The Song of the South: The Plot (US, 1947)


Figure 1.--Johnny is a city boy who is excited about a vacation in the country on his grandmother's plntation. Then he leans that his parents are separating.

"Song of the South" is set in the Deep South (Georgia) just after the Civil War. As critics often point out, it is an idelic portrayal of race relations. But as they too often fail to preceive, not every relationship betwwen blacks and whites at the time was a dark one. And race relations was just one topic the film touches on. The other, and of greater importance to the plot, is the impact of divorce on children. The main character is 7-year old Johnny, beautifully played by Bobby Driscoll. Johnny is a city boy which explains his fancy clothes. At the beginning of the movie, he is excited about what he believes to be a vacation in the country on his grandmother's plantation. He is not yet aware his parents, John Sr. and Sally, are going to separate. "The Song of the South" follows the same basic format used by Harris in his writing. The film is basically a live action film about Jonny, a lonely little boy, whose parents caught between his parents who are planning a divorse. After they reach the plantation, Johnny finds that his parents will be living apart. He will stay with his mother and grandmother while his father goes back to Atlanta where he is the controversial editor of the city's newspaper. Johnny is deeply troubeled because he has never been separated from his father before. His father quite leaves at night. Johnny runs away and is attracted by the voice of Uncle Remus to a small group sitting around the fire. By this time he is missed sand the servsants are sent out to find him. Johnny is drawn to kindly Uncle Remus who has an inexhautable collection of stories to help take Johnny's mind off his troubles, As Uncle Remus begins each story, the live action disolves into a animated story with Brier Rabbit, Brier Fox, and Brier Bear. Each of the three stories has a moral which of course apply to a problen Johnny is encountering.







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Created: 8:53 AM 3/5/2010
Last updated: 8:53 AM 3/5/2010