicated history of the Zip A Dee Doo Dah movie.
Watch
Links & resources
- Buy Bruce Bickley's Joel Chandler Harris: A Biography and Critical Study (opens in a new tab)
- Buy Jim Korkis's Who's Afraid of the Song of the South? And Other Forbidden Disney Stories (opens in a new tab)
- Buy Jason Sperb's Disney's Most Notorious Film: Race, Convergence, and the Hidden Histories of Song of the South (opens in a new tab)
- Buy Joel Chandler Harris's The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus (opens in a new tab)
- Buy Ralph Bakshi's Coonskin on DVD (opens in a new tab)
- Visit the Song of the South fan site (opens in a new tab)
- Visit the Uncle Remus fan site (opens in a new tab)
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Comments (6)
Anonymous very interesting. thanks for all your work. Really enjoyed it.Rob St. Mary Thank you, Anonymous, for listening! PLEASE DON'T HACK US! We are the friendlies! CHEERS! Rob St. Mary Co-host of "The Projection Booth"jeff joyner Hi guys, great job on this episode. I saw Song of the South in the theatre during one of the 1980s re-releases. I am almost positive it was advertised as being the last time the movie would be released theatrically. If it wasn’t, everyone knew about it because that is why I made a point of seeing it. My opinion of the movie was close to Mikes. I loved the animation segments. The live action, while beautifully shot played like an old soap opera. The following link is a funny parody of the “Disney Vault” discussion you guys had in this episode. Keep up the good work! http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/disney-vault-vt/n12033/Jay I just wanted to share the comment I made on the SNL video you shared, since it's in harmony with this discussion: "As a huge Disney fan, I must say this is filled with a bunch of Disney lies, misconceptions and rumors that are stupid and just aren't true. Yeah, I know it's comedy and it's supposed to be satire, but there are some *cough* not so smart people out there who will believe this junk to be true. Great job reinforcing those rumors. No company is great, but Disney is not as bad as people make it sound. Neither was Mr. Disney. It's funny how people who never met him say he was racist and anti-Semetic."
Andrew Great to hear Scatman Crothers at the end there - hadn't heard that one before but it was saying a lot and from the heart. Song of the South seems a natural fit for a Criterion or Criterion-style release. Its clearly an important film if not necessarily a good one.Rob St. Mary Jeff & Andrew, Thanks for the kind words! Glad you like the show. That "Scatman" song is from the opening of "Coonskin". What's interesting to me is that the first place I heard any of the sound from that film was in a sample used in a Ice-T song when I was in high school. THANKS FOR LISTENING! Rob St. Mary co-host of "The Projection Booth"