227- UNCLE REMUS!...........

A) "Song of the South" did it for this potentially creative and highly imaginative munchkin! I came away from "Bambi" tramatized at the shooting of the dad in the woods! But I also came away feelin' good inside and proud of Uncle Remus as a character on the big silver screen. Thanks, to the late Walt Disney and the crew who created that wonderful film! Disney chose an absolutely fresh face to portray Remus in his film...James Baskett. Hey, this guy, me, can still whistle and even sing that song...can you?

B) "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah...." I admit to, having grown up with the Walt Disney film "Song of the South", having a problem with distinguishing between my research on the Joel Chandler Harris books and characters and the Disney song! Back in the summer of 1879, Joel Chandler Harris, 30, was a journalist from Atlanta. That would be the last summer before he reached fame forever!
The Atlanta Constitution published this copy editor's first creative piece..."Story of Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Fox as told by Uncle Remus." Word spread and mags across America were reprinting The uncle Remus tales. And his book, collections, was published in November of 1880.
When interviewed back then, Harris noted that he simply wanted to "document" the stories in their original dialect, and that he honestly felt that he would not make much of an impression....WRONG!

C) The illustrations with his book and books are outstanding. You need to check out those original illustrations, too. I like what Disney's crew did with their much later illustrations, BUT the Joel Chandler Harris ones were classics! Oh, back in 1879, he was known for a spell as Joe Harris!
Copies of the first Uncle Remus volume, "Legends of the Old Plantation" were published in 1881, and those 1st editions are worth quite a bit! Over time, Harris produced seven (7) volumes, collections.
We know that Mark Twain read the Uncle Remus stories to his children. Clements and his family were excited once to actually meet Harris. If you've ever perused Twain's "Autobiography"....he noted that "He (Harris) was the bashfulest grown person I have ever met. When there were people about he stayed silent and seemed to suffer until they were gone. But he was lovely, nevertheless, but the sweetness and benignity of the immortal Remus looked out from his eyes, and the graces and sincerities of his character shone in his face."

D) I don't have any difficulty keeping the original Harris illustrations of Uncle Remus and gang separated from the Disney version...now!
As a matter of fact, this historian developed voices and mannerisms of Uncle Remus, Bre'r Rabbit, Bre'r Fox and Bre'r Bear and began using the brief skit to speak with groups. A regional storytelling contest was entered in Norfolk....taking 1st place and a chance to go on to compete in Charlottesville for the State Storytelling contest, by using the Uncle Remus tale of the "Tar Baby", complete with all of the actions, voices and mannerisms of the foursome were used! Did Ron Squire win?....hmmm, can you say "yeah"? Gosh, a State champion raconteur, storyteller! Uncle Remus would be proud!