I think the most important takeaway from that series was how many people recognized the movie’s racism even at the time of its release.
8 Likes
3 Likes
Some have tried.
2 Likes
I’d be curious what the WPA oral history project from the New Deal era captured in regard to Black folklore. A fair number of those interviewed had been enslaved when they were young.
3 Likes
Many of them are online.
They’ve highlighted several for obvious reasons. (Ralph Ellison records a tale of an invisible man)
2 Likes
I’m surprised that De Santis hasn’t vomited an opinion on this yet.
3 Likes
It’s kind of heartening to see that, while right-wing bigots seem to be winning on almost every front over and over, when it comes to cold-hearted profit-driven megacorporations, racial sensitivity and inclusive representation are increasingly important. However loud they are, the bigots aren’t the majority, and Disney’s “fuck your (racist) feelings” attitude towards them in making their properties increasingly “woke” proves it.
5 Likes
When the only thing people remember about your movie is the, admittedly, catchy ‘Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah’, I think that says a lot. People only remember that one song, and not the rest of the horrible movie. I grew up with it on VHS and have made it a point to ask people who complain about the ride renovation if they’ve ever seen the movie. Only a couple have, and they always prevaricate with the same, “WELL IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME AND I LOVED IT AS A KID!”
1 Like
The company’s live-action films from that era were definitely hit-and-miss. Ever heard of So Dear to My Heart, or Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue or The Sword and the Rose?
2 Likes
Yup, Even I doubt they loved the whole movie as a kid. The live action sections are REALLY draggy. I doubt I would have sat though it as a kid in the 70s. I bet most just remember the animated sections cut out and standing on their own. Those are MUCH better as just film-making but still with shit tons of yikes.
Really, leave this one for film study class and just let the world move on.
(Sorry to the old furs I know that Stan Brer Fox: Seriously, We got better foxes these days, please lets just move on. Hell, move on to the 70s and just get with the fairly hot Robin Hood thank you very much.)
4 Likes
To be fair, even if the live action scenes were good, they are still racist as hell, which is, I think, the part that matters.
5 Likes
Cool. So can we get those animatronics refurbed and put back in the carousel building and restore America Sings? Innoventions was serious downgrade.
I was suggesting that on Twitter earlier.
Also :
It would likely tic off the Disney legal department no end if I commissioned a cartoon showing Br’er Rabbit capering around to distract some Klanners while Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox sneak up from behind with a club and a garrote.
4 Likes
I’ve seen it. It was officially available for sale in the UK for 18 years.
I think this says something about Disney and capitalism in general.
4 Likes
This is, I agree, weirdly cause for hope.
There’s no better sign that enlightened opinions on race/gender/etc are the majority than the fact that corporations are lining up to cater to those opinions. The fact that the Supreme Court had to be meticulously engineered into a tiny machine that can tear down those same beliefs is further evidence of what a minority that hatred is.
9 Likes
It was released in theaters in 1972, 1973, 1980 and 1986, so it’s probably been seen by millions of people who are still alive. I know “zippy doo dah”, I’m not sure if that’s from watching the movie as a kid or listening to a collection of Disney songs on an LP.
Or maybe from seeing one of the many parodies of it? Here’s a scene from the 1989 movie Fletch Lives:
1 Like
No, 1989 was just the other day, stored in the brain way before that.
2 Likes
I was born in 1979, and according to family lore the 1980 re-release was the first movie I saw in theaters. I definitely had a picture book about Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby (
), as well. And my parents were quite a bit to the left, politically!
2 Likes
