Song 118 - Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah by Alice Wrubel and Ray Gilbert

Written for the 1946 Disney live action and animated movie Song of the South, Zip-a-Dee-do-Dah won Disney their second Academy Award for best original song after When you wish a upon a star from Pinocchio (already in the jukebox) in 1940.

Written by Alice Wrubel and lyrics by Ray Gilbert, it is sung by James Baskett in the film.  The film is based on the Uncle Remus stories collected by Joel Chandler Harris. It is the first Disney film to use both live action and animation together. James Baskett was given an honorary Academy Award  for his portrait of Uncle Remus. The first to be given to a male African-American.

For many years the song was part of an opening theme medley for the Wonderful World of Disney television program and it has often been used in other TV and video productions by the studio. It is one of many popular songs that features a bluebird ("Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder"), epitomised by the Bluebird of Happiness, as a symbol of cheer. 

 The song is influenced from the chorus of the pre- Civil War folk song Zip Coon, a  turkey  in the Straw variation: "Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day".The term "Zip Coon" is now considered racist as it plays on a derogatory slang term for African Americans. This somewhat changes the message of the song and the film itself is considered racist by a number of critics who have condemned the film's depiction of former slaves. The film has never, because of this, been released in its entirety on home video.

Here is the original song:

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

Best original song: 1947

Written by Alice Wrubel and Ray Gilbert

Film: Song of the South