Song of the South on DVD...sorta

[linklewtt]

hey, for anyone who loves Splash Mountain but has never gotten the opportunity to see the inspiration behind the ride, buy the Alice in Wonderland Masterpiece Edition DVD. I have seen the movie Song of the South (only through a downloaded copy from the internet since I was not even born yet when it came out) and I've got to say that after seeing the 3 cartoons in the movie, the whole idea of Splash Mountain makes SO much more sense.

Today I happened to be looking at the special features of my Alice in Wonderland DVD, and one of the features on Disc 2 titled One Hour in Wonderland suprised me. The feature is a recording of one of Walt Disney's 1950 shows for TV (in black and white) where this famous ventriloquist (i don't know his name...i forgot) and his puppets travel to the Disney studio. There is a Christmas party going on there (it was Christmastime when the show aired in 1950) and some Disney stars are there. Walt is there, Katherine Beaumont (voice of Alice), Bobby Driscoll (from Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart), the Disney daughters, and so on. Anyways, Walt says that he has a suprise and he unveils the magic mirror from Snow White.

Walt asks the mirror to show them things, and the mirror shows some cartoons, The Firehouse 5 Plus Two, and stuff like that. Bobby Driscoll asks the mirror to show him a tale from Uncle Remus (fitting, right). then the mirror shows a segment from Song of the South. The segment includes Uncle Remus singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (the whole sequence), which flows into the first cartoon in the movie which is the Rabbit Trap cartoon.

Now this cartoon inspires only 3 things from the ride Splash Mountain (Brer Rabbit leaving home, Chikapin Hill, and Brer Bear in a rope trap), but I encourage anyone who wants to see it to see it. It really makes you mad that Song of the South was labeled "unfit" for America, and it gave me hope that it will come out this year (as is rumored). So check it out cuz it's world class animation and actually pretty funny!

[barfownz]

You can buy the dvd online somewhere. I have seen it.

[linklewtt]

^^ya see, you have to be all sneaky about and actually LOOK for it somewhere online. But I wanna go to Target or Best Buy and buy it on DVD with special features and everything. Besides, that version is probably the UK version or other country version where it's allowed to be released. Although nothing is changed probably in the UK edition, I'd really like to have the US version. It's not a matter of having the movie for myself, but really it's a matter of principle. We live in a new world where yes, some rascism does exist, but where we as Americans should be able to handle such things deemed "rascist" and look at them as "oh, that's just how it was back then" you know? I just find it kinda dumb that people would still be offended in this day and age...it was just that way back then and we should learn to move on.

A good example is on the Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black White Volume 2 DVD. There is a section on Disc 2 titled From the Vault, which has a few Mickey cartoons that today are deemed rascist or have something about them that are specific to the time period they were first produced. One such cartoon is called Mickey's Mellodrammer. In the cartoon Mickey and friends act out the play version of Uncle Tom's Cabin. for the black roles, Mickey and Minnie and others perform black-face. Now today this would be very controversial, but back then it was just something that was done and generally accepted. Even though this is true, the cartoon is still featured on the DVD as a way to view cuztoms of the past.

We as Americans living in this day and age can view this cartoon not as rascist, but as "that's just how it was back then". Anyways, I think that the same should go for Song of the South. We have matured past the point of blatant rascism and are able to view history as just that -- history

[barfownz]

You only can buy song of the south online or in a foreign country.

[linklewtt]

^^i know, and that's why I'm so mad about it!!

But it's ok. Wikipedia lists Song of the South as rumored to come out on DVD in the US this year with a whole mess of special features. Hopefully, that's true.

[barfownz]

It is rumored to come out on DVD.

[linklewtt]

^^i know...that's what i said...

[Ezra]

Originally Posted by linklewtt

Wikipedia lists Song of the South as rumored to come out on DVD in the US this year with a whole mess of special features. Hopefully, that's true.

Yes and one of those features is a featurette that plays automatically when the disc loads explaining that's just how is was back then. Actually when you compare Song of the South to the step'n'fetchit stuff that's readily available from around 1948, you'll see that Song of the South has the some of the most dignified portrayals of black people in the movies.

[linklewtt]

^^exactly, which again burns me up

[disneyguy]

You can buy the DVD from a link off of Amazon.

[linklewtt]

^^is it the USA version?

[SplashMountain]

You can also see some segments of the cartoon portions of the movie in select Disney Sing Along Songs.

[linklewtt]

^^ya, they've been able to use those cartoons for years. but i'd like the whole thing. the new USA version coming out this year (hopefully) will be full of special features not available on the foreign DVDs

[disneyguy]

Originally Posted by linklewtt

^^is it the USA version?

[Link removed, copyrighted/bootlegged material]

-DG

[Monorail91]

Yeah, I've heard about it being released...it'll be one of the Platinum Editions (soon after Little Mermaid, which is FINALLY getting its deserved star treatment)