[wallinbl]

I've been reading the stories to my kids and wanted to get the movie, but turns out they never released it to video due to fears of backlash over the content.

[Eug]

I saw parts of it, and it didn't come across to me as particularly racist, but that's taking into account the time it was made. I have it on DVD, recorded off VHS, which in turn was recorded off TV.

I can't say I remember much from the movie though. It's probably because I didn't bother watching the whole thing.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Politically incorrect? Absolutely, yes. Racist? No. Worth watching? ehh...

[ghporter]

CRASH is right-in our "enlightened" times, Song of the Souty is extremely politically incorrect. But it incorporates lots of old tales that are really good morality stories told in clever and interesting ways. The animation's great too, as are the songs, particularly "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"

But today, you can't even get a well-educated person to get the point that a story like Little Black Sambo is NOT racist. It's not even about anyone of African descent-It's about an INDIAN boy who uses his brains to outsmart TIGERS (who ever heard of tigers in the American South?)! Gee, clever poor kid wins out through using his noggin-can't sell that anywhere!

Yes, I think it's absurd. And a waste of heritage.

[scottiB]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

But today, you can't even get a well-educated person to get the point that a story like Little Black Sambo is NOT racist. It's not even about anyone of African descent-It's about an INDIAN boy who uses his brains to outsmart TIGERS (who ever heard of tigers in the American South?)! Gee, clever poor kid wins out through using his noggin-can't sell that anywhere!

In the mid-70s, I remember a Denny's-like restaurant named "Sambo's" and the story was told in pictures on the menus.

[andi*pandi]

they had to change the name because of "racist" outcry.

I remember liking the stories when I was a kid--I had the record--and yes, it was all old folk tales about being clever.

[voiceofra]

Racist? No.
A window in to how the the era viewed people, culture, race, etc? Yes.
Little Black Sambo, Uncle Ben, Aunt Jemima, Blackface theater...signs of the times.

[KeriVit]

I would love to own the movie. It's quite a tale. But, I understand some of the issues people have with it. However, there is a petition to try to get Disney to release it, for whatever good that will do.

[Rev-O]

The original stories are wonderful, but would make the PC crowd today cringe. The movie, while one of my favorites, is at least wildly inaccurate and at worst racist. Still a great flick with great music. People outraged by this kind of stuff need to move on and find a different windmill to tilt at.

[CIA]

Heh, my late grandfather was called in by Disney himself to re-write the original script. He was a Jewish man, and was hiding his affiliation with communism, (yeah, crazy, I know) and Disney figured that no one would protest the movie since it was written by a Jewish man. Later, my gramps got blacklisted by and never worked in Hollywood again. I believe it's the only full length movie Disney has removed from their catalog.

The script was a lot more more offensive in earlier drafts it seemed... I like the movie, but people new to it definatly need to be reminded when it was made. It was a different time in our nations history. Have you seen "Birth of a Nation" recently?

[finboy]

The original stories are considered some of the classic literature of the South, or WERE considered that, until the revisionists got hold of it.

All I know is that my grand-daddy's mammy told them to HIM, and to my father and then we got them as kids. When the movie was re-released in the early 70s, we already knew all of the stories. I can remember thinking "what a wise old man" about Uncle Remus, without even caring what color he was. I doubt that society will allow my kids to grow up without paying attention to color/nationality/etc. There's too much money and power in race-baiting.