It's sad to think that had Fantagraphics come up with the idea of publishing this book just one or two years earlier, it would not have been cancelled.
What's interesting is that one of the very few black Disney comic book creators, Floyd Norman is perfectly fine with this book getting published since he wrote a foreword to it, but the Disney executives (who are likely white) aren't. Btw, Norman said some very interesting stuff about his Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Christmas strip which was omitted from IDW's Disney's Christmas Classics book:
"Disney was under a new forward-thinking management. Perhaps my timing was right, or maybe I just got lucky. In any case, I was given the go ahead with my story titled A Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Christmas (December 1986).
"The story opens with the kids, Johnny and Jenny coming to Uncle Remus with a problem. The chances of a snowfall in the South are pretty slim, they say. How can they truly enjoy Christmas without snow? This gives Uncle Remus the perfect opportunity to spin another of his Br'er Rabbit tales. It seems the clever rabbit had a similar complaint, and his quest for a white Christmas led him into a world of trouble.
"Not surprisingly, that trouble involved another run in with Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear. The story wraps up with Br'er Rabbit escaping the clutches of his captors, and learning his lesson about the real meaning of Christmas.
"The story was submitted, and all appeared to be going well. I even removed the southern dialect from Uncle Remus, and only allowed the critters to retain their colorful dialogue. I was willing to give the illiterate former slave some 'polish' as long as I could keep the rabbit, fox and bear in character.
"As you could imagine, the editors at the [King Features] newspaper syndicate were aghast when they received the story. How could Disney submit such a racially insensitive story for publication? I wish I could have seen their faces when they were informed that the writer was black.
"The story did end up running in newspapers in 1986 with no complaints. Keith Moseley penciled it and Larry Mayer inked it. Yet, four decades after it first premiered, Disney's Song of the South was apparently still a very controversial topic. It remains so today nearly 65 years after audiences first enjoyed it."