Possible Release of Disney's "Song of the South"? (1 Viewer)

[Stephen_J_H]

I'd love to show this to my kids, because I think we could have a really meaningful conversation on perceptions and stereotypes afterwards, besides the fact that I've never seen the film in its entirety myself. We've watched far more allegedly offensive content together (based on what I know of SotS) and had some great discussions about why certain behaviour, while considered acceptable in a film, is unacceptable in everyday life. This is a piece of history that needs to be released unaltered.

 

[Eddie Estes]

I like to watch it just because it is a funny movie with a good message. That fact has been lost in all the PC crap that is going on about this movie.
I just don't buy that its a racist movie.
Uncle Remus is not a slave and is a pretty smart person.
The boys Grandmother considers Unle Remus a friend.
The black boy and white boy are friends.
Uncle Remus seems to be the only one in the whole movie that seems to have his act together.
You would think by all of the flopping and twitching about releasing this it was as bad a Birth of a Nation.

 

[MatthewA]

Too late.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

It's always sad to hear these stories.

 

[HarryB]

All of this debate over whether or not people will be offended by the content in this movie is really a non-issue. People are overlooking the one thing that makes all of this discussion moot. If you don't talk about things like racism and slavery then they NEVER happened. See how simple it was to solve that problem? Don't bring up Nazis...the holocaust never happened. Remove the teaser trailer for Spider-Man featuring the World Trade Center... viola!...we have all forgotten those buildings ever existed. Now if you would all just quit talking about things that people don't like then they would have never happened and everything would be fine.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

All they have to do is market it in a collector's set such as the Disney Treasures, and include whatever disclaimers are appropriate. Hellck, if they have to defray the cost of not mass-marketing it to children, just go ahead and release it at a $40 price point. They could do a 2-disc set and work in the uncensored versions of Melody Time and Make Mine Music while they are at it.

Regards,

 

[Reagan]

Ken,
I agree with you. In fact, they don't even have to do it as a treasures set. Just release it as a limited run, mail order only disc and satisfy all the pent up demand while maintaining a low profile. Heck, they could probably sell it out with just an email to HTF.
-Reagan

Ernest,
A little advice: try to set people straight without making them feel stupid. I enjoy reading your contributions (the Robin Hood thread on the movies forum was priceless), but your first post on this thread was not cool.
-Reagan

 

[Sean Campbell]

Oscar, I see that you live in Glasgow. You might be interested to know that there's no controversy about this movie outside the US and in fact, it's regularly shown uncut on BBC 2 in a morning slot. I think it was last shown maybe 6 months back. It was also available on VHS for years in the UK and elsewhere in the world other than the US.
It's a reasonable movie, but I have to agree with the fact that the animated segments are far superior to the live action story.

 

[Cees Alons]

And, Oscar, until rather recently, a VHS version of SOTS was readily available in almost any video shop in Europe. In France even Sécam versions.

I have one (from the UK, note the triangle with an "U", below) and I think you may still be able to find one if you look persistently.


Cees

 

[Malcolm R]

Sounds like a porno flick.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

But which would you be more embarrassed to be caught buying?

 

[Jay Pennington]

He was not rotoscoped. Who wants to make a correction submission to IMDB?

 

[Brian Kidd]

The IMDB is so full of mistakes that it would take a lifetime to correct them. Can't hurt to try, though.

I think I need to apologize for the bad taste of my comment about Driscoll. I honestly didn't know he'd ended tragically. Still, the guy was a terrible actor.

 

[Jon Martin]

I have the laserdisc and, I have to be honest, it doesn't hold up too well. The animated segments are wonderful, but the actual story is a little dull. I don't think there would be any problem that young kids would get any message from this film since I doubt most kids today would watch this instead of say a Wiggles or Dora the Explorer video.

It would mainly be of interest to film fans and those that saw it growing up. So, a Disney Treasures set would make the most sense.

 

[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.

 

[Paul Penna]

Driscoll was rather likeable in "Treasure Island," I thought.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

 

[Jay Pennington]

Wow, free and loose with the film history timeline on Wolfe's part.

 

[GeorgePaul]

The arguments on this thread will simply perpetuate themselves until a Region 1 DVD is released. Unless you are lucky enough to own the laserdisc or a foreign video of "Song of the South," you (like me) haven't seen the film since at least 1986.

As a result, most of our memories of the film's details are gauzy at best, and misperceptions continue to abound.