Song of the South

Song of the South is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures, based on the Uncle Remus stories collected by Joel Chandler Harris. The film stars James Baskett in a dual role, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, Glenn Leedy, Ruth Warrick, Lucile Watson, Hattie McDaniel, and the voices of Johnny Lee and Nick Stewart. It was one of the earliest of Disney's films to feature live actors (the first being The Reluctant Dragon), who provide a frame story for the animated segments. The film depicts the character Uncle Remus, presumably a former slave, relating to several children, including the film's protagonist, the folk tales of the adventures of anthropomorphic Br'er Rabbit and his enemies, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear. The film's song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Song, is frequently used as part of Disney's montage themes, and has become widely used in popular culture. James Baskett was given an honorary Academy Award in 1948 for his portrayal of Uncle Remus. This marked the first Oscar (although an honorary one) awarded to a black male actor. The film inspired the Disney theme park attraction Splash Mountain. The film's depiction of black freedmen and of race relations in Reconstruction-Era Georgia has been controversial with a number of critics, both at the time of its release and in later decades, describing it as racist. Because of this, the film has never been officially released in its entirety on home video in the United States.