2099net wrote:
Actually it was a "special Oscar" (or "Honorary Award" to give it's Academy title). Ronald Coleman actually won "Best Actor" that year for his performance in "A Double Life" - James Baskett wasn't even nominated.
Which could be looked upon as being racist too - why should they create a new award just because the actor was black?
That reminded me of So Dear to My Heart. The black sheep was presented with a Special Award, because the judges thought he couldn't be qualified to compete for the main prize.
Just to bump this topic up, and to repeat something I've heard from the DVDToons website (from BubblegumUK who generally seems pretty sound).
There are rumours that So Dear To My Heart has been held back from release because they are waiting to either cross-promote it with a Song of the South release, or even include it in a double-pack with Song of the South.
This does make some sort of sense. Why delay a disc that has reportedly been ready for a year or more? Also both films are a mixture of live-action and animation (although SDTMH has very little animation) and most importantly both films feature the same child actors.
So could this be a future Treasures' double disc set?
However, this is only a (rather weak being as I've never heard it before) rumour. Please don't get too excited or blame me later when it never happens.
I read this story at Animated-movies.net that explains why there is no DVD release of Song of the South.
"Given that Buena Vista Home Entertainment is really beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the Disney film vault (Coming soon from BVHE to a retailer near you: The Don Knotts Collection. As if there are really people out there who are truly desperate to add the DVDs of Gus and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again to their collection), I know that they'd really love to put a title like Song of the South out there in the marketplace. A movie that Disneyana fans and animation buffs have been begging for for years now. A title that would be sure to sell 10-12 million units easy.
But--that said--seriously wonder if Disney will ever dare to put Song of the South out on home video and DVD in Region 1 (i.e. the United States and Canada). I mean, if the former head of Disney Feature Animation Thomas Schumacher is to be believed, SOTS is now supposedly on permanent moratorium.
And what exactly is "permanent moratorium?" Is it the Disney-esque equivalent of Dean Wormer's infamous "Double Secret Probation?" Actually, what "permanent moratorium" supposedly means (in this case, anyway) is that the Walt Disney Company has no intentions to ever put Song of the South back into theatrical release here in the U.S. Nor does the corporation have any plans to release this live action / animated feature in the home video or DVD format here in North America.
Which is unfortunate. Not to mention hypocritical. After all, Disney's Song of the South has been readily available for purchase in the Orient for years now. (Why else do you think that all those video versions of Song of the South that sell on eBay have Japanese subtitles? That's because they're direct dubs off of the SOTS laser disc.)
Why exactly would Disney make Song of the South available for sale in Asia but not in North America? Basically BVHE's international arm believes that there aren't many African-Americans there who would complain about the film's portrayal of blacks.
Which is kind of a two faced policy, don't you think? That Disney pretends to care about the feelings of its black customers here in North America ... then abandons that pretense in the Orient.
But this sadly has become standard operating procedure with the modern Walt Disney Company: to give the impression that the company actually cares about something, rather than actually caring.
This actually reminds me of the last time that Walt Disney Studios put Song of the South out in theaters here in the U.S. That was back in 1986. Just two years after Michael Eisner took control of the Mouse House.
If the Walt Disney Company is really so concerned about the feelings of African Americans, then why did the studio put this allegedly offensive film back into theaters?
Well, actually there's kind of an interesting story associated with that particular re-release of Song of the South. You see, Tony Baxter and the Imagineers who were working on "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah River Run" (a new flume ride that was being proposed for construction at Disneyland in the late 1980s) were leaning heavily on Eisner to allow them to use the characters and settings from Song of the South to help theme this attraction.
And Uncle Michael actually liked the idea of adding a flume ride to Disneyland. It's just that Disney's CEO was somewhat squeamish about the attraction's proposed subject matter. Eisner was worried that a ride that was built around Uncle Remus might unintentionally offend African-Americans. Which might result in Disneyland being picketed by the NAACP.
Still the Imagineers persisted, insisting that this proposed Disneyland flume ride wouldn't work unless they were allowed to build "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah River Run"'s storyline around the Song of the South characters and settings.
This is why -- as sort of a litmus test for this attraction -- Eisner ordered that "Song of the South" be put into an extremely limited release in the Fall of 1986. If I'm remembering correctly, the film was only out in theaters for two weeks. Three weeks max. Before "SOTS" was quickly pulled and put back in the vault.
Given that no one wrote to the Walt Disney Company while Song of the South was playing in theaters here in the U.S. to complain about the film's portrayal of its black characters (and--more importantly--given that SOTS actually did pretty well at the box office during its limited re-release), Eisner finally gave the Imagineers the okay to use the movie's characters and settings in their proposed Disneyland flume attraction.
However, just to play it safe, Uncle Michael ordered that all references to Uncle Remus be removed from the ride; that's why the narrator in the queue area is clearly identified as Brer Frog. Eisner also asked that--to further distance this thrill ride from the somewhat controversial Song of the South--that WDI drop the name "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah River Run" in favor of something a bit more generic. Which is how Disneyland's flume ride ended up being called "Splash Mountain."
Anyway... you asked if Disney has any plans to release Song of the South on home video and DVD. Well, given this "permanent moratorium" nonsense, the Mouse is now insisting that this particular film will never ever see the light of day again... at least here in the United States.
Which is really interesting. Given that--as recently as three years ago--Buena Vista Home Entertainment was actively exploring ways they could release SOTS on home video and DVD here in the U.S.
Of course, in order to make this title palatable to the general public during these increasingly politically correct times, BVHE knew that it had to package this film just right. Which is why (for a time) Disney toyed with the idea of selling a version of Song of the South that would have been preceded by a showing of Walt Disney Feature Animation's new short, John Henry.
You see, Buena Vista Home Entertainment's idea was to persuade a prominent African-American like James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman or Dr. Maya Angelou to serve as the MC on this DVD / home video. Someone who could introduce Song of the South, explaining the film's historical significance as well as re-enforcing the idea that SOTS was a product of a less enlightened time in Hollywood.
Then--once Song of the South finished being shown--the film's host would then introduce John Henry. Which (hopefully) would demonstrate the great strides that the Walt Disney Company had made in its depiction of and attitudes toward African-Americans.
It seemed like a pretty fool-proof scheme. Using the device of a prominent African-American narrator to help put Song of the South in proper perspective. A framework which would (hopefully) make SOTS more palatable (or--at the very least--less distasteful to) African American consumers.
The only problem was... Buena Vista Home Entertainment reportedly approached the wrong African American first. The way I keep hearing this story, the very first person that BVHE went to in their quest to recruit a narrator / host for their Song of the South / John Henry home video and DVD project was poet Maya Angelou. Angelou supposedly loved "John Henry" when WDFA screened the short for her, but was deeply offended by SOTS. The noted author then allegedly told the reps at Buena Vista Home Entertainment that--if they ever dared to put "Song of the South" up for sale in the United States--that she personally would take part in the protests.
That threat was reportedly enough for the Walt Disney Company to order Song of the South back into the vault... never to see the light of day again.
And that framing device that Buena Vista Home Entertainment dreamed up for its proposed Song of the South / John Henry combo release? That concept actually ended up being used on BVHE's American Legends release. That home video and DVD (which was released back in 2001) featured James Earl Jones as its host/narrator. In which the noted African American actor introduced John Henry, Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan and Casey Jones, The Brave Engineer.
Still--as Buena Vista Home Entertainment struggles to find other older Disney film titles to put up for sale on home video and DVD--you have to wonder if the temptation to release Song of the South will eventually become too great. That--even with the outcry from African-Americans that is almost certain to accompany the re-release of this film--that this still could end up being a profitable venture for the Mouse. That-- f BVHE were eventually able to move 10-12 million units of SOTS--that all of the agita and anxiety associated with this movie's home video and DVD release would ultimately be worth it.
My advice, Keep an eye on Buena Vista Home Entertainment. If this division of the Walt Disney Company's upcoming releases--Treasure Planet, Atlantis II: Milo's Return, and the colorized version of The Absent Minded Professor--don't exactly set the retail world on fire, BVHE execs may feel that they have no choice but to revisit the company's decision to put SOTS on permanent moratorium.
After all, this was the corporation that said that Disneyland's "Main Street Electric Parade" was "... glowing away forever." So--if that parade can come back to Anaheim--chances are pretty good that Song of the South won't actually be stuck in Disney's film vaults forever."
oh yeah. it's a bootleg alright. and the DVD really stinks. it lacks of special features and it is also missing a audio commentary. and the artwork for the DVD cover makes Disney look like they are not trying hard enough. besides if Song of the South ever comes out to DVD these should actually be the special features:
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Subtitles
Scene Selection
Zip-A-Dee-Doh-Dah+ How Do You Do Singalong Songs
The Making of Song of the South
The History of Song of the South
"A Tribute to Joel Chander Harris" TV Special
A Look Behind Splash Mountain
and that would be the special features for Song of the South.
ckturtle wrote:First of all, I felt it was inappropriate on whoever did an abritrary change to my last post. Mess around with yours, but keep your bloody hands-off on mine !!!!!.
ckturtle wrote:First of all, I felt it was inappropriate on whoever did an abritrary change to my last post. Mess around with yours, but keep your bloody hands-off on mine !!!!!
Secondly, I came across this site and only wanted to pass it on, for others to be aware of. It doesn't have to be my web site to share something I found on the web. It if didn't meet your standards, well... don't look at it.
Thanks for the stern warning, but it is my site and when someone new registers and posts only to bumps two threads to the top with a link to an illegal DVD site, well that kind of registers with me as something calling for action.
In my position, it looks like someone registering just to advertise their (or as you insist) someone else's website which is profitting from sales of illegal DVDs. And we all know if you're going to advertise bootleg DVDs, pay for a Google ad below like the others.
I'm sorry if you feel my edit was unncessary, but it did seem like spam. Nonetheless, welcome to the boards and I hope you'll prove me wrong and contribute.
"Fifteen years from now, when people are talking about 3-D, they will talk about the business before 'Monsters vs. Aliens' and the business after 'Monsters vs. Aliens.' It's the line in the sand." - Greg Foster, IMAX chairman and president
Just to get back to the topic, though...
I think I have read that article Uncle Remus posted once before, but it makes some very good points. I do very much like the idea of an introduction where the film is explained in context, with examples of what Disney as done since. In fact, this would be a great device for ALL Disney flicks, not just this one. They would make for some GREAT discs.
It is still a shame that it has to be done though. An intelligent film buying audience should be able to tell the difference between the thoughts of people working 60 years ago to those of the company now. However, anything it takes to get this film onto the market (short of editing it) is fine by me.
2099net wrote: So could this be a future Treasures' double disc set?
Be still my beating heart! Oh, if only that were true, I'd be doing the Snoopy dance right now...
It's obviously a bootleg of some sort but it looks pretty good from the website. It even has bonus features! I anyone has it I'd love to hear what you think of it.
I don't own any bootlegs and I hate the idea of them if a real verson exist. It totally sucks that some people sell fakes on ebay and other places for the Little Mermaid, Bambi etc. However, Disney is not going to release this one so it might be worth it in this case.
My guess is that it's a transfer from the laser disc that was released in Hong Kong in the 1980s. It's a bootleg and illegal to be sure, but it's likely to be relatively good quality if it's from the laser disc.
(begin rant) You would think that if people are willing to break the law to get SOTS on DVD they would see that there is a wlling market. Yes, some of the images in the film can be construed as insensitive, although I am 100% positive that was never the intent. I always found the story to be uplifting -- you have three kids from various backgrounds (2 are white, 1 black; 2 are poor, 1 is rich; 2 are boys, 1 is a girl; 1 is from the city, 2 from the country) teaming with a gentlemen separated in time by at least two generations. There are two hearts of the story -- one, the amazing animation of Brer Rabbit and two, the strong bonds formed by the four human protaganists.(end rant)
good thing is not my website hehehe you're lucky turtle dude
