Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, Reveals Why "Song of the South" Will Never Appear On Disney+


Although you may not realize it, you most likely know the 1946 Disney film Song of the South. Or you at least know part of it. This film gave Disney fans the hit song "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also gave fans characters like Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and is the inspiration behind the Disney ride Splash Mountain. Song of the South has been a controversial film since it was released as it focuses on life on a southern plantation just after the American Civil War and has harsh depictions of African Americans and lighter look at slavery. Despite this, fans have wanted to see the film appear on the new Disney streaming service Disney+. It was revealed in April of 2019 that the film would not appear on the service but no official reason was given, even though fans could guess why. Disney CEO Bob Iger has finally put an official answer to that question.

Speaking about the film and it's inclusion on Disney+ at the Disney annual shareholders meeting, Bob Iger stated,

""I've felt as long as I had been CEO that Song of the South was, even with a disclaimer, just not appropriate in today's world. That's actually true with some of the other things that we've made as well, it's just hard given the depictions in some of those films to bring them out today without in some form or another offending people, so we decided not to do that.""
Many fans believe that Disney should not hide some of the uglier parts of their past. Other films have received a disclaimer before the film stating that the film includes "outdated cultural depictions". Two film that include this disclaimer are The Jungle Book and Peter Pan. It seems however that Song of the South may be just too far over the line for the company to release it. So for now it will remain in Disney limbo where it has for many years.

What are your thoughts on Disney's decision not to include Song of the South on Disney+? Do you think this is a smart move on the company's part?

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Source: MovieWeb

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