Walt Disney's Song of the South Syndicated Radio Shows (1946)

Song of the South was an A-list production and Walt's first since Bambi. World War II had slowed down the output of animated features at his studio and it wasn't until Cinderella that Walt would get to make a true animated feature again. After the war, the Walt Disney Studios could only churn out what's known as "package features" with shorts and featurettes edited together to feature length. Walt wanted to get into live action to increase output and keep costs down. RKO, Walt's distributor, required animation must be included in his films. The solution was to transform the animated feature Uncle Remus, which had been in development at the studio since the 1930's, into a live action film with animated sequences.

Many of Walt's artists agreed that Song of the South was the highpoint of their careers at the studio. The project was an important personal one for Walt, having grown up with the stories, and when he selected James Baskette to star as Uncle Remus, he'd planned to do a series of films based on the Joel Chandler Uncle Remus stories. Unfortunately, Baskett passed away shortly after the film was released, but not before Walt personally saw to it that he was awarded an Oscar for his efforts.

To promote Song of the South, Walt Disney starred in these radio shows with the cast of the film and his stable of stars interacting with the characters. He'd been doing radio shows like this since the 1930's and would continue to interact with his characters in television in the 50's and 60's adding to their realism. These song of the South shows were syndicated and aired in markets to promote the film.

These show stars Walt Disney, James Baskett, Nick Stewart, Johnny Lee, Clarence "Ducky" Nash, Luana Patten, Bobby Driscoll, and Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers, Walt Disney, James Baskett, , Nick Stewart, Johnny Lee, and Donald Duck.

Be sure to nominate this historical film on the National Film Registry at the link below.

https://www.research.net/r/national-fim-registry-nomination-form

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.