SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946) 12383

Original Disney 1980 Re-Release Insert Poster (14x36) for the Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson family animation favorite, SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946) starring Ruth Warrick, Bobby Driscoll, and James Baskett. Undeniably paternalistic and replete with racist stereotypes, SONG OF THE SOUTH must be viewed through the prism of the era of segregation that produced it. Based on the children's book, THE TALES OF UNCLE REMUS, by Joel Chandler Harris who was born in Georgia in 1848, the main character of the film is an elderly African-American man whose friendship with a white boy who loves and reveres him is the backdrop of the film. Ex-slaves are portrayed as happy stereotypes speaking in a black dialect. In spite of this template modern viewers see as troubling, there is an innocent charm to the relationship between the former slave and the boy who loves to hear his stories. Disney pioneered using live action combined with animation for the first time in this film, and it is brilliant. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Musical Score, it won the Oscar for Best Song—the infectiously warm and sweet "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah." The Academy also presented an Honorary Award to James Baskett for "his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world." Originally folded, this 1980 Disney Re-release insert poster is in very fine condition.