Song of the South article

[Maerj]

Not sure if you all saw this but here it is from the LA Times:

http://www.calendarlive.com/printeditio ... ay07.story


Notice that the critics of the film are very much wrong about it. They really need to do some research into the film if they plan to criticize it or protest it, otherwise they just come off looking like fools. I like Bill Cosby's comments on it though.

Also of note, our ol pal Lenoard Maltin chimes in there a few times saying that he would love to see it on DVD. They should put it on an upcoming treasures set, along with something else, then just don't overly advertise that it is on there. No protests, plus we get the film on DVD. Everybody wins!

[Luke]

Wow great article. Thanks for posting the link to it.

[Maerj]

I think its funny how all the critics of the film say they were slaves. If they were, I don't think that Uncle Remus would have been allowed to leave as easily as he did. Second, he never did any work around there! (No offense, I love Uncle Remus!) I think they were poor, yes, that is obvious. It looks to me that it takes place some time after the civil war, and although they aren't slaves, it looks like many chose to stay there at the plantation and work, as really low paid employees.

The critics also always make it sound like they are so happy to go to work... well, they don't look that happy to me! I think that this is just another case of folks reading more into what is really there. I think that this is one of those films that really need to be taken at face value.

[The Lizard King]

Wow! Great link, Maerj!

My only fear now is that if the darn film gets released on DVD, this would cause my LaserDiscs (both Japanese and Hong Kong) to plummet in value.

Actually, I would love to see the film on DVD. I think from a collector's point-of-view, the LDs won't lose that much value anyway.

TLK

[Jack]

Fantastic article. I think they could easily please both viewpoints on the film if they released it on DVD with an into that explains its "dated" nature, how it was a product of stereotypes at the time, and how Hollywood has improved since then before the film - preferably delevered by an African-American, perhaps even Cosby.

[Loomis]

Great to see this get such a high-profile report! (Of course, I am assuming that the LA Times is high profile?)
So I hope this eventuates in a DVD release, but it may be a while yet.

From the Article: Those in favor of "Song of the South's" home video release point out that other films with racial depictions from another era are readily available, including "Gone With the Wind" and D.W. Griffith's epic, "Birth of a Nation," with its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan.

I have said this in the past on one of these forums, and of course, I couldn't agree more. Birth of a Nation has not one, but THREE DVD versions available. Yes, that was a racist film. Yes, it was from another time. But most people can watch it and go "Ok, that wont happen again as long as we REMEMBER the mistakes of the past".

Blocking this film from memory doesn't change the past, but as long as we can treat this film (as our mate Leonard says) "responsibly", there is no conceivable reason not to release it.

[poco]

Maybe they should make a treasure tin filled with all the "controversial" films and add this one in it plus adding both sides of the argument and so on and so forth. They could also add to this tin all the unedited scenes they had in other disney films that already got edited. I think it could sell zillions of copies, don't ya think??

[Loomis]

Maybe they should make a treasure tin filled with all the "controversial" films and add this one in it plus adding both sides of the argument and so on and so forth. They could also add to this tin all the unedited scenes they had in other disney films that already got edited. I think it could sell zillions of copies, don't ya think??

I think that'd be a great idea. I'd rather see these scenes restored to their original formats, but with that being an unlikely possibility at this point, a collection of all the edited and controversial bits would be grand. 'Martins and Coys' would be a must.

From what I understand, rumour has it that the 'Disney Goes to War' collection (or whatever it will be called if and when it sees the light of day) will contain some of the more controversial war cartoons of Disney.

Here is hoping some of these things will surface eventually in some form or another...

[Simba]

Wow! Great link, Maerj!

My only fear now is that if the darn film gets released on DVD, this would cause my LaserDiscs (both Japanese and Hong Kong) to plummet in value.

Actually, I would love to see the film on DVD. I think from a collector's point-of-view, the LDs won't lose that much value anyway.

TLK

Hey Lizard King........would you be able to copy the movie onto VHS and send it to me......ofcourse I would give you the money to cover all of the cost.....

[MickeyMouseboy]

he charges $50 simba

[Simba]

he charges $50 simba

How much would you charge me Gus?

[2099net]

have said this in the past on one of these forums, and of course, I couldn't agree more. Birth of a Nation has not one, but THREE DVD versions available. Yes, that was a racist film. Yes, it was from another time. But most people can watch it and go "Ok, that wont happen again as long as we REMEMBER the mistakes of the past".

The problem is Disney is seen as being a company with "family" values (which in itself is silly. Disney is just a company). And as such, it's open to pressure groups more than smaller distributors and companies. Just look at all the unneeded fuss over "Dogma" which was originally initiated because a Disney company (Miramax) was to be making the film.

Really, a film like "Gone With The Wind" is more dubious than "Song of the South" in my "Anglo-saxon" non-US opinion, and nobody would dream of locking that away unreleased (although I notice the UK as a DVD release and the US doesn't at this time...)

That said, I don't think that there will be any trouble releasing the film overseas. I fully expect a UK version to be available on DVD before the end of next year. As you can see from the link below, Disney released "Song of the South" as recently as 2000 in the UK (on VHS).

http://www.blackstar.co.uk/video/item/7000000011931

[The Lizard King]

he charges $50 simba

Gus,

I charge $40 shipped for the DVD lately. The competition is getting pretty fierce as of late. They still go on eBay for over $60 usually (when it doesn't get pulled by eBay).

Simba,

Are you sure that you want a VHS dub of SOTS?

TLK

[MickeyMouseboy]

he charges $50 simba

How much would you charge me Gus?

since your my feline friend i would just send it to you for free that is if i had the laserdisc, I only have the VHS

[Loomis]

The problem is Disney is seen as being a company with "family" values (which in itself is silly. Disney is just a company). And as such, it's open to pressure groups more than smaller distributors and companies. Just look at all the unneeded fuss over "Dogma" which was originally initiated because a Disney company (Miramax) was to be making the film.

Yeah, I was thinking about Dogma actually - being a huge Kevin Smith fan - and that really shows how far the House of Mouse will go to stop its image from being tarnished in any way. Admittedly, the heads of Miramax were receiving death threats, so Dogma was dropped like a hot potato.

Unfortunately, Disney were able to flex their censorsing muscles to the extent that even though the film was distributed by Lions Gate, and the home DVD release was put out by Sony's Columbia-Tristar, Smith was forced to remove any reference to Disney/Miramax from the audio commentary, BUT also had to remove an entire documentary on the fuss over the Dogma release (which thankfully resurfaced on another DVD).
If Disney has this amount of power over films they have let go, what chance do films they have tight control over have of being released.

Really, a film like "Gone With The Wind" is more dubious than "Song of the South" in my "Anglo-saxon" non-US opinion, and nobody would dream of locking that away unreleased (although I notice the UK as a DVD release and the US doesn't at this time...)

That is exactly right. It is only because Gone With the Wind was more highly honoured, and considered a 'legitimate' classic (rather than just an animated one... ) that we see being released and not Song of the South. In my brief flirtations with film courses in my first few years at university (all those years ago), the one film that kept coming up in race relations discussion was of course Gone with the Wind.

I will personally eat a chocolate every day until this movie is released

[Matty-Mouse]

I hope this movie does see the light of day on DVD because it really isn't that bad. IMO its all the white characters that come off looking bad in the movie (the two kids that bully Johnny, his mother) and the black characters are the nice ones (Uncle Remus, his friend whose name I've forgotten lol).

[The Lizard King]

...and the black characters are the nice ones (Uncle Remus, his friend whose name I've forgotten lol).

If you mean Hattie McDaniel's character, that would be Aunt Tempy. If you mean the boy who is Johnny's age, then that would be Toby.

TLK

[TheMadHatter]

..and the bad "white" kids, are the Faver' Boys.

[Matty-Mouse]

...and the black characters are the nice ones (Uncle Remus, his friend whose name I've forgotten lol).

If you mean Hattie McDaniel's character, that would be Aunt Tempy. If you mean the boy who is Johnny's age, then that would be Toby.

TLK

I meant Toby but Aunt Tempy (in her own way) is nice to him too.

2099net, That link you have to blackstar is strange, the picture they have up is the 1992(?) video that I have, you can tell by the "Classics" logo, but I haven't seen SOTS in shops for ages. Anyways I dont disagree that we'll see SOTS on DVD here in the UK soon. No one complained about it being on TV last month.

[2099net]

The Blackstar link is to a deleted video. It is no longer available in normal shops. However Blackstar list out-of-print items as they have a "video hunt" service. Look at the price that they are asking for "Song of the South"