Song of the South on Dvd Discussion & Speculation Thread

[Disney Guru]

Hey you forgot the main fact why it hasn't been released.

One of the many reasons is that the main star: Bobby Driscoll, comitted sucide in 1969. And Disney alike many other entertainment companies has a thing about respectability. The same case, went with the Classic 60's TV Series Family Affair. The Actoress who played Buffy committed Suicide and the series hasn't been on TV in years and Re-Runs were never made available. The same thing also with the 70's Show Nanny And The Professor. One of the shows young starlets, commited suicide, and that show hasn't been on TV in years, and Re-Runs were also never made available.

[msadrakula]

The Bobby Driscoll deal doesn't make any sense, because they had no problem releasing any of his other movies.

[MickeyMousePal]

That sucks just relase "Song of the South" already!!!!

I never even seen it.

[Jungleprince_55]

They used to play family affair reruns on tv land awhile back,I used to watch them all the time before they took it off.

[Luke]

Hey you forgot the main fact why it hasn't been released.

One of the many reasons is that the main star: Bobby Driscoll, comitted sucide in 1969. And Disney alike many other entertainment companies has a thing about respectability. The same case, went with the Classic 60's TV Series Family Affair. The Actoress who played Buffy committed Suicide and the series hasn't been on TV in years and Re-Runs were never made available. The same thing also with the 70's Show Nanny And The Professor. One of the shows young starlets, commited suicide, and that show hasn't been on TV in years, and Re-Runs were also never made available.

Bobby Driscoll didn't commit suicide. He died of hepatitis from rampant drug abuse. Furthermore, I doubt his estate would be able to singlehandedly hold up a film from being released. Brian Keith commited suicide, and yet we have The Parent Trap and Those Calloways on DVD. So did Richard Farnsworth of The Straight Story. And Jason Raize of Brother Bear.

And as already mentioned, So Dear to My Heart has been released elsewhere on DVD, and Treasure Island is readily available, too.

[Boogedy Boo]

Christian this is a little off topic from Song of the South but seeing you said you talked with the guy who's in charge of dvd production I was wondering if you could ask him if Mr. Boogedy, Child of Glass and Bride of Boogedy are coming anytime soon?

[Christian]

I'm not sure when I'll see him again. I saw him last night at the Aladdin premiere. I asked him if there'd be a premiere for the Bambi Platinum Edition and he said he didn't know yet. But there will be a thing in February I might see him at. Possibly sooner but I doubt it.

[DreamerQ18]

Hey you forgot the main fact why it hasn't been released.

One of the many reasons is that the main star: Bobby Driscoll, comitted sucide in 1969. And Disney alike many other entertainment companies has a thing about respectability. The same case, went with the Classic 60's TV Series Family Affair. The Actoress who played Buffy committed Suicide and the series hasn't been on TV in years and Re-Runs were never made available. The same thing also with the 70's Show Nanny And The Professor. One of the shows young starlets, commited suicide, and that show hasn't been on TV in years, and Re-Runs were also never made available.

Bobby Driscoll didn't commit suicide. He died of hepatitis from rampant drug abuse. Furthermore, I doubt his estate would be able to singlehandedly hold up a film from being released. Brian Keith commited suicide, and yet we have The Parent Trap and Those Calloways on DVD. So did Richard Farnsworth of The Straight Story. And Jason Raize of Brother Bear.

And as already mentioned, So Dear to My Heart has been released elsewhere on DVD, and Treasure Island is readily available, too.

Hey Luke seeing how you brought up So dear to my Heart is there any word on when thast movie will be realsed? I love it I own on VHS and would love to see a great transfer... but like I said just wondering.

[Christian]

I was about to ask about that movie too. I don't know that much about it though. Is there some sort of potential controversy with it like there is with Song of the South?

[Angela]

Hey you forgot the main fact why it hasn't been released.

One of the many reasons is that the main star: Bobby Driscoll, comitted sucide in 1969. And Disney alike many other entertainment companies has a thing about respectability. The same case, went with the Classic 60's TV Series Family Affair. The Actoress who played Buffy committed Suicide and the series hasn't been on TV in years and Re-Runs were never made available. The same thing also with the 70's Show Nanny And The Professor. One of the shows young starlets, commited suicide, and that show hasn't been on TV in years, and Re-Runs were also never made available.

Bobby Driscoll didn't commit suicide. He died of hepatitis from rampant drug abuse. Furthermore, I doubt his estate would be able to singlehandedly hold up a film from being released. Brian Keith commited suicide, and yet we have The Parent Trap and Those Calloways on DVD. So did Richard Farnsworth of The Straight Story. And Jason Raize of Brother Bear.

And as already mentioned, So Dear to My Heart has been released elsewhere on DVD, and Treasure Island is readily available, too.

I also read Michael Eisner was alot of the reason this wasn't being released as well, that for some reason he hates this movie, and doesn't want it released, but that's probably just a rumor

[Disney Guru]

Bobby Driscoll didn't commit suicide. He died of hepatitis from rampant drug abuse. Furthermore, I doubt his estate would be able to singlehandedly hold up a film from being released. Brian Keith commited suicide, and yet we have The Parent Trap and Those Calloways on DVD. So did Richard Farnsworth of The Straight Story. And Jason Raize of Brother Bear.

And as already mentioned, So Dear to My Heart has been released elsewhere on DVD, and Treasure Island is readily available, too.

Hey Luke seeing how you brought up So dear to my Heart is there any word on when thast movie will be realsed? I love it I own on VHS and would love to see a great transfer... but like I said just wondering.

Sorry Luke I made a mistake.

I didn't know. i made a bad mistake. Shoot me if I ever make a mistake again

[Little Red Henski]

I watch my bootleg Song of the South DVD every February in to celebrate Black History month.

[2099net]

I also read Michael Eisner was alot of the reason this wasn't being released as well, that for some reason he hates this movie, and doesn't want it released, but that's probably just a rumor

He doesn't "hate" the movie. Even if he did, it wouldn't stop him releasing it. His job is to make money for Disney, not sit on their assets. I'm sure if Eisner had any sense and taste he'd "hate" The Lizzy McGuire movie, Haunted Mansion or even "America's Heart and Soul" more. Yet those were released. He reportedly "liked" Fahrenheit 9/11, but that was unreleased.

The reason Eisner doesn't want to release the film is because groups have threatened to boycott Disney products and protest to the government if the film is released. Not only would this (potentially) result in loss of earnings from the boycotters, but the bad publicity would probably spill over into the mainstream conciousness too and result in lost sales. Just like Fahrenheit 9/11 was blocked due to bad publicity, Eisner is blocking Song of the South for the same reason.

Will the new management of Disney release the film? Who knows? The threat of boycotting and protesting is still there. While we may think the film should be released, the possibility of a "family" name like Disney's being associated with political protests is something to think twice about.

[Christian]

The two other bits of information I gleaned from the premiere were that Eric Goldberg likes this site (Ultimate Disney) and Andreas Deja said that Bambi II is shaping up to be really incredibly good.

[Disney Guru]

On Saturday I called The Disney Archives. And asked them about Song Of The South. And the idiot Person on the phone said that movie was never made and does not exist. I finally got the story out of her after a bunch of fast talking. Assumedly the origional film for Song Of The South has partially deteriated, and their are also a few legal issues tieing up the release also.

[Escapay]

The reason Eisner doesn't want to release the film is because groups have threatened to boycott Disney products and protest to the government if the film is released. Not only would this (potentially) result in loss of earnings from the boycotters, but the bad publicity would probably spill over into the mainstream conciousness too and result in lost sales. Just like Fahrenheit 9/11 was blocked due to bad publicity, Eisner is blocking Song of the South for the same reason.

Yeah, but that was in the past, namely the 1960s with the NAACP. But today, they really don't have any issues with it. I understand about Fahrenheit 9/11, though, because at another board I frequent (which for a soap opera board, unfortunately has some rather venomous political posters), they actually were talking about boycotting Disney just because they didn't want to take a stand (aka not release) on Fahrenheit 9/11. But today, hardly anyone even knows about Song of the South because it's been "hidden" for so long. And the little they do know comes just from the seemingly innocent cartoon portions seen on Sing-Along Songs and at Splash Mountains in 3 of the parks.

Escapay

[Class316]

On Saturday I called The Disney Archives. And asked them about Song Of The South. And the idiot Person on the phone said that movie was never made and does not exist. I finally got the story out of her after a bunch of fast talking. Assumedly the origional film for Song Of The South has partially deteriated, and their are also a few legal issues tieing up the release also.

I doubt there’s anything wrong with the original print. It was released on Jap LD during the 90s.

[Disneykid]

The main story I keep hearing is this: Disney intended to release Song of the South on DVD a few years ago, with a special introduction by a well-known African American celebrity to put the film into proper perspective. Apparantly, they asked this one lady (I forget her name, but I believe she was a famous poet or something) to do the intro, and she exploded on them. She believed the film was racist and that if Disney ever decided to release it, she'd actively protest against it. This worried Disney and was enough to convince them that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to release the movie. It's not helping, either, that Roger Ebert doesn't want the film released (which baffles me), though Leonard Maltin does. So if this story's true, then we'd have Song of the South on DVD had Disney asked a more open minded African American celebrity to introduce the film (are there any out there who have openly spoken about supporting the film?).

[Escapay]

The main story I keep hearing is this: Disney intended to release Song of the South on DVD a few years ago, with a special introduction by a well-known African American celebrity to put the film into proper perspective. Apparantly, they asked this one lady (I forget her name, but I believe she was a famous poet or something) to do the intro, and she exploded on them. She believed the film was racist and that if Disney ever decided to release it, she'd actively protest against it. This worried Disney and was enough to convince them that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to release the movie. It's not helping, either, that Roger Ebert doesn't want the film released (which baffles me), though Leonard Maltin does. So if this story's true, then we'd have Song of the South on DVD had Disney asked a more open minded African American celebrity to introduce the film (are there any out there who have openly spoken about supporting the film?).

Maya Angelou was the one they wanted to introduce the film.

I believe they had planned on approaching James Earl Jones first (who had no problems with it), but some idiot in the back said, "Hey, what about Maya Angelou?", probably thinking her poetic nature would be perfect in putting a film told (IMO) from a child's point of view into perspective for today. So they approached Ms. Angelou, who did blast the film.

They shoulda gone with James Earl Jones...can you imagine his booming voice just saying the words, "Song of the South"?

Escapay

[disneywb]

I was very fortunate to have seen this film once; I saw it when I was staying at Fort Wilderness campground. Every night they have a fire/ movie event where they show a disney movie. At the time I wasn't interested in going, but my parents convinced me that it was a movie that I would probably not be able to see elsewhere. As it was, I think I focused more on the marshmallows and the appearance of Chip and Dale than on the film.