256 Free Uncle Remus

A library blog site called "Shush" has an interesting comment about Disney's decision not to re-issue Song of the South for fear of offending African Americans.

Free Uncle Remus!

"The closest thing that I know of in terms of censorship is Walt Disney's refusal to re-release one of their greatest movies, Song of the South. A friend of mine owns a blackmarket copy of this film that they loaned me to watch. Its a terrific story about childhood friends (white boy, black boy, and white girl, how pc can you get?) and their relationship with an old black man, Uncle Remus, who works for the white boy's grandmother. The movie is based on The Tales of Uncle Remus and is set shortly after the Civil War. Uncle Remus is a wise man and meant to be admired and respected in this movie. Walt Disney's decision not make it available for fear of offending the black population is completely inverted because it robs that same people of a strong role model. . . [remarks about American Library Association]

"Free Uncle Remus!"

We took our children to see the re-release of Song of the South back in the late 70s or 80s. I had seen it as a child at a friend's birthday party, and thoroughly enjoyed it as an adult. And I was a liberal back then, very sensitive to PC-isms long before we named it. I found nothing offensive in it. Beautiful color, strong characters, and wonderful songs. For soap opera fans, Ruth Warrick, "Phoebe Tyler" of All my Children has a starring role in this movie. She still sings and has an album. She also dated Liza Minnelli's husband David Gest for some years, although 35 years his senior.