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

[MarkHastings]

If Disney was smart, their PR staff would build it's release around the positive aspects of the film (which there are many) and take on the ones calling it racist.

This would be a great opportunity to look those people square in the face and show that their close-minded/intolerable views are just as racist (if not more) than racism itself.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Maybe they could get Don Imus on board!

 

[Joe Lugoff]

The ones who were persecuted are now the persecutors, with their, "We don't like this movie, so NO ONE can see it," or "We don't like what he said, so we demand he lose his job." It gives me the creeps, and reminds me of the Soviet Union.

 

[James Phillips]

I can't understand Disney keeping Song of the South out of circulation in the US for so long.

Here in the UK, it was released on VHS not all that many years ago, and they still show it on television about once a year.

I recorded it on DVD the last time it was broadcast.

Here are a few screen grabs from it:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8778/sots01cf9.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2467/sots02zs4.jpg
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/4672/sots03rz1.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/4278/sots04hm8.jpg
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/5995/sots05tk4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/7674/sots06zn2.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/215/sots07ar2.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1416/sots08qx8.jpg
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7819/sots09ad5.jpg
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/9482/sots10hi5.jpg
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/8025/sots11ry3.jpg
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/4016/sots12gu3.jpg

 

[Roger Rollins]

A Disney friend confirmed that they are DEFINITELY releasing it on DVD...either in 2007 or 2008.

 

[Steve...O]

Thanks Roger! I've never seen this movie and welcome the opportunity to make up my own mind about it. The recent publicity sure did seem like they were testing the waters.

I hate to be greedy for information, but does your friend know if this release will be unedited and present the movie as originally shown?

Steve

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

James Baskett and Hattie McDaniel will be digitally replaced with computer-generated Caucasians.

 

[MarkHastings]

Oooooo! And maybe they'll use some sort of audio plug-in to clean up the audio so he sounds like a British actor!

 

[EricSchulz]

I'll believe it when there's something more official....

 

[Stephen_J_H]

As will I but anything in the way of release news is to be greeted.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Anyone been watching the big news in the media the past couple days? If one group says no to this release then it won't happen and I personally don't see this thing getting released.

 

[Steve...O]

I'll admit the same thought has crossed my mind. This Imus story has drug on a lot longer than I thought it would, and I don't see it going away anytime soon.

At the very least Disney may decide delay this awhile. Worst case scenario is that they get too uneasy to release it at all.

Steve

 

[Michael Elliott]

Disney is a lot bigger than a small radio show. There's no way they'll get away with this release.

 

[SilverWook]

There is nothing offensive about SOTS. Anyone who thinks it should never be released ought to boycott MGM, and get Gone With The Wind withdrawn from the market immediately.

 

[Scott Kriefall]

It doesn't matter if there is anything offensive in the movie. All that matters is if people -- many of whom have probably never even seen the movie -- think that there is offensive content.

 

[MatthewA]

You can always ask them if they saw the movie. That might shut some of them up.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah right - I'm sure it wouldn't matter.

 

[Patrick McCart]

That's exactly the problem I see. If Disney shouldn't release SOTS, it's hypocritical to allow Warner Bros. to release GWTW and allow any editions of The Birth of a Nation.

SOTS only has problems becase Disney is an easy target and "advocacy groups" (more like pro media supression advocates) know they can scare them when threatening monetary punishments. This would be the best opportunity for Disney to stand up for themselves and one of their films. I'd love to see how long a boycott of Disney would last because of this film.

 

[Sam Favate]

Disney could very easily release the movie and include some explanatory bits (an introduction, a featurette, etc.) that explain what life was like at the time the film was produced. That would be the right thing to do, IMO, and would make the company seem sensitive to concerns of racism. There's nothing in the movie as crude, offensive or mean-spirited as Imus' comments.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Which is why I think this release should be handled in the same way as the Treasures title On the Front Lines. There, the shorts were prefaced with a Leonard Maltin introduction putting the racial epithets and demonization of both the Japanese and the Nazis into perspective. A similar approach would work well with SOTS, explaining the roots of the Brer Rabbit stories and placing the film in its proper historical perspective.