Disney has spent years distancing itself from one of its most controversial films — but a decades-old prop now on display at Disney's Hollywood Studios is keeping its memory alive. Here's where to find Song of the South (1946) at Walt Disney World Resort.
Why Song of the South Was Buried
The Walt Disney Company last allowed Song of the South to screen in theaters in 1986, and the film has been locked away ever since. In 2020, then-CEO Bob Iger drew a firm line, confirming the 1946 film would never appear on Disney+, calling it “not appropriate for today's world.” Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort followed through on that position by replacing Splash Mountain — the attraction that featured music and animal characters from the film — with Tiana's Bayou Adventure.
Song of the South tells the story of Uncle Remus, a Black sharecropper in the post-Civil War South portrayed by James Baskett, who bonds with white children on a plantation by narrating tales of the Br'er animals. The film was controversial at the time of its release. Baskett was barred from attending the Atlanta premiere due to segregation and was ineligible for a standard Academy Award because of his race. The NAACP protested the film's release, citing its sanitized and misleading portrayal of Black Americans' lives on sharecropping plantations.
Even the film's most beloved export carries troubling undertones. “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” frames Uncle Remus, symbolized by Br'er Rabbit on Splash Mountain, as content and at home on the plantation where he is exploited, rather than free to live and work independently. The song's title itself draws from a historically offensive term, “Zip Coon.”
The film's portrayal of post-Civil War life reflects a version of history that whitewashes the realities of that era, a portrayal Disney itself has acknowledged is indefensible by modern standards.
The Reference That Remains
Despite efforts to distance the company from Song of the South, a prop currently on display at Disney's Hollywood Studios directly references the racist film. Three Br'er characters — Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear, and Br'er Fox — appear on a stylized map of Disneyland Park as it looked in 1955, visible in the Walt Disney Presents walkthrough exhibit:
The prop was originally displayed at the Disneyland Opera House until 2023, when it was relocated to Disney's Hollywood Studios. A separate Song of the South reference was removed from the exhibit approximately a year and a half ago, but the map with the Br'er characters remains.
The film has resurfaced in another unexpected context as well. Walt Disney Imagineering recently cited Song of the South in a video discussing the technology behind the new Pixar film Hoppers (2026), with animators noting that the robot animals in the film drew inspiration from several audio-animatronic figures, including birds used on Splash Mountain.
Have you ever noticed this reference to Song of the South at Disney's Hollywood Studios? Let Disney Fanatic know in the comments.
To me I tend to think people overthink this movie “Song of the South “ All I see is a cute little movie with some really good characters and music. Don’t overthink it. It’s good entertainment.
There is nothing wrong with Song Of The South. Too many people pick everything apart. Everything has to have a hidden meaning.
I own this movie on DVD and I really enjoy it every time I watch it.
I’ve recently seen the film online and I think it’s the most wonderful movie that Walt had ever produced. It won an Academy award for best original song “Zip a Dee do Dah” and it co-starred Hattie McDaniel from “Gone with the Wind”. I see no reason why Disney should keep this beloved film locked up in the Disney Vault like a prisoner in a dungeon. Disney is making a serious mistake of giving in to Woke Ideology and Leftist Politics. It is our job as loyal Disney fans to both write and email the new CEO Josh D’Amaro and CCO Dana Walden to demand that they release Song of the South on both Disney + and DVD before it disappears forever.