We. Are. Not. Starting. This. Over. Again.Spottedfeather wrote:I don't get why people say it's racist.
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Song of the South: Too Offensive to Release on DVD?
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Lazario
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carolinakid
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Can anyone answer this? How to get the 2 disc set described above? I haven't found one yet with ALL these bonus features mentioned...mvd24 wrote:Could you tell me where I can find this 2-disc set, if still available? How do I know it's the same set?dvdjunkie wrote:With the availability of the quality "bootlegs" of "Song of the South" out there I think we should all just calm down, put out some cash and buy one of these.
I own two different bootlegs. One is sort of bare-bones, it just has the original trailer and the re-release trailer and the hidden Easter-egg of "Coal Black & the Sebben Dwarfs" cartoon. This single disc set cost $12.99.
The other is a two-disc, digital remastered print of the movie that looks spectacular on my LG Blu-ray player. There are so many extras on it I wonder if we would ever see any of these ever again.
One disc one is the original movie trailer for SOTS, along with a re-release trailer. Then there is a black-and-white introduction to the film from Walt Disney himself (have no idea when this was shot, but looks like sometime in the 50's because it has the original Disneyland Theme Park drawings in the background. The feature itself is pristine in its color and sound presentation.
Disc two contains in full color "Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarfs" complete with the Warner intro, which I had never seen before. Then there is the missing "Hatfield/McCoy scene" edited from "Melody Time". Then there is the original "Pecos Bill", unedited and looking beautiful as ever. Then the next bonus features suprised me with their quality. 10 of the original "Ant and The Aardvark" cartoons, "Donald Duck at War" cartoons, and "Dance of the Hours" unedited from "Fantasia". This deluxe two-disc set only set me back $18.
If you search and look closely for these deals they are available, heck one of them even advertises on the UD site. So to heck with Disney, evidently they don't want the money, so why not give it to someone who does.
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dvdjunkie
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The biggest problem with bootleggers is they move around a lot and their ads are up for only a few days before they get closed up, or they close up two steps ahead of the law.
Look at eBay and watch closely whenever a "Song of the South" movie is put up for sale. They are short-lived because eBay doesn't really like them, but it usually takes a complaint from someone to close them down.
Can't tell you exactly where to get the 2-Disc edition, but I have seen it on eBay, advertised as from Thailand, The Netherlands, and Germany. Just depends on the seller and they always ask around $15 for the two disc set.
Look at eBay and watch closely whenever a "Song of the South" movie is put up for sale. They are short-lived because eBay doesn't really like them, but it usually takes a complaint from someone to close them down.
Can't tell you exactly where to get the 2-Disc edition, but I have seen it on eBay, advertised as from Thailand, The Netherlands, and Germany. Just depends on the seller and they always ask around $15 for the two disc set.
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
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I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
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merlinjones
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It's amazing a film that still generates so much continued interest can be ignored by the rights holders in this economy, where a guaranteed, time-proven hit that hasn't been exploited on DVD is a rare thing indeed.
As Uncle Remus says of his tales: "If they don't do no good, how come they last so long?"
As Uncle Remus says of his tales: "If they don't do no good, how come they last so long?"
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Duckburger
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I have adored SOTS since my first viewing as a child in the '70s and would love to see a release on DVD/Bluray. I also have read countless posts over the years (here and on other sites) on what some people find is offensive about the film.
One offensive idea that seems to be a constant is the "enslaved African-Americans happily singing and dancing in the fields, seemingly thrilled at the prospect of serving their masters".
OK, I think we're all clear here that this film was not set during the time of slavery, but shortly after. What really gets me is the "happily singing and dancing in the fields..." part. Really? Is that ever shown in the film?
There is never a happy musical number with the workers in the fields or anywhere. The only times they are shown singing (and never dancing, by the way) is during an after-work communal gathering (which some black plantation workers really did at that time), while walking to the field to work (which some really did at that time), while walking from the field at the end of the work day (which some really did at that time), and near the end of the film after the main character Johnny is gored by a bull and they are trying to offer the family some spiritual and emotional support as the child lies seemingly dying. At no time are the workers shown as particularly happy or enthusiastic about being on the plantation. The songs heard by them are mostly spiritual in nature and are not actually "musical numbers" at all. The viewer can hear them singing in these scenes, but it's never done as a performance within the film. The music was mainly used in transitions to establish the tone of the upcoming scenes.
The only black persons expressing any true range of emotion in the film are Uncle Remus, Aunt Tempy, and Toby. Of course this is to be expected as they are some of the main characters. They show their moments of personal happiness, but I never got the sense it was solely because they were overjoyed to be working on a plantation for a white woman.
As I became older and learned about slavery in the US, I thought that SOTS showed the plantation workers' situation as a "best possible light" scenario. It never crossed my mind that it actually represented the true general situation of black people during the reconstruction era. But the story was not about them anyway. It was about a boy and the wise old man who takes him under his wing during a difficult part of his young life.
For those who have never seen the film, I just wanted to clear that particular point up. The black plantation workers are NEVER shown "happily singing and dancing."
As much as I would like for it to happen, I don't have high hopes that Disney will re-release SOTS for home viewing in the US. Someone, somewhere, will always be offended.
Still, England continues to air it on broadcast television nearly every year, uncut, uninterrupted, and without the station ID logos over the picture that we see constantly in the US. The print seems to be restored, too, and is superior in quality to both the Japanese and Chinese laserdisc copies on DVD that are easily found all over the internet. My point being... Even without an official release, SOTS will always be available to those who truly want to see it in order to form their own opinions on its "offensiveness" or to just enjoy it.
One offensive idea that seems to be a constant is the "enslaved African-Americans happily singing and dancing in the fields, seemingly thrilled at the prospect of serving their masters".
OK, I think we're all clear here that this film was not set during the time of slavery, but shortly after. What really gets me is the "happily singing and dancing in the fields..." part. Really? Is that ever shown in the film?
There is never a happy musical number with the workers in the fields or anywhere. The only times they are shown singing (and never dancing, by the way) is during an after-work communal gathering (which some black plantation workers really did at that time), while walking to the field to work (which some really did at that time), while walking from the field at the end of the work day (which some really did at that time), and near the end of the film after the main character Johnny is gored by a bull and they are trying to offer the family some spiritual and emotional support as the child lies seemingly dying. At no time are the workers shown as particularly happy or enthusiastic about being on the plantation. The songs heard by them are mostly spiritual in nature and are not actually "musical numbers" at all. The viewer can hear them singing in these scenes, but it's never done as a performance within the film. The music was mainly used in transitions to establish the tone of the upcoming scenes.
The only black persons expressing any true range of emotion in the film are Uncle Remus, Aunt Tempy, and Toby. Of course this is to be expected as they are some of the main characters. They show their moments of personal happiness, but I never got the sense it was solely because they were overjoyed to be working on a plantation for a white woman.
As I became older and learned about slavery in the US, I thought that SOTS showed the plantation workers' situation as a "best possible light" scenario. It never crossed my mind that it actually represented the true general situation of black people during the reconstruction era. But the story was not about them anyway. It was about a boy and the wise old man who takes him under his wing during a difficult part of his young life.
For those who have never seen the film, I just wanted to clear that particular point up. The black plantation workers are NEVER shown "happily singing and dancing."
As much as I would like for it to happen, I don't have high hopes that Disney will re-release SOTS for home viewing in the US. Someone, somewhere, will always be offended.
Still, England continues to air it on broadcast television nearly every year, uncut, uninterrupted, and without the station ID logos over the picture that we see constantly in the US. The print seems to be restored, too, and is superior in quality to both the Japanese and Chinese laserdisc copies on DVD that are easily found all over the internet. My point being... Even without an official release, SOTS will always be available to those who truly want to see it in order to form their own opinions on its "offensiveness" or to just enjoy it.
Last edited by RowMan on Sun Sep 26, 2010 7:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Super Aurora
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You don't need to be kidding. You're probably correct on that statement.Goliath wrote:
Note to CJ: I was only kidding.
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merlinjones
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>>I don't get why people say it's racist.<<
Because "Song of the South" isn't racist at heart, it's a warmhearted tale of friendship that survives beyond any differences in race, age, wealth or status -- and demonstrates the bond created by imagination, inspiration and the wisdom of a savvy storyteller across all cultures.
When actually examining the content and subtext or the film and its fables, "Song of the South" is a story that binds us together through the creative spirit as members of the human race that dare to dream together of a brighter more unified world of love and laughter.
Naive, perhaps. Politically correct, no. -- but racist, certainly not.
Because "Song of the South" isn't racist at heart, it's a warmhearted tale of friendship that survives beyond any differences in race, age, wealth or status -- and demonstrates the bond created by imagination, inspiration and the wisdom of a savvy storyteller across all cultures.
When actually examining the content and subtext or the film and its fables, "Song of the South" is a story that binds us together through the creative spirit as members of the human race that dare to dream together of a brighter more unified world of love and laughter.
Naive, perhaps. Politically correct, no. -- but racist, certainly not.
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Lazario
Or take merlinjones' battery out.Duckburger wrote:Obnoxious thread is obnoxious... again.
Kill it with fire!
merlinjones, seriously- zip it already. You've been blabbing about this for weeks without end, your peace has already been said. You are becoming, by far, the single most annoying person on this board.
You can't magically get this into official store releases by spamming this board. Disney doesn't give a crap about you, they'd just as soon spit on you as listen to a word you have to say. Accept it and move on.
And do not respond with more of your trademark "You Can't Silence The-Truth and Rob Me of My Freedom of Speech" crap. There isn't a single person on this board who doesn't think you're a robot. Robots don't need freedoms, they need Off buttons.
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Super Aurora
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ITT, we gang up on merlinjones.
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carolinakid
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jpanimation
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What I like about this thread, is between all the fluff, there is some really good arguments representing both sides. At this point, not much else can be said. It should almost be a written in the message board guidelines that one read previous posts before posting in this particular topic, as there is some really insightful/thoughtful arguments already laid out, and that way no one has to repeat themselves.
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merlinjones
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In case you missed it, Mick LaSalle's Oct. 17th column in the San Francisco Chronicle recently addressed "Song of the South":
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-17/e ... iel-oscars
>>Dear Mick: I'd like your opinion about Disney's burial of "Song of the South." The complaints about its sugarcoating of the evils of slavery and the stereotyping of blacks are true. However, all of that went over my head as a young boy; I loved Uncle Remus. Isn't it about time to bring this movie out of the closet?
Jim Black, Sonoma
Dear Jim: It's part of history, and there's no point in burying history, but I understand the queasiness about Uncle Remus. James Baskett won a special Oscar for that role, which means that the first two Oscars to go to black actors went for roles portraying happy slaves (Hattie McDaniel in "Gone With the Wind" was the first). The whole thing smells of a neurotic need on the part of the white culture of the time to pretend that slavery wasn't so bad after all - a need evidenced by the pathetic gratefulness with which these happy-slave performances were greeted by the white public. Perhaps this was part of some necessary healing after the Civil War, a coming together of Northern and Southern whites under the fantasy that the war was all some glorious misunderstanding. But it was a healing that kept black Americans and their experience out of the process. Anyway, it's no wonder you felt good about Uncle Remus - that's how good propaganda works. However, more than 60 years have passed. Obama is president. Our society can probably absorb the unconscious racism of Baskett's singing "Zippity Doo Dah" without the sky caving in, especially as we tolerate the purposeful racism that's become a staple of talk radio in recent years. Besides, Baskett, who died soon afterward, was lovely in the movie and deserves recognition for the humanity he brought to this fantasy construction.<<
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-17/e ... iel-oscars
>>Dear Mick: I'd like your opinion about Disney's burial of "Song of the South." The complaints about its sugarcoating of the evils of slavery and the stereotyping of blacks are true. However, all of that went over my head as a young boy; I loved Uncle Remus. Isn't it about time to bring this movie out of the closet?
Jim Black, Sonoma
Dear Jim: It's part of history, and there's no point in burying history, but I understand the queasiness about Uncle Remus. James Baskett won a special Oscar for that role, which means that the first two Oscars to go to black actors went for roles portraying happy slaves (Hattie McDaniel in "Gone With the Wind" was the first). The whole thing smells of a neurotic need on the part of the white culture of the time to pretend that slavery wasn't so bad after all - a need evidenced by the pathetic gratefulness with which these happy-slave performances were greeted by the white public. Perhaps this was part of some necessary healing after the Civil War, a coming together of Northern and Southern whites under the fantasy that the war was all some glorious misunderstanding. But it was a healing that kept black Americans and their experience out of the process. Anyway, it's no wonder you felt good about Uncle Remus - that's how good propaganda works. However, more than 60 years have passed. Obama is president. Our society can probably absorb the unconscious racism of Baskett's singing "Zippity Doo Dah" without the sky caving in, especially as we tolerate the purposeful racism that's become a staple of talk radio in recent years. Besides, Baskett, who died soon afterward, was lovely in the movie and deserves recognition for the humanity he brought to this fantasy construction.<<
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Heil Donald Duck
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I love boobs.Duckburger wrote:Ì like turtles. FACT!
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zackisthewalrus
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Boobs are gross. Turtles rock!Super Aurora wrote:I love boobs.Duckburger wrote:Ì like turtles. FACT!
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Mr. Yagoobian
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