Song of the South (1946)

Directors:

Harve Foster
Wilfred Jackson

Writers:

Joel Chandler Harris (book)
Dalton S. Reymond (story)
(more)

Release Date:

2 December 1946 (Brazil)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Music

Tagline:

Only the magic of Walt Disney could bring you the tales of Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit . . . live actors with cartoon background!

Plot:

The kindhearted storyteller Uncle Remus tells a young boy stories about trickster Br'er Rabbit, who outwits Br'er Fox and slow-witted Br'er Bear.

Plot Keywords:

Rabbit | Young Boy | Briar Patch | Laughing | Fox

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ruth Warrick	...	Sally
Bobby Driscoll	...	Johnny
James Baskett	...	Uncle Remus / Br'er Fox - voice
Luana Patten	...	Ginny
Lucile Watson	...	Grandmother
Hattie McDaniel	...	Aunt Tempy
Erik Rolf	...	John (as Eric Rolf)
Glenn Leedy	...	Toby
Mary Field	...	Mrs. Favers
Anita Brown	...	Maid
Georgie Nokes	...	Jake Favers (as George Nokes)
Gene Holland	...	Joe Favers
Nick Stewart	...	Br'er Bear (voice) (as Nicodemus Stewart)
Johnny Lee	...	Br'er Rabbit (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
The DeCastro Sisters	...	Bird Voices (uncredited)

Directed by
Harve Foster		(photoplay director)
Wilfred Jackson		(cartoon director)

Writing credits
Joel Chandler Harris		(book "Tales of Uncle Remus")
Dalton S. Reymond		(story) (as Dalton Reymond)
Bill Peet		(cartoon story) &
Ralph Wright		(cartoon story) &
Vernon Stallings		(cartoon story) (as George Stallings)
Dalton S. Reymond		(writer) (as Dalton Reymond) &
Morton Grant		(writer) &
Maurice Rapf		(writer)

Produced by
Walt Disney	....	producer
Perce Pearce	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Daniele Amfitheatrof

Cinematography by
Gregg Toland

Film Editing by
William Morgan		(as William M. Morgan)

Art Direction by
Perry Ferguson

Set Decoration by
Irving W. Sindler		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Mary Wills

Production Management
Frederic Leahy	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William McGarry	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Elmer Plummer	....	art treatment

Sound Department
Fred Lau	....	sound recordist
C.O. Slyfield	....	sound director
Harold J. Steck	....	sound recordist (as Harold Steck)

Visual Effects by
Brad Case	....	effects animator
Blaine Gibson	....	effects animator
Ub Iwerks	....	special processes
Joshua Meador	....	effects animator
George Rowley	....	effects animator

Animation Department
Hal Ambro	....	animator
Ken Anderson	....	cartoon art director (as Kenneth Anderson)
Philip Barber	....	cartoon art director
Mary Blair	....	background and color stylist
Jack Campbell	....	animator
Les Clark	....	directing animator
Claude Coats	....	background and color stylist
Al Coe	....	animator
Marc Davis	....	directing animator
Al Dempster	....	background artist
Harold Doughty	....	cartoon art director
Hugh Hennesy	....	cartoon art director
Ray Huffine	....	background artist
Ralph Hulett	....	background artist
Ollie Johnston	....	directing animator
Milt Kahl	....	directing animator
Hal King	....	animator
Rudy Larriva	....	animator
Eric Larson	....	directing animator
John Lounsbery	....	directing animator
Don Lusk	....	animator
Brice Mack	....	background artist
Tom Massey	....	animator
Murray McClellan	....	animator
Cliff Nordberg	....	animator
Ken O'Brien	....	animator
Charles Philippi	....	cartoon art director
Ed Starr	....	background artist (as Edgar Starr)
Harvey Toombs	....	animator
Paul Murry	....	animator (uncredited)
Bill Peet	....	animation planner (uncredited)

Music Department
Ken Darby	....	vocal supervisor
Edward H. Plumb	....	orchestrator (as Edward Plumb)
Paul J. Smith	....	composer: cartoon score
Charles Wolcott	....	musical director
Charles Wolcott	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director
Mitchell Kovaleski	....	associate technicolor color director

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• Daiei Motion Picture Company (1951) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (all theatrical re-releases)
• Gativideo (Argentina) (video)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (Germany)

Also Known As:

Uncle Remus (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Portugal:M/4 | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | UK:U | USA:G (1971)

Filming Locations:

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

James Baskett’s last movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before Uncle Remus tells the story about the Laughing Place, the mud on Ginny's dress disappears and reappears between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Uncle Remus: There's other ways o' learnin' 'bout the behind feet of a mule than gettin' kicked by 'em, sure as I'm named Remus. And just 'cause these here tales is 'bout critters like Br'er Rabbit an' Br'er Fox, that don't mean they ain't the same like can happen to folks! So them who can't learn from a tale about critters, just ain't got the ears tuned for listenin'.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (1986) (V)

Soundtrack:

All I Want

Segregation Disney-style

When the marriage of his parents goes through a crisis, Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) moves with his mom to the Southern mansion of his grandmother. Distraught over the absence of his father, he strikes up a friendship with Uncle Remus (James Baskett), an old black man who tells him stories of rabbits, foxes and bears.

Driscoll is obnoxiously cute, but James Baskett delivers a fine performance as Remus and the animated sections with Br'er Rabbit are fun.

But is it racist? Well, it has no overt depictions of racism and therein lies the problem: Song of the South presents life in the Southern states after the civil war as idyllic and harmonious, a place where white people live in their mansions, black people in their cabins, everybody knows their place and is happy in it. "Yes sir, things are lookin' mighty satisfactual" says Uncle Remus and his Br'er Rabbit stories convey the same social conservatism: leaving your home (to a non-segregated North for instance) is pointless because "You can't run away from trouble. There ain't no place that far." This movie can't imagine a single reason why a black man living in the post-slavery South wouldn't be happy with the way things were.

Yet, these are the gripes of an adult and Song of the South is a children's film. With our modern-day knowledge of American history, it's obvious that the film is far removed from harsh reality, but can you really blame a kiddie-movie for presenting a fantasy-world? It is a musical with animated sequences, does it make sense to demand or expect realism? The stories and songs, however sanitized and Disney-fied they may be, are based on Afro-American folk-tales and music, which means that the movie at least acknowledges the existence of an Afro-American culture. That's actually an improvement over Gone With the Wind.

Song of the South certainly has its faults, but I find Disney's self-censorship misplaced: at its simplest, most basic level, this is a movie about a white kid befriending a black man who is portrayed as intelligent, compassionate and kind. How harmful could that be?