Disney and Race: From ‘Song of the South’ to ‘The Princess and the Frog’
Photo courtesy of Disney
Though I have no recollection of it, the first movie my dad ever brought me to see in a theater was a special 40th anniversary re-showing of the 1946 Disney movie “Song of the South.” If it doesn’t quite sound familiar, that’s because the film has never been released on home video (though it does live on in the Splash Mountain ride at Disneyland).
It’s never trotted out of the Disney vault because it has become a cultural flash point – with most people agreeing that its characterization of blacks in the post-Civil War South is racist. As folklorist Patricia A. Turner explains:
Joel Chandler Harris sets his stories in the post-slavery era, but Disney’s version seems to take place during a surreal time when blacks lived on slave quarters on a plantation, worked diligently for no visible reward and considered Atlanta a viable place for an old black men to set out for.
The NAACP has said the film gives the impression of “an idyllic master-slave relationship.” “Song of the South” was made at a curious time in our nation’s long struggle with race – almost 100 years since slavery was abolished, but still well before the Civil Rights Movement. For millenials like me who are only now gaining political footing in the age of Obama, it’s both fascinating and appalling to think that “Song of the South” was not only considered acceptable entertainment, it was actually celebrated (the main actor in the film, James Baskett, won a special Oscar for it).
Photo courtesy of Disney
Now, flash forward to Disney’s latest release, “The Princess and the Frog,” where the studio’s first black princess makes her debut. Though it hasn’t yet his theaters, it’s already come under some fire (inevitable, really, since the long overdue arrival of an African-American heroine, coupled with its New Orleans setting, makes it rife with potential for stereotyping).
Mostly, though, it’s being praised not only for its sensitive handling of race, but because it’s apparently one of Disney’s recent bests. Tiana, the lead, holds a regular-girl job, unlike spoiled princesses like Ariel and Jasmine. She’s independent, and dreams of opening her own restaurant. The New York Times says the film “represents progress” – and Salon notes that it’s appropriate that a film trying to subtley tackle race “makes stirring use of light and dark interplay. A G-rated girl film that will move crazy amounts of dolls and lunchboxes may not have an in-your-face political agenda, nor should it. But the glow of streetcars, the light glinting off stars and fireflies in the night sky — the way that every element, every shade, is more beautiful in context of the other — that is some powerful, lovely stuff.”
My, oh my, what a wonderful day.
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Saw it this past Tuesday at a NY screening. My family enjoyed it immensely, especially our own 7-year-old “princess.”
Animation-wise, it is a masterpiece.
I’m definitely not part of Disney’s target audience (27 yo male w/ no children) but I am pretty curious about this film and its handling of race/ethnicity. I have been assuming there would be much to criticize, it being Disney and all, but this post, and Mr. Stephney’s response, have me even more interested in seeing it.
Ms. Libby,
My daughter saw “The Princess & the Frog” and she enjoyed it very much, a very good story, with interesting characters, and catchy tunes. She thought that the inter-racial dynamics of 1930’s New Orleans was handled awkwardly but probably as well as could be expected, all things considered.
In regards to “Song of the South”, I can see both sides of that argument. It is hard to imagine any portrayal of a Black man on film made in the US from 1946 as being anything other than demeaning, particularly for those who grew up in that time. I suspect that younger audiences will be mystified as to the controversy. Uncle Remus is portrayed in an entirely positive fashion, he tells the US versions of west African folk tales, and it has some pretty catchy tunes. The “tar-baby” story in particular is widely told in among west African peoples where “Anansi”, a famous trickster character is himself tricked and caught trying to steel food. Anansi is a spider, not a rabbit and he gets stuck on a Gum Doll and not a “tar baby” but the parallels are obvious. In the West Indies the stories are still told although Anasi is man rather than a spider. I suspect in a generation or so everyone will wonder what the big deal was but for now, it is hard not see how this movie might rub some raw nerves.
It is the nature of racism that it poisons even the most well intended of efforts.
It’d be nice if we could all see Song Of The South and make our own minds up. So much for trusting people to come to their own conclusions.