Guests at Disney parks will no longer hear the song “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” from the notorious 1946 film “Song of the South” during the Disney parade.
Officials from Disneyland confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that a lyric from the song would be removed from the parade soundtrack but declined to comment further. Disney’s “Magic Happens” parade happens twice nearly every day at the Anaheim, Calif., park.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Oscar-winning song was “quietly” removed and replaced by a song from the film “Peter Pan”.
According to Collider, Disney’s “Song of the South” was based on “Uncle Remus” stories written by Joel Chandler Harris, who was a white man and Black rights activist. However, the outlet noted that Chandler Harris’ work contained troubling racist characterizations.
The film’s racist history continued into the first draft of the script – Collider said that it was so offensive to Black people that the Production Code Administration strongly suggested changing it. Clarence Muse, a Black man hired to be a consultant, left before the script was finished because of the response to his suggestions.
Once “Song of the South” was released. Walter White, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, argued that the film depicted a “dangerously glorified picture of slavery,” according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. The National Negro Congress declared that the film “an insult” to Black Americans.
Uncle Remus, a Black man who is at the center of the Reconstruction era story, who says “if you’ll excuse me for saying so, ‘twas better all around,” of the pre-Civil War era.
According to the Los Angeles Times, it is one of Disney’s “most shameful films,” and Disney chairman Bob Iger even told shareholders in 2020 that the film was “just not appropriate in today’s world.”
“Despite the controversy, the film was successful in its initial release and re-releases in 1956,1972, 1980, and 1986,” said Collider. It was also the inspiration for Disneyland’s well-known water-log ride Splash Mountain, which opened in 1989. Splash Mountain featured parts of “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” as well.
Disneyland announced plans to re-imagine the ride in 2020, after protests erupted around the country in response to white police officer Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd, a Black man. At Disney World in Orlando, Fla., the Splash Mountain ride has been closed since January and both rides are set to be remodeled as “The Princess and the Frog” rides featuring songs and characters from the 2009 film, including Disney’s first Black princess, Tiana.
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