Song of the South

Disney's 1946 film combines live action with animation and brings Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories to the screen. What it is chiefly known for now is not the film but what Disney has done with it: the company has never released it in any home video format in the United States and has never put it on Disney Plus. The reason is that the film depicts relations in the post-emancipation South as cheerful, harmonious and untroubled. Its portrayal of Black characters drew objections on first release; in 1947 protesters outside a cinema in Oakland carried signs saying they wanted films about democracy, not slavery. James Baskett, who played Uncle Remus, received an honorary award from the Academy for the role but could not be considered in a competitive category, and because of his race was not even able to attend the film's premiere. The song Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah won the Oscar for Best Song and has gone on living independently of the film. Who it is for: those studying film history, animation technique and Hollywood's record on racial representation. Who it is not for: anyone hoping to watch it as an innocent children's classic, since the South it depicts did not exist.