Category Archives: Rumors

Disney: “We Want People to See Song of the South”

Yep, you read that right. Disney restoration team artistic supervisor Dave Bossert has dared to say what CEO Robert Iger won’t. Film journalist Steve Head asked Bossert about Song of the South during the Q&A portion of “Fantasia: A 70th Anniversary Celebration” at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts in October. This is what he had to say:

“I can say there’s been a lot of internal discussion about [Song of the South]. And at some point we’re going to do something about it. I don’t know when, but we will. We know we want people to see Song of the South because we realize it’s a big piece of company history, and we want to do it the right way.”

Bossert has overseen the restoration of classic Disney films such as Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Lady and the Tramp. For him to say this is pretty encouraging news, and I must say a refreshing departure from Iger’s now scripted response every year at the Disney shareholder meetings. Interestingly, it was also revealed that Song of the South’s original negatives are stored in a climate-controlled vault at the Library of Congress’ audiovisual preservation facility in Culpeper, Virginia.

I encourage you all to read the full article here: http://www.post-movie.net/?p=1840

A big thank you goes out to Steve for reporting on this and letting me know!

Warner Brothers to Release “Censored Eleven” Next Year

While not directly related to Song of the South, this is a very significant breakthrough in the realm of cartoon censorship. The Censored Eleven is a collection of Looney Toons and Merrie Melodies cartoons created between 1931 and 1944 that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968 because they were deemed too racially insensitive. This censorship persisted through Ted Turner’s acquisition of pre-1948 Warner Brothers cartoons in 1986. While commercially unavailable, these cartoons have been circulating around the Internet for years, including sites such as YouTube. (Sounds like some other film we know of… hmmm…)

Then, in February of this year, Warner Brothers purportedly tested the waters to release these censored cartoons by having a special screening at the first annual TCM Classic Film Festival. Most recently, at the New York ComicCon held this month, Warner Brothers confirmed that they will indeed be releasing the Censored Eleven on the Warner Archives collection sometime in 2011. Source: ToonZone

What impact could this potentially have for Song of the South? If these cartoons are indeed released, perhaps Disney will follow suit and finally make this much maligned (and much tamer) film available to the American public. Interestingly, some of the other Warner Brother cartoons released on DVD in the past include a foreword by Whoopi Goldberg, stating that while many of the cartoons contain behavior which was, and still is, not acceptable, these cartoons are a vital part of history and should not be forgotten. Sound familiar? Many supporters of Song of the South‘s release have suggested this same type of introduction. Maybe with Warner Brothers leading by example, Disney will finally listen?

More information about the Censored Eleven can be found on Wikipedia. Thanks to Zack and Wiwille for the news report!

Disney CEO Calls Movie “Antiquated” and “Fairly Offensive”

Carol Koster of DisneyEcho.com has informed me that at this year’s Disney Shareholder Meeting in San Antonio, TX, the question was again posed to Disney CEO Robert Iger if Song of the South would finally be released on DVD.

Reporter Paul Bond of HollywoodReporter.com put it this way: “Calling the movie ‘antiquated’ and ‘fairly offensive,’ Iger said there are no plans for releasing ‘Song of the South’ on DVD.

“‘Thank you for not disappointing me,’ Iger said Wednesday after an attendee of the meeting in San Antonio asked about the 1946 film. It has become something of a tradition that someone will ask about ‘Song of the South’ at a Disney shareholders meeting, though Iger’s negative response this year seemed more firm than in the past.”

Koster also posted that Iger’s response seemed more pre-rehearsed than ever: “Mr. Iger thinks, and now in 2010 in his tone of voice is entrenched with the belief, that parts of the movie can be construed as offensive, and for that reason he will not authorize its release on home video in the US.”

While I’ve said it before, it’s worth saying again: for every year Disney doesn’t release this film, they lose more money to the bootleggers who are selling copies of this movie on the Internet. Please see my FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on how we can make sure Disney knows we want this movie released.

Read the full news articles at:
DisneyEcho.com
HollywoodReporter.com

Thanks to Carol Koster and Joey Sartin for the news reports and sources.

Wikipedia Rumor: “Diamond Edition” Song of the South DVD

First, let me say that Wikipedia is by no means a reliable source for Song of the South rumors. The very nature of Wikipedia is that it can easily be revised by pretty much anyone. This leads to a lot of unfounded speculation, which amounts to no more than defacement in my opinion. However, in the interest of Song of the South rumors, I will post this. But, depending on how frequently Wikipedia rumors keep cropping up, I may become more selective as to which ones I report on, or I may stop posting on them altogether.

On May 9th, the following information was added to the Disney Special Editions page of Wikipedia by someone at the IP address 189.82.131.134:

Title	Discs	UK Release Date	US Release Date	Notes
Song of the South: 60th Anniversary Edition	2	May 2010	February 9, 2010	DVD and Blu-ray Disc – First release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

There’s just one problem with this: Song of the South’s 60th anniversary was in 2006. This blatantly errant entry was removed two days later, on May 11th, by IP address 76.186.137.190.

Then, on May 23rd, the same IP (76.186.137.190) added Song of the South back on the list:

Title	Discs	UK Release Date	US Release Date	Notes
Song of the South: Diamond Edition	2	March 2012	March 13, 2012	Platinum Edition (US) (DVD/Blu-ray Disc) First Digital Release

Notice how the release date is now 2 years further away, but now is supposedly part of Disney’s new “Diamond Edition” series. This addition was removedonly 12 hours later by IP address 189.82.136.79.

So there you have it… basically what amounts to a cyber “tug of war” for Song of the South. One thing’s for certain: it hasn’t been released yet, and until it does Disney will just continue to lose money to the bootleggers out there.

Rumor: Song of the South Preview on Upcoming Sleeping Beauty DVD?

It has been reported that a Wikipedia page on Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty has a reference to a Song of the South “Sneak Peek” in the upcoming 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD release, scheduled for October 7, 2008:

A 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition release of Sleeping Beauty, as a 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray Disc, is currently scheduled for October 7, 2008. This release will make Sleeping Beauty the first entry in the Platinum Edition line to be released in high definition video. The Blu-ray version will feature BD-Live, an online feature, and the extras will include a virtual castle and multi-player games. (The sneak peek includes Pinocchio, Bolt, The Princess and the Frog, WALL-E, Song of the South and Tinker Bell.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty_(1959_film)

No additional information has been found on this claim, so it has been labeled a rumor. The DVD is available for preorder on Amazon.com. Has anyone else out there heard anything about this? If so, please contact me. Special thanks to Jeff S. for the news report!

UPDATE 9/28/08: The reference to Song of the South has been removed. One of the nice things about Wikipedia is that all changes are logged. If you view the page history, we can see that the reference to Song of the South has been added, and subsequently removed, multiple times since the beginning of August. The first time Song of the South was added was on August 4th (see edit) by IP address 76.208.167.85.

UPDATE 10/22/08: Now that several people have received their Sleeping Beauty DVDs, this rumor can be put to rest; there is no preview or “sneak peak” of Song of the South as had been posted on Wikipedia.

Song of the South Mentioned (Again) at Shareholder Meeting

Carol Koster of Disney Echo shared the following with me: “The annual meeting of Shareholders of The Walt Disney Company was held in Albuquerque MN today, March 6, 2008. A shareholder got up during the Question and Answer segment to ask Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, ‘Before the end of my lifetime will I ever see ‘Song of the South’ released to home video?’ To which Mr. Iger replied the now ‘standard’ reply: They discuss the possibility regularly, there are certain issues of ‘sensitivity’ surround this movie and the long ago past era it was made in, times are different now, no immediate plans to release it, but they do regularly revisit it, etc.”

Last year, at the 2007 shareholder meeting, the topic of Disney releasing Song of the South was raised by shareholder Carol Koster. Iger’s response was more encouraging, and it picked up a lot of press.

The year before that, at the 2006 shareholder meeting, the same question was raised. At that time, Iger basically stated that Disney had no plans to bring the movie back.

This marks the third year in a row that Song of the South has been brought up at the annual shareholder meeting. And until they release the movie on DVD, we hope that shareholders keep bringing it up! Thanks to Carol Koster and Shawn Kelly for the news reports.

Song of the South Mentioned at Blu-ray Conference

Engadget has reported on the Blu-ray Press Conference held at CES on Monday, January 7th in Las Vegas. Among many of the panel members was Bob Chapek, President of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. During the question & answer session, the following question was posed:

Q. With Blu-ray the aparent winner, are we going to see more catalogue titles?

A. Bob says Song of the South won’t be covered here today, but one of the pinnacle moments was when we decided to bring out Snow White, which signaled it was mass market, since this was a most cherished title. This time they are releasing Snow White this October. “And what’s the price point Bob?” “Wow” — and as a result we know where this is going. David Bishop says most of the panel lived through DVD and just like that, they look at the core and try to release products that are valuable to them.

It’s interesting that he even chose to mention Song of the South at all at a Blu-ray conference. Is he just getting the disclaimer out there to preempt anyone who might ask about Song of the South? At the very least it’s a recognition that there is a lot of interest in Song of the South being released, whether it be on regular DVD or Blu-ray. Read into it however you want. Special thanks to Konrad Haskins for the news report!

Song of the South To Be Released In Late 2008-2009?

Jim Hill of Jim Hill Media has posted in his July 6th “Why For?” question-and-answer column another interesting possibility for a DVD release of Song of the South:

“Actually, things are looking pretty good right now for ‘Song of the South’ to finally be released on DVD in late 2008 / early 2009. But not for the reasons you might think.

“You see, what with DisneyToon Studios now becoming a non-sequel producing operation as well as Dick Cook’s decision last year to significantly cut back on the number of movies Walt Disney Studios will release every year … Well, that leaves Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Soon to be renamed Walt Disney Entertainment) with significantly fewer titles to put out on store shelves in the coming year. And given that BVHE will still be expected to make its numbers … Well, that means that they’re going to have to release something that the public really wants to get its hands on. And that, my friends, is ‘Song of the South.’

“As I mentioned back in May, Disney is still hoping to use ‘The Princess and the Frog’ to help soften any racial concerns that movie-goers may have about this 1946 Academy Award winner. Which is why the studio is looking to get production of this new John Musker & Ron Clements underway later this year. So that they’d then have a full sequence from that still-in-story-development film to drop onto that DVD. Which will then hopefully help rebuff any ‘Song of the South”s critics.”

As always, time will tell on how accurate this is… the full article can be read over at jimhillmedia.com. Thanks to Casey S. for the news report! If you have Song of the South news to report, contact me!

Disney Backpedaling on Releasing Song of the South?

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable supposedly met with Disney executives on their opposition to Disney releasing Song of the South without “a disclaimer and a preface on the historic harm of racial stereotypes on American society.” (See yesterday’s news report for the full press release.) Today, they have posted a follow-up press release, which states:

May 11, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Earl Ofari Hutchinson
323-296-6331

A Statement from Earl Ofari Hutchinson, President Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable Praising Disney’s Decision Not to Re-Release the Racially Stereotypical Film, Song of the South.

The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable praises the decision by Disney Studios reaffirming its position not to release for home video sale the 1946 racially stereotypical film, Song of the South. The film depicts blacks as happy-go-lucky, submissive, storytelling, servants and helpmates. The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable opposed the re-release of Song of the South without a disclaimer and a preface on the historic harm of racial stereotypes on American society. Disney’s decision not to re-release the film affirms that they are a socially responsible corporation that understands and is sensitive to the hurt of racial stereotypes. The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable will continue to monitor and work closely with Disney and other studios to insure, quality, fair and balanced productions free of racially and gender demeaning images and stereotypes.”

Has Disney backpedaled on its decision? Granted, when Disney CEO Robert Iger said in March 2007 that the studio would “look at [Song of the South] again,” he wasn’t committing to releasing the movie, just stating that the studio would re-evaluate the film. But with this recent press release from the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, one can’t help but feel concerned that Disney is once again turning tail on the film instead of adding the proposed “disclaimer/preface” that everyone is in favor of. Thanks to Jimmy Lucky for the news report.

Disney Reconsidering Releasing Song of the South

This year’s Disney Annual Shareholder Meeting was held on March 8, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The topic of Disney releasing Song of the South was raised by shareholder Carol Koster of the Disney Echo web site. This year’s response from Disney CEO Robert Iger was in stark contrast to last year’s response when the same question was raised. Last year, Iger basically stated that Disney had no plans to bring the movie back. This year, however, Iger said the following:

“The question about Song of the South comes up periodically, in fact it was raised at last year’s annual meeting which we conducted in Anaheim. And since that time, we’ve decided to take a look at it again because we’ve had numerous requests about bringing it out. Our concern was that a film that was made so many decades ago being brought out today perhaps could be either misinterpreted or that it would be somewhat challenging in terms of providing the appropriate context. Because there were depictions in that film that, viewed in today’s world, might not be viewed as kindly or as politically correct as perhaps they may have been in that time. But we have decided that we would look at it again and it’s being done by our studio and Dick Cook [Walt Disney Studios Chairman].”

The full transcript of the comments by Carol Koster and Robert Iger’s reply has been archived here and I encourage you all to read it. Thanks to Carol Koster for contacting me and bringing up this topic at the meeting. And thanks to everyone else for reporting this news as well. Keep your hopes up! We may see Song of the South released yet…