Category Archives: Site Updates

News relating to updates that have been made to Song of the South.net

Today is Song of the South’s 69th Anniversary

Song of the South premiered at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia on November 12, 1946. The last time the movie was released in theaters was for the 40th anniversary in 1986. Since then, Disney has locked the film away and refuses to release it in the U.S. Will they finally release the film for its 70th anniversary? I’ll be honest, I’m not holding my breath. Both 50th and 60th anniversaries came and went with nothing more than a few collectibles. To this day, Disney continues to profit off the movie without ever releasing it in the U.S.

For everyone out there tired of waiting for Disney to just release Song of the South on DVD and be done with it, there are plenty of web sites out there selling [unofficial] copies of the movie. Pick one up for yourself or a loved one this Christmas. Hey, if Disney wants to lose money to bootleggers, more power to the bootleggers! But, if you’re still holding out for an official Disney release, there are several ways you can let Disney know you want it:

  1. Sign the new petition over at Change.org.  Since last year, we’ve gotten nearly 1,300 signatures. Our old petitions have unfortunately been lost to time–PetitionOnline.com had over 30,000 signatures before shutting down last year, and the original petition over at UncleRemusPages.com is no longer being maintained; it had reached over 100,000 signatures.
  2. Like Song of the South on Facebook and share this site with friends and family. Educate them about the only Academy Award-winning film that you can’t even buy!
  3. Contact Disney! Bombard them with emails, phone calls, whatever. Some dedicated individuals have even made a tradition out of bringing up Song of the South at shareholder meetings.
  4. Nominate Song of the South to be added to the National Film Registry. You can send an email to Donna Ross, Boards Assistant of the National Film Preservation Board, explaining why you feel that the film is culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. I’d say winning 2 Academy Awards is pretty significant, wouldn’t you? Or how about the fact that James Baskett was the first African American man to win an Academy Award?

Old Song of the South Petition Host Shutting Down

PetitionOnline.com, the site that has hosted the Song of the South petition since 2005, is shutting down today. Since I began hosting the petition there, we have received 36,543 signatures of people who “support the official release of Walt Disney’s 1946 Classic ‘Song of the South’ on DVD”.

The original Song of the South petition was hosted by James McKimson over at UncleRemusPages.com, and at final tally had 101,780 names.

We have started a brand new petition over at Change.org. Our current goal is to reach 100, so if you haven’t already, please sign your name, and pass this on to friends and family who also support this movie’s release!

Revamped Store, Petition Back Online

Hi everyone, here are a couple of site updates:

1) SongoftheSouth.net Merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, buttons, etc.) has received a much-needed overhaul, with literally dozens of new merchandise added. When I initially created these t-shirt designs back in 2005, CafePress.com (the company that makes these) had a very limited selection to choose from. Since then, they’ve added dark-colored clothing, baby clothes, and lots more. I thought it was high time I took advantage of this. I also created a new design as well. Check out the revamped store!

2) Song of the South Petition. Since approximately mid-April, the Song of the South Petition was no longer being updated with the latest signatures. I contacted PetitionOnline.com, but to no avail. Apparently Change.org is now the owner, and they’ve all but abandoned support for the old site. I was seriously considering starting a new petition over at Change.org, but their petitions have a maximum age of one year, so I would have to start a new one every year. Fortunately, the original petition has started working again! Unfortunately, anyone who signed the petition from April to mid-June probably didn’t get added. You might want to check and see if your name is there, and if not, try adding it again.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading!

Song of the South is Now on Facebook

At the request of many readers, I have finally created a Facebook page for Song of the South! Facebook has millions of members, and has proven to be one of the most powerful social networking tools currently available on the Internet.

So, why add Song of the South to Facebook? This site’s primary objective is to spread the word and educate the public about this film. The powers-that-be at Disney have clearly demonstrated that they have no intention to release this movie to the American public, and would prefer if we’d just forget this movie ever existed. Whether you love this movie or hate it, censorship is not the solution. I strongly believe that this movie should be released so that we can make our own decisions.

Therefore, this new Facebook page, as well as Song of the South.net, will be updated hand-in-hand as one more avenue to reach the public about this movie. If you have a Facebook account, please click the “Like” button to start this ball rolling! Thank you.

http://www.facebook.com/songofthesouth

Song of the South Turns 64; SongoftheSouth.net Turns 10!

On this day exactly 64 years ago, Song of the South made its worldwide debut at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Look at the some of the photos from the premier (courtesy of the Georgia State University Library), or take a look at some of the promotional materials released for the premier.

Today also marks SongoftheSouth.net’s 10th Anniversary! (Wow, has it really been that long?!) This web site was officially launched on November 12, 2000 (and this is how it looked). In those 10 years, this site has grown from a few visitors a day to several hundred; I’ve been honored to be contacted by several relatives of those who were involved in this film, and even briefly featured on CNN.

In commemoration of this 10-year milestone, I figured it would be appropriate to bring back Song of the South Radio, featuring over three hours of music and vintage radio ads from Song of the South. I originally created the radio station for Song of the South’s 60th anniversary in 2006, but it proved so popular that I kept it going. Recently the subscription lapsed, but now it’s back for good. Enjoy! And if you like the station, please add it to your favorites.

You’ll also notice that Facebook and Twitter buttons have been added to the bottom of the news articles. I’ve seen these become more ubiquitous with news and blog sites, so I figured I’d try it out just for fun. 🙂 Let me know if they work (or don’t!)

My biggest thank you goes out to you, the visitors, for all your support over the years! Let’s always remember the real reason for this web site: provide the public with the most information available on Song of the South. Disney won’t, so it is up to us to keep the public informed. Keep the faith! I am confident we will see this movie released.

SongoftheSouth.net News Overhauled

Notice anything different? In preparation for SongoftheSouth.net’s 10th Anniversary next month, I’m giving this site some much-needed TLC. The biggest enhancement so far is this News section, one of this site’s most visited features. Gone are the old static pages; from now on, this section will be powered by WordPress, a popular and powerful blogging tool. This benefits you, the reader, in several ways:

  1. You can now leave comments on the articles posted here.
  2. Searching archived news is now simple, either by keyword or tags.
  3. Find news by Category, such as Rumors or Collectible announcements.
  4. RSS feeds are now available for easy subscription.

This also benefits me because there’s less maintenance; pages are dynamically updated via PHP. Posting news is so much easier now, this has turned out to be one of those “gee, wish I’d done this years ago!” moments. There’s more site enhancements in store for the coming months, so stay tuned!

Song of the South’s 63rd Anniversary

On this day 63 years ago, Song of the South made its worldwide debut at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Take a step back in time and look at the photos from the premier. Or, check out the 1946 Campaign page, which shows various memorabilia from the 1946 release. Also, be sure to check out the audio archives where you can hear some of the 1946 radio transcriptions, including James Baskett, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, and Walt Disney himself with songs performed by Johnny Mercer.

I wish I could say that Disney will be releasing this movie soon, but there has been no news on that front. So if you haven’t already, please be sure to sign the petition and let your family & friends know about our efforts to get Disney to release this movie once and for all. Thanks!

Celebrating Song of the South’s 62nd Anniversary

On this day, 62 years ago, Song of the South made its worldwide debut at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. As a special tribute, I have added several photographs from the worldwide premier to the Photo Archives section. These photos appear courtesy of the Georgia State University Library‘s Special Collections and are exhibited with permission. Enjoy seeing a piece of Disney history!

61st Anniversary of Song of the South

Today marks the 61st anniversary of Song of the South, which premiered at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia on November 12, 1946.

For the 60th Anniversary last year, Song of the South Radio was launched as a special anniversary feature, with over 3 hours of vintage songs and radio advertisements for the movie. Well, it proved to be so popular we’re going to be keeping it around for awhile longer!

The 60th Anniversary DVD rumor came and went, and now that today marks 61 years, we can safely debunk that rumor. As you may have read, however, there’s a new rumor that we may see a DVD release in late 2008/early 2009, but only time will tell.

The petition continues to grow with over 123,000 total signatures. Yes, I’m going to shamelessly plug it again! If you haven’t signed it yet, you know what to do!

New Song of the South Petition Hits 20,000 Signatures

In just under a year, the new Song of the South Petition has doubled to over 20,000 signatures! The petition hit 10,000 signatures on September 30, 2006, so that’s an average of over 28 signatures a day! The new petition was started on May 10, 2005 to continue on the efforts of James McKimson’s original petition.

Thanks to everyone for your signatures and words of support! The work doesn’t end here… we want to add as many people to the petition as possible! If you haven’t already, please spread the word… send a link to your friends and family and get them involved. Let Disney know you want this movie released on DVD! I know that Disney visits this web site (hi guys!) so they are aware of this petition. Sign the Song of the South Petition Here!