Before I start, let me remind everyone that tomorrow is April 1st (April Fool’s Day). As is almost always the case, there is at least one obligatory “rumor” out there regarding Song of the South that pops up around this time. That being said…
According to the French Disney fan site Les Grands Classiques, Disney France has obtained exclusive permission from The Walt Disney Company to release Song of the South on DVD. They, in turn, reference this site. Without going into too much detail (Google Translate can only do so much), the site claims that it will be released exclusively in France beginning April 16, 2012 by international retail chain Fnac, and features a foreword by French actor Omar Sy.
So, is this a legitimate rumor or an early April Fool’s Day present? Well, as always, time will tell. I think you know which one I’m betting on.
Now, about that special Blu-Ray release of Song of the South featuring a commentary by Strom Thurmond… you can read that one over at campusbasement.com.
Thanks to Bobby and Marc for the news reports!
Update (4/15/2012): Oliver J. H. Kosinski of Lesgrandsclassiques.fr has confirmed that this was indeed an early April Fool’s:
“I confirm to you that the ‘French exclusive DVD of Song of the south’ does not exist. This joke was done in collaboration between 10 French fan’s sites, under the original idea of ChroniqueDisney.fr as you can see here: http://chroniquedisney.fr/grenier/billetHS7.htm#fnac
Outside of my fan made DVD’s, there is therefore no official French DVD.”