so after reviewing the 2d anime films
and the 3d animated films I was trying
to think what would be the next logical
step for Disney cember and everyone
seemed to voice their opinion that they
want to see the live-action films well
the problem with that is there's like a
bajillion of them I have one month to
get through these and it's just way too
much but at the same time I was thinking
to myself these movies have left a big
impact just as much if not bigger than
the animated ones so it did seem kind of
a shame not to talk about them in more
detail so here's why I decided to do I'm
gonna go through the live-action movies
but only the ones that are the best know
the ones that left an impact the ones
that whether for better or worse we
remember the Mary Poppins the Bedknobs
and Broomsticks the Pirates of the
Caribbean the films we remember from
childhood just as much as Peter Pan
Sleeping Beauty and so forth now the
other catch did that is because hey
being Disney they like to do a lot of
seagulls and keep in mind this wasn't
just a newer thing they did this a lot
in the past too so what I'm gonna do for
that is if one of the movies I'm
reviewing does have a sequel or even a
remake I'll do another video just
quickly summing them up quickly talking
about it but I won't go into as much
detail as the main movie because like I
said there's a lot of these and we got
again and why shouldn't we a lot of
these films are like live-action
versions of the animated films it was so
cool to see a woman actually fly it was
so cool to actually see the Pirates come
out and sword fight with skeletons and
all the stuff that we saw on the ride
and of course we love a random ian magic
but at the same time there was something
really cool about seeing that magic come
to real-life or at least a little closer
to real life it made the illusion just
seem a bit more believable and that's
what we're gonna look over we're gonna
look over which one's worked which ones
did and which ones left the biggest
impact and why so get ready everybody
this is the return of Disney summer the
live-action film
believe it or not there's some debate
over what was actually the first
live-action film technically the first
one they did was The Reluctant dragon
but the majority of that is just showing
how they made an animated film that
being The Reluctant dragon which is cute
and okay but not much of a narrative
some argue that the first live-action
film is Treasure Island because it was
the first one not to have any animated
characters in it but I'm gonna go for
the one that I declare the first actual
live-action Disney film and that song of
the south yeah I can just be all the
asses around the world clench up just
when I say that title this film has so
much controversy about it that it was
never released to video or DVD in fact
I'm probably among the last generation
to see this in the theatres yeah
remember those nostalgic red commercial
specials where we have song of the South
being advertised I remember actually
seeing those ads and of course I want to
see it on the big screen so is it as
offensive as people say it is or is it
really just harmless is it memorable
is it bad well let's take a look the
film centers around a white boy and a
white mother who are being dropped off
at a plantation the father looks like
has to go back to work as he seems to do
a job with some sort of controversial
journalism it's never quite explained I
think it's hinted that it's some sort of
race relation thing but we don't really
know if he's pro or con at least I never
picked up on it the boy starts to
journey around the plantation and comes
across a group of slaves all gathered
around one guy named Uncle Remus who's
told a more famous folk lore than can be
counted Uncle Remus is a nice likable
guy who befriends the boy very quickly
telling him stories all about Brer
Rabbit Brer Fox and Brer bear these
scenes of course are animated and II we
forget he sings that unbelievably
catches on
but a couple of misunderstandings start
happen and the mother doesn't like her
son hanging out with Uncle Remus anymore
but once the dumb little white kid acts
like a dumb little white kid and
accidentally gets himself in a bull pen
a tragic accident occurs and of course
they have to see what's the best way to
bring him back and I'm just guessing
that Uncle Remus might play a big part
in it I guess the first thing to talk
about is the elephant in the room and
that's how this is racially portrayed
this does take place in a time of
slavery and it's definitely addressed
sort of the only major clue to kids
would be that at the beginning of the
day they all sort of go over this hill
and then at the end of the day they all
kind of come back hmm I wonder where
they went everything else in the movies
pretty much just them being laid back
and telling stories and having a good
time so I guess for a lot of kids I
don't know what they would catch on I
didn't when I was younger the dialogue
of course is trying to capture how we
thought black people talked back then
and I'm just going to take a wild guess
and say they got some things wrong but
their heart is still in the right place
it seems in the end it's pretty obvious
that the moral of the story is don't be
prejudiced people come together listen
to one another's so the lesson certainly
isn't bad but at the same time I'd be
lying if I said I didn't feel a little
uncomfortable every time they say the
term tar baby and yeah I know the term
comes from these stories but I still
feel a little weird for my money again
as a 30-something white person I don't
see anything horribly offensive but if I
was a little black kid watching this I
don't know how I would react to it
regardless how does the film itself
actually hold up well I have a theory
that maybe the reason they never pushed
so hard for a DVD release is that the
film actually is just kind of new that
is to say there are still some very
strong elements in it for example the
guy play uncle Ramos is unbelievable I
mean this guy has the biggest heart the
biggest smile the nicest voice you just
want to eat him up he's just the nicest
guy he's what makes this movie and of
course having the Academy Award winning
song isn't too bad either it's still
catchy it's still upbeat and it's a
Disney classic the cartoons are also a
lot of fun they're really funny
teach some basic life lessons they're
colorful they're bright they have really
good comedic timing but honestly it all
kind of goes downhill whenever it's with
the white family talk about friggin
Wonder Bread these guys are so boring
it's one of those movies where I thought
when I was younger that when I grow up I
would understand the depth and drama
more like there's other stuff going on
that I didn't understand and yeah that's
kind of true I didn't really understand
the slavery stuff but now I do but
there's not really too much else going
on I thought maybe the father's
controversial job would play a bigger
part but it really doesn't and the moral
is just about as basic a moral as you
can get without going into too many
spoilers here when the father does
manage to come back at the end there's
kind of a choice made that well sort of
the mother and even as since the boy
kind of makes in terms of who he wants
to see and while it's a happy moment it
still kind of puts the father in a bad
spot I don't know it seems to rush up to
happy at the end wouldn't be more stuff
discussed wouldn't it be more
conversations or I don't know it just
feels like there should be something
more also the blending of live-action
and animation this is really friggin
good I mean this is a long Roger Rabbit
territory when something goes in the
shadow they darken it so that looks like
it's in the shadow when it's further
away they blur the line they really did
their homework on this and it's really
effective but there aren't too many
scenes like that most of it is focusing
on the family which like I said is
pretty boring so I'm really torn on it
there's some really good stuff with some
good songs and good acting good
performances and good animation but what
it all really adds up to it's not really
that fascinating not really that
important and yeah could be taken the
wrong way with racial sensitivities I
don't think it's nearly as offensive as
a lot of our stuff that's come out in
the past but again I'm not sure what
people's take on this could be I guess
it depends what you're looking for if
you're interested in some good positive
scenes then yeah you'll find them here
and just have to sit through a bunch of
boring moments too well if you're
looking for a complete film something
that can really take you back and forth
through emotions and an incredible
journey
one probably won't do it as much for me
now I'm still glad I saw that great
performance I'm glad I heard that great
song and I'm glad I saw some very funny
animation do I wish there could have
been a lot more depth to it yeah but I
think for the one or two elements in it
that are good it is kind of we're
talking about and we're looking over I
don't know in my opinion if they release
it with one of those Leonard Maltin
openings or Whoopi Goldberg openings
where they talk about the racial and
sensitivities and I wasn't right then
it's not right now all that stuff I
still think they can release it I mean
hell if they made a Disneyworld ride out
of it I think they can release it on DVD
I think the few elements that are
memorable are worth remembering take it
for what it's worth
see if you can find a copy yourself and
draw your own Zippity conclusion
ah