Mr. Coat examines whether the controversial Disney film Song of the South is as offensive as its reputation suggests and if it deserves its Vault lock-up.

Comments Section:

Name: Triangle0
Date And Time: 2011-12-17 22:00:24
Comment: I know I already mentioned but is so unrascist about cowboys and Indians? Disney should be confirming sterotypes that young people should let go of but their is nothing racist about Dumbo either though but it certainly teaches people to turn away from alcahol which is a very positive messefe actually and not hypocritical since Walt Disney gave very strong anti drug messege in pinnochio! Additionally evolutionary theory promotes the idea that darker skinned people became lighter skined due to the iceage not becoming lighting skined due some fruidian emotion

Name: Triangle0
Date And Time: 2011-12-17 21:31:59
Comment: Actually cowboys and Indians is a racist game in itself teaching teaching children how to step on thirdwold country's which we have definitely had a enough of but Song of the South is definitely not a racist movie!

Name: Isi-Raven
Date And Time: 2011-11-24 22:12:38
Comment: Zippedy-doo-dah isn't the only thing of the movie the've released. how do you do was on a singalong songs video.

Name: Jaimetud
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 18:05:35
Comment: Good defense of this film. I honestly don't care who calls this racist or not. I've seen meaner spirited racism in a lot of movies. Perhaps they could release it through Anchor Bay.

Name: Meg
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 17:15:06
Comment: When I was younger, I had a series of Disney sing along tapes which have since been passed down to my nieces and nephews, and "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" was on one of them. I LOVE that song! Great review, Mr. Coat! Great job differentiating between racism and stereotypes.

Name: Neil Dunsmore
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 15:03:54
Comment: Once this has been uploaded to youtube, I am going to share this with a lot of people and spread the word that this deserves a DVD release. (Mainly because I know plenty of people who have had this site not work for them)

Name: 411314
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 13:45:11
Comment: Interesting, I never thought before about the difference between racism and stereotypes. Personally, I have to wonder how much of the film's bad reputation is because it's a supposedly racist movie and how much is because it's a supposedly racist DISNEY movie. Disney's marketing strategy is largely built around painting themselves as wholesome and wonderful (some would call them saccharine, but Disney and some of its fans would call it wholesome and wonderful) and releasing a film that many think is racist would probably damage that reputation. I wonder if the film would've been released by now if it'd come from any other studio that doesn't quite so much about its image.

Name: John
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 13:35:37
Comment: I gave it a watch a few years back and I didn't really see anything wrong with it

Name: The WaxBadger
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 12:40:45
Comment: I took an Ethnicity in the Media class in college, and although I thought the teacher was overly biased I do think there are some things I took away from it. Even though such movies are not meant to be racist, the problem is that people so often view the movies in relation to the time period they were released in. The fact was, there was racism and segregation back then especially in the southern US which this movie embraces. Movies may not be real life but you have to remember that the people behind them are real. Even if it wasn't their intent to offend people, as time went by the civil rights movement and the mixture of culture in the US caused society to rethink old stereotypes which is why the words are now interchanged, and as a result studios are now afraid that people will judge a book by it's cover. The way I see it, Song of the South would have to be released separately from the other Disney content and probably with disclaimer just so that retailers can be willing sell the movie. Dumbo recently had a 70th anniversary release on Blu-ray and is available for download, so I don't see why not.

Name: Annie
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 09:22:02
Comment: Why no title card?

Name: Andrew
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 02:29:16
Comment: Nice analysis. Also, racism deals with race, and nothing else.

Name: Louis
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 01:53:44
Comment: Somebody needs to show this video to the folks over at Disney. A lot of legitimate explanations were made, and I consider this to be excellent support behind why Song of the South should be released to DVD.

Name: Morgan
Date And Time: 2011-11-20 01:34:15
Comment: I have a VHS copy (recorded from a UK Tape) of this movie and I have to agree, I don't think its racist or offensive. It was set after WW II and has historical matters tossed in seeing it deptics the times. There is one title to blame in my opinion that started this frezy and that would be "Brith of a Nation."

Name: Graham
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 22:56:08
Comment: I own a copy of the European release of this DVD. I stumbled upon a stack of them at a booth that was selling them at the San Diego County Fair a couple of years ago. I didn't think I'd be that lucky to find this movie at the least expected of places. Anyway, I think this movie is just average. I didn't find it racist, but I do think the film is overhyped simply because it's so rare here. It's not a bad film, but I don't think it's good enough to be Holy Grail quality. I wouldn't mind watching it again, though.

Name: Rachel
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 21:44:30
Comment: This film is the very first black to ever win an Oscar, and an HONORARY one! I doubt a "racist" man like Walt Disney would strive that hard for their star to win that kind of award for their acting. As a Disney fan girl and animation college student, I applaud you; FINALLY, someone sheds some reason on this unnecessary controversy!

Name: Jacob
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 21:27:36
Comment: UGH! People are just so overly-sensitive these days! Thank You Mr.Coat for showing that line between Stereotypical and Racist! Do you think that the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp are offensive in anyway since they are the antagonists?

Name: Grapewin
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 21:18:12
Comment: To benny: Go to the forums.

Name: benny
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 21:12:50
Comment: nice look back i got to ask what r ur thoughts on the nostalgia critics bit on this from one of his commercial specials?

Name: 0101
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 21:04:20
Comment: I'm Black and I see no racist thing at all in this movie.

Name: Captain ryno
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 20:28:29
Comment: finally! someone talks about this movie! i've never seen the whole movie, only the animated part and some scenes from the film, but only a few. i am not one to judge people and when i watch these "racist" movies, i don't see it. like the princess and the frog, i didn't see anything wrong in it. but when it comes to this movie, i love the song cause it is stuck into my brain since i sang it when i was little. so in some ways, i grew up with this movie and i think it's not racist.

Name:
Date And Time: 2011-11-19 19:57:55
Comment: Dumbo is a movie that would NEVER be released today, and yet it is regarded as a children's classic.