This past Sunday, Russell Davies interviewed Disney Archivist Robert Tieman on BBC Radio 2. Among the several topics that was brought up, Song of the South was among them. Several interesting points were covered in the discussion, but the most notable portion was near the end:

Tieman: …one of the things that is possibly a hopeful sign for the future, coming up I think next year, I think in 2004, will be a DVD set of Disney’s World War II cartoons, which for years and years and years, were off the market. And, it was finally decided that if they were presented in the right historical context that they could be reissued, and the company has hired Leonard Maltin, who is a film comentator, to do a historical overview of the time that these cartoons were made, and what they were used for and so forth, and so I think once again with the proper context that these things can be done successfully.

As noted here before, Leonard Maltin fully supports Song of the South‘s release. Disney’s World War II cartoons finally being released with an historical overview by Maltin is a very positive step in the right direction. With a little bit of luck, this same treatment may be the key to finally releasing Song of the South as well.

Although the original program is no longer available on the BBC Radio 2 website, I have transcribed the relevant portion of the interview. Thanks to Chris Vierig for the report!