Movie · 1946 · Family, Animation · 1h 34m · G · English
Curator score: 1.5/10 (16.6K ratings)
Here Comes the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Show!
Overview
Uncle Remus draws upon his tales of Br'er Rabbit to help little Johnny deal with his confusion over his parents' separation as well as his new life on the plantation.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.5/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 50%
Metacritic: 54
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Harve Foster, Wilfred Jackson
Production
Walt Disney Productions
Cast
James Baskett, Ruth Warrick, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, Lucile Watson, Hattie McDaniel, Erik Rolf, Glenn Leedy, Mary Field, Anita Brown, Georgie Nokes, Gene Holland, Nick Stewart, Johnny Lee, Helen Crozier, Babette De Castro, Cherie De Castro, Peggy De Castro, Roy Glenn, Clarence Nash
Curator Review
Verdict
An important but deeply problematic Disney feature: the animated Br'er Rabbit material has charm, but the live-action framing is dull and the film is built around racist caricature and a romanticized post-slavery South. Its historical notoriety matters more than its entertainment value for most viewers.
Best for
film historians
Disney completists
animation scholars
viewers studying racial representation in classic Hollywood
Skip if
you want a straightforward family movie
you are sensitive to racist stereotypes or minstrel-era imagery
you prefer the filmography of Disney's stronger animated features
you are looking for a lively live-action/animation blend with modern sensibilities
Overview
Song of the South is one of Disney’s most infamous releases for good reason. The animated Br'er Rabbit sequences have energy, wit, and a few memorable songs, but they are embedded in a framing story that is dramatically thin and morally compromised by its treatment of Black characters and plantation life.
Worth noting
As a piece of studio history, it is undeniably significant: a showcase of mid-century Disney craft, a source of one of the company’s most enduring songs, and a reminder of how polished entertainment can carry ugly ideology. The film’s reputation is inseparable from its racial politics, and those politics are not incidental.
Bottom line
For viewers interested in animation history or in how Hollywood packaged folklore for mass audiences, there is material to study. For most audiences, though, the film’s offensive framework overwhelms its charms, making it more of a cautionary artifact than a recommendation.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Georgia Coley · 723 likes
This is gonna sound like a fake story, but I was driving through rural North Georgia a few weeks ago when I stopped at a little lookout over a gorge. The lookout had a rinky-dink gift-shop selling Blue Ridge Mountain postcards, and shiny rocks, and "Famous Civil War Ghost Stories" books...and also, uhm, Song of the South bootleg DVDs. So, uh, I felt like I had to get one and check it out just for the sake of the controversy?… more This is gonna sound like a fake story, but I was driving through rural North Georgia a few weeks ago when I stopped at a little lookout over a gorge. The lookout had a rinky-dink gift-shop selling Blue Ridge Mountain postcards, and shiny rocks, and "Famous Civil War Ghost Stories" books...and also, uhm, Song of the South bootleg DVDs. So, uh, I felt like I had to get one and check it out just for the sake of the controversy?… more
Nuno Costa (3.5★) · 606 likes
Viewed on YouTube
I think Disney is making a terrible mistake by trying to virtually erase Song Of The South (1946) from existence.Is it racially insensitive? Of course it is. It's a film from the forties that takes place during the Civil War in Georgia.Disney is trying to sweep this one under the rug and try to maintain a squeaky clean image. This is an impossible task. If Disney wants to be politically correct they need to get… more
Branson Reese · 366 likes
It's a bummer the animated segments are as good as they are because the live action stuff is so fucking boring. It's also racist but you knew that already.
Pretty funny that Disney has one of their all-time best songs trapped inside of this movie and they can't ever really pull it out and show it to anybody. That's what you get. Not my problem!
trolleyfreak (3★) · 257 likes
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah,
Zip-a-dee-ay,
Disney don't want anyone to watch this film,
But I did anyway..
Cevin Kookman (1★) · 214 likes
Well Splash Mountain just got fuckin ruined for me.
But, fun fact: has the same cinematographer as CITIZEN KANE.
A wordless animated fable that appeals to viewers drawn to poetic storytelling and visual craft.
Topics
classic animation, controversial film, racial politics, folklore, Southern Gothic, family drama, studio era, hybrid format, cultural legacy, mid-century