- “Real? Course he's real. You just wait til you hear him tell a tale of Br'er Rabbit. Then you'll know he's real”
- ―Aunt Tempy tells Johnny that Uncle Remus is real
Aunt Tempy (also known as Sis Tempy) is a character who was featured in the 1946 Disney film Song of the South.
Background[]
Personality[]
Aunt Tempy serves as a hard-working woman who lives in the state of Georgia. In spite of being hard-working, she is also shown to work in her kitchen while singing "Sooner or Later". However, she dislikes anyone who messes around he kitchen such as the case of Johnny taking a bone for Teenchy - although despite her temper, she is shown to have an occasionally calm personality in certain other occasions.
Role in the film[]
Aunt Tempy is first seen sitting next to Johnny on their way to his grandma's house where she hears Johnny talking with his mother, telling Johnny that they are almost at his grandmother's house while Johnny's father shares his story with his son that he used to catch frogs when he was little, which reminds Tempy of the tale of Br'er Frog which Uncle Remus used to tell to her just before Johnny's family arrives at Mrs. Doshy's house. She then approaches Toby who was supposed to take care of Johnny alongside Chloe where they arrive at the spot where Uncle Remus was telling a story about Br'er Rabbit which the two plan to take Toby home.
The next day when Johnny (who is holding Teenchy) approaches Aunt Tempy, she tells him the dog is not his, telling him to take him back to his owners, much to Johnny's worry that if he takes Teenchy back to Ginny, he fears that Joe and Jake would harass Teenchy again just as Johnny tries to give the dog a safe place.
Tempy then appears singing the musical number "Sooner or Later" while baking a pie while Uncle Remus passes by and hears her singing and enters just as Uncle Remus enters with pieces of firewood for her stove and as Uncle Remus sits, Aunt Tempy serves him a piece of pie while Uncle Remus hears Joe and Jake discussing with each other and as Uncle Remus faces them, he tells the two to stop pestering Teenchy once again, telling them to go home. She then arrives at Mrs. Doshy's house, where she is furious of Johnny for causing a mess in her kitchen just before Tempy leaves. Later towards the end of the film, Tempy then approaches Johnny's father who tells him that Johnny crossed through a bull's pen trying to stop Uncle Remus from leaving; Johnny manages to survive after Uncle Remus enters and tells a story of Br'er Rabbit and the Laughing Place to Johnny.
Other appearances[]
Splash Mountain[]
Aunt Tempy herself was referenced in the Magic Kingdom version of the attraction where one of the PhotoPass washboards was labelled as "Aunt Tempy's Best". Another labelled, "Baskett McDaniels" referenced her actress Hattie McDaniel.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Aunt Tempy was Hattie McDaniel's first and only role in a Disney film before her death on October 26, 1952.
- While Aunt Tempy does not physically appear in the Disney Parks, her song "Sooner or Later" was heard as queue music in the former Disneyland version of Splash Mountain (now Tiana's Bayou Adventure as of November 2024) as an instrumental score.
- In the Disneyland version of Splash Mountain, the song was originally sung by a mother rabbit and a mother opossum to their respective offspring which was supposed to be played before the ride's last drop, serving as substitutes for Aunt Tempy for the attraction, prior to the song being replaced by "Burrow's Lament" for unknown reasons.
