Song of the South

Post by **Christian** » April 4th, 2006, 7:10 pm

I didn't say she has to watch it. Her rant reminds me of when a classmate at college said he didn't want to watch Pocahontas because he didn't like how it glorified the "white man" coming to America and taking the land from the natives. You can choose to not watch something but it doesn't help anybody to have completely twisted views on the matter.

Post by **ShyViolet** » April 4th, 2006, 8:34 pm

I just meant the Ku Klux thing like, rhetorically. Of course I don't think they should put one in the movie!

Anyway, I do agree that the movie has some value, and yeah I guess I should see it before I make up my mind. I did watch a clip in a classroom, since the professor was a Disney fanatic and had a tape with Disney songs that had Zip A Dee Do Da on it (hmmm, how do you write that anyway?) I realize their are great films that have subtle, if "positive" stereotypes because they are simply part of our culture. It doesn't make them bad or good. Case in Point: The Crows in Dumbo may be stereotypes but they are the ones who help Dumbo believe in himself.
It's also one of my favorite Disney films.

Historically, all films have value, so I guess this does too. I hope they make it available some day so I can get a better-formed opinion of it.

EDIT: I'm sorry if I came off sounding snide...Ben I can tell you really love this film and I'm sorry that I put it down.

Post by **Christian** » April 4th, 2006, 8:45 pm

I wish Iger would actually articulate what he found wrong with it.

Post by **ShyViolet** » April 4th, 2006, 8:48 pm

He's still new to his post so maybe he doesn't want any publicity issues right now with something like this. In a year or so he might have a different opinion.

Post by **Christian** » April 4th, 2006, 8:50 pm

That's actually a good point.

Post by **Ben** » April 4th, 2006, 9:58 pm

ShyViolet wrote:Zip A Dee Do Da (hmmm, how do you write that anyway?)

Nearly - it's "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah".

ShyViolet wrote:Case in Point: The Crows in Dumbo may be stereotypes but they are the ones who help Dumbo believe in himself.

Uncle Remus in Song Of The South may be stereotyped but he is the one who helps Johnny believe in himself.

ShyViolet wrote:I'm sorry if I came off sounding snide...Ben I can tell you really love this film and I'm sorry that I put it down.

Put a film down all you like, Vi, it's no problem to me. But see it first.

ShyViolet wrote:He's still new to his post so maybe he doesn't want any publicity issues right now with something like this. In a year or so he might have a different opinion.

As Chris says...good point, though this would have given a more public showing that they weren't going to cover up the company heritage. I wonder just how much work on this had been done, considering that it would have been out in just six months time or so.

I'm still betting/hoping on a Blu-Ray release...

Post by **Christian** » April 4th, 2006, 10:01 pm

Yeah, I think it'll come out soon. They could still be working on the restoration even if there is no announced release date. Might be the perfect flagship 'classic' DVD for a new format.

Also, Lady and the Tramp missed its 50th anniversary by a year but the recent DVD release was still billed as a 50th anniversary edition.

Post by **Wonderlicious** » April 5th, 2006, 6:11 am

It's a shame that this film isn't been given the light of day that it deserves. Like Ben, I've managed to see Song of the South due to being a UK citizen. I fortunately managed to tape this off BBC2 a few years ago (sans commercials since the BBC in England is advert free), and when I finally get a DVD Recorder (hopefully this will be soon), I am going to transfer it to DVD pronto. The film itself is cute, with the animated sequences being lovely Mary Blair influenced pieces. Of course, it's not perfect (the Uncle Remus bits can run a bit long), yet few things in the world reach perfection, and the pros far outweigh the cons.

Song of the South is a landmark film in its own right (it was the first true live action Disney film, unless you count the documentary films The Reluctant Dragon and Victory Through Air Power), and although there's some "Uncle Tom's Cabin" stereotypes in the movie (for example, there's the mammy, the cheeky little black kid, the white trash), it's no Birth of a Nation at all, and as others have said, it's the stereotypes who triumph in their own way out of their negative image.

I think that unless a Region 2/4 only release arrives (possible, since the BBC sometimes airs Song of the South in the UK and there was a video that only went out of print around four or so years ago, and I hear that it was also on the Australian Disney Channel a while ago), then a bootleg copy (or a download off a file sharing programme) is pretty much going to be the only option of getting Song of the South on a home video format, yet for those who don't yet know, part of the One Hour in Wonderland TV special on the personally recommended 2 disc edition of Alice in Wonderland is a whole animated scene from Song of the South, so you can see a chunk of the movie legally. Plus, the recent (though to some rather pointless due to the fact that most of the material is on DVD already in a better form) Mary Poppins Sing Along Songs DVD has "Ev'rybody's got a laughing place" number on it, even though it's only a 30 second snippet.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » April 5th, 2006, 2:14 pm

I've got the Japanese laserdisc version of SOTS, myself.

I haven't seen it since about 1997/1998, though, and probably will transfer it to a DVD after I get a DVD recorder or new computer.

It's mastered from a decent print of the film with subtitles appearing for the songs. I can't recall if there was a Japanese language track, though.

It's a fairly harmless film, honestly, and not the "Birth of a Nation" monstrosity some people who HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM claim it is. There are far worse comedies airing on UPN, btw.

Post by **Christian** » April 5th, 2006, 6:51 pm

Maybe they could release a DVD that just has the animated sequences on it.

Post by **ShyViolet** » April 5th, 2006, 7:19 pm

If the film is shown on BBC America, does it count as illegal?

Post by **Christian** » April 5th, 2006, 7:44 pm

Only if you're American. But Britons watching it while in America are exempt from criminal prosecution.

Post by **Ben** » April 6th, 2006, 7:22 am

Was it shown on BBC America? Because that would be pretty cool. I know the Beeb have the TV rights to it here...possibly could end up on their US channel.

Yeah, George, I nearly sprung for the Jap LD back in the day but held off because of the song subtitles. There is a Japanese track on all the dialogue but the songs are in English (hence the subs).

I was looking for the Hong Kong edition for ages, which has no subtitles, just a Chinese dub (along with English of course), when I was able to get ahold of the broadcast tape, which was struck from Buena Vista's 1990s transfers and is a high-end NTSC-to-PAL conversion, so retains the right speed and pitch. Couldn't be happier with it, apart from being on disc!

There was a time when I was going to put together my own SE of this - I have a TON of supplememtal material that could be put to good use!

Post by **JustinWilliams** » April 12th, 2006, 4:51 pm

I have no idea why they cannot just issue it with heavily LM intro with lots of 'the world was a different place then' notations in a Disney Treasures tin! What a good way to get through this stupid censorship... I've seen the film twice on TV here in England and I own a VHS copy of it. I also have the uk release 'So Dear To My Heart' on official DVD release which some lovely extras! Some time ago disney were due to release a 'Gold Collection DVD' of the latter title - it got delayed and never rescheduled.

Post by **Christian** » April 12th, 2006, 5:30 pm

I like the faux SOTS Treasures cover.