Canción do Sur, ou como Disney transformou ao tío Remus no tío Tom

Abstract

On the long list of films by Disney, there is a specially remarkable one: Canción do sur, a film that the company doesn't sell because it is considered racist. This title took the famous books by Joel Chandler Harris to the silver screen. On them, a slave, uncle Remus, tells his owner's son some animated fables. The lead character is Brer Rabbit, a myth amongst the black people: they learned teachings from the seasoned rabbit, who defeated his enemies with cleverness, even though they were stronger and bigger than him. However, on the film adaptation, Remus, who on the books has a priviledged position on the plantation and even holds some authority, is a docile and submissive man, who only cares for his bosses' happiness; and the fables don't have a subversive reading. What changes did Disney make to have the meaning change in such a way?