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June 15, 2007
Song of the South #5 of 25 Most Controversial Movies
Recently, Disney-owned Movies.com posted a feature entitled "The 25 Most Controversial Movies of All Time" by Kimberly Potts. Among them? Song of the South, ranked #5. For the close-up picture they show the European VHS cover, and for the movie's description they state:
- "The story: Disney's first live-action movie mixed in animated scenes to tell the stories of kindly ol' Uncle Remus, including the tales of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear … and the "Tar Baby."
The scandal: The movie, which has faced accusations that it promotes racial stereotypes and the idea of the slave-slavemaster relationship in a positive light, won a 1947 Best Song Oscar for "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and was a major cultural force in its day. But it's been on the shelves for half a century and has never been released on home video in the U.S. because of Disney's concerns that "depictions in the film … viewed in today's world, might not be viewed as kindly or as politically correct." The studio is, however, currently mulling the idea of DVD release."
As for the other four movies deemed more controversial than Song of the South, they are: The Birth Of A Nation (#4), The Last Temptation Of Christ (#3), Midnight Cowboy (#2), and Natural Born Killers (#1). Thanks to Michael Klossner for the news report!
The full feature can be read here: http://movies.go.com/feature?featureid=886352
May 11, 2007
Disney Backpedaling on Releasing Song of the South?
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable supposedly met with Disney executives on their opposition to Disney releasing Song of the South without "a disclaimer and a preface on the historic harm of racial stereotypes on American society." (Read the full press release here.) Today, they have posted a follow-up press release, which states:
- May 11, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Earl Ofari Hutchinson
323-296-6331
A Statement from Earl Ofari Hutchinson, President Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable Praising Disney's Decision Not to Re-Release the Racially Stereotypical Film, Song of the South.
The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable praises the decision by Disney Studios reaffirming its position not to release for home video sale the 1946 racially stereotypical film, Song of the South. The film depicts blacks as happy-go-lucky, submissive, storytelling, servants and helpmates. The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable opposed the re-release of Song of the South without a disclaimer and a preface on the historic harm of racial stereotypes on American society. Disney's decision not to re-release the film affirms that they are a socially responsible corporation that understands and is sensitive to the hurt of racial stereotypes. The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable will continue to monitor and work closely with Disney and other studios to insure, quality, fair and balanced productions free of racially and gender demeaning images and stereotypes."
Has Disney backpedaled on its decision? Granted, when Disney CEO Robert Iger said in March 2007 that the studio would "look at [Song of the South] again," he wasn't committing to releasing the movie, just stating that the studio would re-evaluate the film. But with this recent press release from the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, one can't help but feel concerned that Disney is once again turning tail on the film instead of adding the proposed "disclaimer/preface" that everyone is in favor of. Thanks to Jimmy Lucky for the news report.
May 10, 2007
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable on Song of the South
The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable has released the following press release:
- May 8, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Earl Ofari Hutchinson
310-672-2542
- A Statement from Earl Ofari Hutchinson, President Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable on the discussion on Disney's Possible Re-Release of the Racially Stereotypical Film, Song of the South.
In a statement in March Disney President and CEO Bob Iger said that Disney is considering a re-release for home video of the 1946 racially stereotypical film, Song of the South. The film depicts blacks as happy-go-lucky, submissive, storytelling, servants and helpmates. The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable opposes the re-release of Song of the South without a disclaimer and a preface on the historic harm of racial stereotypes on American society. If Disney fails to provide a racially instructive statement to film purchasers on Song of the South, it sends the terrible message that Disney puts dollars ahead of its corporate responsibility to educate the public on the danger of racial stereotypes. The Don Imus flap was a warning to the entertainment and broadcast industry that racial stereotypes will be vigorously challenged.
The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable and the Los Angeles Civil Rights Assn. will formally present this statement to Disney executives on Friday, May 11 at 10:00AM at Disney Corporate Offices 500 S. Buena Vista Dr., Burbank. They will request an urgent meeting with President and CEO Bob Iger on the film.
- Partial List of Endorsers:
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable
Los Angeles Civil Rights Assn.
NAACP National Board Rep
Youth Advocacy Coalition
http://earlofarihutchinson.blogspot.com/
Thanks to Jim Smith for sending this press release to me.
May 4, 2007
Roy Disney Talks Song of the South
FilmBuffOnline has published an article by Rich Drees reporting on Roy Disney's attendance of the 16th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival in April. There he accepted an Inspiration Award, and spoke about releasing Song of the South:
- "I’ve got a bunch of cohorts working with me to convince the powers that be that it’s the smart thing to do.... [Song of the South] is a wonderful film that deserves to be back out in the public. All it needs is context. Some of that animation is stunning, even by today’s standards.”
It has long been known that Roy Disney has supported this film's release. I contacted Mr. Disney back in February 2004 after he had resigned from Disney's Board of Directors. In his reply to me, he stated:
- "Dear Mr. Willis — thanks for your letter of support, and I am sorry to tell you that this is yet another reason to do our best to move Eisner out. He has been — for quite a few years now — totally against (I think AFRAID is a better word) of re-releasing Song of the South, which happens to be one of my favorite of the old Disney films. A number of us have tried, for some time, to change his mind, to no avail."
Thanks to everyone who reported this new article!
March 31, 2007
AP Song of the South News Article Reaches The Nation
This past week, AP reporter Travis Reed's Song of the South news article was distributed to newspapers and news web sites nationwide under various headlines.
Some of the online editions available include CNN.com, USA Today, MSNBC, the Orlando Sentinel, and several more. The news article brought a record number of visitors to this web site. In one day alone, nearly 7,500 people visited the site (compared to 800 normally!) The petition also gained over 2,000 signatures in the past week alone.
When Travis contacted me for an interview, I was thrilled to hear that the AP would be doing a news article based on Disney CEO Robert Iger's recent statement at the Disney Annual Shareholder Meeting that the studio would be taking another look at the movie (see article below).
This was the first time that I had had my picture taken along with my Song of the South memorabilia for a news article, so it was very exciting to have that happen! I'd like to personally thank Travis for taking the time to craft this news article. Through his efforts there has been an increased awareness for this film, and hopefully we will see some more action on Disney's part in the near future! |
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Sandy Huffaker, Associated Press |
March 13, 2007
Disney Reconsidering Releasing Song of the South
This year's Disney Annual Shareholder Meeting was held on March 8, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The topic of Disney releasing Song of the South was raised by shareholder Carol Koster of the Disney Echo web site. This year's response from Disney CEO Robert Iger was in stark contrast to last year's response when the same question was raised. Last year, Iger basically stated that Disney had no plans to bring the movie back. This year, however, Iger said the following:
- "The question about Song of the South comes up periodically, in fact it was raised at last year's annual meeting which we conducted in Anaheim. And since that time, we've decided to take a look at it again because we've had numerous requests about bringing it out. Our concern was that a film that was made so many decades ago being brought out today perhaps could be either misinterpreted or that it would be somewhat challenging in terms of providing the appropriate context. Because there were depictions in that film that, viewed in today's world, might not be viewed as kindly or as politically correct as perhaps they may have been in that time. But we have decided that we would look at it again and it's being done by our studio and Dick Cook [Walt Disney Studios Chairman]."
The full transcript of the comments by Carol Koster and Robert Iger's reply has been archived here and I encourage you all to read it. Thanks to Carol Koster for contacting me and bringing up this topic at the meeting. And thanks to everyone else for reporting this news as well. Keep your hopes up! We may see Song of the South released yet...
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