February 16 - James Baskett

On this day, in 1904, James Baskett was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. James planned to become a pharmacist after high school, but two intertwined circumstances got in the way of that dream: pharmacology school was more expensive than James could afford , so he began acting to support himself. The world of prescription drugs never stood a chance. He began on the stage in Chicago, Illinois, starting small but taking increasingly roles. He eventually moved to New York City, joining Bill Robinson's (better known as Mr. Bojangles) acting company. It didn't take long for James to establish himself as one of New York's leading black actors. In 1929, he appeared on Broadway with Louis Armstrong in a musical revue called Hot Chocolates that ran for over 200 performances. Starting in 1932, he began appearing in films being produced in New York, utilizing mostly (if not all) black casts, like Harlem is Heaven, Gone Harlem and Policy Man.

In 1939, James moved again, this time to Los Angeles, California, where he continued to nab small film roles. A highlight of this phase of his career was a turn as Lazarus in the 1943 anti-Nazi horror movie Revenge of the Zombies. In 1944, James met Freeman Gosden and was asked to join the cast of Freeman's radio show, Amos 'n' Andy. For the next four years, James gave voice to Gabby Gibson, a slick talking lawyer, for a nationwide audience.

Image copyright Disney

In 1945, James answered a newspaper ad seeking voice actors for a new project being produced by the Walt Disney Studio, Song of the South. He auditioned for the role of a singing butterfly, but when Walt heard his voice, James was called back for a more extensive session. In the end, Walt offered him the lead role of Uncle Remus, making James the first live action actor the studio ever hired (the studio's first live action actress was Virginia Davis, original star of the Alice Comedies). He did, in fact, also get to be that singing butterfly, as well as the voice of Br'er Fox and partially the voice of Br'er Rabbit, when Johnny Lee was unable to finish the film.

Image courtesy of inlandvalleynews.com

Song of the South is a picture mired in controversy, some of it simply because of its content and some of it earned because of its handling of said content. The controversy spilled over into the film's premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. James wasn't allowed to attend because of the city's segregation laws. What's never been up for debate, however, is James' flawless performance. Walt reportedly told his sister Ruth that James was the best actor to be discovered in years. The gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, among others, agreed and began campaigning heavily on James' behalf to get him an Academy Award for his role. The pressure on the Academy worked, sort of. While he didn't get a nomination for Best Actor, James was presented with an Honorary Award for "his able and heartwarming characterization of Uncle Remus," making him the first black actor to receive an Oscar (once again slightly upstaged by a woman; Hattie McDaniel had been the first African-American to win period, several years earlier).

James didn't get to enjoy his achievement for long. His health had become an issue during filming for Song of the South and had only gotten worse since. He suffered a diabetes induced heart attack in late 1946. Less than two years later, during a summer hiatus for Amos 'n' Andy, James passed away on July 9, 1948 from heart failure. He was only 44 years old.

November 12 - Song of the South

On this day, in 1946, Song of the South had it's world debut in Atlanta, Georgia. Controversial from its very opening, Song hasn't been officially seen in the United States for over thirty years now.

Walt had wanted to make a movie based on the stories of Joel Chandler Harris long before he started trying to get the rights to them. Even after he did secure the rights, he faced an uphill battle within the studio itself. Some people didn't think there was enough story to warrant the budget it would take, but most employees who raised objections did so along racial lines. Walt was well aware of the minefield he was steering into and but was a bit too overly committed to making the movie to not go full speed ahead anyways.

It was decided that Song would be a mixture of live action and animation, which certainly helped with the budget issues. When an ad was placed in the local newspapers for voice actors, James Baskett applied and was initially cast as a butterfly. Walt was intrigued with James' voice, asked to meet him and immediately wanted to test him for the film's lead. James passed the test and was cast as Uncle Remus and the voice of Br'er Fox (he got to remain in the role of the butterfly as well). Walt was so enamored with James' performance, he campaigned for an Oscar. His wish would be granted. James was awarded a special Academy Award for his virtuoso turn as Uncle Remus. Part of the film's controversy is of course the fact that it had to be a special award instead of a Best Actor award, but that's such a small part it's hardly worth mentioning. Ditto the fact that James didn't attend the premier because Atlanta was a severely segregated city at the time.

The biggest bone of contention with Song of the South is "confusion" over when the story takes place. While Disney has always maintained that the film takes place in the 1870s, and if you are a fashion expert the costumes apparently bear that out, the time is never mentioned in the film. Most viewers are going to assume that the story takes place pre-Civil War. The Hays Office had asked that the book at the beginning of the film clearly show the year of the action, but that, unfortunately never happened. As a result, the usual Disney sanitizing of locations and eras makes it look like the slaves on the plantation were just pleased as punch to be there. It was a notion that didn't really fly in 1946 (there were protests of the film even back then) and definitely doesn't fly now. Song wasn't helped by the fact that, as one reviewer put it, there wasn't enough charm to overcome the cliches.

Song's saving graces (doe's it have any, you might ask and the answer is yes, a couple) are the animated sequences and the songs. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" has become a classic and also won the Oscar for Best Song. The animated bits and the characters of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox have been seen on television numerous times and quite frequently in the parks. The attraction Splash Mountain is based on the Tar Baby and Laughing Place sequences (although you obviously won't see any mention of a tar baby anywhere in it). Most American kids don't have a clue that the Br'er characters come from a movie, not a log flume ride.

That wasn't always the case. Song of the South was re-released in theaters several times successfully, grossing over 65 million dollars total. The last time was in 1986 for the film's 40th anniversary. It's never been released on home video in the US but has appeared in Japan and most of Europe. Song has also been shown on the BBC as recently as 2006. Every once in a while, Disney will make some sort of announcement about it, but don't hold your breath that it will appear in the US any time soon. I personally have never seen the whole movie (even though it wouldn't be hard to as several bootlegs exist various places online), but from what I understand, I'm really not missing much. The plot hasn't aged well at all and wasn't terribly exciting to begin with.