Ev'rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feelin', wonderful day
Song of the South is a 1946 Disney live action/animated musical film. It has never been released on home video in the United States after its theatrical run. The film is, unbeknownst even to most of the people who have seen it (especially in Europe, where the context is lost), based on the Brer Rabbit African-American folktales, as compiled and retold by Joel Chandler Harris in his late 19th century Uncle Remus books. It is notable that, although the Framing Device is accused of racism today, it was considered pretty Fair for Its Day, being written by a Southerner: Harris was attempting to compile African-American folk tales that had been passed down from the days of slavery before they were lost.
The popularity of the book led to the popularity of archetypes such as Rascally Rabbit, the "Briar Patch" and the "Tar Baby" (the meaning of which tropes subsequently were lost to younger viewers after the film was sealed in the Disney vault in The '80s, when the stories themselves became forgotten by later generations unfamiliar with the work) which were taken straight from the original folktales. Some who maintain that the film should not be released note, however, that keeping these tales alive ties in too much with the days of slavery and Reconstruction, a shameful period in American history that they feel children should not be subjected to, at least not in a way that could be perceived as anything but monstrous.
Set in the Deep South after The American Civil War, the film features the kindly old Uncle Remus telling stories of Br'er Rabbit and friends to three children – Johnny, Ginny and Toby – from his rural cabin. Due to the "impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship" (the film was probably set during Reconstruction, just so that Remus would not be depicted as a slave — though he almost certainly has been one) it will probably never be see any kind of release in the US. It was available on VHS in the UK (where the associated sensitivities are still present, but further from the surface) throughout The '90s and the early '00s, and shown as an afternoon family film on TV. It was also aired a few times on the Disney Channel during the 1980s. A Japanese laserdisc (with an English track included as a bonus) was also released years ago, and it's become quite a collector's item with copies selling on eBay for several hundred dollars. Starting in 2017, Whoopi Goldberg has had talks to get Disney to release it in a limited capacity. In the meantime, some DVDs and Blu-rays at least include clips.note The film is notably absent from Disney+, with Disney CEO Bob Iger noting that the company has no plans to redistribute the film as of 2023.
Most younger Disney fans recognize two things from the film: the first is the song "Zip-a-Dee Doo-Dah", which was written for the film, won an Academy Award and has been featured on several Disney music albums. (In fact, they still use the theme presently, due to having completely innocuous lyrics and a catchy tune.) The second is the Splash Mountain ride at the Disney Theme Parks, which omitted Uncle Remus but prominently featured Br'er Rabbit and his buddies... At least until 2023. In a bit of odd timing, it was announced in June 2020 after the murder of George Floyd that the ride is being re-themed into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, in favor of The Princess and the Frog, another Disney animated musical based around African American culture with far fewer concerns about potential racial insensitivity. The plans had been set in stone for about a year and the company had planned to announce it earlier but ended up not after the project fell behind schedule because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In some European countries, like The Netherlands and Scandinavia, Br'er Rabbit comics were introduced in the early 50s, and remain popular and are still a regular part of the weekly Disney comics. Famous children's writer Enid Blyton wrote 15 volumes of short stories - some retelling the original folklore - featuring the Br'er Rabbit characters (although Uncle Remus is noticeably absent). And while the framing device with Uncle Remus was featured in the first comics, it has since quietly disappeared and faded into obscurity, to the point where only a few readers know that it ever existed. And while the film was released in Europe, it is virtually unknown there.
Song of the South provides examples of:
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Mr. Bluebird wears a top hat.
- Adults Are Useless: Played straight with Johnny's mother Sally. She's so wrapped up in trying to make him feel better and raise him properly that she doesn't bother listening to anyone else's advice or explanations (not even Johnny's), and unknowingly makes things worse for him as a result. Johnny's father, John Sr., does come around, with gentle urging from Uncle Remus; Sally finally accepts what's going on.
- Adaptational Heroism: The film gives slightly more heroic qualities to Br'er Rabbit. In the original stories, Br'er Rabbit got caught in Br'er Fox's trap because he wanted to steal food from Br'er Fox's garden. Thanks to some of the characters being adapted out, we don't see some of Br'er Rabbit's more morally questionable acts, such as using his wits to gruesomely kill Br'er Wolf.
- Adaptation Expansion:
- Br'er Bear doesn't originally make an appearance in the "Tar Baby" story.
- Br'er Rabbit originally just simply greets the Tar Baby without singing "How Do You Do?".
- Adapted Out:
- The film only adapts three out of many folk tales in the Uncle Remus story collection to create a more centralized narrative that only includes the interactions between Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear.
- Many important characters in the original story collection such as Br'er Buzzard and Br'er Wolf, two additional villains who also work as accomplices to Br'er Fox, are absent from the film. Some of these characters are present in the Splash Mountain attraction or the Disney comics based on the film, including Br'er Gator, another antagonist of Br'er Rabbit.
- An Aesop: Two of Uncle Remus' tales are meant to impart a lesson to Johnny, as the stories themselves mirror something that is happening in real life.
- "Br'er Rabbit Earns a Dollar a Minute": You can't run away from your problems. Just as Johnny tries to run away to Atlanta, Br'er Rabbit tried to leave home to put his troubles behind him, only to run into Br'er Fox's trap.
- "Br'er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby": Don't get involved with business that isn't yours. Br'er Rabbit got stuck in the Tar-Baby because he wouldn't leave well enough alone, while Johnny is in trouble because, against Sally's order, he took in a puppy Ginny's brothers wanted to drown. It also teaches Johnny how to use reverse psychology, which allows him to get Joe and Jake in trouble with their mother.
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear, and Br'er Fox wear clothing but not shoes.
- Barefoot Poverty: Ginny and Toby don't wear shoes as they are poorer than Johnny.
- Bears Are Bad News: Br'er Bear is one of the antagonists that Br'er Rabbit faces. But on the other hand...
- Beary Funny: Br'er Bear may be a villain, but a harmless and humorous one.
- Bee Afraid: Br'er Rabbit's "laughing place" scam results in Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear running afoul of a hive full of furiously swarming bees.
- Big Ball of Violence: Br'er Rabbit gets caught in one with Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear at one point.
- Big Brother Bully: Two of them, Jake and Joe, in Ginny's case.
- Brains and Brawn: Br'er Fox is cunning but not physically strong. Br'er Bear is the opposite, being physically fit but not very bright.
- Briar Patching: Not just the story that the trope is named after, but after hearing the story, Johnny pulls this on Ginny's brothers.
- Carnivore Confusion: The Hero of the stories is a rabbit, so the fox and the bear are the villains.
- Chased Off into the Sunset: The last we see of Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear in the movie is them being chased off into the distance by a swarm of furiously buzzing bees at the end of the "Laughing Place" story.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Eventually, the Br'er Rabbit stories just drop the movie's original frame story altogether. Naturally, it's only those later stories that get reprinted. The characters, most notably Br'er Bear, also make numerous appearances in The Three Little Pigs comics.
- Cooking the Live Meal: In the "Laughing Place" story, Br'er Rabbit is tied up to a spit and is about to be cooked by Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear. It's not known if Br'er Fox planned to prepare Br'er Rabbit before cooking him, but when Br'er Bear almost unties Br'er Rabbit so he can show him his Laughing Place, Br'er Fox grabs the spit and puts it right over the fire; had not Br'er Bear insisted on seeing the Laughing Place, Br'er Rabbit would have been rotisseried alive.
- Cool Old Guy: Uncle Remus. He's friendly to the children and ultimately is the one who saves the day at the end.
- Counting to Three: In the Tar Baby story, Br'er Rabbit threatens to bust the silent Tar Baby wide open unless it responds to him by the count of three. As Br'er Fox eagerly waits for his plan to work, he gets frustrated when Br'er Rabbit counts "two-and-a-half".
- Cunning Like a Fox: Br'er Fox, or so he would think. You just have to go on the ride to see Br'er Bear run into trouble.
- Dark Reprise:
- Both on the ride and in the film, the song "Laughing Place" gets a dark reprise ("Burrow's Lament"). It has vocals in the dark reprise only in the Disneyland version. At Disney World, there is just an instrumental.
- Br'er Fox triumphantly whistling "How Do You Do?" after Br'er Rabbit is trapped in the Tar Baby.
- Demoted to Extra: Various important characters in the original story collection such as Br'er Frog, Br'er Tarrypin (Brer Rabbit's best friend), and Br'er Raccoon only make minor appearances as background characters in the film. They can be seen in the Splash Mountain attraction and in the Disney comics based on the film.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Both subverted and inverted: The Boondocks is the one asking the question, and the answer is probably "No," because Aaron McGruder's one of the few younger Americans who has seen it. For those that haven't, Song of the South has Uncle Remus, and The Boondocks has Uncle Ruckus. Plenty of Americans have seen it. It used to be broadcast occasionally up until The '80s.
- Doomed New Clothes: Poor Ginny Favers... she understandably breaks down in tears. To make matters worse, that used to be her mother's wedding dress.
- Evil Duo: Br'er Fox is a cunning schemer, though he's not as smart as he thinks; Br'er Bear is a gigantic simpleton who likes to bash people on the head.
- Exact Words: During the Laughin' Place scene where Br'er Rabbit tricks his two foesBr'er Bear: You said this was a laughin' place! And I ain't laughin'! [gets attacked by bees]
Br'er Rabbit: [in-between laughing fits] I didn't say it was YOUR laughin' place, I said it was MY laughin' place, Br'er Bear! - Forbidden Fruit: You know you want to see it... you don't even care about the quality.
- Glad I Thought of It: What Br'er Fox usually says when Br'er Bear comes up with the ideas to catch Br'er Rabbit.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Well, we never actually see Johnny attacked by the bull, do we now?
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Br'er Bear and the moles.
- Hats Off to the Dead: After tossing Br'er Rabbit into the briar patch (just like he wanted), Br'er Fox takes off his hat out of respect. He then notices that Br'er Bear hasn't taken off his, so he swipes it off his head and forces it onto Bear's chest.
- The Hyena: Br'er Rabbit during the Laughing Place scene.
- Improbable Infant Survival: The puppy presumed to have been drowned by Ginny's brothers shows up alive and well at the end.
- Ignored Expert:
- Out-of-universe example. Disney himself actually consulted with the NAACP during production, then went and did everything that they suggested he not do, especially with regards to the relationship between Remus and Johnny's mother. Had he chosen to take their advice, the film would probably not have been considered nearly so controversial.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Uncle Remus with Johnny, Ginny and Toby.
- "Just So" Story: Towards the beginning the protagonist comes upon a gathering of Black sharecroppers in the shade, singing about Uncle Remus' tales, which tell how the leopard got his spots, how the camel got those humps, and how the pig got a curly tail.
- Karma Houdini: Ginny's brothers. Except when they pushed her into the mud and ruined her dress, Uncle Remus shows up to tell them off for bullying her.
- Karmic Trickster: Br'er Rabbit uses trickery to punish Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear whenever they attempt to eat him.
- Kick the Dog: Ginny's brothers do this when they mistreat her puppy and threaten to drown it — and mean every word.
- Lean and Mean: Br'er Fox. No wonder he's so hot on that rabbit's trail; Br'er Rabbit'd be the only square meal Br'er Fox's had in a while!
- Left Stuck After Attack: Br'er Rabbit's fist gets stuck to the Tar Baby after punching it, and his attempts to free himself just gets him more stuck.
- Let's You and Him Fight: In the first story, Br'er Rabbit tries to invoke this when Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear argue by egging them on from the sidelines. Unfortunately, Br'er Fox sees this and points it out to Br'er Bear, which means that Br'er Rabbit now has a pissed-off bear to deal with as well as a hungry fox.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Johnny starts off as one but this changes when he befriends Uncle Remus, Ginny, and Toby.
- Magical Negro: Uncle Remus. He could also be a subversion, since in the end he actually DOES step forward and save the day.
- Mammy: The most famous mammy of them all, Hattie McDaniel, is in the film.
- Medium Blending: The 3 segments telling the tales of Br'er Rabbit are animated while the rest of the film is live-action.
- Mickey Mousing: As usual for a Disney film — and then played for laughs, when Br'er Bear has trouble keeping up with the background music.
- Missing Your Own Party: Johnny leaves his birthday party to pick up Ginny, but he refuses to go back after Ginny's brothers ruin her new dress.
- Motor Mouth: Br'er Fox. The Disney animators actually had to invent a new animation process to keep up with James Baskett's rapid-fire delivery of Br'er Fox's dialogue.
- Nothing Is Scarier: You see the bull chasing Johnny in the climax, but you never see it strike. It is up to you to imagine the extent of the little boy's injuries...
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Johnny, Ginny, Toby and Uncle Remus walk away with Br'er Rabbit and the cartoon critters as the live-action scenery gradually transforms into an animated one.
- Oh, Crap!: Br'er Rabbit gets progressively more and more nervous during his plan to escape via reverse psychology when Br'er Fox keeps ignoring him. He finally gets one big 'Oh Crap' expression when Br'er Fox says he'll skin him.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: In case you were wondering, "Br'er" is just short for "Brother". (And it should actually be pronounced more or less like "bro". Both Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Bear use this pronunciation, while Uncle Remus and Br'er Fox do not.) Some of the comics imply that they do have real names, but they are otherwise unmentioned. Joel Chandler Harris gives Riley as Br'er Rabbit's real name. A very few Disney comics mention it now and then.
- Only Sane Man: Or in this case, woman as Johnny's grandmother Miss Doshy knows from the beginning that John Sr.'s absence and Sally's parenting methods are only doing Johnny more harm than good, she has a mutual respect with Uncle Remus and approves of his and Johnny's friendship and is the only member of Johnny's family to the seize the initiative and summon Uncle Remus when a delirious, bedridden Johnny pleads for him.
- Pain-Powered Leap: In the "Laughing Place" story, in retaliation for Br'er Fox laughing at him for falling for Br'er Rabbit's "laughing place" scam that results in him getting a beehive on his nose, an enraged Br'er Bear jams the beehive over the fox's head, causing him to rocket into the air with a shriek of pain.
- Poor Communication Kills: No one bothers to tell Johnny’s mother that Johnny got the puppy fair and square or what would happen to the puppy if it were returned to its previous owner, so she chalks up any disobedience on Johnny's part to Uncle Remus' influence. And it only gets worse from there.
- Precision F-Strike: In the Latin American Spanish dub, Br'er Rabbit says "maldito" while boarding up his house in his very first appearance in the first animated segment.
- Punctuated Pounding: Br'er Rabbit does this in the first animated story, when Uncle Remus catches him boarding up his briar patch door, vowing to leave and never return and proving his point by hammering the nails in between each word — and then hitting his thumb by mistake.Remus: You mean you's leavin' your old briar patch?
Br'er Rabbit: (in between hammering) That. I. Is!
Remus: The place where you was born and raised?
Br'er Rabbit: That. I. Is!
Remus: You mean leavin' for good?
Br'er Rabbit: That. I— (hits thumb with hammer) OWW! - Real After All: All the cartoon characters show up at the end, in the real world, then the kids and Uncle Remus go off into the sunset with them.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Br'er Bear whenever he gets mad at Br'er Fox for laughing at his expense and Br'er Rabbit for making a fool of him.
- Reverse Psychology: The Briar Patching moment. In the ride, this moment cues when your log crests the belt for the big final drop.
- Roger Rabbit Effect: Not the Ur-Example, as some might tell you — that would be Gertie the Dinosaur — but the first time it was used in the mainstream Disney features (The Alice Comedies and The Three Caballeros notwithstanding).
- The Runaway: Johnny tries to run away back to Atlanta to get away from his troubles. Uncle Remus talks him out of it.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: As part of Br'er Rabbit's "laughing place" scam. Lampshaded by Br'er Bear when he is the first to fall for this and emerges with the beehive on his nose, saying, "There ain't nothin' in here 'cept beeeeeezzzzzzz!" and a swarm of bees comes flying out of his mouth.
- Simpleton Voice: Br'er Bear as a way of emphasizing that he is not very bright.
- Smoking Is Cool: Uncle Remus shares a pipe with Br'er Frog. Back when the film was released, most people smoked, and those who didn't were frowned upon, if not shunned or hated. By showing Uncle Remus smoking on screen, they were attempting to make the audience like him more. More so because it's the only scene in the movie where anyone is seen smoking. Br'er Frog blows a smoke ring. Uncle Remus blows a smoke square. How cool is that?!
- Speedy Snail: At the end during the final "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" number, Br'er Terrapin (a turtle) starts running on two legs.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Br'er Bear has his doubts about Br'er Fox's scheme to trap Br'er Rabbit in the Tar Baby being a success, and usually prefers the quickest, simplest, probably most effective way.Br'er Fox: That big ol' rabbit won't get away this time. No sir, we'll catch him, sure! I'll catch him, sure!
Br'er Bear: But, uh, that's what you said the last time before, and the time before that, and the... Look, let's just knock his head clean off.
Br'er Fox: Oh, no, indeed, ain't nothing smart about that. I'm gonna show him who the smartest is, and that Tar Baby'll do the rest!
[and once they've caught Br'er Rabbit]
Br'er Bear: I'm gonna knock his head clean off!
Br'er Fox: No, no, no, that's too quick! We gotta make him suffer! - Sticky Situation: Happens to Br'er Rabbit courtesy of the Tar Baby made by Br'er Fox.
- Stock Beehive: Br'er Rabbit finds a grey one hidden in a bush. He tricks Br'er Bear inside saying that it's his "laughing place". Bear gets the hive stuck on his nose.
- Token Trio: The kids consist of Johnny (white male), Ginny (white female), and Toby (Black male).
- Villainous BSoD: Br'er Fox has one at the end of the "Tar Baby" sequence: a sickly look on his face after Br'er Rabbit tricked him and hopped off. Br'er Bear silently clubs the fox on the head, knocking him out, then walks off, leaving the fox lying there.Remus: [narrating] So now it's Br'er Fox's turn to feel humble-come-tumble. But ol' Br'er Bear, he don't say nothin'. And Br'er Fox, he lay low — mighty low.
- Villainous Glutton: Br'er Fox fully intends to cook and eat Br'er Rabbit. Br'er Bear doesn't seem opposed to the idea either, given he was sitting down for dinner at Br'er Fox's at the start of "The Laughing Place".
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Br'er Bear, dumb as he is, is typically opposed to Br'er Fox's overly complicated schemes to catch Br'er Rabbit and constantly voices his preference to just "knock his head clean off", which would be probably be simpler and more effective.
A song of the south
