Song of the South (1946) on Netflix
Seven-year-old Johnny stays at his grandmother's plantation while his parents live apart. He befriends Uncle Remus, a worker there, and takes joy in his tales of Br'er Rabbit.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb6.9/1015,365 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes50%
Trailer
Plot summary
Johnny is seven years old, and he expects the trip to his grandmother's Georgia plantation to be a vacation with his mother and father. His parents, Sally and John Sr., are to live apart for a time. His father is going back to Atlanta to go on editing the newspaper there, and Johnny stays behind on the plantation. That night he ties up a bindle and slips off the grounds. He happens on Uncle Remus, who is telling Br'er Rabbit tales to the plantation's sharecroppers. Other residents have already noticed that the boy is gone, and Uncle Remus finds him, gives him something to eat and brings him to his cabin, where he tells him the story of Br'er Rabbit. Johnny also makes friends with Toby and with Ginny Favers.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Song of the South (1946)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- James Baskett was cast as Uncle Remus after answering an advertisement for a different job, providing the voice of a talking butterfly. He said afterwards that he thought they might try him out for the voice of one of Uncle Remus's animals.
- In February 1941 Walt Disney talked with Paul Robeson about playing Uncle Remus and the two stayed in talks for several years, but Robeson was never cast; it is speculated that his politics made him too controversial for the role.
- Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. branded the film an insult to American minorities, and the National Negro Congress picketed theaters in big cities with signs reading "Song of the South is an insult to the Negro people."
- James Baskett, who played Uncle Remus, was unable to attend the film's premiere because he would not have been allowed to take part in any of the festivities; Atlanta was then a racially segregated city.
- The Splash Mountain log flume ride was based on the film's animated sequences and drew controversy over the years. Amid the George Floyd protests in 2020, Disney announced it would retool the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions, replacing the Song of the South elements with The Princess and the Frog.
- Song of the South has never been on Disney+. In 2020, Iger told a shareholders meeting it would not be added even with an "outdated cultural depictions" disclaimer, saying the film is "not appropriate in today's world."
- Disney campaigned for James Baskett to receive an Academy Award for his Uncle Remus, saying he had worked "almost wholly without direction" and had devised the characterization himself. Baskett won an honorary Oscar in 1948.
