A lot of Disney cartoons have been quietly banned. In Indonesia, you can watch Tom and Jerry cartoons where one of the characters is a big, fat housekeeper that is always talking in a negro dialect. Funny as hell; but you won't see it in the US.
I don't know how misplaced it is. I bought a copy of this and other Disney war cartoons in a collection years ago. This cartoon as actually very famous and easily the darkest and most menacing thing Disney ever produced
and that's likely the only place you'll find it. Disney has put out a lot of cartoons...they don't all get re-released. there just isn't room. - - - Updated - - - i've seen those...on TV. come to think of it, i haven't seen Tom or Jerry since then.
Including "Song of the South" which shows more than anything else how societal beliefs and mores have changed over time
That is called "On The Front Lines", and I have it also. Although most movie companies of the era made such shorts. Looney Tunes also has a lot of anti-Nazi and Anti-Japanese films that have not been seen by the general public in decades. But this is not because they are "banned", as much as they are not "Politically Correct" enough for modern audiences, who obviously would be to stupid to see them in their correct historical context.
What is ironic is that Song of the South really is a revolutionary movie. James Basket was presented with a special Academy Award for his performance in this movie, and it showed a lot of other taboo subjects. A black man talking back to a white woman, and a friendship and love between whites and blacks. And contrary to the belief of many who have not seen it, the film was most definitely set in post Civil War Georgia. And for the accent, in that area of Georgia you still hear it all the time to this day. It is a real dialect, and is still around. But because of bigotry, a wonderful chapter of African-American folklore is almost totally gone now. When people think of it today, they only know of "that racist Disney movie they heard about". Not a collection of stories that migrated from Africa and became mixed with the slave culture to largely lampoon Southern culture. Br'er Rabbit is of course the slaves. Smart, quick witted, stays ahead with his mind. Br'er Bear is the "poor whites", often employed as overseers. Slow, stupid, he simply does what he is told without any thought behind it. Br'er Fox is of course the Owners. Not as smart as he thinks he is, he is constantly fooled by the Rabbit, and in the end is normally made out to be the fool. Subversive, intelligent, thoughtful, and quickly becoming forgotten because of ignorance.
The real joke is that this was meant as a means of propaganda to brainwash people into hating the Nazis and seeing them as less than human as well.
I think Song of the South could be re-released but how to do it without opening a whole can of hurt about the time of slavery?
What should that matter? The movie is set in post Civil War Georgia, after the war is over and slavery has ended. I am old enough to remember it, and at the climax Uncle Remus was leaving the plantation to look for work elsewhere. Can you see that happening in a movie that was based around the era of slavery? Heck, and if that argument is valid at all, then what about Django Unchained? It is actually set in roughly the same time period, where is the uproar there? I think the biggest problem with Song of the South is in the ignorance of most people. They hear that thick accent and see blacks working in the fields in some segments, and just assume it is about slavery. Which just goes to show how little attention they actually pay to the movie at all.
In many ways, showing these old cartoons may help people understand that it is human nature to despise countries and cultures who are your "enemy". I remember feeling that way toward Russia during the cold war. And now that feeling is gone. Perhaps it would help all American's gain a better perspective about Muslims. We need to understand that a group of radical Muslims consider American's evil... and we need to protect ourselves from that radical group. Conversely, the great majority of Muslims do not carry that same hatred. Bringing back the history of emotions during war and racism would show that history repeats itself. Let's not over-react because we feel intense hate in our heart. It may be a normal reaction now, but in the future the conflict will resolve itself. Let's not be in a situation where we look back and see the damage America has cause -- and ask "was all that killing really necessary?"
When Disney started his project to make The Jungle Book cartoon movie, he asked to his employees if anyone of them had read that book. The employees admitted that no one had read it, and Disney turned very happy, because he didn't want them to write a script and neither draw cartoons close to the book itself, Disney wanted "his own The Jungle Book" version. Watching his cartoon movies, one notices that yes, Disney made his own version of all the known stories, and this movie about Nazis is just another personal view of Disney portrayed in his cartoons, a version as well far away from the real events... just cartoons...
