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