Your 1st movie in cinema

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That's the one. Disney hasn't released it on video, DVD and will likely never release it on Disney+ because it glorifies slavery and since Uncle Remus is a racist caricature. If you're into podcasts,


I recommend the 6-part series about how controversial the movie is on the Hollywood history podcast You Must Remember This.
I didn't listen to the podcast but I did see Song of the South recently and liked it for what it was. I think what people call 'racist' is actually an uncomfortable reminder of just how bad things were in the south back in the 19th century. I think seeing that makes people uncomfortable and people should be uncomfortable by slavery and it's fall out. I didn't find Song of the South racist (though it's about a time when racist segregation, bigotry and inequality existed) and apparently MarkF didn't find it racist either:
Song of the South (Harve Foster & Wilfred Jackson, 1946)



I'm going to put up parts of the film to let it speak for itself. First off, there are no slaves in this film. This is set during the Reconstruction, but if you honestly believe that all the former slaves were participating in a social uprising something along the lines of the 1950s/60s Civil Rights Movement, go ahead and produce your facts. If you think Disney was whitewashing the reality of the post-Civil War South by showing that some ex-slaves stayed on at the only homes they knew and actually liked the people they worked for, once again produce your evidence. I feel sick even mentioning crap like this because this film has NOTHING to do with the evils of slavery. I bet many people understand the concept of "Stockholm Syndrome", yes? Once again, this film is about how people of different colors and backgrounds actually care about and love each other. Too bad that's considered subversively racist now.

If anything, the white characters are shown in a far more derogtory light than Uncle Remus, Aunt Tempy and Toby. People bring to the table what they take away from the table. Since I'm bringing no racism to the table, I'm going to stop trying to defend the film. The wonderful thing about Song of the South is that it will make you cry by the humanity it shows. Yet, it also makes you laugh by the humanity it shows through the "tales of the critters" because, as Uncle Remus says, if you can't learn from tales 'bout critters, you can't learn.

Part 1 is above [not anymore] and Part 2 below. This is my fave cartoon episode, the one about the Tarbaby. Now, although I said I'd shut up about racism, I've read tons of crap on the internet about how this film promotes the concept of tarbabies as a derogatory term about African-Americans. This is one of the most blatant examples of how people attack this film with NO KNOWLEDGE whatsoever. The Tarbaby is made of tar. His entire purpose is to incapacitate Br'er Rabbit by getting all four of his limbs stuck. The fact that tar is black has nothing to do with racism. Just watch the clip. This is a FUNNY film, but I guess some people have no sense of humor. I hope you laugh. I roar at Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear in these two episodes. James Baskett (Uncle Remus) was a kind genius and well-deserving of his special Oscar. Baskett also contributes the voice of Br'er Fox.

This is the continuation of my fave scene. I love when Br'er Fox realizes that the Briar Patch might be the most evil way to kill Br'er Rabbit. This film is a wonderful example of how comedy and tears mix when done correctly.

I can add nothing to the beauty of this scene, from about 2:25-8:45.

Uncle Remus and Grandma are by far the wisest characters in the film, so if anybody thinks Uncle Remus is an Uncle Tom, you should back it up with your non-existent evidence.

I'm not sure anybody is actually going to check out all the links. I think the entire film is probably on You Tube if you paste it together. I don't have to do that. I have a copy off the Japanese Laserdisc. The funny thing is that during most of the songs, there are Japanese subtitles, but everything else is clear during the dialogue. I've put up about 25 minutes of the 94 minute movie. I hope you enjoy it.

P.S. According to the Internet, Cabin in the Sky is a blatantly racist film. Check it out, if you don't believe me. I don't think it is, but trust me. Every film ever made is racist and sexist to somebody. I'm sorry about that because I don't believe it myself.



I know I saw other movies in the theater before this one; but the one I remember the most was Flipper. My parents wanted some alone time so they sent us to the movies. My sister and I were alone at the movies for the first time. very heady stuff for a little kid.



I saw Song of the South as a child sometime before I turned ten. If it was racist, that went right by me. I liked the stories and animation of the animals and the Disney songs. I would certainly be interested in seeing it again to see what the problem with it was. I remember loving Holiday Inn as a kid and then saw it as an adult. I was quite embarrassed by the Lincoln's birthday scene. There was minstrel style songs and blackface. Eeks!



I recall 4 from 1950: Samson and Delilah, King Solomon's Mines, Annie Get Your Gun, and Broken Arrow.

I'm sure I saw some films in 1949, but I can't recall.

I had afternoon kindergarten, so my mother would take me to the pictures every time they changed at the local theater since I didn't have to get up early...



Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Hey me too. Original release or re-release? Original for me.
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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
The earliest I think I remember was Honey, I Blew Up The Kid (1992)
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I recall 4 from 1950: Samson and Delilah, King Solomon's Mines, Annie Get Your Gun, and Broken Arrow.

I'm sure I saw some films in 1949, but I can't recall.

I had afternoon kindergarten, so my mother would take me to the pictures every time they changed at the local theater since I didn't have to get up early...
Ahh, four good films! Lucky you to see them first run.



Mission: Impossible (1996)



Ahh, four good films! Lucky you to see them first run.
Yeah, you're right, although that distinction never came up then. We just saw the next movie that played at the theater (The Denis, Mt. Lebanon, PA).

Funny thing. When my mother took me along to see Quo Vadis (1951), when the scene came up where Nero condemns the Christians to be fed to the lions at the Circus (a big coliseum), my mother took me to the back of the theater so that she could watch over a low wall, but I couldn't see because I was too short... I hated it, but she was right-- too terrifying for a 7 year old.



It must have been a Disney film in re-release, like Bambi. I remember seeing Star Wars, ALIEN, and a whole bunch of cheap horror films, tho.



It was old by the time I saw it, but I recall being a small kid and being taken to see the 1950 Treasure Island in a Saturday Matinee. I wanted to be a pirate after that if I could have a great accent and an eyepatch, even though I didn't know what I pirate was.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
My parents owned a big station wagon when I was very young, and instead of getting a babysitter, they used to go to a drive-in movie with my sister and me. Us kids would sleep in the back of the car while my parents watched the movie.

The first movie that I have any memories of is Romeo and Juliet in 1968, so I would have been about two years old.
That was my very first film as well, and since it was summer at the drive-in, that would've made me 3 1/2. It was the sword fights that really stuck with me back then.
The next year at the drive-in was the film that stayed with me my entire life, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.
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Bugsy Malone or De Palmas The Fury. I would have been only two or three and so have no memories of them. Apparently I was smitten with the scene in the Fury where the man is spun around really fast on a Ferris wheel and killed. Which sounds about right.


The first one I remember actually seeing was Amityville Horror. Was about the same age but something about the terrors of investing in a large home that is beyond the means of a working class family resonated deeply with my three year old heart.


Empire Strikes Back probably wasn't long after that and I remember being just as bored by it as my grandmother sitting next to me.



Empire Strikes Back probably wasn't long after that and I remember being just as bored by it as my grandmother sitting next to me.
Heh, hopefully adult you has seen the error of your ways about that?



Heh, hopefully adult you has seen the error of your ways about that?

I see my error in that I get that it's the best actual film out of the trilogy but....I still find it pretty dull.


The original and Jedi feel like elevated pulpy junk to me, which is what I find charming. Empire takes itself so seriously I just check out. I'm not looking for maturity here.



I basically just want more cantina or Jabba's palace scenes and in Empire I get ****ing Cloud City.



I can't remember any specific movies before Mulan, but I know I was already familiar with the theatrical experience at the time I saw it.



I don't remember. Most likely it was an animated Disney film like Snow White or Beauty and the Beast. Either that or Showgirls.