Should Disney reboot Song of the South?

In our hyper-sensitive climate I don't think Disney will ever reboot or release the film as it was originally made. I do think they could take the content of the Uncle Remus stories, that are told in the ride. That could be acceptable and embraced
 
People around my age (24) would likely lose their minds over this film being re-released. I've never seen it, but we could argue that there's a number of things that Disney and other companies that are racist, or at the end of it have aged poorly and err on the side of "that could be a problem one day" because all it is going to take is it landing in the hands of the wrong person. If Disney wants to discuss why it's a controversial film and also release it for viewing and discussion, I think that would be great, but I do not think the company will want to do any anytime soon.
 
If anyone actually wants to see this it’s available. Perhaps google the name of the film and put dot org after it. I’ve seen a copy obtained this way and it was excellent. As for offensive nature, coming strictly from a background of getting a degree in history with a concentration in civil war, reconstruction era, and “Indian wars” (in and of itself a potentially offensive term) in Texas and on the border; I don’t see it. I find the portrayal of those of the asian decent much more offensive in the films; animated or not, which came after this film. Actually myself and my HS aged daughter make a game of finding the offensive asian stereotypes in Disney films of that era when we are on Disney+ catching up on films we haven’t seen. THERE ARE A LOT.
 


I actually feel it should be remade in live action with CGI for the animated characters similar to the live action lion king. I feel to remake this one right you need to completely rewrite most of the screenplay and script. They should use a black screenplay writer and also a black director. Believe it or not that could become something of a passion project for the screenplay writer and director in that case. Give them creative freedom to do what they want with the new story as long as they keep it PG and include the original characters. It actually could correct Disney's biggest blunder. Denying it's existence is worse than correcting the film with modern black writers and directors.
 
I actually feel it should be remade in live action with CGI for the animated characters similar to the live action lion king. I feel to remake this one right you need to completely rewrite most of the screenplay and script. They should use a black screenplay writer and also a black director. Believe it or not that could become something of a passion project for the screenplay writer and director in that case. Give them creative freedom to do what they want with the new story as long as they keep it PG and include the original characters. It actually could correct Disney's biggest blunder. Denying it's existence is worse than correcting the film with modern black writers and directors.
Here's the thing don't just use the old Disney film for inspiration for the screenplay also look at the original material it's based on. If done right this could be Disney's best Live action remake.
 
The movie itself is set in the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. To ignore this film because of negative stereotypes does a grave disservice to James Bassett. He was awarded an honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus. He was the first African-American to receive an Academy Award.

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By ignoring the movie, James Bassett's ground-breaking accomplishment and talent are often forgotten. He deserves so much better than that.

I have a bootleg copy of "Song of the South", simply because you can't get an actual copy in the U.S.
 
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From an article 5 years ago:

Asked by Yahoo Movies what her favorite Disney movie is, (Whoopi Goldberg) the View host and EGOT winner deferred picking favorites and instead brought up Song of the South, the 1946 Walt Disney-produced live-action/animated film that has remained unreleased for decades due to its racially insensitive portrayal of African Americans in the Reconstruction Era.
“I’m trying to find a way to get people to start having conservations about bringing Song of the South back,” she said of the film, which Disney has kept locked in its vault, refusing to issue either digitally or on disc. “So we can talk about what it was and where it came from and why it came out.”

Disney needs to learn a lesson from Mel Brooks. When he was making "Blazing Saddles", almost every Hollywood studio absolutely refused to even consider the movie. It got to the point that even Mel Brooks was wondering if he went too far. So, he took a chance and showed the film to Richard Pryor. Mel Brooks said he was extremely nervous as Pryor watched the movie. After it was finished, Brooks asked Pryor what he thought of it. To Brooks' surprise and relief, Pryor said that it was the funniest movie he'd ever seen.

Disney needs to address the proverbial elephant in the room. Get African-American leaders together in a room and find out what they have to say. Disney could donate a large percentage of the profits to worthy African-American charities.

The discussions and questions about this movie are not going to go away. Address the issue once-and-for-all and be done with it.
 
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They should make it available with a sensitivity tag. By not releasing it, they're making it out to be worse than it really is. It's slightly worse than Gone with the Wind.
 

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