I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known. - Walt Disney

This whole post was meant to be about the Disneyfication of fairy tales, which has been a topic of discussion for me for well over a decade.  There are things about Disney that I may not be proud to support, but I absolutely love Disney, that's for sure.

I love Mickey Mouse, first and foremost.  I also love many other Disney stories.  But there is one Disney story that I have always loved from afar.  From books and from music, but I have never been allowed to love it via movie.  This is not because a movie has never been made, this is because the movie has been hidden for a very long time.   There are many petitions online to resurface this movie and pull it out of the "vault" but it still remains out of reach.  I have tried very hard to get ahold of this movie, but with no success.  Until tonight.

Tonight is the closest I have come to being able to watch this movie.  You may be familiar with it.  The characters are ones that many of us grew up with, such as B'rer Rabbit.  Maybe you've even sang it's songs in choir, like "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah", or maybe you've just ridden on Splash Mountain.  The movie I am speaking of is Song of the South.  The reason it's been hidden is because of it's racist connotations, and Disney is trying to hide all racist affiliations.  This movie was set in the deep south in 1946.  I do not believe Disney to be a company who favors racism.  However, I do believe any movie that was set in the deep south in 1946 is bound to have some sort of racially sensitive material.  If your company feels this movie is too sensitive for your public viewing audience, please remember that keeping Splash Mountain and "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" in the public eye is NOT going to help erase the movie from our memory.  In fact, the song alone made me feel as if I remembered seeing the movie as a child, and has encouraged me to find it as an adult.

I do not feel negatively towards Disney because this movie was made.  I think it's a sad reminder of what once was during those times.  However, I want to see this movie and feel like it is a movie many other people would love to view.  One day, the women's movement might be so progressive that many of Disney movies from the past, such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or even the Little Mermaid may seem antiquated and sexist, but that doesn't mean they do not remain an important part of movie history and should be eradicated.  I believe they should all remain available and Song of the South should also become available.  Even though many of us didn't see the movie, we still grew up with it and would love to watch it.  For those of you who read this before it gets removed, I give you the links to Song of the South part one (find remaining parts to the right to keep watching):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrAKhHcZM-Y