In Defense of the Release of Disney’s “Song of the South”
Why the elimination of Disney’s antiquated racist views can be more damaging than helpful.
Recent cultural events have inspired many to call for the redesign of Disneyland’s Splash Mountain. While the ride is based on the 1946 Disney film Song of the South, mind you, a film which has never been reproduced in later Disney media for home viewership and ownership, I’m not in total agreement of the reasoning behind the ride’s design change. Yes, in true 90s baby fashion, I am highly cognizant of how much of my childhood was shaped by Disney, and while I have not seen Song of the South because of the idealistic imagery surrounding post-slavery, the cultural fabric is missing the opportunity to learn about Southern (and especially African folklore via the African Diaspora) fables, the cinematic advances of live-action storytelling coupled with animation, and a grounded mechanism to remind us of our past.
…Splash Mountain is honestly the least of the troubles of Disney’s racist past
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is still taught in schools as a contributing tale to the literary canon, and I strongly believe that Song of the South is similar. Heck, even Gone With The Wind, both the book and film, are accessible, but with the…
