Tag Archives: anniversary

Song of the South Turns 76: 19 Years Until Public Domain!

Song of the South officially turns 76 years old today. The controversial film debuted on November 12, 1946 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Fox Theater. It won 2 Academy Awards: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah won Best Song, and an honorary Oscar was presented to James Baskett for his portrayal of Uncle Remus. Many photos from the world premier can be found in the Photos section. Lots of memorabilia, radio programs, music and more from the 1946 premier can also be found on the 1946 Campaign page.

There is not much else to report at this point; Song of the South still remains unavailable to watch on Disney+, and Disney is still planning to revamp Splash Mountain to remove all references to the film and its iconic characters including Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Bear.

Back in August, several fans nominated Song of the South to be added to the National Film Registry (as we do every year), and we should have the results around mid-December. If Song of the South didn’t make it, we’ll do it all again next year!

If you’re looking to watch the movie and are tired of waiting for Disney to officially release it (which will likely never happen under Disney’s current regime), head on over to Archive.org. Or, if you’re looking for a physical copy, many fan-made DVDs and Blu-rays can be found all over the web. It’s pretty clear that Disney has lost control over third parties distributing this historic film, despite their best efforts to censor and suppress. And the film’s copyright is still set to expire in 2041… so only 19 years to go!

I’m still actively collecting memorabilia from the movie, and more items will be added into the Memorabilia Museum in the coming months. I have at least 30-40 new items sitting on my scanner just waiting to be scanned and added to the database. It’s still amazing to me after all these years of collecting how much more is still out there just waiting to be discovered (especially items that were released in non-U.S. countries). Walt Disney truly did distribute this movie far and wide! A far cry from today.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas season and New Year’s!

Sincerely,
Christian

Song of the South’s 75th Anniversary Is Here!

With little fanfare, Walt Disney’s Academy Award-winning film Song of the South has officially turned 75. The controversial film debuted on November 12, 1946 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Fox Theater. Many photos from the world premier can be found in the Photos section. Lots of memorabilia, radio programs, music and more from the 1946 premier can also be found on the 1946 Campaign page.

For those looking for an official Disney release on DVD, Blu-ray or Disney+, the reality is that may never happen. Over the past couple of years, Disney leadership has made it abundantly clear that they want to bury this film—from announcing that Song of the South would not appear on Disney+ to announcing their plans to re-theme Splash Mountain. Fortunately, fan-made DVDs and Blu-rays have become much more common and can generally be found by just doing a simple search on your favorite search engine. Also, the film is available to stream (and download) in its entirety on Archive.org.

At least one fan, COOLection TV, has even posted a special 75th anniversary tribute to Song of the South:

With information on this film and the film itself now available everywhere despite Disney’s best efforts to stifle their company’s history, I would say we’ve accomplished what I set out to do 21 years ago when I created SongoftheSouth.net – provide the most information available on this movie. So what’s next for SongoftheSouth.net? I will still continue to provide news updates on Song of the South and Splash Mountain, and I’m still collecting memorabilia (now over 600 items!)

Stay tuned for more SongoftheSouth.net updates in 2022! I hope everyone is keeping well and has a great upcoming holiday season.

Song of the South Turns 74; Blu-rays Abound

UPDATE: The Blu-ray reviewed in this article appears to no longer be available. Song of the South is still available for viewing over at Archive.org.

Today marks the 74th anniversary of Song of the South. The Academy Award winning and controversial film debuted on November 12, 1946 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Fox Theater. Many photos from the world premier can be found in the Photos section. Lots of memorabilia, radio programs, music and more from the 1946 premier can also be found on the 1946 Campaign page.

With the 75th anniversary of the movie just around the corner in 2021, it’s looking less and less likely for Disney to officially re-release this film. 2020 has proven to be a very active year for news related to Song of the South:

  • March 11, 2020: Disney Chairman Robert Iger states that Song of the South will not appear on Disney+, despite several other movies receiving disclaimers for “outdated cultural depictions”.
  • June 2020: Some Disney fans began petitioning Disney to re-theme their popular theme park attraction Splash Mountain, loosely based on Song of the South’s animated sequences, with The Princess and the Frog. The petition reached over 21,377 signatures before declaring victory.
  • June 25, 2020: Disney Parks announces on their Twitter account plans to “Completely Reimagine” Splash Mountain to The Princess and the Frog. Reactions have been mixed, with the tweet gaining over 78K likes, but a counter-petition to leave the ride as-is garnering nearly 86,000 signatures as of this posting.
  • August 26, 2020: Disney begins removing the Academy Award winning song “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” from their theme parks.

Meanwhile — faced with the reality of an unlikely official release of the movie — fan-based, unofficial Blu-ray copies of the film have exploded in popularity this year. Copies can be found all over the Internet and eBay. I had an opportunity to review one such copy, produced by Stinky Tuna. The quality is by far the best out there to date, owing in part to its source — a 16mm film print originally remastered and still available to view on archive.org.

There are also a lot more special features than previous unofficial, lower quality DVD releases, including History of The Tar Baby, Read & Sing-Along Video, Virtual Reality Ride of Splash Mountain, Rare Behind-the-Scenes and B-Roll Footage, and multiple Theatrical Trailers. This particular Blu-ray is manufactured in Japan, where Disney’s copyright on Song of the South has expired — in 2006, Japanese courts ruled that any movies made prior to 1953 were now public domain. The movie is available to purchase over at StinkyTuna.com for $17.99. [Update: Link removed as this link no longer works.]

As long as you’re comfortable with unofficial, fan-made copies, the plethora of Blu-rays saturating the market today almost completely satisfies the need of making this movie available to the public. This makes hunting down official-but-inferior-quality VHS or Laserdisc copies a thing of the past.

Still, we will always hold out hope that Disney will choose to own up to its history and make this film available officially before it becomes public domain in 2041. Whether you love, hate, or are indifferent to this movie, it was one of Walt Disney’s personal favorites (read why), and it won 2 Academy Awards, including the first ever Oscar to an African American man, James Baskett, for his outstanding portrayal of the wise and kind folklore hero, Uncle Remus.

As always, you can sign the petition to release the film, nominate Song of the South to be added to the National Film Registry, and more. Read more about how you can help over on the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Today Marks Song of the South’s 73rd Anniversary

Today marks the 73rd anniversary of Song of the South’s worldwide premier at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia.

Today also marks the premier of the new Disney+ streaming video service, which will reportedly not be offering Song of the South among its available movies. The movie has never been commercially released by Disney on VHS or DVD in the United States, and despite a recent call from Disney Legend Whoopi Goldberg to bring back and discuss this film, Disney has continued to sideskirt releasing the film, while profiting off of the movie through Splash Mountain merchandise, collectibles, and the Academy Award-winning song “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.”

It’s hard to believe that my website will be 20 years old next year, but my mission remains the same: provide as much information to the public on this movie as I can in the absence of Disney. If you want to help preserve this movie (after all, whether you love or hate the film, it’s part of cinematic history), be sure to check out our Facebook page, and sign the petition if you haven’t already done so. The biggest way you can help is to spread the word about this movie. You might be surprised how many people don’t even know this film exists (and I’m afraid that might be what Disney wants).

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.

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!

Celebrating 59 Years of Song of the South

On this day 59 years ago, Song of the South saw its worldwide premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. Happy Birthday!

And now, the countdown begins. With the widely publicized rumor back in February that Song of the South may finally be released on DVD for its 60th Anniversary, all eyes are on Disney now.

If you haven’t already, please be sure to sign the Song of the South Petition, and send the link to family and friends as well. Every name counts! If there’s ever been a time to add your name, it’s now. Let Disney know how many people out there want this movie released!

Happy 58th Birthday Song of the South! Fan Art Contest Announced

After a long pause in Song of the South news, it’s time to celebrate Song of the South‘s 58th birthday! Song of the South was first shown at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia on November 12, 1946. Here’s hoping we’re one year closer to an official Disney home video/DVD release!

In honor of Song of the South‘s 58th birthday, SongoftheSouth.net is announcing the first-ever Song of the South Fan Art Contest! Click here for details!