Song of the South

Post by **Randall** » December 19th, 2008, 9:39 pm

There's a copy on eBay right now for $35.

Post by **Neal** » December 20th, 2008, 12:41 am

I know you were angry with me, but I only asked because I am truly trying to do the right thing.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » December 20th, 2008, 3:15 am

You're definitely pushing it, Neal.

Back off right now if you want to be able to stay on the board.

There have been a number of people banned from posting in the forums for pushing past the limits. I'd say you're near the cliff's edge whether you realize it or not.

SOTS has been talked to death here and it's kind of hard to believe you're that naive about the legality of some of the tapes and discs sold on e-Bay.

And you definitely DO NOT talk about bootlegs and post links to them in any of the boards here.

The senior staff and moderators here have relationships with persons at Disney, WB, and the other studios and are not going to jeopardize their access by letting anybody get out of hand here.

They will generally give you 1, 2 warnings tops to cool it... If they see a pattern of abusing the rules after they've given you the warnings, you're gone.

Post by **Neal** » December 20th, 2008, 12:20 pm

Woah! Come on, now! I posted two links in all...two. That's it. And both times just asking if the tapes were legal. I'm trying to buy the legal, Disney-produced, non-bootleg, non-pirated VHS tape. Why would everyone get so mad about that? I checked ebay and those tapes look 100% identical to the ones I linked to a couple of posts back. That's the problem - the fakes look like mirror images of the reals (for obvious reasons). That's why I asked twice.

Most people just say screw Disney and buy the bootleg out of defiance for Disney's refusal to release this here. You can't deny that's true, and Disney themselves more than likely know that. I'm not going to do that. I want to buy the real thing.

Why is that getting everyone so riled up?

Is it illegal to import? That's a serious question because I just want to import the real thing and you're all acting like I'm trying to pimp some bootlegs to you!

Post by **Otis8** » December 20th, 2008, 2:20 pm

Its the way they are especially the member above you.

GeorgeC wrote: They will generally give you 1, 2 warnings tops to cool it... If they see a pattern of abusing the rules after they've given you the warnings, you're gone.

Than wouldn't you be gone already? You sir are a hypocrite.

Post by **Ben** » December 20th, 2008, 6:03 pm

Okay...everyone back off.

George, Neal and Otis...I don't want to see any more comments on this subject from you, or we're looking at a major bouncing of names.

Basically, SOTS is out of print on any format. It was legitimately available on VHS in the UK...I was sure I had seen a DVD version in an HMV store here but I could very well be wrong and there is no record of that release.

SOTS was made available on LaserDisc in Japan, in the English language and with Japanese subtitles that pop up for the three/four song sequences only OR a Hong Kong LD which was completely English and without subs. These go for high prices on eBay, especially the HK disc for obvious reasons, usually upwards of $1000.

There ARE official VHS copies selling online but be aware of the PAL/NTSC issue. Most eBay sellers offer a "DVD backup" for American viewers since the PAL VHS tapes WILL NOT PLAY IN THE US without specific equipment. These backups, which are nothing short of standards conversions, are ILLEGAL.

Basically, the best thing to do is sit it out. I don't care what the current political situation is...SOTS will eventually be reissued in some kind of collectors edition when the market is right.

In the meantime, either track and buy copies at your own discretion (basically I wouldn't pick up a 20 year old VHS tape now...not only because of how worn the tape is likely to be but also think of the damage to your player's heads) or wait and see if you can get someone to DVD-R it for you next time it plays on UK TV, which is frequently once a year or so, usually on BBC2, which runs a very nice 1990s video restored distribution master.

Of course, I would say that, since I have a DigiBeta clone of that master!

But seriously...play nice...or not at all. Moving on...

Post by **Neal** » December 20th, 2008, 6:45 pm

Sorry, I hope I didn't come off as rude towards anyone... just trying to finally see this classic after all these years. My kindegarten gym teacher played Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah every single day as we ran laps.

I'll wait a while longer.

I always thought PAL/NTSC were considered 'regions' - that's why I said that. I knew I couldn't just import a PAL tape and expect to play it here without having the right equipment.

Thank you for explaining how to get it, which was all I was looking for.

Hopefully they come to their senses at Disney.

Post by **Ben** » December 25th, 2008, 2:53 pm

PAL/NTSC isn't a region problem...they are two completely distinctly different television signal formats.

Simply put, your TV or monitor will not be able to read the PAL tape and you'll just get garbled images. You'll need a TV or switchbox type device to transcode the signal...but even then it still may not be recordable, just enough to view the tape.

Seriously...wait.

Post by **MrsTashlin** » January 5th, 2009, 4:35 pm

a serious question here, i have no desire to see it, but just out of curiosity, you think it will see region 1 dvd in the next _____ number of years?

Post by **eddievalient** » January 5th, 2009, 8:11 pm

Since you didn't give a number, it's hard to say. However, I can say that you should desire to see it as it's one of the very finest films Disney ever produced. The popular story is that it's racist, but it's not (at least, no more so than any other Hollywood film made during that era). I'm usually sensitive to things like that and I had no problem with it. In fact, given that Uncle Remus is seen as somewhat of an authority figure, and someone to be looked up to, it was actually bucking the trend and presenting African Americans in a positive light for once. Remember, James Baskett won an Oscar for his performance, though ironically, he couldn't accept it in person due to not being able to get a hotel room (no one would rent him one). Also remember that at the time the film was made, the Uncle Remus tales were considered part of American folklore and Disney was just doing what he did best. I sincerely hope we see a legit dvd release soon, but I'm not holding my breath.

Post by **Ben** » January 6th, 2009, 3:39 pm

10 years. Maybe even five. And it's not racist. It depicts a period in history for sure, but all its characters are for the good and indeed its the hillbilly kids that come out worst. Song Of The South is a slice of movie gold.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » January 6th, 2009, 8:22 pm

Song of the South isn't even set during the slavery period! It's sent in Reconstruction about ten years AFTER the American Civil War.

The groups that want to suppress films like this have no interest in balanced discussion or telling you the truth! It's the same 1984/Double Talk baloney that the politically correct crowd spiels all the time.

These are also the same groups of malcontents who blame everybody else for their problems and think that Walt Disney was racist!

Guess what? I've read about every authoritative book on Walt Disney (not Marc Elliot's "Dark Prince of Hollywood" or Richard Shickel's equally flawed "The Disney Version") and talked to people who KNEW Walt Disney! Not a one of them has ever said he was racist or a bad guy. Flawed, yes! A capitalist, yeah. Good boss -- most of the time! But the one thing that people who idolize him uncritically or like to rip him a new one (as certain blog and news sitess do from time to time) forget is that he was a human being. He wasn't perfect.

He definitely had problems and is said to have been dyslexic. He might have even been in the high-functioning autistic spectrum. There's nothing wrong with that... But everybody should get off his back and let the films speak for themselves!

Post by **Cinderallaboi** » January 23rd, 2009, 4:02 pm

JustinWilliams wrote: Just purchaced the R2 Disney DVD release of 'So Dear to my Heart' which has the same ethos of SOTS, but an overall lesser fare. The DVD quality is great and for a R2 DVD, the extras are those mentioned on the Amazon.com site for the R1 release!! The animated menus [below] are gorgeous....Any idea why this too was held back for US DVD release. I think I recall it being a Gold Collection whim....Please don't tell me it's because it has a black sheep in it!

Its as one of the the prizes on the disney movie rewards program i should know i got it from there

Post by **droosan** » July 10th, 2009, 4:46 am

I dunno if Neal or anyone else here would be interested, but I've recently listed my Song of the South Hong Kong LD on eBay. The auction still has a few days left yet, but the disc does seem to have maintained its value as a 'collectible'.

Post by **Neal** » July 10th, 2009, 12:48 pm

I am interested, except I don't own an LD player so *shrugs*

Song of the South

Re: So Dear to my Heart DVD