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!

Wow, has it really been exactly a month since I last updated? Sad. Life has finally calmed down for me, though, so I think I’ll be able to update this regularly at last!

At any rate, today’s entry comes on the heels of a post on the Disney Parks Blog that new Splash Mountain merchandise will be arriving in the coming months!

Image courtesy Disney Parks Blog

The post featured three different designs, one of which is pictured above, and also seemed to imply that there is more to come. The new merchandise is supposed to begin hitting the parks in September and October… which is perfect, since I happen to be planning a trip in October!

The post also does not mention what kind of merchandise will be available, other than mentioning that there are already some new Splash Mountain shirts available now. Here’s hoping there’s some good stuff available! Though new anything is wonderful, at this rate. For too long, the parks have only had a couple of generic shirts that don’t even have the Brer characters featured on them. So if you’re planning a trip to either Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom in WDW, be sure to pick some up! The more that sell, the more likely Disney is to make even more new merchandise.

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 meant to post this yesterday, but never got a chance. So today will have to suffice.

Yesterday was Splash Mountain’s 21st birthday. It was July 17, 1989 the popular attraction officially opened for business in Disneyland, Anaheim, CA (though a soft opening had occurred a few weeks earlier). Despite the fact that Song of the South was on the verge of being locked in the Disney “Vault” indefinitely, and Joel Chandler Harris’s original books were being branded as too politically incorrect for a modern audience, Splash Mountain would serve to introduce and immortalize Brer Rabbit in the public’s conscience anyways.

It is because Splash Mountain that I am writing this entry; that this site exists. Splash Mountain introduced me to Brer Rabbit. And even though today I realize how watered down and out of line with the original stories the ride is (frankly, I’d like to see them open a version with Miss Meadow and the Girls), it will always hold a special place in my heart. To date, I don’t think I would even want to visit a Disney park if Splash were closed for refurbishment.

Happy 21st Birthday, Splash Mountain.

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!

Where have I been?? I know, I know. I’m sorry – this a busy time for me. But I have not forgotten this site. Never!

Right now I’m watching Cats on Ovation. (Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of the channel. I had never heard of it before today.) At any rate, I had to reach for my computer to write this quick entry because I realized something: Cats probably wouldn’t exist without Brer Rabbit.

“Courtney,” you might be thinking right now, “What are you talking about? And who cares?” Well I can’t really answer that last question (except to say that clearly I do), but I CAN tell you what I’m talking about.

The author of the book Cats is based on, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, was a big fan of the Brer Rabbit tales. In fact, T.S. Eliot and fellow poet Ezra Pound were so enthralled by these stories that in their letters to each other, in which they wrote in the same dialect found in the stories, they referred to each other by nicknames: Old Possum and Brer Rabbit.

So it just makes sense that these tales of talking animals living along the big road influenced the creation of Eliot’s own book of anthropomorphic animals.

It always amazes me when I learn of a way Brer Rabbit has influenced the world that I had been previously unaware of. This is just a prime example of why I started this site. One day soon I really should write about why I think the Walt Disney Company itself might not have existed without him. Can you imagine what the world today would have been like without Disney? So much technology came from the Imagineers’ development.

The world would have been a different place without Brer Rabbit.

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.

Last night I discovered that the Walt Disney Classic Collection will be releasing a piece this year featuring Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. The piece will be from the Laughing Place segment of Song of the South, and looks to come in two pieces.

Image courtesy The Duckman’s Inside Report

Though I have to say that Brer Rabbit looks way too friendly. About to be roasted by my arch nemisis? No problem! Maybe I could offer him some tips on how to do it. Think up a ploy to get myself out of this situation, and possibly have a good laugh at him at the same time? I would never!

Regardless, this piece looks rather awesome. If I weren’t using the money for other things, like food and rent, I would snatch it up the second it came out. Instead, I suppose it’ll have to wait for Christmas or my birthday. Regardless, it’s about time, Disney.

I got these images from this site. Click on that link, and there are more images of it at different angles. Likewise, this post has similar images, only during the production and design stage. It also features some images of the development of the characters for Splash Mountain back in the 80’s/90’s, so definitely take a look.

Speaking of Splash Mountain, it apparently is down for refurbishment at Disneyland (California) starting yesterday. Brer Rabbit himself was kind enough for once to let all guests know:

Image courtesy LaughingPlace.com

Then again, he is supposed to be a Southern Gentleman, and he does have a tendency to go around beating up those who have bad manners. So I suppose it makes perfect sense he would see fit to let everyone know when he won’t be available. Still, what’s even the point of visiting the place if you can’t ride Splash?

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.

The past couple of weeks, a frog population has boomed in the pond outside my bedroom window. Some nights, their croaking has been so loud and incessant, they’ve kept me up most of the night. In general, though, I find them rather pleasant to listen to since I rather like frogs.

Whenever they start up, I immediately look to see how my rabbit, Noelle, reacts. Rabbits, I’ve learned, really don’t like loud and/or sudden noises. Can you blame them? Look at the size of those ears. Not only that, but they are prey animals, so it’s probably programmed into them to be wary of any such noise. But despite all this, Noelle seems to completely ignore their ruckus. Maybe she’s just heard them too often at this point for her to really care.

Still, I like to observe her during these times. Rabbits are different from dogs and cats; something about them seems a little more “wild animal” to me, and so I guess this is what causes my interest in how she reacts to animals that really are wild.

But of course, I wouldn’t be writing about this here if I wasn’t also making a connection to Brer Rabbit. You see, there’s a story that explains how the animals came to Earth – Brer Rabbit ticks off Sis Moon, and convinces the other animals to move to Earth. Thinking about it now, I suppose there could have been numerous animals of the same species, but for some reason this story has always left me with the impression that all animals today are supposed to be descended from the critters in these stories. Which means, under these pretenses, that my Noelle would in fact be a relation of Brer Rabbit herself.

Now, in these same past few weeks, I was poking around the blog for The Wren’s Nest, when I happened upon a site that they are linked to: The Moonlit Road. It’s a site dedicated to Southern folklore. Naturally, I went looking for Brer Rabbit.

I came across the story of How Brer Coon Gets His Meat. The story is included with a nice piece of background information which includes how the story originally was published by Joel Chandler Harris under the title "Crazy Sue’s Story." In it, Crazy Sue explains to two children that the reason the frogs in a nearby swamp are making so much noise is because they are "mad wid Mr. Rabbit," and want to drive him out of their swamp. Crazy Sue of course then tells the children the story of why the frogs are so upset with Brer Rabbit. Apparently he tricked them into literally digging themselves into a hole they couldn’t get out of so that Brer Coon might eat them.

So they’re apparently holding a grudge against him over this ‘til this day. I guess I was justified in wondering about the connection between their ruckus and my own rabbit. But there we have it, folks: a feud the likes of the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s, and it’s still being waged to this day.

I would be okay if they wouldn’t wage it outside my bedroom window, though.