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

[Doug Bull]

(I've never even seen the short version; what's missing besides "It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas"?)

The short general release version of "The Happiest Millionaire" finishes at the jail scene.
Leslie Anne Warren and John Davidson leave jail and drive off into the sunset leaving all the other stars to just abruptly disappear out of the film.
You don't even see Tommy Steele at all.

Doug.

 

[MatthewA]

I am speechless that this exists. How do you say "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" in Hebrew?

 

[Charles Smith]

I have one of those so-called "Disneyland Paris" Song of the South DVDs. (No, I didn't buy it; a well-meaning friend picked up a few there.) The shrink-wrap sticker implies it was sold there in the store, but the photocopied cover art fits poorly in the case, the transfer of the film must be from one of the laserdiscs (but without the Japanese subtitles), and for bonus material it includes an extremely poor B&W copy of the "Coal Black" cartoon -- you know, that other old Disney favorite.

 

[Mark Collins]

Yes that is what I have. The radio spot I enjoyed. I also as I said before rate the quality better than my VHS tape. Glad you got yours free. I thought the inside artwork fit ok inside the case. You must me the outside artwork.

I sure enjoyed watching it though last night. Like I said on my blu-ray the upgrade does not look bad.

 

[MatthewA]

I figured that Euro Disney DVD of Song of the South was too good to be true. The presence of Coal Black pretty well confirms it. Disney would never have licensed a WB cartoon for one of their releases, nor would WB let it out.

The short general release version of "The Happiest Millionaire" finishes at the jail scene.
Leslie Anne Warren and John Davidson leave jail and drive off into the sunset leaving all the other stars to just abruptly disappear out of the film.
You don't even see Tommy Steele at all.

Doug.

They actually cut Tommy Steele out of the whole film, or just the last scene?

I'm actually not surprised they released the ultra-short version on tape there, considering that was the fate of Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Pete's Dragon when they first reached video outside the US. They owned the international distribution rights to 1980's Popeye as well and there too, did the song score bear most of the brunt of Card Walker's scissors.

 

[Doug Bull]

They actually cut Tommy Steele out of the whole film, or just the last scene?

The last you see of Tommy Steele in the general release version is during the pub brawl.
After that he just disappears out of the movie.
It ends with John Davidson and Leslie Anne Warren driving off in the sunset singing "Detroit"

The Roadshow version makes much more sense and at least we get to see Greer Garson & Fred MacMurray sing "It Won't Be Long Till Christmas" plus Tommy Steele reprise "Let's Have a Drink On It" and he also sings "Fortuosity" again during the Exit music.

Doug.

 

[ahollis]

The last you see of Tommy Steele in the general release version is during the pub brawl.After that he just disappears out of the movie.It ends with John Davidson and Leslie Anne Warren driving off in the sunset singing "Detroit"The Roadshow version makes much more sense and at least we get to see Greer Garson & Fred MacMurray sing "It Won't Be Long Till Christmas" plus Tommy Steele reprise "Let's Have a Drink On It" and he also sings "Fortuosity" again during the Exit music. Doug.

And the Tommy Steele character was the focus. Lol. General release versions!

 

[MatthewA]

And the Tommy Steele character was the focus. Lol. General release versions!

A lot of other studios seemed to be doing that, too: making the films shorter at the expense of the songs. That's how Star! became Those Were the Happy Times (not for Robert Wise, they weren't), and IIRC there was a cut version of the 1969 Goodbye Mr. Chips put into general release. Mercifully, the DVDs put them back to normal.

Disney's cutting habits in this era weren't limited to musicals or new films, sadly: they cut Treasure Island in 1975 to get a "G" rating and didn't restore the footage until the video in the 1980s. Follow Me, Boys!, one of Kurt Russell's first films and one of Walt's last (released exactly two weeks before his death), also got cut to get it under two hours upon reissue in 1976. I have no idea whether their initial video releases were cut or uncut, but they've got uncut HD masters of both available for streaming.

 

[Johnny Angell]

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.

What are the complaints about Lady and the Tramp?

 

[Sam Favate]

Disney CEO Bob Iger on a Song of the South release:

Um… we’ve discussed this a lot. We believe it’s actually an opportunity from a financial perspective to put Song of the South[color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;] out. I screened it fairly recently because I hadn’t seen it since I was a child, and I have to tell you after I watched it, even considering the context that it was made, I had some concerns about it because of what it depicted. And thought it’s quite possible that people wouldn’t consider it in the context that it was made, and there were some… [long pause] depictions that I mentioned earlier in the film that I think would be bothersome to a lot of people. And so, owing to the sensitivity that exists in our culture, balancing it with the desire to, uh, maybe increase our earnings a bit, but never putting that in front of what we thought were our ethics and our integrity, we made the decision not to re-release it. Not a decision that is made forever, I imagine this is gonna continue to come up, but for now we simply don’t have plans to bring it back because of the sensitivities that I mentioned. Sorry.[/color]

http://www.songofthesouth.net/news/2006/03/11/disney-ceo-robert-iger-no-song-of-the-south-yet/

That's from eight years ago. Iger, as you may know, is scheduled to retire in 2015. If a new CEO sees things differently, maybe there will be a change on this.

BTW, I have always thought the way to do it is with a Leonard Maltin-type intro, like the ones that accompany some of the Disney Treasures DVDs.

As for the Roy Disney quotes above, he blames the CEO at the time (Eisner), so things haven't changed. Also, sadly, Roy is no longer with us to lobby anyone for its release.

 

[classicmovieguy]

What are the complaints about Lady and the Tramp?

Tell me its not Si and Am.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Disney CEO Bob Iger on a Song of the South release:http://www.songofthesouth.net/news/2006/03/11/disney-ceo-robert-iger-no-song-of-the-south-yet/That's from eight years ago. Iger, as you may know, is scheduled to retire in 2015. If a new CEO sees things differently, maybe there will be a change on this.BTW, I have always thought the way to do it is with a Leonard Maltin-type intro, like the ones that accompany some of the Disney Treasures DVDs.As for the Roy Disney quotes above, he blames the CEO at the time (Eisner), so things haven't changed. Also, sadly, Roy is no longer with us to lobby anyone for its release.

Seeing what has been occurring in the political and sports world the past week I don't see this situation changing anytime soon no matter who the CEO is. The film has become a focal point, and the PR fallout risk for Disney is simply too large for them.Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk

 

[JoHud]

Didn't take long for this thread to go into another Song of the South meltdown. That film is effectively cursed and whether or not it deserves to be is far beside the point. If the movie was more obscure it would actually stand a better chance of being released someday. As it is, it will likely never be released at this rate because people keep talking about it, reminding people about this movie that is supposedly so evil, the studio tries its best to deny its existence, thus keeping the curse well in place.

The only chance of it getting released is if Disney goes under or some other company somehow manages to buy the library. Which is almost the same as never.

 

[MatthewA]

Seeing what has been occurring in the political and sports world the past week I don't see this situation changing anytime soon no matter who the CEO is. The film has become a focal point, and the PR fallout risk for Disney is simply too large for them.

Then they can kiss my business goodbye until they do. Yes, that's right. I'll give up Disney forever if I have to.

Song of the South is a cinematic masterpiece, far better than that overrated hybrid musical (why has THAT film been let off the hook for the really despicable messages it sends to kids?) that's currently getting worshipful treatment from the company due to a chronological coincidence and a factually questionable movie about its making. This film should be required viewing everywhere as an instrument to teach tolerance. The people who want to keep this film out of circulation are no better than book-burners.

 

[Doug Bull]

There is a nice looking print of SOTS shown occasionally on commercial TV here in Australia.
Next time round I think I might have to brush the cobwebs off my otherwise retired DVD Recorder and dare I say? make a copy.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Then they can kiss my business goodbye until they do. Yes, that's right. I'll give up Disney forever if I have to.Song of the South is a cinematic masterpiece, far better than that overrated hybrid musical (why has THAT film been let off the hook for the really despicable messages it sends to kids?) that's currently getting worshipful treatment from the company due to a chronological coincidence and a factually questionable movie about its making. This film should be required viewing everywhere as an instrument to teach tolerance. The people who want to keep this film out of circulation are no better than book-burners.

Nobody said it was a fair situation. It simply has had the bad luck to become the poster child feature film for this conversation, and Disney as a business cannot risk the backlash it may draw to their theme parks, merchandise, home video, tv channels, etc. Disney is named in endless lawsuits over miniscule matters all the time (see the uproar over the recent adjusting their theme park policy on disability priveleges to thwart scammers of the old system), and this would be beyond that with absurd media driven boycott events surely on top of it.Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk

 

[MatthewA]

Nobody said it was a fair situation. It simply has had the bad luck to become the poster child feature film for this conversation, and Disney as a business cannot risk the backlash it may draw to their theme parks, merchandise, home video, tv channels, etc. Disney is named in endless lawsuits over miniscule matters all the time (see the uproar over the recent adjusting their theme park policy on disability priveleges to thwart scammers of the old system), and this would be beyond that with absurd media driven boycott events surely on top of it.

If there's a boycott, someone somewhere will start a buycott. I will gladly buycott Disney when they release SotS. But it has to be a good release, not a quick-and-dirty job.

 

[LeoA]

I'd love to see some of my favorite live action favorites appear on Blu-Ray. Hard to believe that they're releasing content on Blu-Ray yet classics like Old Yeller, The Parent Trap, Swis Family Robinson, Pollyanna, and many others remain absent.

I'd also love to see some of their lesser known releases that haven't been justice on DVD be redone and released on Blu-Ray like Blackbeard's Ghost.

The one I want would be The Happiest Millionaire.

I was so disappointed by this when I first watched the roadshow edition on DVD a few years ago. I love Fred MacMurray and I love Disney's classic live action movies, but this one just didn't do anything for me despite appearing to be a match made in Heaven.

The only thing I got a kick out of were the alligators. I'll have to give it another spin someday and see if I missed something.

 

[Doug Bull]

I'll have to give it another spin someday and see if I missed something.

Tommy Steele,
although I guess to some he's an acquired taste.

How can you not like him performing "Fortuosity"?

I've always thought he had enormous talent and a winning personalty.
My wife and I were lucky enough to catch him in "Singin' in the Rain" at the London Palladium back in the 80s.
It's a night we will both cherish forever.

Doug.

 

[Ejanss]

I was so disappointed by this when I first watched the roadshow edition on DVD a few years ago. I love Fred MacMurray and I love Disney's classic live action movies, but this one just didn't do anything for me despite appearing to be a match made in Heaven.

The only thing I got a kick out of were the alligators. I'll have to give it another spin someday and see if I missed something.

It felt like one of those old 50's musicals where they had a songwriter's old songs lying around, and tried to write a story around them.
I never really felt like there was a moment where any of the Sherman songs had anything to do with what was happening, or vice versa; they just sort of tried to string them together.
In the early part of the roadshow version, I was trying to count the longest scenes of story between songs; think the longest was five minutes.