I have Song of the South on video, recorded many years ago when it was shown on the BBC here in the UK and I watched it last week for the first time in a long time. I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed it, the acting was exceptional, the animation was superb and it is no 'The Birth of A Nation' despite what some groups would have anyone who hasn't seen it, believe. However, many people fail to realise the movie is actually set after the Civil War and during the time of reconstruction, something that is actually quite obvious when you watch it. Let me be clear, it doesn't change the fact that the people depicted in the movie, including Uncle Remus, were slaves at one time and that is the reason they live there.
No one seems to want to mention Ginny's family, the little girl who befriends Johnny, a white family who clearly are not wealthy plantation owners, but, the father may work for Johnny's family. I'm not going to say anymore concerning her as it could be spoilers, as you may get the opportunity to see it eventually.
As for the article, it fails to mention that James Baskett deservedly won an honorary Oscar for his outstanding performance, you may say he deserved to win best actor and I would say I completely agree. And you could also interpret what Uncle Remus says about times being better were not about in his lifetime, but, when his descendants were free in their own country, it is free for interpretation, as no one can say definitively.
Perhaps it would be a good time for Disney to release it and have an accompanying documentary about it, the history of slavery and the lives African Americans actually did lead in the South, the African American actors in the movie and what happened to freed slaves after Emancipation, when this movie is actually set. A good way to teach younger children Black history from an early age.
The actual story is about Johnny, who is confused when he and his mother return to her family plantation and without adequate explanation his father leaves immediately. While his grandmother is kind and loving, his mother is not at all maternal and doesn't understand how her son feels, she is more about appearances. Johnny finds a caring adult in Uncle Remus who tell him the Black folklore tales he probably grew up with himself of Brer Rabbit and all those in Brer Rabbit's world, good and bad. By the way, the main animated characters are related to several of the real life characters, which is how life lessons are learned by Johnny.
For me, the greatest tragedy of the decision not to release Song of The South is that no one will get to see James Baskett's wonderful performance as Uncle Remus, surely that is unacceptable? It's one of the most memorable performances in a Disney movie. The gentleman died not long after at the tragically early age of 44. Not to mention, the always marvellous Hattie McDaniel as Aunt Tempy. None of the African American characters are portrayed in a negative manner, there are no caricatures or overtly racist portrayals, unlike in Peter Pan.
As for Splash Mountain, what part of it is racist? People want to think it racist by association to SoTS and that is not a good enough reason. Splash Mountain is based on the tales of Brer Rabbit, the same way SoTS is based on them. For goodness sake, I saw a story of a woman who is attacking Kelloggs for having a cartoon monkey on boxes of Coco Pops, so let's have a go at Kelloggs on behalf of Chinese astrological signs because they also have a tiger and a rooster on their cereal boxes, not to mention the monkey.
Racism is abhorrent, but, let's focus on real issues surrounding it, and lets not go off on a tangent with theme park rides which are a distraction from the real problems faced by POC in America and in other countries. I would like to think we are more intelligent than that.