Category Archives: Song of the South

News related to Walt Disney’s Song of the South.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Included in New Walmart Exclusive CD

Walmart will be releasing an exclusive DVD & Music CD 2-pack, which includes the 2-disc Platinum Collection Special Edition of Cinderella, and the CD entitled “10 Favorite Disney Classics”. Of special note is that “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” is likely one of those 10 songs. And how do we know that? Well, Uncle Remus himself is included on the cover! While this artwork is not new (it originates from the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Sing-Along VHS first released in the late 80’s), to my knowledge this is the first time this artwork has appeared on another release. This set will be released on October 4th and is available for preorder on Walmart’s website. Thanks to Patrick Casey for the heads up!

Song of the South Included in Disneyland’s List of Upcoming Releases

I received a report from Jennifer that the Upcoming Releases binder kept at the 20th Century Music Company store on Main Street in Disneyland lists Song of the South scheduled for a tentative release of November 2006. I visited Disneyland a few weeks ago and can verify this is true. BUT!!! Before you get your hopes up, the list is simply a printout of the same list featured on UltimateDisney.com, an UNOFFICIAL Disney site. So, while it’s interesting to note, it doesn’t add any credibility to the widespread rumor. Be sure to read the original news report on the possibility of a November 2006 release for Song of the South.

Song of the South Relisted in Disney’s Movie Finder (Again)

I’ve received several reports that Song of the South has been relisted in Disney’s Movie Finder, both in the A-Z List as well as through its search engine. Back in May, Song of the South had been removed from both these pages, making it impossible for people to get to the page in order to contact Disney to request the movie be released. This is the second time so far that this movie has been removed from Disney’s Movie Finder, the first time occurring a year ago in July 2004. Thank you to whoever relisted it!

Roy Disney and The Walt Disney Co. Reconcile Differences

In case you haven’t heard: The Walt Disney Company, Roy E. Disney and Stanley P. Gold recently announced that they have agreed to put aside the differences that have characterized their relationship over the past several years. Messrs. Disney and Gold have agreed not to run a rival slate of directors or submit shareholder resolutions for the next five years. Messrs. Disney and Gold have also agreed to dismiss all their pending lawsuits against the Company. In reestablishing ties with him and his family, the Company has named Roy E. Disney Director Emeritus and a consultant. The Company also reaffirmed its commitment to the rotation of committee members and chairpersons on its Board committees as currently required by the Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines. In putting aside their differences, the Company noted Mr. Disney’s long time devotion to the Company and welcomed the reestablishment of a relationship with him and his family. Messrs. Disney and Gold expressed confidence in Mr. Iger’s leadership, and as Mr. Eisner retires after 21 years with the Company, they acknowledged his contribution to the Company over the years.

SongoftheSouth.net has been a proud supporter of Mr. Disney and Mr. Gold’s efforts. I wish them my best in reestablishing ties with the Walt Disney Company and hope that their valuable insight will be fully appreciated by the new leadership. As SaveDisney.com will now be shutting down, editor Merlin Jones has requested that his past articles written on Song of the South be preserved, which I am honored to do! So, you can now read Merlin Jones’ articles within the News Archives section. If you haven’t read them already, I highly recommend it!

Mr. Disney, thank you for standing up for a better Disney… and Song of the South.

Follow-Up to Rumored Song of the South “Sequel”

Back in May 2004 I received a few reports that actor Wayne Brady was involved in doing some voice acting for the character Brer Bear in what was rumored to be a Song of the South sequel/remake of sorts. This follow-up is long overdue, but better late than never!

As it turns out, Wayne Brady IS involved in vocal acting for a character named Brer Bear, but in a film completely independent from Disney. While the film has some Disney ties (Executive Producer is former Disney artist Tad Stones, Byron Vaughn is the Director, and Mary Thorne is the Line Producer), the film is “strictly through NBC Universal” according to Ruben Chavez, Lead Background Stylist of the Universal Cartoon Studios. The film about Brer Rabbit is going to be a direct-to-video release, the first of its kind for the studio that isn’t based off of a feature film.

More in-depth discussion about this work in progress is available in the Tad Stones Interviews, which I highly recommend reading! It sounds very unique and I am looking forward to seeing it when it is released. Thanks to Ruben Chavez and Joe Strike for the additional information on this project!

New Song of the South Petition

The original Song of the South Petition, created by James McKimson over at UncleRemusPages.com, has collected over 65,000 names from its creation up until August 2004. Unfortunately, James has not been able to update the list in some time (although he believes it has probably reached 100,000 names by now).

To help alleviate James of the monumental task of processing each name manually, I have created a new petition that is completely self-sufficient and requires no manual processing; your name is added instantly. I would encourage anyone who submitted their name to the old petition on or after August 15, 2004, to add their name to the new petition. While I have been unable to get in contact with James very recently, I want to make it clear that the petition is still very much James’ brainchild and all of the 65,000+ names should be considered in addition to the names collected with the new petition.

Spread the word! You can also send this petition to family and friends by using the “Send to a Friend” feature.

Song of the South Removed From Disney’s Movie Finder… Again

Our readers have noticed that, once again, Disney has removed Song of the South from its Movie Finder. It was previously noted back in July 2004 that Song of the South‘s page had been removed from the Movie Finder, but was later reinstated. This time, the page remains, but all referencecs to it have been removed, both in the A-Z List and the Search feature. Kind of useless to have a Song of the South page if no one can get to it…! Once again, I encourage everyone to contact Disney and let them know how you feel about this.

Disneyana Auction Unearths Rare Song of the South Items

Last night marked the end of the JustKidsNostalgia.com Disneyana auction, which showcased hundreds of very rare Disneyana items, including several fromSong of the South. Among the most notable prices realized: a 1946 Six Sheet movie poster ($1,281.85); 1946 Three Sheet movie poster ($1,179.51); 1946 Campaign Book ($631.56); and a 1956 Six Sheet movie poster ($584.43).

While the theatrical posters were way out of my league, I was very fortunate to obtain three publicity photo sets, totaling 26 photos. These rarely-seen photographs were taken directly from Disney Key Book albums (reference guides used by the studio), and include shots of the original opening credits of the film, animators behind the scenes actually working on the film, and several publicity shots of Glenn Leedy, Bobby Driscoll, and Luana Patten. Of course I will be posting them on this website in the Archives section in the coming weeks, so keep a lookout!

Song of the South Special Edition DVD To Be Released in 2006?

Today, Jim Hill over at Jim Hill Media posted “what he just heard from his sources deep inside Buena Vista Home Entertainment.” In the article, Jim claims that a Special Edition Song of the South DVD will finally be released in the fall of 2006, just in time for Song of the South‘s 60th Anniversary.

Why would Disney finally release this movie? Well, Disney’s financial reports for the first quarter of 2005 show that DVD sales are down by 20%. According to the source, BVHE is hoping to sell 10-12 million units of this movie, which would translate into big bucks (and certainly put the bootleggers out of business, which Disney has long been losing more and more money to.) Combine that with the fact that Song of the South is Disney’s most requested movie, plus its 60th anniversary on the horizon, and you have a potentially winning combo here.

There is a lot more to this claim than what I have mentioned here, so I encourage you to read Jim Hill’s full article and see for yourself:

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=1313

New Rendition of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” on Disneymania 3 CD

On February 15, Disney released a new CD entitled Disneymania 3, which features 15 well-known Disney songs by current popular artists. Track 7 is our beloved “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”, performed by Aly & A.J. A sample of the song can be heard at Amazon.com.

In January of 2004, we saw the release of Disneymania 2, which also had a rendition of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” on it, performed by Stevie Brock. Thanks to “harleymanofutah” of the Song of the South Enthusiasts Group for the news report!

“Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” is unquestionably Song of the South‘s most enduring tune. It won an Academy Award for Best Song and has always been a mainstay in Disney’s music library. From Big Band to Disco to Pop, the song has been covered by dozens of artists over the decades.