Jim Korkis

3 stars: Enjoyed parts of it

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From the back cover: DIsneyland has a lot to hide. Well, that sounds nefarious, so how abuot, Disneyland has a lot for you to discover. And I don't mean wait times and ride descriptions. I mean the deep, rich, hidden legacy of the park. Its *real* secrets.

No one knows Disney history better than Disney historian Jim Korkis. In this book the latest in his "secret stories" series, he unearths still more theme park godl and presents it in bite sized stories that you can enjoy while waiting in line, sitting in a monorail, or whenever you have a few moments to fill with fresh Disney knowledge."

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A few months after reading this, I've found it to be utterly forgettable. When I was reading, I found that either I knew the anecdote or it just wasn't very interesting. I understand that I know a fair amount of Disney lore but am not at all what I'd call studied. It wasn't boring and I finished this slim volume quickly. These were just not that interesting

A few topics to remember, or quotes I liked:

Director Steven Spielberg once sent his sound designers down to Disneyland to record the sound of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to use for the mine chase scene in the 1984 film "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." The mine car just outside the exit of the attraction is a move prop from that film.

[Imagineer Bob Rogers] Pirates is a cautionary tale. It told the story that these pirates attack the town, steal the treasure, rape the women, and then they are finally punished for it. The last scene is the pirates shooting at each other in an ammunition dump. They are all going to die in the fire and explosion. There are consequences for their actions. Adding Jack Sparrow reverses the story. Now the story is that Sparrow stole the treasure from his fellow pirates and they are raiding the town trying to track him down and recover the treasure. He is hiding so they can't find him. The final scene is Sparrow sitting there with all his treasure. So now the story is that it is ok to steal and you will end up with the treasure. What was happening in the world when this was all installed? Wall Street was riding high. Greed is good. You had Bernie Madoff. All of that influenced the attraction. Most people think it was just Disneyland trying to capitalize on the films, but the way Sparrow was added is connected to what was going on in the rest of the world.

[Regarding Mr Toad's Wild Ride] - The idea of the finale of going through the devil's mouth into hell was okayed by Walt who felt there should be consequences for reckless driving. The shield above the entrance has the Latin motto "Toadi Acceleratio Semper Absurda" that roughly translates into "Speeding with Toad Is Always Absurd:.

Kenneth Grahame, author of Wind in the Willows, was a good friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...Ratty in Grahame's book was based on the character of Holmes.… (mais)

REVIEW NOTES: I found this while entering my recently acquired DVD of Song of the South (not through Disney), which I thought was no longer available because of the PC as discussed in this book. I saw the movie in my youth and loved the music and stories, before somehow the world decided that featuring a Black actor as the core of a major motion picture was racist, just because he taught us that you didn't have to let adverse life conditions ruin your life - which is not consistent with the current Victimology Narrative of the Western Left.
I also have a full set of the books by Joel Chandler Harris that served as its foundation.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/books/whos-afraid-of-song-of-the-south-by-jim-korkis-....

https://www.amazon.com/Afraid-South-Forbidden-Disney-Stories-ebook/dp/B00AG6G250
"Brer Rabbit. Uncle Remus. Song of the South. Racist?

Disney thinks so. And that's why it has forbidden the theatrical re-release of its classic film Song of the South since 1986.

But is the film racist? Are its themes, its characters, even its music so abominable that Disney has done us a favor by burying the movie in its infamous Vault, where the Company claims it will remain for all time?

Disney historian Jim Korkis does not think so.

In his newest book, Who's Afraid of the Song of the South?, Korkis examines the film from concept to controversy, and reveals the politics that nearly scuttled the project. Through interviews with many of the artists and animators who created Song of the South, and through his own extensive research, Korkis delivers both the definitive behind-the-scenes history of the film and a balanced analysis of its cultural impact.

What else would Disney prefer you did not know? Plenty.

Korkis also pulls back the curtain on such dubious chapters in Disney history.."

http://www.yesterland.com/whosafraid.html

"Werner: I saw Song of the South in a movie theater in 1972. But for Yesterland readers who have never seen it, please describe the film.
Jim: The live-action story is about a young boy named Johnny who is taken by his estranged parents to live on his grandmother's plantation in Georgia shortly after the Civil War. The boy has difficulty adapting to his new home even after making friends with a poor white girl named Jenny and a rambunctious black boy named Toby. He encounters an old black storyteller named Uncle Remus, who tells him tales of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear. These stories help the boy learn some important lessons about life, and are told in animation scenes created by six of Disney's iconic Nine Old Men. The film is considered Walt Disney’s first live action film since the animation only comprises about one-third of the running time.
Werner: The controversy about Walt Disney’s Song of the South began even before the movie was released to theaters. You did a great job telling why Song of the South was the target of protests and the nature of the concerns about the movie. In the book, you don’t take a personal position condemning or defending it. You prefer to present the viewpoints of others.
Jim: Yes, I tried to present just the facts and allow the reader to come to his own decision. The more research I did on the film, the more I could clearly see and agree with the arguments for both sides.
Werner: It’s amazing to me that some people feel Song of the South is just a charming and completely inoffensive fantasy, while some others are convinced it’s an overtly and intentionally racist movie.
Jim: Personally, I believe the film should be available, if for no other reason than the fact that it doesn’t continue to stir up these uninformed reactions that the film is maliciously racist. On the other hand, I can see that people will refuse to look at the film in the context of the time in which it was made and never see how racially innovative it was in many ways. Those people will insist on seeing it with today’s perspectives and will also worry that despite all the other information that children are exposed to these days, that kids will not be smart or sensitive enough to see that it is just a fantasy film with some good moral lessons and not an historical documentary.
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Werner: By not seeing Song of the South, what are people missing?
Jim: Song of the South has so many virtues to recommend it—from James Baskett’s Oscar award-winning performance as Uncle Remus, to some of the best animation ever done by the fabled Nine Old Men, to some memorable music to the first Technicolor work ever done by fabled cinematographer Gregg Toland, to some strong design work by Mary Blair—that it would be a shame if audiences would be denied the chance to enjoy and study that work.
Werner: Do you think that filmmakers today could bring the Uncle Remus stories to life in a way that would not stir up the controversy that Walt Disney’s 1946 effort did? Or would a movie in which an Uncle Remus character, in the context of the 19th century South, retells stories that originated as African folklore just be too loaded with potential problems?
Jim: Today, the situation is even more sensitive than when the film was first released. For example, new films are in the awkward position of not even being able to use historical dialects from the period. I think that people have not just become sensitive to racial themes, but sometimes overly sensitive to the point that it is uncomfortable to even think about addressing the topic. It is clearly awkward just to talk about Song of the South in today’s society.
Werner: So we won’t see new Uncle Remus stories on film...
Jim: There have been some animated versions of the Brer Rabbit tales released in the last few years, but because they were not done by Disney and were not done with the skill of Disney, they have not even been a topic of conversation. I think the Uncle Remus tales are good stories and part of the American heritage... not just Black America but all Americans. I am sad that they have been stolen from future generations by overly cautious guardians who find it easier to eliminate things rather than to address them honestly. "… (mais)