Looks like Disney intends to get their remaining Animated features on Blu real soon... (1 Viewer)

[ahollis]

Sidney Poitier almost turned down Porgy and Bess and only did it because turning down Otto Preminger would have been career suicide. Of course, he did have to fight for non-domestic roles in his early career.There was trepidation since day one, and it started during the screenwriting process. A white Southerner named Dalton Reymond, who had never written a screenplay but served as a consultant on several antebellum-themed films before, including Jezebel, the movie that earned Bette Davis an Oscar, did an early draft; Walt found it insufficiently sympathetic to the black characters, and so did Clarence Muse, the African-American consultant he hired, so he hired Maurice Rapf to rewrite the racially insensitive parts of Reymond's draft (Muse had already quit and started denouncing the as-yet-unmade film by that time). But it was that early draft that started a lot of the earliest concerns from the NAACP and others. Rapf left the picture, and Morton Grant wrote the final draft.The circumstances surrounding the film provide plenty of material for a Disney Family Foundation documentary, and it's a perfect way to address some of the misconceptions about the film, especially Walt's intentions in making it. Something like that might make a video release go down somewhat easier. But for Disney to reverse 20+ years of their "glass coffin" policy requires an amount of backbone I don't think they possess. When Roy E. Disney was alive, he said point blank he wanted it out, but Michael Eisner didn't. Roy didn't want Iger to succeed him, either.This wouldn't have been the first time they thought of locking it away. They planned to retire the film for good in 1970, but they changed their minds and re-issued it in 1972, the film last having been re-issued in 1958. I wonder what changed their minds.For everything Disney does (and they've done some pretty despicable things over the years), someone on Twitter has gone berserk about it. The inability to use more than 140 characters does not help. They don't release it because they expect bad publicity, yet they still get bad publicity for not releasing it. And the "glass coffin" policy isn't even consistently applied, and it seems limited to the US: it aired on BBC2 in this century in what is supposedly a very good transfer. I don't remember there being complaints or protests, just befuddlement as to why we Americans can't get this film without breaking the law.Tumblr also happened since then.

Most is correct but SONG OF THE SOUTH was re-issued in November 1986 to Theatres for the last time. Booked it, played in 56 of our 62 Theatres and still have the one-sheet from that release. I actually thought the release was done before a VHS was to be released but that never happened.

 

[Mark-P]

Most is correct but SONG OF THE SOUTH was re-issued in November 1986 to Theatres for the last time. Booked it, played in 56 of our 62 Theatres and still have the one-sheet from that release. I actually thought the release was done before a VHS was to be released but that never happened.

I was lucky enough to go and see it in 1986 and I'm glad I did. If I hadn't then the my only other option would have been paying big bucks for the Japanese Laserdisc or purchasing a bootleg, which I was very disinclined to do. I kind of like the idea of Disney doing a legitimate European release in a country that is less constricted to political correctness so that we could have the option of importing it, but I fear they won't even do that much.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

"Now, of course, Walt was behind releasing that film in the first place."

"It's not what Walt DID, but what would Walt do TODAY", is that it? We'll never know what Walt would do today, so I would say that let's follow what he actually DID.

Jari, I have no clue why SOTS has truly not been released to home video and
what future plans may or may not be.

However, I think I would be correct in saying that times have changed from the
day Walt released that movie to present.

We live in a different world where people are easily offended and make no
qualms about making such known.

My personal opinion is that the studio doesn't want any negativity thrown at
them for releasing SOTS.

Personally, I think there is a way to correctly release such a film. We have
talked about historian Leonard Maltin making an introduction (in the same
way he did in The Little Rascals VHS releases).

 

[Doug Bull]

Personally, I think there is a way to correctly release such a film. We have
talked about historian Leonard Maltin making an introduction (in the same
way he did in The Little Rascals VHS releases).

What a great idea Ron.
If that is what it takes, then let us approach Mr Maltin.
I'm sure he would be thrilled to be part of a "Song Of The South" re-birth.

SOS - Leonard where are you?

Doug.

 

[TravisR]

We live in a different world where people are easily offended and make no
qualms about making such known.

Exactly. In a fair world, the movie would be released, people would watch it and then decide if they found it offensive or not. Unfortunately, it's not a fair world so if Disney released Song Of The South, the attention seeking headlines will be "Disney releases racist movie" and people- having not actually seen the movie- will march to Twitter to say they'll boycott Disney for all time. Of course, they'll completely forget about their boycott in a day or two when they find something else to be outraged by but there's still no way that Disney is going to create that kind of problem for themselves even for a couple days.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I always felt "Family Band" did poorly because the story basically centers around a fairly ugly political disagreement. Not exactly family fare. But it's got great songs and performances. Good for the grownups. If you find the Anchor Bay version of "Happiest Millionaire" in the light blue packaging, that's the one you want. A fine example of early DVDs. It has everything.

 

[MatthewA]

I always felt "Family Band" did poorly because the story basically centers around a fairly ugly political disagreement. Not exactly family fare. But it's got great songs and performances. Good for the grownups.If you find the Anchor Bay version of "Happiest Millionaire" in the light blue packaging, that's the one you want. A fine example of early DVDs. It has everything.

I never miss a Walter Brennan musical. I actually saw Family Band first when I was 8, but I knew of it because it was one of the titles mentioned in that old "Walt Disney and You" promo. I managed to find a copy of the long out-of-print clamshell VHS from the same connections who had old clamshells of Pete's Dragon and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. I would have bought more, but the supply dried up. The political plot was relevant to the 1968 election, but not in ways the filmmakers could ever have imagined; in the film,

Spoiler

a fight breaks out over the election returns and the Electoral College

, similar to an event that occurred in Chicago.

After Millionaire failed to meet box office expectations, they cancelled the roadshow engagements for Family Band and bumped it down to general release. They also cut two songs ("Westerin'" for Buddy Ebsen and "I Couldn't Have Dreamed it Better if I Tried" for Janet Blair) and a lot of footage (Walt's People: Volume 8 has a Robert B. Sherman interview and a separate interview with Bill Anderson, producer of the two films, that confirms this), but nothing I have heard indicates they have even looked to see if any of it still exists. Unlike the other three of the Radio City Four (a much better collective name for them than "movies they made because they couldn't make Mary Poppins sequels until Helen Goff relented in the 1980s" as it was that theater that pressured them to cut the film), the soundtrack album is no help in suggesting what might have been. It grossed half of what Millionaire did (which was not a lot), but it fared slightly better in its post-release life because it actually had one during the 1970s. Millionaire vanished without a trace until its video release in 1983: no rereleases, no anthology series airings, nothing. Family Band aired on the anthology series in 1972 and came to video (and laserdisc, where Millionaire was never released) first. It almost got a DiscoVision disc, too. I assume it aired on The Disney Channel at some point prior to 2002 when they purged everything older than 1995, I just never saw it there. And it was out of print for the longest time.I saw The Happiest Millionaire for the first time that same year on The Disney Channel (long version minus "It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas"), but I already knew about that because of The Walt Disney Comedy & Magic Revue, a Disney promo tape from 1985 where the reprise of "Fortuosity" was featured prominently (I think they were mainly promoting Return To Oz, which is also welcome on Blu-ray). Fred MacMurray had just died, so TDC did a short "in memory of" tribute at the end. When Anchor Bay did Millionaire on DVD, some of the copies of the Roadshow version had the short version in the disc. The reason they didn't seamless branch the two versions (I've never even seen the short version; what's missing besides "It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas"?) is because they weren't the same aspect ratio. But at least they didn't cram the film onto a single-sided disc the way Disney did. Whether or not they will ever reach Blu-ray is beyond me at this point. If they do those, perhaps they can throw in Summer Magic as well. Right now, there are no Hayley Mills films on Blu-ray whatsoever. We were promised Pollyanna, what happened? (Is there any love for Polly?)

 

[ahollis]

Agree with you MatthewA. I would a good Blu of THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE and GENUINE FAMILY BAND. And those extra songs back into the Band or at least give it to us as an extra.

 

[Ejanss]

Personally, I think there is a way to correctly release such a film. We have
talked about historian Leonard Maltin making an introduction (in the same
way he did in The Little Rascals VHS releases).

Although, at the time of the '96 release, they wanted James Earl Jones to do the "PC introduction", putting Joel Chandler Harris into the context of "Black History", and adding the 90's John Henry short. But noooo....
Again, that would be taking it in the context of a public mainstream theatrical release, which required more studio hinder-covering than simply the Classic-film-on-disk idea we have today.

Maltin did do some good "anti-disclaimer" defenses of Donald Duck on the first Disney Treasures Chronological Donald volumes--pointing out the specific grievances that might be misinterpreted, and explaining why we shouldn't really--but by the third volume, he was taking the easier studio stance of "Hey, WE didn't write these!"

 

[Mark Collins]

Matthew,

Thanks for this reprint!
Roy Disney Supports Song of the South's ReleaseI recently contacted Roy Disney and Stanley Gold after learning of their decision to resign from Disney's Board of Directors. In my letter I pledged my full support and also took the opportunity to ask Mr. Disney if there was any information he could provide on Song of the South's status. He was kind enough to provide me with the following replyear Mr. Willis - thanks for letter of support, and I am sorry to tell you that this is yet another reason to do our best to move Eisner out. He has been - far quite a few years now - totally against (I think AFRAID is a better word) of re-releasing Song of the South, which happens to be one of my favorite of the old Disney films. A number of us have tried, for some time, to change his mind, to no avail.So that's all I can tell you right now. It would be one of my first acts if I were to come back to the company!Hope that helps, although I know it's not the best of news...Roy




Members, I have a 15 year old or even older perhaps VHS from the UK and a DVD copy from Euro Disney which I bought 10 years or more. The DVD looks good and I bought it from Euro Disney online. Not from Ebay I just stumbled into it I even forget how. Not like all the bootlegs you now can buy even on Amazon.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

^^^^^

Hmmm. My apologies. This actually does provide hope, doesn't it.

 

[Mark Collins]

^^^^^

Hmmm. My apologies. This actually does provide hope, doesn't it.

Ron, no no no. I know Matthew and You and all of us hope so. I sort of think they will never budge on SOS.

 

[MatthewA]

Most is correct but SONG OF THE SOUTH was re-issued in November 1986 to Theatres for the last time. Booked it, played in 56 of our 62 Theatres and still have the one-sheet from that release. I actually thought the release was done before a VHS was to be released but that never happened.

Yes, I forgot to mention the 1986 release. How could I have forgotten that; it's where I first saw the film. The second time was eight years later, renting it from a store that rented laserdiscs and had the Japanese LD. I also had a copy of this:

I do not recall an outcry over it, and it was in print for years and years. Many African-American artists have covered "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," including Dionne Warwick, The Jackson 5, and Patti Austin. The cast of The Cosby Show, minus Bill Cosby (and if he can play the devil incarnate in a Disney movie...), even sang it in a Walt Disney World commercial at the peak of their fame.

 

[Mark-P]

Members, I have a 15 year old or even older perhaps VHS from the UK and a DVD copy from Euro Disney which I bought 10 years or more. The DVD looks good and I bought it from Euro Disney online. Not from Ebay I just stumbled into it I even forget how. Not like all the bootlegs you now can buy even on Amazon.

I remember hearing that the DVD from Euro Disney was an internet scam. They said that Euro Disney never actually had the DVD and they were just bootlegs being sold online with false claims about them being from Euro Disney.

 

[Mark Collins]

Could be so. I do remember it came from there. Had the store it was sold from in Euro Disney on the front of the package. Like I said it looks great on blu-ray machine. Much better than the UK VHS version which I bought way back in the mid to late 90s.

 

[MatthewA]

Exactly. In a fair world, the movie would be released, people would watch it and then decide if they found it offensive or not. Unfortunately, it's not a fair world so if Disney released Song Of The South, the attention seeking headlines will be "Disney releases racist movie" and people- having not actually seen the movie- will march to Twitter to say they'll boycott Disney for all time. Of course, they'll completely forget about their boycott in a day or two when they find something else to be outraged by but there's still no way that Disney is going to create that kind of problem for themselves even for a couple days.

Without the benefit of it being actually available, they already condemn it in the same articles that retread the same tired arguments against Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Aristocats, etc. while conveniently ignoring any evidence that contradicts their assertions. Equally conveniently, they also ignore other films that go against stereotypes.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I saw The Happiest Millionaire for the first time that same year on The Disney Channel (long version minus "It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas"), but I already knew about that because of The Walt Disney Comedy & Magic Revue, a Disney promo tape from 1985 where the reprise of "Fortuosity" was featured prominently (I think they were mainly promoting Return To Oz, which is also welcome on Blu-ray). Fred MacMurray had just died, so TDC did a short "in memory of" tribute at the end. When Anchor Bay did Millionaire on DVD, some of the copies of the Roadshow version had the short version in the disc. The reason they didn't seamless branch the two versions (I've never even seen the short version; what's missing besides "It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas"?) is because they weren't the same aspect ratio. But at least they didn't cram the film onto a single-sided disc the way Disney did. Whether or not they will ever reach Blu-ray is beyond me at this point. If they do those, perhaps they can throw in Summer Magic as well. Right now, there are no Hayley Mills films on Blu-ray whatsoever. We were promised Pollyanna, what happened? (Is there any love for Polly?)

I used to have a VERY short version of "Happiest Millionaire" on VHS, released in Australia in the mid-1980's. It cut several numbers (including "Valentine Candy" and "Are We Dancing?"), which disappointingly diminished the Cordy/Angie love story arc of the plot.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Wow. I don't know how you could have The Happiest Millionaire without Are We Dancing?.

 

[classicmovieguy]

It was very cleverly-cut. The pair goes off out onto the terrace and start dancing but the actual number is sliced out. I don't have the tape anymore but I'm sure the running time was 119 minutes or something.

 

[Mark Collins]

I decided to watch it and here inside I kept the outside plastic inside the case. Here is what is said on the outside label. Made Exclusively for The Disney Store Disneyland Theme Park Paris with bar code under Walt Disney Classics Song of the South. Then it states English Version Region Code I US/Canada CDN 46.00 US 39.00. Has the Disney Store tag at the top.

Inside it has artwork book about the film and scenes. The front of it at the bottom dates it 1999 Disneyland Resort Paris Dolby Digital stereo sound Original radio spot and two theatrical trailers. The disc has artwork on it too.

Now I am going to watch it. I found my old UK VHS which has previews of the up coming features from Disney. I had two and donated my other VHS to the local Library. I wanted them to have a copy.