Brer-Rabbit.com

Are you interested in owning a copy of the Brer Rabbit stories for your very own? Well, you’re in luck, because I just opened up the site’s store through Amazon. I’ve hand-selected a few items that feature our favorite trickster lagomorph, including a book full of every Brer Rabbit story (and then some) Joel Chandler Harris ever recorded, and the Brer Rabbit animated movie that came out a few years ago. No, it’s not Song of the South, but Song of the South isn’t the end-all be-all of Brer Rabbit, either.

I thought it only made sense to offer a place where people could purchase these stories for their own. Eventually I plan on publishing my own version on here, but until then these should more than fill the void. Besides, you can never go wrong with the original.

So be sure to head over to the store and see if anything interests you!

I finally took the time today to set up our Facebook page. If you are on the site, I’d love it if you check us out, and maybe left a comment or ‘like’d’ us. The link to the page on the sidebar has also been added.

I want to apologize for my apparent disappearance around here. The summer thus far has proven to be a busy one, much more so than I originally anticipated. There have been some unforeseen issues that I have been dealing with for the past month, and on top of that all I am also a few weeks shy of finishing my schooling. After that, I will be moving out of state. So it’s been a busy time for me, indeed, but I never intended on abandoning this site. Never!

Hopefully in the coming days  I will be able to work on getting my collection page up. I’ve begun taking pictures, but still have plenty more to go. I’m going to try to at least get some of it up before my move, but we’ll see.

In the meantime, don’t forget about the new WDCC Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox figurine coming out this month!

I decided to get rid of the ‘Interactive’ section on the menu above. Namely because everything I could think of to put under it could easily be put under the ‘Fun’ section as well. In its place, I decided to put in a section dedicatI ed to my own Brer Rabbit collection. Mainly because ‘Collection’ was the only title I could think of long enough not to throw off the design balance, but also because, well, I know I like looking at other people’s collections. It seems to be something others like to do, too. Or maybe not. We’ll find out. Anyways, I haven’t yet worked on it, but hopefully within the next week I’ll have it up. Likewise, I need to work on the ‘About’ site, too, I realize. All in due time, my friends. All in due time.

I was thinking about the figures I mentioned in my last post, when I realized that this wasn’t the first time they had featured Brer Rabbit and his, um, “friends” in their line up. The last time was in 1995-1996, for the 50th anniversary of Song of the South.

They used to have this available at a store at the local mall when I was a kid. Every time I would go to the mall, I would always spend a few moments drooling over it. Dreaming that one day I might be able to get it.

And it still hasn’t happened. Ah, well. (Though I did get the Brer Rabbit watch for sale at the Disney Store at the time.) It’s still on eBay quite a bit, so one day I’m sure I’ll be able to make my dreams come true. Brer Fox and Brer Bear were also available, I remember, but you can probably guess I’ve never been quite as interested in them. Though I won’t deny I still get excited whenever I spot them anywhere. A Brer character is a Brer character.

Anyways, it’s nice to see Disney still pays attention to these characters once in a while. Both pieces seem beautiful.

I was thinking that while I’m still just a few days into this website, I would ask now what you, dear readers, might want to see out of this site? Would you rather see this as an educational resource kind of site? One for pure fun? A focus more on the arts?

I would love feedback, if you don’t mind. You can leave comments by clicking the little circle button at the bottom of this and all posts. The one that has the voice cloud on it. I’m not sure it’s clear that’s what that does, so I think I’m going to look into a way to rework that. But you can let me know if it is!

You can also e-mail me, or even contact me on our Twitter if you’d like. I’m eager to hear back from you.

In the late 1800‘s, Joel Chandler Harris published his book, Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings. Though several had published the stories before, his was the first to bring the plantation tales of Brother Rabbit, more commonly known by the shortened version of Brer Rabbit, to popularity among the general public.

In the middle of the 1900‘s, another visionary known as Walt Disney would again introduce Brer Rabbit and his woodland critters to the public via another medium: the silver screen.

Both men helped to immortalize the folklore of the old plantations through the mediums which were hot during their time; Harris with books, and Disney through motion picture. Today technology has advanced probably beyond anything either men ever could have imagined, but unfortunately, the Brer Rabbit stories have all but slipped from the public conscience.

These days, the stories often face criticism, accused of racism and portraying the Old South in too romantic of a light. Disney’s Song of the South hasn’t seen the light of day on American shores since the mid-eighties, and disappeared from international shelves around the turn of this century. Harris, who was contemporaries and good friends with Mark Twain, is a name many students today haven’t even heard of. It’s tragic how Brer Rabbit is disappearing, despite the impact he has had on society — in ways you may not even have realized.

In the early Nineties, my older sister dragged me kicking and screaming on Splash Mountain for the first time. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship, as the cliche goes. We’re lucky the popular attraction is around, as it remains perhaps the only exposure to Brer Rabbit many kids today will ever have. And I’m living proof it can leave them curious for more.

It’s my hope that I can utilize the hot medium of today in much the same fashion Joel Chandler Harris and Walt Disney did before me to preserve these legends. Even close to twenty years after first discovering Brer Rabbit, he and his tales still never fail to make me happy. My goal is for this site to become the ultimate resource for all things Brer Rabbit: from analysis of stories, to reviews of movies, to humorous anecdotes,  and everything in between.