Disney is thinking of releasing "Song of the South"

[AwallaceUNC]

I really like your list, Escapay, though I'd still really like to see something included that deals with Splash Mountain.

-Aaron

[Uncle Remus]

Ideal material for the film:

Disc 1: The Movie
Digitally re-mastered by whoever did it on the AiW DVD
Captions/Subtitles in English, French, Spanish
Whatever the audio stuff is, also in English, French, Spanish. 5.1 or 2.0 or whatnot
Commentary by Leonard Maltin
For the kids, the Pop-up facts commentary thingy
For the kids, the Sing-Along thingy
The standard "Sneak Peeks", for movies, DTVs, and sequels.

Disc 2: The Supplements

Featurettes/Documentaries:
"Song of the South: A Look Back" - documentary about the history of the movie, and its 40th anniversary (if released in 2006)
"The Making of Song of the South" - 'nuff said
Footage from the Premiere (if available)
Footage from the Academy Awards (when James Baskett was given the honorary Oscar, also if available)
Extracts from any Disneyland TV episodes dealing with the movie (such as the "One Hour in Wonderland" special, and the first eppy of Disneyland)
Featurette on "So Dear To My Heart" - technically it's not a sequel or spin-off, but more a "sister movie", like how AMC and OLTL are "sister shows".

Production Featurettes:
Deconstruction of Scenes - if they still exist
Recording Sessions - if they still exist
Any raw footage that still exists

Cast Featurettes:
"Joel Chandler Harris" - a featurette about the stories' author
"Bobby Driscoll: A Tribute" - a short bio-featurette about the child star
"Luana Patten: A Tribute" - a short bio-featurette about the child star
"James Baskett: A Tribute" - a short bio-featurette about the star
"Ruth Warrick: Disney Legend" - though this was her only Disney movie, she is the only castmember still alive today and merits her own featurette.

Art Galleries:
Production stills
Premiere stills
Concept Art for animated sequences
Concept Art for the sets, wardrobe, live action stuff
Posters for the movie's premiere, releases, re-releases
International VHS and Laserdisc covers

Promotional Stuff:
Theatrical Trailers (original, re-releases)
TV Spots (re-releases)
Radio Spots (3 are known to exist)

Escapay

Does anyone remember a TV special called "Ernest Goes To Splash Mountain"? It was a 30 minute special that appeared on the Disney Channel in July of 1989. This is one of the summaries that I found for it:

Disneyland's newest attraction, Splash Mountain, is almost ready for its grand opening, but first, it needs to be tested. The brave volunteer for the first ride is Ernest P. Worrell (played by the guy who did the voice for Slinky Dog in the Toy Story movies), and a special news crew led by anchorman Ralph Story is standing by to record the moment for posterity.

And there was also a TV special called "A Tribute to Joel Chander Harris" which was aired in 1956. This was the Summary I found for it:

This show salutes American storyteller Joel Chander Harris, famous for several works, including the Uncle Remus stories in Song of the South. A live action re-creation of Harris's early years show he first became interested in writing. The episode ends with the Tar Baby sequence from Song of the South.

Maybe these two specials could be in the 2-disc edition set.

[orestes.]

I know of 'Ernest Goes to splash Mountain' but I can't honestly say if I've seen it. I was a huge Ernest fan when I was younger so I saw a ton of Ernest but besides the movies I can't say what else I saw.

I've never heard of the other one until now.

[AwallaceUNC]

At one of the beaches that I often visit, there is a restaurant based on the Uncle Remus stories and there's a lot of tribute to Disney's Song of the South as well. It's called Tar Baby's. Sadly, this restaurant, Splash Mountain, and Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah accounts for all my knowledge of this movie, so I'm getting really excited for its release.

-Aaron

[rb_canadian181]

That's some good news. My guess it that it will come out in 2006. I would like to see it get the Mary Poppins 2-Disc Special Edition treatment. The only footage i've seen of this movie would have been a sing-along tape lol so i'm excited to see what the movie's about!
thanks for letting us know
-ryan

[karlsen]

Well if they dug up enough for Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, etc, then it shouldn't be that difficult. Also, they can always create new material, documentaries and the like. Maybe there'll even be a virtual ride through of Splash Mtn. They should at least be able to produce more content than the 2 discs worth of The Lion King 1 1/2 that we got.

-Aaron

Don't get me wrong here, I am not saying that there are nothing that could be added, but I don't belive it to be as much as movies like Mary Poppins. The movies you mentions was large movies at that time as well, but this one was not THAT big. You can't compare it with Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz or Snow White (the movie that was make or break for Disney). Then if I am not mistaking there are no documentaries at all made for it, and all the main characters in the movie is dead so they can't make anything with them now.

I know there must be something, but I do hope that the dont include a lot of stuff about the Splash Mountain thing (it could be mentioned, but not make a lot of stuff with just that, lets focus on the movie).

There could easily be made a good documentary and there must be something in the archives so a good 1 disc edition would be more then enough.

[Escapay]

I really like your list, Escapay, though I'd still really like to see something included that deals with Splash Mountain.

-Aaron

Ugh, I'm such an idiot. How could I forget one of my favorite MK rides?

Escapay

[Maerj]

Extras available on some non official DVDs of Song of the South include:

still picture archives
cast and crew credits/bios
background of Uncle Remus and his tales
4 different audios from the 1973 double feature with the Aristocats (radio commercials)
2 different audios from 1946 radio shows promoting the film


So, if a non official DVD can come up with those extras, there's got to be a whole lot more in the Disney vaults that could be used as extras.

Anyone who still hasn't contacted Disney about releasing this film, you really should now. Go to their movie site and vote, write them, call them, whatever.

[Escapay]

Extras available on some non official DVDs of Song of the South include:

still picture archives
cast and crew credits/bios
background of Uncle Remus and his tales
4 different audios from the 1973 double feature with the Aristocats (radio commercials)
2 different audios from 1946 radio shows promoting the film


So, if a non official DVD can come up with those extras, there's got to be a whole lot more in the Disney vaults that could be used as extras.

Anyone who still hasn't contacted Disney about releasing this film, you really should now. Go to their movie site and vote, write them, call them, whatever.

Well, since we're mentioning our non-official SOTS DVDs, mine is basically the Hong King Laserdisc which is:

The Movie
Chapter Search (12 chapters)
1973 TV Spot
1986 Trailer
Johnny Mercer Radio Spot (15 minutes)
5 of the songs sung by Johnny Mercer (Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Laughing Place, Uncle Remus Said, How Do You Do, Sooner or Later)

I was told there was an easter egg, but I can't find it.

Escapay

[karlsen]

So, if a non official DVD can come up with those extras, there's got to be a whole lot more in the Disney vaults that could be used as extras.

As Escapay states this is just a copy of what Disney already has released on Laserdisc in other countries so its not like the pirates has done a job to make this.

[Class316]

Loads of Song of the South extras @ http://songofthesouth.net/movie/archive/index.html

[Christian]

What if it had an intro with James Earl Jones and Leonard Maltin?

[karlsen]

Loads of Song of the South extras @ http://songofthesouth.net/movie/archive/index.html

Yes, but nothing of this would be enough for a 2 disc special edition that some people here hopes for.

I guess I am more realistic then wishfull here but I don't see any problem with a 1 disc edition and still a fantastic edition.

The movie itself and english and french sound don't thake that much space so there would still be lots of space for new documentarys (I don't belive there are any originaly made so they must be made now), the old radio spots and pictures. There could still be more in the archive but remember that Song of the South was made before TV so there was never made any documentarys originaly.

[Joe Carioca]

Roger Ebert is said to be one of the people who is against the release of "Song of the South" - well, it seems he hasn't always thought like that. Check this quote from his "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" review:

Take the scene in "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" when the characters visit Naboombuland, for example. This is a strange land where the animals rule, and we're given several charming scenes where the human characters meet the animated ones. I've always especially liked this Disney technique; "Song of the South" was a classic. There's magic in it: real movie magic, and not just ambitious special effects. And everybody in the theater just sort of relaxes and enjoys it.

I know this was some time before "Song of the South" was deemed racist, but it shows how some people can change their minds based on what other people think.

[Class316]

Yes, but nothing of this would be enough for a 2 disc special edition that some people here hopes for.

If I can come up with all that with just one Internet link, I'm sure Disney can come up with quite a bit.

[mvealf]

Roger Ebert is said to be one of the people who is against the release of "Song of the South" - well, it seems he hasn't always thought like that. Check this quote from his "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" review:

*snip*

I know this was some time before "Song of the South" was deemed racist, but it shows how some people can change their minds based on what other people think.

There is some confusion about what Roger Ebert said. Someone questioned his position on SOTS, and why he would defend a more racist film "Birth of a Nation". Here is his reply:

"Well, one difference is that "Birth of a Nation" is incomparably more vile and blatant in its racism. Disney has made a corporate decision to hold "Song of the South" from release because of its stereotyping of some of the African-American characters, and I have expressed sympathy with that position because the film is directed primarily toward children who see films literally. I would not want to be an African-American child at a screening of the film, but I would support its screening for mature audiences".

[DEREKG]

I too can remember seeing SOTS as a child. It must have been on TV at some point? I also know that my mother used to read me the book. I don't remember the whole story though. Mainly, I just remember the animation. I've rode Splash Mountain many times and I know it's based on the movie. Honestly until recently, I knew nothing of it's contreversy? What's the big deal about it? Does it have to do with the Tar Baby? I'm in the closet on this one! Now I'm pretty interested in watching it again. I found a bootleg DVD on ioffer.com that looks better than anything on ebay for only $12.00. I figure that will tide me off until Disney decides whether or not to release it???

[Mermaid Kelly]

Cool! I'd really like to see the whole movie....I've only seen the excerpts from the sing-a-long vhs.....
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ey, My Oh My What A Wonderful Day! Plenty Of Sunshine, Heading My Way, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ey!

[thatartguy]

I remember seeing it at a drive-in theater as a child in the late 70's. How cool is that?

[Lars Vermundsberget]

It seems to me that this film has grown to be some sort of a "monster" in the minds of a lot of people. I doubt that would have happened if it had been available from time to time over the years.