The erasure of Splash Mountain from the Disney Parks does come with serious losses of a compelling sort. True African American trailblazers are being removed without a serious-enough contemplation.
Nick Stewart is the voice of Bre’r Bear, the character featured in both Song of the South and the Splash Mountain attraction. Yet Mr. Stewart, an important figure in the history of cinema, will be heard no more once Tiana’s Bayou Adventure debuts at the domestic Disney parks. Without his voice playing any longer, a man of deep significance to the African American theatrical community will disappear from millions of tourists.
We’ve been in contact with Mr. Stewart’s daughter, Valerie. Over the weekend, she sent us a treasure trove of information regarding her parents and what their contributions to The Walt Disney Company meant to them. But it’s not only that their work was important to the Stewarts — they were likewise beloved and embraced by Disney and the world until very recently. Before Nick Stewart’s Bre’r Bear was determined to be “problematic,” he was part of the actors and celebrities of the Disney legacy to whom remembrance and reverence was owed. Frankly, if I can be so bold, I find it sad that the African American actors hired by Walt Disney to be in his films, and help bring about change in society, are still not considered Disney Legends. It’s sad that politics get in our way from making what should be an obvious decision.
Just look at how Mr. Stewart was embraced by the Disney Company up until his passing in 2000! His daughter has provided this statement from Roy E. Disney himself upon hearing the news that Mr. Stewart had passed away:
Nick Nicodemus Stewart, who provided the voice for the bulky Brer Bear in Walt Disney’s classic, Song of the South, passed away at the home of his son on Monday, December 18, 2000. He was 90 years old. In addition to his role as a veteran vaudevillian, composer, producer, director, Stewart also founded the Ebony Showcase in Los Angeles.
Nick was a show business legend who made his mark in virtually every area of the entertainment spectrum from vaudeville and radio to motion pictures and television, said Roy E. Disney, vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company. As the voice of Brer Bear, he lent his vocal skills to creating one of Disney’s most memorable characters and a screen personality that was larger than life. In addition to his achievements as an actor and his important contribution here at Disney, Nick was a very passionate and caring individual who created a landmark Los Angeles theater and provided young people with a unique opportunity to participate in the theater and learn other related crafts. He will be greatly missed.
Stewart grew up in Harlem and, for a time, the British West Indies. By the age of 14, he was dancing and performing standup comedy at the Hoofers Club, a legendary gathering spot for such dancing greats as Bill Bojangles Robinson, the Step Brothers, and Honi Coles. He went on to appear at the Cotton Club with many of the popular acts of the day. He also worked as a recreational director at Rockhill Lodge in the Catskill Mountains, bringing stars of all races and professional shows to the families vacationing there.
In 1936, while appearing at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles with Cab Calloway and his band, Stewart was spotted by Mae West and signed for a role in her film, Go West, Young Man. He went on to appear in numerous films, including Stormy Weather, Cabin in the Sky, and Carmen Jones.
Stewart was a popular radio guest performer throughout the 1940s, and in 1946, voiced the role of Brer Bear the favorite target of Brer Rabbit in Walt Disney’s classic, Song of the South. Beginning in 1989, Stewart reprised the role for the Splash Mountain attractions at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Park.
He also appeared in the Broadway production of Irving Berlin’s Louisiana Purchase, and achieved great fame in the 1950s with the recurring role of the slow-moving janitor Lightnin’ on the Amos ‘n’ Andy TV series. Late in his career, Stewart had cameo roles in the films It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Silver Streak, and Hollywood Shuffle.
In addition, Stewart has been inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Archive of American Television, a series of videotaped conversations with television pioneers designed to create a complete oral history of the medium.
In 1950, Stewart founded the Ebony Showcase Theatre in Los Angeles to bring theater to the community and to work with young people, encouraging them to find a role working in the arts. People who worked at the theater included John Amos, Isobel Sanford, Margaret Avery, Boris Sagal, Juanita Moore, Gordon Hunt, Al Freeman, Jr., former SAG president William Schallert, and USC theater professor John Blankenchip.
How strange it is that someone, who two-decades ago was so important that the Vice Chairman of The Walt Disney Company would make a statement about his passing, is basically unknown to Disney fans any longer. And how strange it is that a real, historical, important African American actor who broke glass ceiling after glass ceiling, is being erased from Disney Parks in the name of inclusion.
His daughter has also supplied us with this video from Television Academy Interviews. We’re providing the full video, but Nick Stewart specifically talks about his thoughts on Walt Disney and Song of the South at the 25:00 minute mark:
Let us not forget that when we erase the past, there are often pieces we never considered which were very worth keeping, remembering and exalting.
Thank you, Valerie, for sharing with us how much your dad meant and means. I think he still does.
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