document_title: Tin Woodman

question_text: who was looking for a heart in the wizard of oz

text: Tin Woodman

text: The books[edit]

text: Originally an ordinary man by the name of Nick Chopper (the name first appearing in The Marvelous Land of Oz), the Tin Woodman used to make his living chopping down trees in the forests of Oz, as his father had before him. The Wicked Witch of the East enchanted his axe to prevent him from marrying his sweetheart, after being bribed by the lazy old woman who kept the Munchkin maiden as a servant, and did not wish to lose her. (In a later book of the series, The Tin Woodman of Oz, the woman is said to be the Witch's servant, and it is the Witch herself who decides to enchant Nick's axe.) The enchanted axe chopped off his limbs, one by one. Each time he lost a limb, Ku-Klip the tinsmith replaced it with a prosthetic limb made of tin. Finally, nothing was left of him but tin. However, Ku-Klip neglected to replace his heart. Once Nick Chopper was made entirely of tin, he was no longer able to love the lady he had fallen for.

text: In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale befriends the Tin Woodman after they find him rusted in the forest, as he was caught in rain, and use his oil can to release him. He follows her to the Emerald City to get a heart from The Wizard. They are joined on their adventure by the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion. The Wizard sends Dorothy and her friends to the Winkie Country to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. The Tin Woodman's axe proves useful in this journey, both for chopping wood to create a bridge or raft as needed, and for chopping the heads off animals that threaten the party. When the Winged monkeys are sent by the Witch of the West against the group, they throw the Tin Woodman from a great height, damaging him badly. However Winkie Tinsmiths are able to repair him after the death of the Witch.

text: His desire for a heart notably contrasts with the Scarecrow's desire for brains, reflecting a common debate between the relative importance of the mind and the emotions. This occasions philosophical debate between the two friends as to why their own choices are superior; neither convinces the other, and Dorothy, listening, is unable to decide which one is right. Symbolically, because they remain with Dorothy throughout her quest, she is provided with both and need not select.[1] The Tin Woodman states unequivocally that he has neither heart nor brain, but cares nothing for the loss of his brain. Towards the end of the novel, though, Glinda praises his brain as not quite that of the Scarecrow's.

text: The Wizard turns out to be a "humbug" and can only provide a placebo heart made of silk and filled with sawdust. However, this is enough to please the Tin Woodman, who, with or without a heart, was all along the most tender and emotional of Dorothy's companions (just as the Scarecrow was the wisest and the Cowardly Lion the bravest). When he accidentally crushes an insect, he is grief-stricken and, ironically, claims that he must be careful about such things, while those with hearts do not need such care. This tenderness remains with him throughout the series, as in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, where he refuses to let a butterfly be maimed for the casting of a spell.[2]

text: When Dorothy returns home to her farm in Kansas, the Tin Woodman returns to the Winkie Country to rule as emperor. Later, he has his subjects construct a palace made entirely of tin — from the architecture all the way down to the flowers in the garden.

text: Baum emphasized that the Tin Woodman remains alive, in contrast to the windup mechanical man Tik-Tok Dorothy meets in a later book. Nick Chopper was not turned into a machine, but rather had his flesh body replaced by a metal one. Far from missing his original existence, the Tin Woodman is proud (perhaps too proud) of his untiring tin body.

text: A recurring problem for the Tin Woodman in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and afterward was his tendency to rust when exposed to rain, tears, or other moisture. For this reason, in The Marvelous Land of Oz the character has himself nickel-plated before helping his friend the Scarecrow fight to regain his throne in the Emerald City. Even so, the Tin Woodman continues to worry about rusting throughout the Oz series.

text: This is inaccurate, in that tin does not rust; only iron does. This may reflect the usage where an object made of iron or steel but coated with tin (in order to prevent rusting) is called a "Tin" object, as a "tin bath", a "tin toy", or a "tin can"; thus, the Tin Woodman might be interpreted (in English, at least) as being made of steel with a tin veneer. One passage in The Road to Oz, by Baum himself, wherein the Woodman attends Ozma's birthday party accompanied by a Winkie band playing a song called "There's No Plate Like Tin," strongly implies that this is the case. Another explanation may be that the Woodman is chiefly made of tin, with iron joints; in some of the illustrations, his joints are a different color from the rest of his body.[3] In Alexander Volkov's Russian adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Volkov avoided this problem by the translation of "The Tin Woodman" as the "Iron Woodchopper".

text: The Tin Woodman appeared in most of the Oz books that followed. He is a major character in the comic page Baum wrote with Walt McDougall in 1904-05, Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz. In Ozma of Oz, he commands Princess Ozma's army, and is briefly turned into a tin whistle. In Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, he serves as defense counsel in the trial of Eureka. He affects the plot of a book most notably in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, in which he forbids the young hero from collecting the wing of a butterfly needed for a magical potion because his heart requires him to protect insects from cruelty. Baum also wrote a short book titled The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, part of the Little Wizard Stories of Oz series for younger readers.

text: In The Tin Woodman of Oz, Nick Chopper finally sets out to find his lost love, Nimmie Amee, but discovers that she has already married Chopfyt, a man constructed partly out of his own dismembered and discarded limbs. For the Tin Woodman, this encounter with his former fiancée is almost as jarring as his experiences being transformed into a tin owl, meeting another tin man, Captain Fyter, and conversing with his ill-tempered original head.

text: Baum's successors in writing the series tended to use the Tin Woodman as a minor character, still ruling the Winkie Country but not governing the stories' outcome. Two exceptions to this pattern are Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz, by Ruth Plumly Thompson, and Lucky Bucky in Oz, by John R. Neill. The biggest exception is in Rachel Cosgrove's The Hidden Valley of Oz, in which the Tin Woodman leads the forces in the defeat of Terp the Terrible and cuts down the Magic Muffin Tree that gives Terp his great size.

text: The fact that Nick includes the natural deaths of his parents in the story of how he came to be made of tin has been a major element of debate. In his eponymous novel, he proclaims that no one in Oz ever died as far back as Lurline's enchantment of the country, which occurred long before the arrival of any outsiders such as the Wizard. (It should be noted, however, that although the living creatures of Oz do not die of age or disease, they may die of accidents or be killed by others.)

text: The Tin Man in later fiction[edit]

text: In the 1998 novel The Tin Man, by Dale Brown, the eponymous protagonist is a power-armored vigilante whom the media and police have dubbed The Tin Man for his physical resemblance to the Wizard of Oz character.

text: The Tin Woodman is a minor character in author Gregory Maguire's 1995 revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, its 2003 Broadway musical adaptation and Maguire's 2005 sequel Son of a Witch. In the book, Nessarose - the Wicked Witch of the East - is seen enchanting the axe to swing around and chop off Nick Chopper's limbs. She does this for a peasant woman who wishes to stop her servant, probably Nimmie Amee, from marrying Nick Chopper. This seems to be close to the Tin Man's origin in the original books, but from the Witch's perspective.

text: In the musical adaptation of Wicked the Tin Man is revealed to be Boq, a Munchkin whom Nessarose, the Wicked Witch of the East, fell in love with when they were at school together. When she discovered his heart belonged to Glinda, she botched a spell that was meant to make him fall in love with her by taking his heart, but instead shrunk his heart to nothing by taking it away without 'giving' it to Nessa. To save his life, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, was forced to turn him into tin. Not understanding her reasons, he pursues Elphaba with a single-minded vengeance for his current form. The Tin Man's humble origin in the novel conflicts with his having been the aristocratic Boq.

text: In Oz Squad, Nick was shown in a sexual relationship with "Rebecca Eastwitch" in order to get closer to Nimmie Amee and attempt to elope with her.

text: A darker twist to the beloved woodman is made by author James A. Owen in the fourth installment of his series, The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica when his identity is revealed to be Roger Bacon.[4]

text: The Tin Woodman appears in the 2011 TV series Once Upon a Time episode "Where Bluebirds Fly" portrayed by Austin Obiajunwa (as a teenager) and by Alex Désert (as an adult).[5] In this version he goes by the name Stanum (derived from the Latin world "stannum", which means "tin").

text: Since youth, Stanum has been a woodcutter and one day when he first met Zelena, the daughter of another woodsman, he finds out that Zelena has magic and befriends her, regardless of whatever the children say about Zelena, who they see as a freak. Many years later, Stanum, now a man, is punished by the Wicked Witch of the North for chopping down a tree in her domain, and his body slowly begins to transform into tin. To prevent himself from completely becoming tin, Stanum seeks out help from Zelena (now the Wicked Witch of the West) at the Emerald City of Oz. Zelena agrees to help him seek out the Crimson Heart, which can save him. During their quest, Stanum tells Zelena that she doesn't have to be lonely but she is doing her best to deny his advice. Suddenly, a lion comes of nowhere to attack Stanum, and Zelena uses her magic to make the lion go away (at this point the lion has become as Zelena would put it, cowardly). When they finally arrived to the location of the Crimson Heart, the two learned that the only way to make it work is through the absorption of another person's magic. Unfortunately Zelena's actions and selfish greed for magic causes her to betray Stanum, whom she suspect was aligned with Dorothy by keeping the Crimson Heart for herself, leaving Stanum to transform into the Tin Man permanently. Some time later, when Robin Hood arrives in Oz in the episode "Heart of Gold", the Tin Man is seen on the side of the Yellow Brick Road, torn apart.

text: Depictions on stage and screen[edit]

text: In 1902, Baum helped to adapt The Wizard of Oz into a wildly successful stage extravaganza. David C. Montgomery played the Tin Woodman, Niccolo Chopper (who played the piccolo), opposite Fred Stone as the Scarecrow, and the team became headliners. The piccolo would continue to appear in early adaptations, such as the 1910 film, but was largely forgotten, and the name "Niccolo" never appeared in one of the books. Revisionist books like Oz Squad have referred to him as "Nicholas," a name not found in the books, either.

text:
In the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man was played by actor Jack Haley. Originally, Ray Bolger was cast to play the role of Tin Man, despite his desire to play the Scarecrow. Buddy Ebsen was, at the time, cast as Scarecrow, and was convinced to swap roles with Bolger.[6] While this pleased Bolger, it led to medical problems for Ebsen. The Tin Man's makeup originally contained aluminum powder which got into Ebsen's lungs, bringing him to the edge of death. He was rushed to a hospital and had to give up the role. Despite this, and the fact that the Tin Man's makeup was changed to a safer aluminum paste, Ebsen went on to outlive both Bolger and Haley. Haley based his breathy speaking style in the movie on the voice he used for telling his son bedtime stories. His portrayal of the character is by far the most famous. There is no explanation in the film of how the Tin Man became the Tin Man. It is subtly implied that he was always made of tin; the only reference to the tinsmith is the Tin Man's remark "The tinsmith forgot to give me a heart". Unlike the costumes of the Scarecrow (in the National Museum of American History) and Cowardly Lion (two sets in private hands), that of the Tin Man "was largely destroyed".[7][8] Haley also portrayed the Tin Man's Kansas counterpart, Hickory (one of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farmworkers). Screenwriter Noel Langley created this character for the film.[9] Hickory helps Zeke (Lion's alter ego) lower a bed into its place on a wagon at the farm. Unlike Zeke, Hickory and Hunk (Scarecrow's alter ego) lose their hats with Uncle Henry as they struggle to open the cellar when the tornado approaches the farm. He reunites with Dorothy when she awakes from being unconscious. Hickory is seen with Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Zeke, and Hunk as well as Professor Marvel (The Wizard's alter ego).
In the original Broadway version of The Wiz, Tiger Haynes played the Tinman, a human woodcutter who became tin after the Wicked Witch of the East cursed his axe to chop him up (as in the book). Nipsey Russell played the Tinman in the film adaptation of The Wiz. In this version, as in the 1939 movie, there is no explanation of how he became tin, just a reference of the "genius who created me". He worked as the carnival barker and when the park was closed, he was abandoned, rusted and squeezed by his fourth wife, "Teeny" (a heavy tin sculpture of a fat lady). He was saved by Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Ne-Yo played the Tinman in the TV special The Wiz Live!. This version portrayed him as a construction worker on whom the Wicked Witch of the East developed an unrequited crush. When she found out he already had a girlfriend, "Bertha", she became so jealous, she turned him into a heartless tinman. The Witch boasted afterwards that if she couldn't have his heart, then no one could. Like Jack Haley in the 1939 movie, Ne-Yo also played one of Aunt Em's farmhands - John, who walks with a metal leg brace.
Other notable actors who have played the Tin Woodman include Oliver Hardy in a 1925 silent version of The Wizard of Oz directed by and starring Larry Semon, in which a villainous farmhand briefly fell into a tin pile and emerged as a "Tin Woodsman" [sic]. In subsequent scenes the tin was removed and he became "Knight of the Garter". In the 1960 television adaptation of The Land of Oz, he was played by vaudeville comedian Gil Lamb; in the 1969 film, The Wonderful Land of Oz he was played by Al Joseph; and in the 1985 film Return to Oz, he was played by Deep Roy, a little person who was able to fit inside a costume that looked nearly identical to John R. Neill's artwork.
In the 1961 animated TV series, Tales of the Wizard of Oz and its sequel, the 1964 NBC animated television special Return to Oz, the Tin Man (here named Rusty) was voiced by Larry D. Mann.
In the 1970s, the Tin Woodman appeared in a series of short animated educational films about heart health from Joleron Productions.
In an episode of The World's Greatest Super Friends, Superman temporarily became the Tin Man after a tornado took him, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman to Mister Mxyzptlk's planet of Oz.
In a 1981 episode of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Scrappy is dressed as the Tin Man after a tornado took him, Shaggy, and Scooby to "Ahz", a direct spoof of Oz with a different spelling by its enunciation.
In 1985, the Tin Woodman appeared in the educational film Act on Arthritis as well as in promotional commercials.
Roger Daltrey portrayed this character in the 1995 television stage performance The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True. The Kansas farmworker Hickory does not appear in this production. Daltrey performed a rock and roll tempo of "If I Only Had a Heart" in which he swung his microphone mimicking his Who persona. He also performed the bridge verses sung by the Tin Man in Nathan Lane's long version of "If I Only Had the Nerve". Toward the end, he hugged the Wizard (Joel Grey) saying to him "Thank you from the bottom of my heart!".
In 1996, they made a cartoon animated The Oz Kids. He has a son named Tin Boy. Like his father he can cut wood with his ax. And he has to be careful with water and snow or he'll be rust. His voice played by Andy Milder.
Hiroki Tsujiai from Ultra Maniac dresses as the Tin Man in the costume party.
James Kall portrayed the Tin Man in the 2001 ABC miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
The Muppet Gonzo plays a similar role, the Tin Thing, in 2005's television film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. In this version, he is the Wicked Witch's research assistant, transformed into a robot to prevent him wanting a day off to marry Camilla. Gonzo's other role is himself. He appears at the end of this film in the Muppets' show.
In 2006, the Tin Man was the protagonist in a pair of television commercials for Chef Boyardee brand canned Beef Ravioli, in a costume identical to the design used in the 1939 Oz film. In the commercials, the Tin Man (played by Australian actor David Somerville) is pursued by groups of children due to the fact that an oversized Beef Ravioli can label has been affixed to the back of his cylindrical torso (which he doesn't notice until the midpoint of the first commercial); thus, he appears to be a very large, mobile can of ravioli. In the first ad, the Tin Man escapes from his pursuers only to discover that the building he ducked into is an elementary school cafeteria full of hungry children and a teacher. The second ad begins with the Tin Man running through a residential neighborhood, accidentally adding to his pursuers when he stumbles across a backyard birthday party; after fleeing across a golf course (while dodging balls from the driving range), he is cornered in another backyard and threatened with a garden hose (playing on the Tin Man's classic weakness of rusting). As the scene shifts to the image of a Beef Ravioli can, sounds of water hitting metal and the Tin Man's cries for help are heard.
In 2006, the Chicago Under Ground Film Festival premiered Lee Lynch’s feature film titled Transposition of the Great Vessels. Based on the story of his own parents, who moved from Redding to Los Angeles, in hopes of making a better life. His father wanted to work for the forest service, and his mother wanted to be a cook, but their baby was born with a rare heart condition. They were forced to give up those dreams, and make choices that would give them insurance and stability. A naturalist movie interspersed with dream sequences; the “Tin Woodman” makes an appearance while on his deathbed, at UCLA Medical Center.
At Sundance of 2007, a film premiered by young director Ray Tintori entitled Death to the Tinman. It is a somewhat modernized retelling that takes place at sometime in the 1900s, in the town Verton, rather than Oz. However, the book of the same name, which tells the origins of the character, is cited by opening intertitles as the source. Although the basic premise is nearly identical, much of the details and all names and locations have been changed. This is partially due to the film's satirical look at criminal reenactments, as it states at the beginning that names "have been changed to protect the innocent." Perhaps the most interesting change that story makes, though, is the origin of the curse upon the Tinman's Axe, which is changed from being the Witch to being a curse from God. This film won a short filmmaking award at Sundance.
A 2007 CG animated short film called "After Oz",[10] produced by the film students at Vancouver Film School, centered on a stylized version of the Tin Man, after he has received his heart from Oz. The movie shows him moving through a colorful Oz city with his brand-new mechanical heart, before meeting a reddish female Tin Woman (or robot?) to whom he gives the heart. She proceeds to cruelly play with the heart.
An internet-collaboration, CG animated feature based on Baum's book The Tin Woodman of Oz was produced by A:M Films, and completed in 2009.
In 2010, Whitestone Motion Pictures[11] produced a 23-minute live-action short film, Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man. The film is based on the book The Tin Woodman of Oz, where Woot the Wanderer visits the Tin Man and asks how he came to be made of tin. In the film, the Tin Man appears to be more steam- or coal-powered. His chest cavity is covered by a door which reads "Pedudoe Tin Co." but this is a reference to the workings of the film company, and not a reference to any Oz book or material. The movie was made available for free viewing online and free downloading of its soundtrack.
In the 2013 prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful, although the Tin Woodman does not physically appear, the film introduces his creator, the Master Tinker, portrayed by Bill Cobbs.[12]
Tin Man appears in the animated film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (which is based on Dorothy of Oz), voiced by Kelsey Grammer.
The Woodsman, a 2012 stage play written by James Ortiz with music by Edward W. Hardy, tells the backstory of the Tin Man, using puppetry, movement, and music. The play has received multiple Off Broadway productions, and won a 2016 Obie Award for Ortiz's puppet design.[13]
In the TV series Emerald City, the Tin Woodman equivalent is Jack (Gerran Howell), a friend of the enigmatic Tip, who helps 'him' escape from his imprisonment by a witch. When it is revealed that Tip is actually a girl whose true identity was suppressed by a potion, her strained emotional state causes her to push Jack over a balcony after he kisses her. Jack is subsequently found and rebuilt by scientists in a cyborg-like state; his head and right arm are still organic, but his heart and the rest of his body has been replaced or covered by mechanical armour.
The Tin Man appears in Once Upon a Time. In this show, he started out as a woodcutter named Stanum (portrayed by Austin Obiajunwa as a young man and by Alex Désert as an adult) who encountered a younger Zelena when she saved a bird's nest. When two bullies show up to harm Zelena, Stanum helped to fend them off. Years later, Stanum comes to Zelena for help. He tells Zelena that he is slowly turning to tin after he was cursed by the Wicked Witch of the North for cutting down a tree in her area. Stanum states that the Crimson Heart artifact might be able to help him, but needs Zelena's help to get by the beast that guards it. When close to its location, Stanum is attacked by a lion who is then fended off by Zelena. When they get to the heart, Zelena picks it up and felt some of her magic draining. When Zelena claims that Dorothy Gale put Stanum up to this task, Stanum commented that he never met Dorothy. He also stated that Zelena once claimed on the day they met that she would be happy being a normal human. As Stanum fully turns to tin and is unable to move, Zelena takes the box containing the Crystal Heart and leaves while telling Stanum that perhaps Dorothy will meet Stanum and free him.

text: Modern works[edit]

text:
The song "Country Robot/A Letter to Dorothy" by The Incredible Moses Leroy is written from the Tin Man's perspective; it includes the lyrics "You gave me oil, I was a rusty load/ You even helped me find my heart."
In the song "Tin Man" by the band America, the lyrics state that "Oz never did give nothin' to the Tin Man, that he didn't, didn't already have." The rest of the song has nothing to do with the Tin Man or Oz.
Country artist Kenny Chesney recorded the song "Tin Man" for his album "All I Need to Know". The first verse and refrain state:
Tracy Chapman included a song titled "Remember the Tinman" on her 1995 album New Beginning.
In the VeggieTales episode The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's, the Tin Man and his Kansas counterpart from the 1939 film were played by Larry the Cucumber.
In the 2007 Sci-Fi miniseries Tin Man, a "Tin Man" is a term used for the law enforcers of Central City in the Outer Zone (O.Z.) One of the story's protagonists, Wyatt Cain (played by Neal McDonough in the title role), is a Tin Man whose past left him hardened and distant from others. In addition, he is first found by Dorothy imprisoned in an iron suit that replays a non-stop loop of the capture of his wife and child.
The Avett Brothers 2009 Album I and Love and You features a song called "Tin Man".
Verses of the Future Islands 2010 post-pop, synth-ballad Tin Man contain numerous metaphorical, Tin-Man related references. The song also features a powerful and climactic end chorus consisting solely of the repeated line - "I am the Tin Man".
In the 2011 direct-to-DVD animated film Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man was voiced by Rob Paulsen.
The Tin Man appears in Dorothy and the Witches of Oz played by Jordan Turnage. He appears in the form of a man named Nick (played by Billy Boyd).
A 1990 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is titled "Tin Man."
The Phineas & Ferb episode "Wizard of Odd" features the Tin Man in his rusted state, but he is never freed from this condition. He is also featured in an end credits song entitled "Rusted."
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse did a parody special entitled "The Wizard of Dizz," in which the role of the Tin Man is played by Mickey Mouse.
The parody The Muppets' Wizard of Oz featured Gonzo the Great in the role of the Tin Man.
In the game Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., Tin Man, along with other Oz characters, is a playable character. His design is more based on Japanese culture and he have the ability to give steam to allies.
The Tin Woodman appears as a major antagonist in Danielle Paige's Dorothy Must Die novel series.

text: Sources of the Tin Man image[edit]

text: Economics and history professors have published scholarly studies that indicate the images and characters used by Baum and Denslow closely resembled political images that were well known in the 1890s.[14] They state that Baum and Denslow did not simply invent the Lion, Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, Yellow Brick Road, Silver Slippers, cyclone, monkeys, Emerald City, little people, Uncle Henry, passenger balloons, witches and the wizard. These were all common themes in the editorial cartoons of the previous decade. The notion of a "Tin Man" has deep roots in European and American history, according to Green (2006), and often appeared in cartoons of the 1880s and 1890s.[15] Baum and Denslow, like most writers and illustrators, used the materials at hand that they knew best. They built a story around them, added Dorothy, and added a series of lessons to the effect that everyone possesses the resources they need (such as brains, a heart and courage) if only they had self-confidence. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was a children’s book, of course, but as Baum warned in the preface, it was a "modernized" fairy tale as well.

text: The Tin Man—the human turned into a machine—was a common feature in political cartoons and in advertisements in the 1890s. Indeed, he had been part of European folk art for 300 years. In political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Tin Woodman is supposedly described as a worker, dehumanized by industrialization. The Tin Woodman little by little lost his natural body and had it replaced by metal; so he has lost his heart and cannot move without the help of farmers (represented by the Scarecrow); in reality he has a strong sense of cooperation and love, which needs only an infusion of self-confidence to be awakened. In the 1890s many argued that to secure a political revolution a coalition of Farmers and Workers was needed.[16]

text: The 1890 editorial cartoon to the right shows President Benjamin Harrison wearing improvised tin armor because he wanted a tariff on tin. Such images support the argument that the figure of a "tin man" was in use as political allegory in the 1890s. The man on the right is politician James G. Blaine.

text: The oil needed by the Tin Woodman had a political dimension at the time because Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company stood accused of being a monopoly (and in fact was later found guilty by the Supreme Court). In the 1902 stage adaptation, which is full of topical references that do not appear either in the novel or in any of the film adaptations (unless they are satirical), the Tin Woodman wonders what he would do if he ran out of oil. "You wouldn't be as badly off as John D. Rockefeller," the Scarecrow responds, "He'd lose six thousand dollars a minute if that happened."[17]


document_title: Song of the South

question_text: where does song of the south take place

question_tokens: where does song of the south take place

root

text: Song of the South

text: Synopsis[edit]

text: Setting[edit]

text: The film is set on a plantation in the southern United States, specifically in the state of Georgia, some distance from Atlanta. Although sometimes misinterpreted as taking place before the U.S. Civil War while slavery was still legal in the region, the film takes place during the Reconstruction Era after slavery was abolished.[5][6][7][8] Harris' original Uncle Remus stories were all set after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Harris himself, born in 1848, was a racial reconciliation activist writer and journalist of the Reconstruction Era. The film makes several indirect references to the Reconstruction Era: clothing is in the newer late-Victorian style; Uncle Remus is free to leave the plantation at will; black field hands are sharecroppers, etc.[9]

tag: p

text: Plot[edit]

text: 7-year-old Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) is excited about what he believes to be a vacation at his grandmother's Georgia plantation with his parents, John Sr. (Erik Rolf) and Sally (Ruth Warrick). When they arrive at the plantation, he discovers that his parents will be living apart for a while, and he is to live at the plantation with his mother and grandmother (Lucile Watson) while his father returns to Atlanta to continue his controversial editorship in the city's newspaper. Johnny, distraught because of his father's departure, secretly sets off that night for Atlanta with only a bindle.

text: As Johnny sneaks away from the plantation, he is attracted by the voice of Uncle Remus (James Baskett) telling tales of a character named Br'er Rabbit. By this time, word had gotten out that Johnny was missing, and some plantation residents are looking for him. Johnny evades being discovered, but Uncle Remus catches up with him. They befriend each other and Uncle Remus offers him some food for his journey, taking him back to his cabin. Back at the cabin, Uncle Remus tells Johnny the traditional African-American folktale, "Br'er Rabbit Earns a Dollar a Minute". In the story, Br'er Rabbit (Johnny Lee) attempts to run away from home only to change his mind after an encounter with Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear (James Baskett and Nick Stewart), Johnny takes the advice and changes his mind about leaving the plantation, letting Uncle Remus take him back to his mother.

text: Johnny makes friends with Toby (Glenn Leedy), a young black boy who lives on the plantation, and Ginny Favers (Luana Patten), a poor white girl. Ginny gives Johnny a puppy after her two older brothers, Joe (Gene Holland) and Jake (George Nokes), threaten to drown it. Johnny's mother refuses to let him take care of the puppy, so he takes the dog to Uncle Remus. Uncle Remus takes the dog in and delights Johnny and his friends with the fable of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, stressing that people shouldn't get involved with something they have no business with in the first place. Johnny heeds the advice of how Br'er Rabbit used reverse psychology on Br'er Fox and begs the Favers Brothers not to tell their mother (Mary Field) about the dog. The reverse psychology works, and the boys go to speak with their mother. After being spanked, they realize that Johnny had fooled them. In an act of revenge, they tell Sally about the dog. She becomes upset that Johnny and Uncle Remus kept the dog despite her order (which was unknown to Uncle Remus). She instructs Uncle Remus not to tell any more stories to her son.

text: Johnny's birthday arrives and Johnny picks up Ginny to take her to his party. On the way there, Joe and Jake push Ginny into a mud puddle. With her dress ruined, Ginny is unable to go to the party and runs off crying. Johnny begins fighting with the boys, but their fight is broken up by Uncle Remus. Johnny runs off to comfort Ginny. He explains that he does not want to go either, especially since his father will not be there. Uncle Remus discovers both dejected children and cheers them up by telling the story of Br'er Rabbit and his "Laughing Place". When the three return to the plantation, Sally becomes angry at Johnny for missing his own birthday party, and tells Uncle Remus not to spend any more time with him. Saddened by the misunderstanding of his good intentions, Uncle Remus packs his bags and leaves for Atlanta. Johnny rushes to intercept him, but is attacked by a bull and seriously injured after taking a shortcut through a pasture. While Johnny hovers between life and death, his father returns. Johnny calls for Uncle Remus, who is then escorted in by his grandmother. Uncle Remus begins telling a tale of Br'er Rabbit and the Laughing Place, and the boy miraculously survives.

text: Johnny, Ginny and Toby are next seen skipping along and singing while Johnny's returned puppy runs alongside them. Uncle Remus is also in the vicinity and he is shocked when Br'er Rabbit and several of the other characters from his stories appear in front of them and interact with the children. Uncle Remus rushes to join the group, and they all skip away singing.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
James Baskett as Uncle Remus
Bobby Driscoll as Johnny
Luana Patten as Ginny Favers
Glenn Leedy as Toby
Ruth Warrick as Sally
Lucile Watson as Grandmother
Hattie McDaniel as Aunt Tempy
Erik Rolf as John
Olivier Urbain as Mr. Favers (uncredited)
Mary Field as Mrs. Favers
Anita Brown as Maid
George Nokes as Jake Favers
Gene Holland as Joe Favers

tag: ul

text: Voices[edit]

text:
Johnny Lee as Br'er Rabbit
James Baskett as Br'er Fox
Nick Stewart as Br'er Bear
Roy Glenn as Br'er Frog (uncredited)
Clarence Nash as Bluebird (uncredited)
Helen Crozier as Mother Possum (uncredited)

text: Production[edit]

text: Background[edit]

text: Walt Disney had long wanted to produce a film based on the Uncle Remus storybook, but it was not until the mid-1940s that he had found a way to give the stories an adequate film equivalent in scope and fidelity. "I always felt that Uncle Remus should be played by a living person", Disney commented, "as should also the young boy to whom Harris' old Negro philosopher relates his vivid stories of the Briar Patch. Several tests in previous pictures, especially in The Three Caballeros, were encouraging in the way living action and animation could be dovetailed. Finally, months ago, we 'took our foot in hand,' in the words of Uncle Remus, and jumped into our most venturesome but also more pleasurable undertaking."[10]

text: Disney first began to negotiate with Harris' family for the rights in 1939, and by late summer of that year he already had one of his storyboard artists summarize the more promising tales and draw up four boards' worth of story sketches.[4] In November 1940, Disney visited the Harris' home in Atlanta. He told Variety that he wanted to "get an authentic feeling of Uncle Remus country so we can do as faithful a job as possible to these stories."[4] Roy Oliver Disney had misgivings about the project, doubting that it was "big enough in caliber and natural draft" to warrant a budget over $1 million and more than twenty-five minutes of animation, but in June 1944, Disney hired Southern-born writer Dalton Reymond to write the screenplay, and he met frequently with King Vidor, whom he was trying to interest in directing the live-action sequences.[4]

text: Dalton Reymond wrote a treatment for the film.[5] Because Reymond was not a professional screenwriter, Maurice Rapf, who had been writing live-action features at the time, was asked by Walt Disney Productions to work with Reymond and co-writer Callum Webb to turn the treatment into a shootable screenplay.[5] According to Neal Gabler, one of the reasons Disney had hired Rapf to work with Reymond was to temper what Disney feared would be Reymond's "white Southern slant".

text: Rapf was a minority, a Jew, and an outspoken left-winger, and he himself feared that the film would inevitably be Uncle Tomish. "That's exactly why I want you to work on it," Walt told him, "because I know that you don't think I should make the movie. You're against Uncle Tomism, and you're a radical."[4]

text: Rapf initially hesitated, but when he found out that most of the film would be live-action and that he could make extensive changes, he accepted the offer.[5] Rapf worked on Uncle Remus for about seven weeks. When he got into a personal dispute with Reymond, Rapf was taken off the project.[5] According to Rapf, Walt Disney "ended every conference by saying 'Well, I think we've really licked it now.' Then he'd call you the next morning and say, 'I've got a new idea.' And he'd have one. Sometimes the ideas were good, sometimes they were terrible, but you could never really satisfy him."[4] Morton Grant was assigned to the project.[5] Disney sent out the script for comment both within the studio and outside the studio.[4]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Song of the South was the first live-action dramatic film made by Disney.[11] James Baskett was cast as Uncle Remus after responding to an ad for providing the voice of a talking butterfly. "I thought that, maybe, they'd try me out to furnish the voice for one of Uncle Remus' animals," Baskett is quoted as saying. Upon review of his voice, Disney wanted to meet Baskett personally, and had him tested for the role of Uncle Remus. Not only did Baskett get the part of the butterfly's voice, but also the voice of Br'er Fox and the live-action role of Uncle Remus as well.[12] Additionally, Baskett filled in as the voice of Br'er Rabbit for Johnny Lee in the "Laughing Place" scene after Lee was called away to do promotion for the picture.[11] Disney liked Baskett, and told his sister Ruth that Baskett was "the best actor, I believe, to be discovered in years". Even after the film's release, Disney maintained contact with Baskett.[4] Disney also campaigned for Baskett to be given an Academy Award for his performance, saying that he had worked "almost wholly without direction" and had devised the characterization of Remus himself. Thanks to Disney's efforts, Baskett won an honorary Oscar in 1948.[4][5] After Baskett's death, his widow wrote Disney and told him that he had been a "friend indeed and [we] certainly have been in need".[4]

text: Also cast in the production were child actors Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, and Glenn Leedy (his only screen appearance). Driscoll was the first actor to be under a personal contract with the Disney studio.[13] Patten had been a professional model since age 3, and caught the attention of Disney when she appeared on the cover of Woman's Home Companion magazine.[14] Leedy was discovered on the playground of the Booker T. Washington school in Phoenix, Arizona, by a talent scout from the Disney studio.[15] Ruth Warrick and Erik Rolf, cast as Johnny's mother and father, had actually been married during filming, but divorced in 1946.[16][17] Hattie McDaniel also appeared in the role of Aunt Tempy.

text: Filming[edit]

text: Production started under the title Uncle Remus.[4][5] The budget was originally $1,350,000.[18] The animated segments of the film were directed by Wilfred Jackson, while the live-action segments were directed by Harve Foster.[4] Filming began in December 1944 in Phoenix, where the studio had constructed a plantation and cotton fields for outdoor scenes, and Disney left for the location to oversee what he called "atmospheric shots".[4] Back in Hollywood, the live action scenes were filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio.

text: On the final day of shooting, Jackson discovered that the scene in which Uncle Remus sings the film's signature song, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", had not been properly blocked. According to Jackson, "We all sat there in a circle with the dollars running out, and nobody came up with anything. Then Walt suggested that they shoot Baskett in close-up, cover the lights with cardboard save for a sliver of blue sky behind his head, and then remove the cardboard from the lights when he began singing so that he would seem to be entering a bright new world of animation. Like Walt's idea for Bambi on ice, it made for one of the most memorable scenes in the film."[4]

text: Animation[edit]

text: There are three animated segments in the film (in all, they last a total of 25 minutes). The last few minutes of the film also contain combine animation with live-action. The three sequences were later shown as stand-alone cartoon features on television.

text:
Br'er Rabbit Runs Away: (~8 minutes) Based on "Br'er Rabbit Earns a Dollar a Minute". Includes the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah",
Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby: (~12 minutes) Based on "Tar-Baby". The segment is interrupted with a short live-action scene about two-thirds through.It features the song "How Do You Do?"
Br'er Rabbit's Laughing Place: (~5 minutes) Based on "The Laughing Place". The song "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" is featured.

text: Music[edit]

text: Nine songs are heard in the film, with four reprises. Nearly all of the vocal performances are by the largely African-American cast, and the renowned all-black Hall Johnson Choir sing four pieces: two versions of a blues number ("Let the Rain Pour Down"), one chain-reaction-style folk song[19] ("That's What Uncle Remus Said") and one spiritual ("All I Want").

text: The songs are, in film order, as follows:

text:
"Song of the South": Written by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston; performed by the Disney Studio Choir
"Uncle Remus Said": Written by Eliot Daniel, Hy Heath, and Johnny Lange; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah": Written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert; performed by James Baskett
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah": (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll
"Who Wants to Live Like That?": Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by James Baskett
"Let the Rain Pour Down": (uptempo) Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"How Do You Do?": Written by Robert MacGimsey; performed by Johnny Lee and James Baskett
"How Do You Do?": (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll and Glenn Leedy
"Sooner or Later": Written by Charles Wolcott and Ray Gilbert; performed by Hattie McDaniel
"Everybody's Got a Laughing Place": Written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert; performed by James Baskett and Nick Stewart
"Let the Rain Pour Down": (downtempo) Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"All I Want": Traditional, new arrangement and lyrics by Ken Darby; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah": (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, Glenn Leedy, Johnny Lee, and James Baskett
"Song of the South": (reprise) Performed by the Disney Studio Choir

text: "Let the Rain Pour Down" is set to the melody of "Midnight Special", a traditional blues song popularized by Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter). The song title "Look at the Sun" appeared in some early press books, though it is not actually in the film.[citation needed] The song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" was influenced by the chorus of the pre-Civil War folk song "Zip Coon", that is considered racist as it plays on an African American stereotype.[20][21]

text: Release[edit]

text: The film premiered on November 12, 1946, at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.[4] Walt Disney made introductory remarks, introduced the cast, then quietly left for his room at the Georgian Terrace Hotel across the street; he had previously stated that unexpected audience reactions upset him and he was better off not seeing the film with an audience. James Baskett was unable to attend the film's premiere because he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, as Atlanta was then a racially segregated city.[22] The film grossed $3.3 million at the box office.[4][23]

text: As had been done earlier with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney produced a Sunday comic strip titled Uncle Remus & His Tales of Br'er Rabbit to give the film pre-release publicity. The strip was launched by King Features on October 14, 1945, more than a year before the film was released. Unlike the Snow White comic strip, which only adapted the film, Uncle Remus ran for decades, telling one story after another about the characters, some based on the legends and others new, until it ended on December 31, 1972.[24] Apart from the newspaper strips, Disney Br'er Rabbit comics were also produced for comic books; the first such stories appeared in late 1946. Produced both by Western Publishing and European publishers such as Egmont, they continue to appear.[25]

text: In 1946, a Giant Golden Book entitled Walt Disney's Uncle Remus Stories was published by Simon & Schuster. It featured 23 illustrated stories of Br'er Rabbit's escapades, all told in a Southern dialect based on the original Joel Chandler Harris stories.

text: Song of the South was re-released in theaters several times after its original premiere, each time through Buena Vista Pictures: in 1956; in 1972 for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney Productions; in 1973 as the second half of a double bill with The Aristocats; in 1980 for the 100th anniversary of Harris' classic stories; and in 1986 for the film's own 40th anniversary and in promotion of the upcoming Splash Mountain attraction at Disneyland.[citation needed] The film has been broadcast on European television, including the BBC as recently as 2006.[26]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The Walt Disney Company has yet to release a complete version of the film in the United States on home video given the film's controversial reputation.[27][28] Over the years, Disney has made a variety of statements about whether and when the film would be re-released.[29][30][31][32] In March 2010, Disney CEO Robert Iger stated that there were no plans to release the movie on DVD, calling the film "antiquated" and "fairly offensive".[33] On November 15, 2010, Disney creative director Dave Bossert stated in an interview, "I can say there's been a lot of internal discussion about Song of the South. And at some point we're going to do something about it. I don't know when, but we will. We know we want people to see Song of the South because we realize it's a big piece of company history, and we want to do it the right way."[34] Film critic Roger Ebert, who normally disdained any attempt to keep films from any audience, supported the non-release position, claiming that most Disney films become a part of the consciousness of American children, who take films more literally than do adults. However, he favored allowing film students to have access to the film.[35][36]

text: Despite not having a home video release in the United States, audio from the film—both the musical soundtrack and dialogue—were made widely available to the public from the time of the film's debut up through the late 1970s. In particular, many Book-and-Record sets were released, alternately featuring the animated portions of the film or summaries of the film as a whole.[37] The Walt Disney Company has also allowed key portions of the film to be issued on many VHS and DVD compilations in the U.S., as well as on the long-running Walt Disney anthology television series. Most recently, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and some of the animated portions of the film were issued on the Alice in Wonderland 2-DVD Special Edition set. These segments are part of a 1950 Walt Disney TV special included on the DVD which promoted the then-forthcoming Alice in Wonderland film.

text: The full-length film has been released in various European, Latin American, and Asian countries. In the UK, it was released on PAL VHS tape in 1982 and again in 1991. In Japan it appeared on NTSC VHS, Beta, and LaserDisc in 1985 then again on LaserDisc in 1990 with subtitles during songs. (Note: under Japanese copyright law, the film is now in the public domain.)[38] A NTSC LaserDisc was released in Hong Kong for the Chinese rental market by Intercontinental Video Ltd which has been the exclusive distributor of Walt Disney Studios since 1988. This release appears to have been created from a PAL videotape, and has a 4% faster running time because of its PAL source, and thus also suffers from "frame ghosting".[39][40] While most foreign releases of the film are literal translations of the English title, the German title, Onkel Remus' Wunderland, translates to "Uncle Remus' Wonderland", the Italian title, Racconti Dello Zio Tom, translates to "The Stories of Uncle Tom",[41] and the Norwegian title Onkel Remus forteller translates to "Storyteller Uncle Remus."[42]

text: In July 2017 after being inaugurated as a Disney Legend, Whoopi Goldberg expressed a desire for Song of the South to be re-released publicly to American audiences.[43]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Although the film was a financial success, netting the studio a slim profit of $226,000 ($2,833,970 in 2017 dollars) [44] some critics were less enthusiastic about the film, not so much the animated portions as the live-action portions. Bosley Crowther for one wrote in The New York Times, "More and more, Walt Disney's craftsmen have been loading their feature films with so-called 'live action' in place of their animated whimsies of the past, and by just those proportions has the magic of these Disney films decreased", citing the ratio of live action to animation at two to one, concluding that is "approximately the ratio of its mediocrity to its charm".[4] However, the film also received positive notice. Time magazine called the film "topnotch Disney".[5] In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the 67th greatest animated film of all time.[45] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 60% rating, based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[46]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The score by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott was nominated in the "Scoring of a Musical Picture" category, and "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert, won the award for Best Song at the 20th Academy Awards on March 20, 1948.[47] A special Academy Award was given to Baskett "for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney's Song of the South". Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten in their portrayals of the children characters Johnny and Ginny were also discussed for Special Juvenile Awards, but in 1947 it was decided not to present such awards at all.[48]

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" – #47[49]

2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated[50]

text: Controversies[edit]

text: The film has received significant controversy for its handling of race.[51] Cultural historian Jason Sperb describes the film as "one of Hollywood's most resiliently offensive racist texts".[52] Sperb, Neal Gabler, and other critics have noted the film's release as being in the wake of the Double V campaign, an effort in the United States during World War II to promote victory over racism in the United States and its armed forces, and victory over fascism abroad.[53] Early in the film's production, there was concern that the material would encounter controversy. Disney publicist Vern Caldwell wrote to producer Perce Pearce that "the negro situation is a dangerous one. Between the negro haters and the negro lovers there are many chances to run afoul of situations that could run the gamut all the way from the nasty to the controversial."[4]

text: The Disney Company has stated that, like Harris' book, the film takes place after the American Civil War and that all the African American characters in the movie are no longer slaves.[9] The Hays Office had asked Disney to "be certain that the frontispiece of the book mentioned establishes the date in the 1870s"; however, the final film carried no such statement.[5]

text: When the film was first released, Walter Francis White, the executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), telegraphed major newspapers around the country with the following statement, erroneously claiming that the film depicted an antebellum setting:

text: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People recognizes in "Song of the South" remarkable artistic merit in the music and in the combination of living actors and the cartoon technique. It regrets, however, that in an effort neither to offend audiences in the north or south, the production helps to perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery. Making use of the beautiful Uncle Remus folklore, "Song of the South" unfortunately gives the impression of an idyllic master-slave relationship which is a distortion of the facts.[5]

text: White however had not yet seen the film; his statement was based on memos he received from two NAACP staff members - Norma Jensen and Hope Spingarn - who attended a press screening on November 20, 1946. Jensen had written that the film was "so artistically beautiful that it is difficult to be provoked over the clichés" but that it contained "all the clichés in the book", mentioning that she felt scenes like blacks singing traditional black songs were offensive as a stereotype. Spingarn listed several things she found objectionable from the film, including the Negro dialect.[5] Jim Hill Media stated that both Jensen and Spingarn were confused by the film's Reconstruction setting, writing that "It was something that also confused other reviewers who from the tone of the film and the type of similar recent Hollywood movies [Gone with the Wind; Jezebel] assumed it must also be set during the time of slavery." Based on the Jensen and Spingarn memos, White released the "official position" of the NAACP in a telegram that was widely quoted in newspapers.[54] The New York Times' Bosley Crowther made a similar assumption, writing that the movie was a "travesty on the antebellum South."[55]

text: Time magazine, although it praised the film, cautioned that it was "bound to land its maker in hot water", because the character of Uncle Remus was "bound to enrage all educated Negroes and a number of damyankees".[56] Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a congressman from Harlem, branded the film an "insult to American minorities [and] everything that America as a whole stands for."[57] The National Negro Congress set up picket lines in theaters in the big cities where the film played, with its protesters holding signs that read "Song of the South is an insult to the Negro people" and, lampooning "Jingle Bells", chanted: "Disney tells, Disney tells/lies about the South."[57] Jewish newspaper B'nai B'rith Messenger of Los Angeles considered the film to be "tall[ying] with the reputation that Disney is making for himself as an arch-reactionary".

text: Some black press had mixed reactions on what they thought of Song of the South. While Richard B. Dier in The Afro-American was "thoroughly disgusted" by the film for being "as vicious a piece of propaganda for white supremacy as Hollywood ever produced," Herman Hill in The Pittsburgh Courier felt that Song of the South would "prove of inestimable goodwill in the furthering of interracial relations", and considered criticisms of the film to be "unadulterated hogwash symptomatic of the unfortunate racial neurosis that seems to be gripping so many of our humorless brethren these days."[58]

text: Legacy[edit]

text: As early as October 1945, a newspaper strip named Walt Disney Presents "Uncle Remus" and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit appeared in the United States, and this production continued until 1972. There have also been episodes for the series produced for the Disney comic books worldwide, in the U.S., Denmark and the Netherlands, from the 1940s up to the present day, 2012.[59] Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox also appeared frequently in Disney's Big Bad Wolf stories, although here, Br'er Bear was usually cast as an honest farmer and family man, instead of the bad guy in his original appearances.

text: Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear appeared as guests in Disney's House of Mouse. They also appeared in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. Br'er Bear and the Tar-Baby also appear in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Br'er Bear can be seen near the end while the Toons are celebrating finding the will. The Tar-Baby can briefly be seen during the scene driving into Toon Town.

text: Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear also appeared in the 2011 video game Kinect Disneyland Adventures for the Xbox 360. The game is a virtual recreation of Disneyland and it features a mini game based on the Splash Mountain attraction. Br'er Rabbit helps guide the player character through that game, while Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear serve as antagonists. The three Br'ers also appear as meet-and-greet characters in the game, outside Splash Mountain in Critter Country. In the game, Jess Harnell reprises his role from the attraction as Br'er Rabbit and also takes on the role of Br'er Fox, while Br'er Bear is voiced by James Avery, who previously voiced Br'er Bear and Br'er Frog in the Walt Disney World version of Splash Mountain. This is the Br'ers' first major appearance in Disney media since The Lion King 1½ in 2004 and their first appearance as computer-generated characters.


document_title: Book of Mormon

question_text: when was the book of mormon divided into chapters and verses

question_tokens: when was the book of mormon divided into chapters and verses

text: Book of Mormon

text: Origin[edit]

text: According to Joseph Smith, he was seventeen years of age when an angel of God named Moroni appeared to him[15] and said that a collection of ancient writings was buried in a nearby hill in present-day Wayne County, New York, engraved on golden plates by ancient prophets. The writings were said to describe a people whom God had led from Jerusalem to the Western hemisphere 600 years before Jesus' birth. According to the narrative, Moroni was the last prophet among these people and had buried the record, which God had promised to bring forth in the latter days. Smith stated that this vision occurred on the evening of September 21, 1823 and that on the following day, via divine guidance, he located the burial location of the plates on this hill; was instructed by Moroni to meet him at the same hill on September 22 of the following year to receive further instructions; and that, in four years from this date, the time would arrive for "bringing them forth", i.e., translating them. Smith's description of these events recounts that he was allowed to take the plates on September 22, 1827, exactly four years from that date, and was directed to translate them into English.[15][16]

text: Accounts vary of the way in which Smith dictated the Book of Mormon. Smith himself implied that he read the plates directly using spectacles prepared for the purpose of translating.[17] Other accounts variously state that he used one or more seer stones placed in a top hat.[18] Both the special spectacles and the seer stone were at times referred to as the "Urim and Thummim".[18] During the translating process itself, Smith sometimes separated himself from his scribe with a blanket between them.[19] Additionally, the plates were not always present during the translating process, and when present, they were always covered up.[19]:42

text: Smith's first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold". They were described by Martin Harris, one of Smith's early scribes, as "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires."[20] Smith called the engraved writing on the plates "reformed Egyptian". A portion of the text on the plates was also "sealed" according to his account, so its content was not included in the Book of Mormon.[21]

text: In addition to Smith's account regarding the plates, eleven others stated that they saw the golden plates and, in some cases, handled them. Their written testimonies are known as the Testimony of Three Witnesses[22] and the Testimony of Eight Witnesses.[23] These statements have been published in most editions of the Book of Mormon.

text: Smith enlisted his neighbor Martin Harris as a scribe during his initial work on the text. (Harris later mortgaged his farm to underwrite the printing of the Book of Mormon.) In 1828, Harris, prompted by his wife Lucy Harris, repeatedly requested that Smith lend him the current pages that had been translated. Smith reluctantly acceded to Harris's requests. Lucy Harris is thought to have stolen the first 116 pages.[24] After the loss, Smith recorded that he had lost the ability to translate, and that Moroni had taken back the plates to be returned only after Smith repented.[25][26][27][28] Smith later stated that God allowed him to resume translation, but directed that he begin translating another part of the plates (in what is now called the Book of Mosiah). In 1829, work resumed on the Book of Mormon, with the assistance of Oliver Cowdery, and was completed in a short period (April–June 1829).[29] Smith said that he then returned the plates to Moroni upon the publication of the book.[26][30] The Book of Mormon went on sale at the bookstore of E. B. Grandin in Palmyra, New York on March 26, 1830.[31] Today, the building in which the Book of Mormon was first published and sold is known as the Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site.

text: Since its first publication and distribution, critics of the Book of Mormon have claimed that it was fabricated by Smith[6][7][8] and that he drew material and ideas from various sources rather than translating an ancient record. Works that have been suggested as sources include the King James Bible,[32][33] The Wonders of Nature,[34][35] View of the Hebrews,[7][8][36] and an unpublished manuscript written by Solomon Spalding.[37][38][39] FairMormon maintains that all of these theories have been disproved and discredited, arguing that both Mormon and non-Mormon historians have found serious flaws in their research.[40][41][42][43][44][45] The position of most adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement and the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is that the book is an accurate historical record.[46]

text: Content[edit]

text:
Books of the Book of Mormon
Small Plates of Nephi
First Nephi
Second Nephi
Book of Jacob
Book of Enos
Book of Jarom
Book of Omni

Contribution of Mormon
Words of Mormon
Mormon's abridgment of  the Large Plates of Nephi
Book of Mosiah
Book of Alma
Book of Helaman
Third Nephi
Fourth Nephi
Book of Mormon

Additions by Moroni
Parts of the Book of Mormon
Book of Ether
Book of Moroni

Book of Mormon Portal
Latter Day Saints Portal
LDS Church Portal
Book:Books of the Book of Mormonvte

tag: table

text: Title[edit]

text: Smith stated that the title page, and presumably the actual title of the 1830 edition, came from the translation of "the very last leaf" of the golden plates, and was written by the prophet-historian Moroni.[47][48] The title page states that the purpose of the Book of Mormon is "to [show] unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; ... and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations."[49]

text: Organization[edit]

text: The Book of Mormon is organized as a compilation of smaller books, each named after its main named narrator or a prominent leader, beginning with the First Book of Nephi (1 Nephi) and ending with the Book of Moroni.

text: The book's sequence is primarily chronological based on the narrative content of the book. Exceptions include the Words of Mormon and the Book of Ether. The Words of Mormon contains editorial commentary by Mormon. The Book of Ether is presented as the narrative of an earlier group of people who had come to America before the immigration described in 1 Nephi. First Nephi through Omni are written in first-person narrative, as are Mormon and Moroni. The remainder of the Book of Mormon is written in third-person historical narrative, said to be compiled and abridged by Mormon (with Moroni abridging the Book of Ether).

text: Most modern editions of the book have been divided into chapters and verses. Most editions of the book also contain supplementary material, including the "Testimony of Three Witnesses" and the "Testimony of Eight Witnesses".

text: Chronology[edit]

text: The books from First Nephi to Omni are described as being from "the small plates of Nephi".[50] This account begins in ancient Jerusalem around 600 BC. It tells the story of a man named Lehi, his family, and several others as they are led by God from Jerusalem shortly before the fall of that city to the Babylonians in 586 BC. The book describes their journey across the Arabian peninsula, and then to the promised land, the Americas, by ship.[51] These books recount the group's dealings from approximately 600 BC to about 130 BC, during which time the community grew and split into two main groups, which are called the Nephites and the Lamanites, that frequently warred with each other.

text: Following this section is the Words of Mormon. This small book, said to be written in AD 385 by Mormon, is a short introduction to the books of Mosiah, Alma, Helaman, Third Nephi, and Fourth Nephi.[52] These books are described as being abridged from a large quantity of existing records called "the large plates of Nephi" that detailed the people's history from the time of Omni to Mormon's own life. The Book of Third Nephi is of particular importance within the Book of Mormon because it contains an account of a visit by Jesus from heaven to the Americas sometime after his resurrection and ascension. The text says that during this American visit, he repeated much of the same doctrine and instruction given in the Gospels of the Bible and he established an enlightened, peaceful society which endured for several generations, but which eventually broke into warring factions again.

text: The portion of the greater Book of Mormon called the Book of Mormon is an account of the events during Mormon's life. Mormon is said to have received the charge of taking care of the records that had been hidden, once he was old enough. The book includes an account of the wars, Mormon's leading of portions of the Nephite army, and his retrieving and caring for the records. Mormon is eventually killed after having handed down the records to his son Moroni.

text: According to the text, Moroni then made an abridgment (called the Book of Ether) of a record from a previous people called the Jaredites.[52] The account describes a group of families led from the Tower of Babel[53] to the Americas, headed by a man named Jared and his brother. The Jaredite civilization is presented as existing on the American continent beginning about 2500 BC,[54]—long before Lehi's family arrived shortly after 600 BC—and as being much larger and more developed.

text: The Book of Moroni then details the final destruction of the Nephites and the idolatrous state of the remaining society.[55] It also includes significant doctrinal teachings and closes with Moroni's testimony and an invitation to pray to God for a confirmation of the truthfulness of the account.[56]

text: Doctrinal and philosophical teachings[edit]

text: The Book of Mormon contains doctrinal and philosophical teachings on a wide range of topics, from basic themes of Christianity and Judaism[57] to political and ideological teachings. Jesus is mentioned every 1.7 verses and is referred to by one hundred different names.[58]

text: Jesus[edit]

text: Stated on the title page, the Book of Mormon's central purpose is for the "convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations."[59]

text: The book describes Jesus, prior to his birth, as a spirit "without flesh and blood", although with a spirit "body" that looked similar to how Jesus would appear during his physical life.[60] Jesus is described as "the Father and the Son".[61] He is said to be: "God himself [who] shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people ... [b]eing the Father and the Son—the Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—and they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth."[62] Other parts of the book portray the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as "one."[63] As a result, beliefs among the churches of the Latter Day Saint movement encompass nontrinitarianism (in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) to trinitarianism (particularly among the Community of Christ). See Godhead (Latter Day Saints).

text: In furtherance of its theme of reconciling Jews and Gentiles to Jesus, the book describes a variety of visions or visitations to some early inhabitants in the Americas involving Jesus. Most notable among these is a described visit of Jesus to a group of early inhabitants shortly after his resurrection.[64] Many of the book's contributors described other visions of Jesus, including one by the Brother of Jared who, according to the book, lived before Jesus, and saw the "body" of Jesus' spirit thousands of years prior to his birth.[60] According to the book, a narrator named Nephi described a vision of the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus,[65] including a prophecy of Jesus' name,[66] said to have taken place nearly 600 years prior to Jesus' birth.[67]

text: In the narrative, at the time of King Benjamin (about 130 BC), the Nephite believers were called "the children of Christ".[68] At another place, the faithful members of the church at the time of Captain Moroni (73 BC) were called "Christians" by their enemies, because of their belief in Jesus Christ.[69] The book also states that for nearly 200 years after Jesus' appearance at the temple in the Americas[70] the land was filled with peace and prosperity because of the people's obedience to his commandments.[71] Later, the prophet Mormon worked to convince the faithless people of his time (AD 360) of Christ. Many other prophets in the book write of the reality of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

text: In the Bible, Jesus spoke to the Jews in Jerusalem of "other sheep" who would hear his voice.[72] The Book of Mormon claims this meant that the Nephites and other remnants of the lost tribes of Israel throughout the world were to be visited by Jesus after his resurrection.[73]

text: Teachings about political theology[edit]

text: The book delves into political theology within a Christian or Jewish context. Among these themes are American exceptionalism. According to the book, the Americas are portrayed as a "land of promise", the world's most exceptional land of the time.[74] The book states that any righteous society possessing the land would be protected, whereas if they became wicked they would be destroyed and replaced with a more righteous civilization.[75]

text: On the issue of war and violence, the book teaches that war is justified for people to "defend themselves against their enemies". However, they were never to "give an offense," or to "raise their sword ... except it were to preserve their lives."[76] The book praises the faith of a group of former warriors who took an oath of complete pacifism, refusing to take arms even to defend themselves and their people.[77] However, 2,000 of their descendants, who had not taken the oath of their parents not to take up arms against their enemies, chose to go to battle against the Lamanites, and it states that in their battles the 2,000 men were protected by God through their faith and, though many were injured, none of them died.[78]

text: The book recommends monarchy as an ideal form of government, but only when the monarch is righteous.[77][79] The book warns of the evil that occurs when the king is wicked, and therefore suggests that it is not generally good to have a king.[80] The book further records the decision of the people to be ruled no longer by kings,[81] choosing instead a form of democracy led by elected judges.[82] When citizens referred to as "king-men" attempted to overthrow a democratically elected government and establish an unrighteous king, the book praises a military commander who executed pro-monarchy citizens who had vowed to destroy the church of God and were unwilling to defend their country from hostile invading forces.[83] The book also speaks favorably of a particular instance of what appears to be a peaceful Christ-centered theocracy, which lasted approximately 194 years before contentions began again.[84]

text: The book supports notions of economic justice, achieved through voluntary donation of "substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor."[85] In one case, all the citizens held their property in common.[84] When individuals within a society began to disdain and ignore the poor, to "wear costly apparel", and otherwise engage in wickedness for personal gain, such societies are repeatedly portrayed in the book as being ripe for destruction.[86]

text: Religious significance[edit]

text: Joseph Smith[edit]

text: Joseph Smith characterized the Book of Mormon as the "keystone" of Mormonism, and claimed that it was "the most correct of any book on earth".[12][87][88] Smith produced a written revelation in 1832 that condemned the "whole church" for treating the Book of Mormon lightly.[89]

text: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[edit]

text: The Book of Mormon is one of four sacred texts or standard works of the LDS Church.[90] Church leaders have frequently restated Smith's claims of the book's significance to the faith.[91][92]  Church members believe that the Book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible because the Bible was the result of a multiple-generation translation process and the Book of Mormon was not.[91]

text:
For most of the history of the LDS Church, the Book of Mormon was not used as much as other books of scripture such as the New Testament and the Doctrine and Covenants.[93] This changed in the 1980s when efforts were made to reemphasize the Book of Mormon. As part of this effort, a new edition was printed
with the added subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ".[94][95][96]

text: The importance of the Book of Mormon was a focus of Ezra Taft Benson, the church's thirteenth president.[91][97] Benson stated that the church was still under condemnation for treating the Book of Mormon lightly.[98][99] In an August 2005 message, LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley challenged each member of the church to re-read the Book of Mormon before the year's end.[100] The book's importance is commonly stressed at the twice-yearly general conference, at special devotionals by general authorities, and in the church's teaching publications. Since the late 1980s, church members have been encouraged to read from the Book of Mormon daily.[98]

text: The LDS Church encourages discovery of the book's truth by following the suggestion in its final chapter to study, ponder, and pray to God concerning its veracity. This passage is sometimes referred to as "Moroni's Promise".[101] As of April 2011, the LDS Church has published more than 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon.[102]

text: Community of Christ[edit]

text: The Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, views the Book of Mormon as an additional witness of Jesus Christ and publishes two versions of the book through its official publishing arm, Herald House: the Authorized Edition, which is based on the original printer's manuscript, and the 1837 Second Edition (or "Kirtland Edition") of the Book of Mormon. Its content is similar to the Book of Mormon published by the LDS Church, but the versification is different. The Community of Christ also publishes a 1966 "Revised Authorized Edition", which attempts to modernize some language.

text: In 2001, Community of Christ President W. Grant McMurray reflected on increasing questions about the Book of Mormon: "The proper use of The Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historical authenticity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."[103]

text: At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled out-of-order a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record." He stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church."[104]

text: Greater Latter Day Saint movement[edit]

text: There are a number of other churches that are part of the Latter Day Saint movement.[105] Most of these churches were created as a result of issues ranging from differing doctrinal interpretations and acceptance of the movement's scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, to disagreements as to who was the divinely chosen successor to Joseph Smith. These groups all have in common the acceptance of the Book of Mormon as scripture. It is this acceptance which distinguishes the churches of the Latter Day Saint movement from other Christian denominations. Separate editions of the Book of Mormon have been published by a number of churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, along with private individuals and foundations not endorsed by any specific denomination.

text: Historical authenticity[edit]

text: The archaeological, historical and scientific communities are generally skeptical of the claims that the Book of Mormon is an ancient record of actual historical events. This skepticism tends to focus on four main areas:

text:
The lack of correlation between locations described in the Book of Mormon and known, intact American archaeological sites.[106]
References to animals, plants, metals and technologies in the Book of Mormon that archaeological or scientific studies have found no evidence of in post-Pleistocene, pre-Columbian America, frequently referred to as anachronisms. Items typically listed include cattle,[107] horses,[108] asses,[108] oxen,[108] sheep, swine, goats,[109] elephants,[110] wheat, steel,[111] brass, chains, iron, scimitars, and chariots.[112]
The lack of widely accepted linguistic connections between any Native American languages and Near Eastern languages.
The lack of DNA evidence linking any Native American group to the ancient Near East.[113]

text: Most adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement consider the Book of Mormon to generally be a historically accurate account.[46] Within the Latter Day Saint movement there are several apologetic groups that disagree with the skeptics and seek to reconcile the discrepancies in diverse ways. Among these apologetic groups, much work has been published by Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), and Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR), defending the Book of Mormon as a literal history, countering arguments critical of its historical authenticity, or reconciling historical and scientific evidence with the text. One of the more common recent arguments is the limited geography model, which states that the people of the Book of Mormon covered only a limited geographical region in either Mesoamerica, South America, or the Great Lakes area. The LDS Church has published material indicating that science will support the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon.[114]

text: Manuscripts[edit]

text: The Book of Mormon was dictated by Joseph Smith to several scribes over a period of 13 months,[115] resulting in three manuscripts.

text: The 116 lost pages contained the first portion of the Book of Lehi; it was lost after Smith loaned the original, uncopied manuscript to Martin Harris.[24]

text: The first completed manuscript, called the original manuscript, was completed using a variety of scribes. Portions of the original manuscript were also used for typesetting.[116] In October 1841, the entire original manuscript was placed into the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House, and sealed up until nearly forty years later when the cornerstone was reopened. It was then discovered that much of the original manuscript had been destroyed by water seepage and mold. Surviving manuscript pages were handed out to various families and individuals in the 1880s.[117]

text: Only 28 percent of the original manuscript now survives, including a remarkable find of fragments from 58 pages in 1991. The majority of what remains of the original manuscript is now kept in the LDS Church's Archives.[116]

text: The second completed manuscript, called the printer's manuscript, was a copy of the original manuscript produced by Oliver Cowdery and two other scribes.[116] It is at this point that initial copyediting of the Book of Mormon was completed. Observations of the original manuscript show little evidence of corrections to the text.[117][118] Shortly before his death in 1850, Cowdery gave the printer's manuscript to David Whitmer, another of the Three Witnesses. In 1903, the manuscript was bought from Whitmer's grandson by the Community of Christ, known at the time as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[119] On September 20, 2017, the LDS Church purchased the manuscript from the Community of Christ at a reported price of $35 million.[116][120][121] The printer's manuscript is now the earliest surviving complete copy of the Book of Mormon, being nearly 100 percent extant.[122] The manuscript was imaged in 1923 and was recently made available for viewing online.[123]

text: Critical comparisons between surviving portions of the manuscripts show an average of two to three changes per page from the original manuscript to the printer's manuscript, with most changes being corrections of scribal errors such as misspellings or the correction, or standardization, of grammar inconsequential to the meaning of the text.[116][118] The printer's manuscript was further edited, adding paragraphing and punctuation to the first third of the text.[116]

text: The printer's manuscript was not used fully in the typesetting of the 1830 version of Book of Mormon; portions of the original manuscript were also used for typesetting. The original manuscript was used by Smith to further correct errors printed in the 1830 and 1837 versions of the Book of Mormon for the 1840 printing of the book.[116]

text: Ownership history: Book of Mormon printer's manuscript[edit]

text: In the late 19th century the extant portion of the printer's manuscript remained with the family of David Whitmer, who had been a principal founder of the Latter Day Saints and who, by the 1870s, led the Church of Christ (Whitmerite). During the 1870s, according to the Chicago Tribune, the LDS Church unsuccessfully attempted to buy it from Whitmer for a record price. LDS president Joseph F. Smith refuted this assertion in a 1901 letter, believing such a manuscript "possesses no value whatever."[124] In 1895, David Whitmer's grandson George Schweich inherited the manuscript. By 1903 Schweich had mortgaged the manuscript for $1,800 and, needing to raise at least that sum, sold a collection including 72-percent of the Book of the original printer's manuscript (John Whitmer’s manuscript history, parts of Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible, manuscript copies of several revelations, and a piece of paper containing copied Book of Mormon characters) to the RLDS church (now the Community of Christ) for $2,450, with $2,300 of this amount for the printer's manuscript. The LDS Church had not sought to purchase the manuscript.

text: In 2015 this remaining portion was published by the Church Historian's Press in its Joseph Smith Papers series, in Volume Three of "Revelations and Translations"; and, in 2017, the LDS Church bought the printer's manuscript for US$35,000,000.[125][126]

text: Editions[edit]

text: Chapter and verse notation systems[edit]

text: The original 1830 publication did not have verse markers, although the individual books were divided into relatively long chapters. Just as the Bible's present chapter and verse notation system is a later addition of Bible publishers to books that were originally solid blocks of undivided text, the chapter and verse markers within the books of the Book of Mormon are conventions, not part of the original text.

text: Publishers from different factions of the Latter Day Saint movement have published different chapter and verse notation systems. The two most significant are the LDS system, introduced in 1879, and the RLDS system, which is based on the original 1830 chapter divisions.[127]

text: The RLDS 1908 edition, RLDS 1966 edition, the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) edition, and Restored Covenant editions use the RLDS system while most other current editions use the LDS system.

text: Current[edit]

text: The Book of Mormon is currently printed by the following publishers:

text:
Church publishers

Year

Titles and notes

Link

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1981

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.[128] New introductions, chapter summaries, and footnotes. 1920 edition errors corrected based on original manuscript and 1840 edition.[129] Updated in a revised edition in 2013.[130]

link

Community of Christ

1966

"Revised Authorized Version", based on 1908 Authorized Version, 1837 edition and original manuscript.[131] Notable for the omission of repetitive "it came to pass" phrases.

The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)

2001

Compiled by a committee of Apostles. It uses the chapter and verse designations from the 1879 LDS version.[citation needed]

Richard Drew

1992

Photo-enlarged facsimile of the 1840 edition[132]

Church of Christ (Temple Lot)

1990

Based on 1908 RLDS edition, 1830 edition, printer's manuscript, and corrections by church leaders.

link

Church of Christ with the Elijah Message

1957

The Record of the Nephites, "Restored Palmyra Edition". 1830 text with 1879 LDS chapters and verses.

link

Other publishers

Year

Titles and notes

Link

Herald Heritage

1970

Facsimile of the 1830 edition.[citation needed]

Zarahemla Research Foundation

1999

The Book of Mormon: Restored Covenant Edition. Text from Original and Printer's Manuscripts, in poetic layout.[133]

link

Bookcraft

1999

The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families. Large print with numerous visuals and explanatory notes.[citation needed]

University of Illinois Press

2003

The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition. Based on the 1920 LDS edition.

link

Doubleday

2006 [134]

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Text from the current LDS edition without footnotes. First Doubleday edition was in 2004.[135]

Experience Press

2006

Reset type matching the original 1830 edition in word, line and page. Fixed typographical errors.[136]

Stratford Books

2006

Facsimile reprint of 1830 edition.[citation needed]

Penguin Classics

2008

Paperback with 1840 text.

link

Yale University Press

2009

The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text. First edition text with hundreds of corrections from Royal Skousen's study of the original manuscripts.[137]

link

text: Historic[edit]

text: The following non-current editions marked major developments in the text or reader's helps printed in the Book of Mormon.

text:
Publisher

Year

Titles and notes

Link

E. B. Grandin

1830

"First edition" in Palmyra. Based on printer's manuscript copied from original manuscript.

link

Pratt and Goodson

1837

"Second edition" in Kirtland. Revision of first edition, using the printer's manuscript with emendations and grammatical corrections.[129]

Robinson and Smith

1840

"Third edition" in Nauvoo. Revised by Joseph Smith in comparison to the original manuscript.[129]

link

Young, Kimball and Pratt

1841

"First European edition". 1837 reprint with British spellings.[129] Future LDS Church editions descended from this, not the 1840 edition.[138]

Franklin D. Richards

1852

"Third European edition". Edited by Richards. Introduced primitive verses (numbered paragraphs).[129]

link

James O. Wright

1858

Unauthorized reprinting of 1840 edition. Used by the early RLDS Church in 1860s.[129]

link

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

1874

First RLDS edition. 1840 text with verses.[129]

link

Deseret News

1879

Edited by Orson Pratt. Introduced footnotes, new verses, and shorter chapters.[129]

link

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

1908

"Authorized Version". New verses and corrections based on printer's manuscript.[129]

link

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1920

Edited by James E. Talmage. Added introductions, double columns, chapter summaries, new footnotes,[129] pronunciation guide.[139]

link

text: Non-print editions[edit]

text: The following versions are published online:

text:
Online editions

Year

Description and notes

Link

LDS Church internet edition

2013

Official Internet edition of the Book of Mormon for the LDS Church.

link

LDS Church audio edition

1994

Official LDS version of the Book of Mormon in mp3 audio format, 32 kbit/s

link

text: Textual criticism[edit]

text: In 1989, scholars at Brigham Young University began work on a critical text edition of the Book of Mormon. Volumes 1 and 2, published in 2001, contain transcriptions of all the text variants of the English editions of the Book of Mormon, from the original manuscript to the newest editions.[140] Volume 4, which is being published in parts, is a critical analysis of all the text variants. Volume 3, which is not yet published, will describe the history of all the English-language texts from Joseph Smith to today.[141]

text: Differences between the original and printer's manuscript, the 1830 printed version, and modern versions of the Book of Mormon have led some critics to claim that evidence has been systematically removed that could have proven that Smith fabricated the Book of Mormon, or are attempts to hide embarrassing aspects of the church's past[7][8][116] with Mormon apologists viewing the changes as superficial, done to clarify the meaning of the text.[142]

text: Non-English translations[edit]

text: The LDS version of the Book of Mormon has been translated into 83 languages and selections have been translated into an additional 25 languages. In 2001, the LDS Church reported that all or part of the Book of Mormon was available in the native language of 99 percent of Latter-day Saints and 87 percent of the world's total population.[143]

text: Translations into languages without a tradition of writing (e.g., Kaqchikel, Tzotzil) are available on audio cassette.[144] Translations into American Sign Language are available on videocassette and DVD.

text: Typically, translators are members of the LDS Church who are employed by the church and translate the text from the original English. Each manuscript is reviewed several times before it is approved and published.[145]

text: In 1998, the LDS Church stopped translating selections from the Book of Mormon, and instead announced that each new translation it approves will be a full edition.[145]

text: Representations in media[edit]

text: Events of the Book of Mormon are the focus of several LDS Church films, including The Life of Nephi (1915), How Rare a Possession (1987) and The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd (2000). Such films in LDS cinema (i.e., films not officially commissioned by the LDS Church) include The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey (2003) and Passage to Zarahemla (2007).

text: Second Nephi 9:20–27 from the Book of Mormon is quoted in a funeral service in Alfred Hitchcock's film Family Plot.

text: In 2003, a South Park episode titled "All About Mormons" parodied the origins of the Book of Mormon.

text: In 2011, a long-running religious satire musical titled The Book of Mormon, by the South Park creators, premiered on Broadway, winning 9 Tony Awards, including best musical.[146] Its London production won the Olivier Award for best musical.

text: Distribution[edit]

text: The LDS Church, which distributes free copies of the Book of Mormon, reported in 2011 that 150 million copies of the book have been printed since its initial publication.[147]

text: The initial printing of the Book of Mormon in 1830 produced 5000 copies.[14] The 50 millionth copy was printed in 1990, with the 100 millionth following in 2000 and reaching 150 million in 2011.[14]

text: Literary criticism[edit]

text: This article is missing information about further criticism (positive or negative). Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (July 2018)

text: The Book of Mormon has occasionally been analyzed in a non-religious context for its literary merits.

text: The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James's translation of the Scriptures; and the result is a mongrel -- half modern glibness, and half ancient simplicity and gravity. The latter is awkward and constrained; the former natural, but grotesque by the contrast. Whenever he found his speech growing too modern -- which was about every sentence or two -- he ladled in a few such Scriptural phrases as "exceeding sore," "and it came to pass," etc., and made things satisfactory again. "And it came to pass" was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet.

text: Terryl Givens wrote, "Searching for literary wonders in the Book of Mormon is a bit like seeking lyrical inspiration in the books of Chronicles or Judges."[148] Grant Hardy wrote, "If the primary purpose of the Book of Mormon were to function as a sign—as tangible evidence that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God—that mission could have been accomplished much more concisely."[149]

text: True or not, the Book of Mormon is a powerful epic written on a grand scale with a host of characters, a narrative of human struggle and conflict, of divine intervention, heroic good and atrocious evil, of prophecy, morality, and law. Its narrative structure is complex. The idiom is that of the King James Version, which most Americans assumed to be appropriate for divine revelation.... The Book of Mormon should rank among the great achievements of American literature, but it has never been accorded the status it deserves, since Mormons deny Joseph Smith's authorship, and non-Mormons, dismissing the work as a fraud, have been more likely to riducule than to read it.


document_title: Abbey Road, London

question_text: where did the beatles walk across the road

text: Abbey Road, London

text: Location[edit]

text: The north-western end of Abbey Road begins in Kilburn, at the junction with Quex Road and West End Lane. The road was once a track leading to Kilburn Priory and its associated Abbey Farm, and was developed in the early 19th century.[2] It continues south-east for roughly a mile, crossing Belsize Road, Boundary Road, and Marlborough Place, ending at the junction of Grove End Road and Garden Road.

text: History[edit]

text: The Abbey National Building Society (now Santander UK) was founded in 1874 as The Abbey Road & St John's Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society in a Baptist church on Abbey Road.

text: EMI's Abbey Road Studios are located at the south-eastern end, at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood. The Beatles and many other famous popular music performers have recorded at this studio, and The Beatles named their last studio LP after this street. The album's cover photograph shows the four group members walking across the zebra crossing just outside the studio entrance. As a result of its association with The Beatles, since 1969 this part of Abbey Road has been featured on the London tourism circuit. In December 2010 the crossing was given Grade II Listed Building status by English Heritage despite its age not being contemporary to that era.[3]

text: The zebra crossing featured on the Beatles cover, as well as the crossing directly north of it, have become popular photo-opportunity areas, despite the road still being a busy thoroughfare for traffic. The Beatles album cover has been parodied many times over the years on the crossing.

text: The tin street sign on the corner of Grove End Road and Abbey Road is now mounted high on the building on the corner, to save the local council the expense of cleaning and replacing the sign, which was frequently defaced and stolen. The council repaints the wall next to the zebra crossing every three months to cover fans' graffiti.[4]

text: Abbey Road is also a ward of the City of Westminster. At the 2011 Census this ward had a population of 11,250.[5]