Salon has a fun ongoing feature in its movies section called “The Perfect Double Bill” by Eric Nelson which suggests older and sometimes obscure titles to be watched back to back with new releases. The current article juxtaposes the recent Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog with the mixed animation and live action film Song of the South from 1946 (which hasn’t been re-released since 1986). Nelson’s article examines the ways in which Disney has dealt (or not dealt) with race and racism. Here is an excerpt about The Princess and the Frog:
But overshadowing everything is the elegant sidestepping of everything relating to race and reality. One sly way the film does this is by turning the heroine into a frog, and keeping her that way for most of the movie. The handsome prince and love object of the lead characters, black and white, is some mocha blend of nationality not found in nature. And, of course, by setting the movie in pre-Katrina New Orleans, we are clearly in a fantasy world from frame one.
And here is an excerpt about Song of the South:
But it is the live-action scenes where the quease factor can rise for the viewer, depending on what the viewer is looking to find. Archetypal “mammy” Hattie McDaniel makes an appearance, and yes, Uncle Remus makes it clear that he knows his place, and that assumed place does provide some cringe-worthy moments. No history, revisionist or otherwise, can wish those moments away to some “laughing place.” A rosy hue of nostalgia, even one lit by Gregg Toland, cannot erase the shadows that haunted the South’s landscape after the Civil War. Premiering the film in Atlanta probably didn’t help, and Walt Disney and the movie were widely criticized before and during the film’s first release.
It’s unfortunate that Song of the South is unavailable in an official DVD release. Despite the claims made against the film, Nelson suggests that it is an important title both for the history of Walt Disney Studios and for the culture at large (I have to admit that I have never seen it.). Perhaps, with the advent of online distribution or the eventual expiration of copyright, the film may become available someday.