Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Brer Rabbit

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I loved the story of Brer Rabbit and the Briar Patch when I was a kid. (I had the...(gulp)...album of the story...boy am I old!!) It's great to be able to share these stories with my kids. It's not perfect, but it is enjoyable. Upon repeated viewing, a few things started irritating me, especially considering that my very young children are watching: the party episode, where the song playing in the background says over and over (and over) "Work that body, work, work that body..." The siblings in the skit at the beginning are also pretty rude to each other. This is a movie that doesn't feature cute and cuddly wilderness critters hopping along in friendship...these guys are constantly trying to eat each other. I'm glad we rented it, and we all definitely enjoyed it, but we won't be buying it.

I was introduced to Brer Rabbit via Uncle Remus' stories in Song of the South. This DVD does not remotely come close to the stories told by the lovable Uncle Remus. They are watered down political correct inaccurate bla bla mindless pap. Uncle Remus' original stories had substance and wisdom I didn't find in this DVD.

While this movie may not be the same as Disney's classic "Song Of The
South", this direct-to-video film is a beautifully animated, clean,
wholesome, entertaining family film. This movie is filled with very
memorable characters, plenty of adventure, a lot of captivating
stories, great moral lessons, and superb animation. This film also has
a lot of clean humor without any of the sexual innuendo, lame puns, or
gross-out humor that's found in many animated T.V. shows and films
nowadays. Even though this film is aimed at small children, you can
enjoy this movie whether you're 4 or 40, and it's great for the whole
family to watch together (or by yourself). On a scale of 1 to 10, I
give this film a 10 all the way! You will not be disappointed.

I haven't seen the whole movie yet because my 3 1/2 year old asked me to stop it. He squirmed through Brer Fox trying to eat Brer Rabbit, and the Buzzard trying to eat him, and the alligator, but when the bear had him, it was too scarey. He has seen Curious George, Toy Story 2, and the Little Bear Movie, and enjoyed them. You can guage from that wheher this is appropriae for your preschooler. I couldn't help but laugh myself.

In light of all the controversy surrounding Disney's "Song of the South", this version of Uncle Remus tales only deepens the controversy. As far as pleasing legal experts who get tense around civil rights issues, this movie is tremendous - as far as artistic expression, it's plain awful. As one reviewer noticed, the animation is decent; but the story and character development are horrendous - to plop a child in front of this garbage would be detrimental to their developmental growth.

On the other hand you have Disney's work of art locked up somewhere because it hints at the days of Southern utopia between Master and Servant. I understand this can be offensive, but this was not the aim of the Disney company, only an inevitable subtlety that must be conveyed in order to tell the story. Someone who would be convinced of bringing back the "glory days of the south" after watching this movie clearly missed the point of the film - and probably needs psychologcial evaluation.

Finally I want to point out that this film's "decent animation" was a product of some Asian country. That is, this culturally American film could not be animated by it's countrymen because of the expense. So the guys at Universal used the money that should have been put into production to pay for the name recognition of the voice "talents". I only hope this isn't evidence of where art is headed in this country.

I grew up listening to Br'er Rabbit Tales. For those who think that Br'er Rabbit is inseparable from Uncle Remus, Uncle Remus was invented as a way to tell the stories when it was transcribed by a White Atlantan journalist who heard the tales from Black sharecroppers on a plantantion. Uncle Remus is not essential to the Br'er Rabbit tales, which are the result of African American and Native American oral traditions, and are told just fine without him there. This DVD does a fine job of giving us a good many Br'er Rabbit stories. I thought it was a cute retelling, nice animation, and a good range of voices from plenty of African American actors. My kids enjoyed watching it, and I got to share a bit of what I grew up hearing at the many story festivals I attended as a little girl. For those who are disappointed that this isn't Song of the South, give Br'er Rabbit a chance in a movie that actually focuses on Br'er Rabbit... unless it wasn't Br'er Rabbit that interested you in the first place...

This is a very good movie. Don't expect to see Uncle Remus either. He ain't here. I'm as nostalgic as anyone, but I don't live in the past. This is not a "Gone with the Wind" throwback with happy Negroes caring for the needs of White folks (nothing wrong with loving each other but this is 2009, those "Driving Miss Daisy" images should be put to rest.

That being said this is agreat family movie. The voice characterizations are wonderful and the animation is very good. This movie is funny, witty, and intelligent. Brer Rabbit is still Brer Rabbit and he gets taught some well deserved lessons along the way.

One review said this was a vain attempt to make a "POLITICALLY CORRECT" version of an old "classic." I doubt the writers even had that in mind. This is just a good, funny cartoon with excellent African-American voice characterizations. Ignore the ignorant and negative reviews. I highly reccomend this movie.

Folks, let's get real, don't follow the stupidity of overanalyzing this with PC interpretations and looking for hidden messages about race relations and slavery. This film is not about any of that! It's basically a charming little story about a little girl whose mother sends her out to play and she meets a turtle (Danny Glover) who introduces her to the wonderful world of the Brer Rabbit stories.

Although this is based more on folkmaster Julius Lester's translations (from the original heavy dialect of Joel Chandler Harris's 19th century transcriptions of these slave stories) than the Disney film, its still quite good and the original wascally wabbit's tales are quite entertaining. Wanda Sykes is particularly loveable as Sister Moon and Nick Cannon is well cast as the heroic hare.

Children are bound to love this and adults (once they stop the overanalysis) will enjoy it too with an open mind. As for the comparison with SONG OF THE SOUTH, this one has more on Brer Rabbit and the "creetures" (as Uncle Remus pit it) than Uncle Remus himself. SOTS ony had three cartoons dealing with Brer Rabbit while this has about three times as many episodes. I look at this more as a modern counterpart to SOTS as opposed to something that degrades the older film (I personally feels this compliments both SOTS and the Joel Harris books). In either case, get it and laugh.

My kids loved this movie and the game that is included in the bonus features. We purchased it at walmart for $7. It has good stories and kept my kids laughing. They watch it often.

My father had asked me for The Adventures of Brer Rabbit for christmas. He wanted the original version. I thought that is what I had ordered since it said classic on the order page. I did not see where Wayne Brady was located on the cover. I simply did not pay attention. If I would have I would have known that this piece of crap was not the original. My dad hates it. He wanted it to share with his grandson. He simply removed it from the dvd player and put it in the closet. When I had made the order I only saw the title and it said classic, so I bought it. Boy was that the wrong mve.....