December 1, 2003

Correspondence with Jesse Cryor's Granddaughter

Jesse Cryor's talented voice can be heard in Song of the South's well-known tune "Everybody Has A Laughing Place." Recently, Jesse's granddaughter Kimberley contacted me with information on her grandfather, and shared with me the frustration she feels about Song of the South's unavailability and the impact it has on Jesse:

"...I'm so very sorry that my grandfather may never be able to go to the theatre or television and watch this movie with my children, neices and nephew and say to his great-grandchildren, "That's your Great-Granddaddy singing, baby". It may seem like nothing to many, I know. But, this movie was a highlight in his career as a vocalist. ...My grandfather, Jesse Cryor, never became famous, has had his music stolen, was not even fairly compensated, financially—as was true for most of the Black artists of his day—for all of his dedication, creativity, hard work and time away from his wife and children. He knows that in some ways those are the breaks of the business while in other ways he was outright cheated. He is still very alert and very aware of this fact. And he remembers. This, even now, hurts him deeply."

Her email was so moving to me, I requested if I could reprint it in its entirety on this web site for others to read as well. It is such a powerful message! Disney, if you're reading this, you should be flat-out ashamed of yourselves for shunning the hard work of people like Jesse Cryor by not releasing this movie.

Click here to read Kimberley's email. I highly recommend it.

November 12, 2003

Happy 57th Birthday, Song of the South!

Song of the South made its worldwide debut today, 57 years ago at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Check out what some aspects of the 1946 campaign looked like, or listen to the original radio spots that filled the airwaves. Or, check out some of the memorabilia released from that time period.

Today also marks the 3rd anniversary of SongoftheSouth.net!

Now is also a good opportunity to make sure you all have signed James' Song of the South Petition, hosted on his web site over at UncleRemusPages.com. As of today, there are now 45,314 people who want this classic released!

And, as always, please be sure to check out the FAQ section to see what other things we can do to get this Academy Award-winning, landmark Disney production into the hands of Americans once and for all!

October 1, 2003

Disney.com's Search Engine Features Bootleg Song of the South Sites

Disney and the MPAA have put a lot of effort into suppressing web sites that offer Song of the South on video and DVD. Unbeknownst to them, people have been able to find these sources through Disney.com's very own search engine!

In what I can only describe as the most deliciously ironic thing I've ever seen, a reader has pointed out that when one searches for "Song of the South" on Disney.com, web sites offering bootleg (illegal) copies of the movie prominently fill the "sponsored links" area of the search results page.

Apparently, Disney.com's search engine uses sponsored links from Google.com. Google's sponsored links have long been a popular choice for sites selling illegal copies of Song of the South. Now, I know for a fact that Disney Worldwide Services visits my web site on a fairly regular basis, (Hi guys!), so it will be interesting to see how quickly action is taken on this.

(Update: To date, no action has been taken.)

September 22, 2003

Who Framed Roger Rabbit Nods to Song of the South

It's no surprise that Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a film set in the 1940s that combines live action with animation, would give a nod to Song of the South. The film, in fact, contains five Song of the South character cameos, what I believe to be the most cameos from any single film represented within the movie.

Back in March, a new Vista Series DVD of Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released. Among the image galleries of the DVD's special features, it has been noted that the "Production" section includes a publicity shot from Song of the South: the famous sunset scene that graces the covers of several memorabilia items and, of course, this web site! A screenshot is available at ign.com. Thanks to Curtis for the report.

September 10, 2003

Song of the South Featured in Film Threat's Bootleg Files Column

Author Phil Hall of Film Threat has chosen Song of the South for their first Bootleg Files column, a new column that discusses movies that are not commercially available. Among the topics covered in this article, Phil discusses why the movie is not available, and voices his opinions on what he feels is overall "simply not a great film." He does feel, however, that ultimately Song of the South deserves to be seen. While I definitely think more of Walt's first attempt at a live-action musical drama, Phil's opinions are every bit as valid and make for an interesting and recommended read:

http://www.filmthreat.com/Features.asp?Id=774

September 8, 2003

Brer Bear: Odd Bear Out?

Well, I got a promo in the mail from Disney yesterday announcing the upcoming showing of Disney's Brother Bear at the El Capitan Theater. I opened up the brochure, and saw a second promo for an included live stage show called "The Magic of Disney Music." Among the group of 10 characters pictured was... Brer Bear! Rather surprised, I read the description:

"Catch your favorite Disney characters in an all-new live stage show featuring songs from classic Disney films including: Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King."

What about Song of the South? All the other characters represented are in the movies listed in the description, but it would appear that Brer Bear is the odd bear out. So, did Brer Bear get snuck into the picture when he wasn't supposed to be there? Nope, I have a pretty good idea that this stage show will be including the Academy Award-winning song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah from Song of the South.

September 3, 2003

Disney Archivist Robert Tieman on Song of the South

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!

August 26, 2003

New Splash Mountain Musical Snow Globe

August 10, 2003

Song of the South in Top 20 Adjusted Animated Films of All Time

According to Animated-Movies.com, "if ticket price inflation was taken into account when ranking top movies (which it pretty much never is even though it would make more sense), Finding Nemo wouldn't even crack into the top 10. Success is a very relative concept, and the list below helps put things in perspective!"

The list shows Walt Disney's Song of the South at position #14 with $288.6 million, beating out Peter Pan, Shrek, Monsters Inc., both Toy Story films, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Also, on BoxOfficeReport.com, Song of the South ranks #80 in the $200m Adjusted Movies list, outranking films like Lawrence of Arabia, The Wizard of Oz, Psycho, Fellowship of the Ring, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Seems a little odd for such a "racist" film, doesn't it? Thanks to Joey Sartin for reporting this.

July 30, 2003

Song of the South Article in Chicago Tribune

Yesterday saw an article released in the Chicago Tribune entitled "'South' Still Silent" and was written by Donald Liebenson, Special to the Tribune. This article is basically a re-edited version of Donald's earlier article written for the L.A. Times on May 7 of this year entitled "Should dated films see the light of day?"

This new article is available to read here. (Free registration required.)

July 23, 2003

Fake Memorabilia Alert – "De Tar Baby" Alarm Clock

July 6, 2003

Song of the South Reference in Finding Nemo

Well, I just got back from watching Finding Nemo, and as always, Pixar did a fantastic job. About three-quarters of the way through the movie, though, I did a double-take: in the Sydney harbor, behind the boat named "The Surly Mermaid" was another boat with the partially visible name "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," a reference to Song of the South's Academy Award-winning song. I checked out IMDB.com's Trivia page on Finding Nemo for confirmation, and sure enough, I wasn't the only one who spotted it.

Interestingly, the partially obstructed name on the boat is reminiscent of Splash Mountain's sole reference to "Song of the South" during the showboat finale, which can be seen on the marquee behind the fox to the right of the paddlewheel.

July 1, 2003

Song of the South Release Rumor – Announcement This Month?

As with all release rumors, remember to take this with a grain of salt. According to an individual who recently visited Disneyland, one of the cast members in a shop on Main Street divulged that Song of the South would be released "in the not too distant future" and that an announcement should be made this month:

"I just got back hours ago from a mom's gift to herself weekend and while I was digging around the watch shop on Main Street for cool pictures, a woman checking out in front of me asked for anything and everything SONG OF THE SOUTH related. The man told her to try the Splash Mountain Briar Patch type shop. She said she had and not much other than beanie babies etc. He told her not to spread this around, of which his voice proceeded to get much louder so a large group of 20 or so heard but Disney finally gave their consent to release SOS on DVD in the not too distant future and an announcement should be made in the upcoming month of July. I know not to trust but my DVD player and I are hoping for extra pixie dust in the next few weeks. He said they have to finish negotiating with NAACP type organizations to decide whether to delete or add explanations, you know, to be politically correct. I hope I haven't stirred up a bees nest here but I was so excited, I thought I'd burst."

Either this cast member is making up tall tales to appease the Song of the South-seeking public, or there may actually be some truth to this rumor. As with all release rumors, only time will tell. Thanks to Tina of the Yahoo Song of the South Enthusiasts Group for passing this on.

Also, back in May, reader Jim Tobias reported that a man in the DVD section of a MediaPlay store told him that Song of the South would be released sometime "around Christmas time." So far I haven't heard any more on either of these rumors.

June 3, 2003 (Updated July 8, 2003)

Video Page Removed by Order of MPAA

The Motion Picture Association of America once again attempted to pin me with the charge of "Unauthorized Distribution of Copyrighted Motion Pictures." Some of you may remember they tried this once before back in April 2001. This time around, they reference my Video page as the offending page and claimed that I was "unlawfully offering product." This is simply not true, as I was only linking to a supplier who offers Song of the South in its original, PAL format release, and who then supplies the purchaser with a complimentary conversion copy. This was quite clearly stated on my Video page.

However, on July 8, I received a notice from my web host that my account had been suspended because of this incident. So, not wishing to sabotage my entire web site (and countless hours of work and research), I have complied with the MPAA's wishes and removed the offending page. Both the MPAA and my web host have been informed of the compliance, so hopefully this will be the end of that.

If you'd like to see the email sent to me by the MPAA, I've archived it here.

May 20, 2003

"In A Stew Over Brer Rabbit" Article in Scotland's The Herald

Brian Pendreigh of Scotland's The Herald has also taken the stand to report on Song of the South—its unavailability in the U.K. and U.S., its supporters, and the controversy surrounding other books and movies dealing with race that Song of the South has reportedly re-awoken.

Brian had contacted me a couple weeks back to interview me for this article. Apparently, the story stirred so much interest at The Herald that the article was expanded to about double its original size, filling up a whole broadsheet features page, with several pictures and a panel.

The article is located in the Comments area of the Feature section. A big thanks goes out to Brian for taking the time to create this great article and present this movie's issues to our friends in Scotland!

This article has been archived.

May 7, 2003

L.A. Times Song of the South Article Printed Today

Donald Liebenson's superb article "Should 'dated' films see the light of today?" has been printed in today's L.A. Times. Donald spent a great deal of time on this article, and it shows. Among those he interviewed were Ruth Warrick, Leonard Maltin, Clarence Page, Diane Disney Miller, and myself (all of whom support the film's release). He mentions both my web site and James McKimson's UncleRemusPages.com and his petition.

Located in the Calendar section of the paper, the printed article also includes two publicity shots from the film, one large live action photo with James Baskett, Glenn Leedy, and Bobby Driscoll, and the other photo animated, showing Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.

I want to personally thank Mr. Liebenson for his hard work on this article; he has done a great service both to supporters and to the movie itself. Thank you!

This article is no longer on the L.A. Times web site, but has been archived.

May 3, 2003

Studio Chapter NFFC Song of the South Show Report

Well, the Studio Chapter NFFC Song of the South Event was lots of fun! Horrible traffic coming up from the south caused my late arrival, but the group was understanding and gave us a warm welcome. I took about 10 minutes for a small "show and tell" of some of my memorabilia items (mostly the more popular items with a few rarities thrown in), and then we adjourned for the video presentation.

Afterwards, we returned to the hall for a period of questions and answers, and general comments. James McKimson of UncleRemusPages.com and I spoke for awhile on the movie as well. I set my memorabilia items up for an impromptu display for the group to see up close. Also of note was chapter member Bob Bailey's impressive display of seven original drawings of Brer Rabbit from the Laughing Place sequence! That was quite a rare and unexpected treat.

Last on the agenda was the raffle. James McKimson won two items, including a Splash Mountain friction car. My friend Anthony, who assisted me throughout the event, won the door prize, a Critter Country pin featuring the happy-go-lucky Brer Rabbit.

The event was a wonderful opportunity to talk with other supporters of the movie, as well as finally being able to meet my long-time online contact, James McKimson. I am very grateful to the Studio Chapter NFFC for putting on this event!

Photos from the event have been posted on the Studio Chapter NFFC web site, courtesy of Curtis Rich: [Photos have since been removed]

April 25, 2003

Studio Chapter NFFC Song of the South Event This Sunday at 1:00PM

Plans have changed considerably since the initial announcement. Unfortunately, none of the other panel members who were invited can attend this event, so it appears that I will be the only one speaking. I will be conducting a small show-and-tell of Song of the South memorabilia before the special video presentation, and afterwards a period of open discussion will be conducted by the Board members and me. James McKimson of UncleRemusPages.com will also be in attendance and saying a few words as well.

See April 10th news below for more information on the event.

April 18, 2003

Song of the South Writer Maurice Rapf Passes Away

Sadly, on April 15, Maurice Rapf passed away at the age of 88. Rapf, along with Dalton Reymond and Morton Grant, were the creators of Song of the South's screenplay. Rapf was a well-known screenwriter, co-founder of the Writer's Guild of America, and professor emeritus of Dartmouth College's film studies department. He will be missed. (Thanks to Mark Kratzner for the report.)

Song of the South to be Shown on BBC2

For our friends in Great Britain, Song of the South will be shown on BBC2 on Tuesday, April 22, at 11:00 AM. Thanks to Tim Montgomery for the report.

April 10, 2003

Studio Chapter NFFC Announces Song of the South Event (UPDATED)

On April 27th, The Studio Chapter NFFC will present a program "on the classic and controversial Disney motion picture 'Song of the South'":

"The Studio Chapter NFFC meets at 1:00 p.m. in the Mary Pickford Education Center at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Griffith Park.  Please plan to arrive by 1:00pm, as we will be moving the meeting to the Museum Theatre for our video presentation.  We don't want to lose you!

"The Autry Museum is located in Griffith Park (directly across from the L.A. Zoo) at 4700 Zoo Drive (Western Heritage Drive), near the intersection of the Golden State (5) and Ventura (134) Freeways.  There is plenty of free parking.  Non-members are welcome to attend this event."

There will also be a raffle for Disney prizes and refreshments available. Non-Chapter members are welcome.

For more information or directions, visit the Studio Chapter NFFC website.

April 3, 2003

Song of the South Question on Jeopardy

"Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah! Uncle Remus tells his tales in this 1946 classic."

Can anyone guess that one? Of course: Song of the South! New champ Andy got the correct answer. This question was the 1600 spot in the category "Big Screen Bearings." Other movies in this category included North by Northwest, East of Eden, All Quiet on the Western Front (DD), and Witches of Eastwick. Special thanks goes out to Mark Barrett over at the Jeopardy Message Board for providing the details!

March 11, 2003

SongoftheSouth.net Hits 200,000; UncleRemusPages.com Celebrates 6 Years

It's amazing to think that in just under a year (since April 2002), SongoftheSouth.net's visitor count has doubled from 100,000 to 200,000 hits. That's quite a milestone! It just goes to show that the word is indeed getting out; thank you!

And speaking of milestones, James' UncleRemusPages.com, home of the Song of the South Petition, is celebrating 6 years of web presence as of March 3rd. His home page sports a new look; go have a visit!

February 19, 2003

Who Framed Brer Rabbit?

February 16, 2003

New Community Section Launched

I have always wanted to create a way for other fans of this movie to communicate with each other and be able to voice their opinions. Designed as a replacement for my failed Song of the South Forum, this new Community section has been created to act as a central hub for ways people can communicate with other fans and voice their opinions on this film, and keep updated on news related to Song of the South. There are several sources currently available, and I encourage you all to get involved! This will also help to spread the word further.

February 13, 2003

Limited Edition Brer Gang Framed Pin

On February 1, the first Mickey's Parti Gras event was held at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. There were several limited edition pins released at the event, including "The Brer Gang," featuring Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear. The scene pictured is adapted from the Laughing Place sequence, with added confetti and beads hanging from the trees. Even Brer Rabbit's leash itself is a string of beads. There is a lever on the back of the frame that makes all three characters move. This framed pin retailed for $125.00 and was limited to an edition of 50. Full details.

February 5, 2003

New Splash Mountain Pin Released

Walt Disney World has released a new Splash Mountain pin featuring Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear sitting in a Splash Mountain log, looking mighty dry and happy. They must be blissfully unaware of the wet fate that will soon befall them! The pin's design is identical to the figurine used both atop the new Splash Mountain Note Holder as well as a Splash Mountain ornament which was released over the 2002 holidays. This pin was released on January 18, 2003, and is part of the "Four Parks, One World" pin series. It retails for $6.50 and has been declared Open Edition.

January 29, 2003

Jim Hill Demystifies Song of the South's Recent History

Why isn't Song of the South available on VHS or DVD? Of all the explanations I've heard to date, Jim Hill of Jim Hill Media appears to shed the most light on this issue. In his recent January 27th article of "Why For?" he addresses one reader's question of whether "we will ever see 'Song of the South' again." In his response, Jim brings up several very interesting facts (albeit hearsay at this point) that I myself had never heard before now. He thoroughly covers all the issues starting from Song of the South's last theatrical release in 1986 all the way through to today, and ultimately predicts that Song of the South will be available for purchase on video and DVD "long before this decade is out."

Read the full article: http://www.jimhillmedia.com/articles/01272003.1.htm

Also, remember to check the FAQ for ways we can make sure Disney knows we want this film released. We need to vote especially. Special thanks to Dave Strohmenger for informing me of this news item!

January 12, 2003

New SongoftheSouth.net T-Shirts Make A Statement

January 1, 2003

Disney Cracks Down on eBay Song of the South Video Sales

As noted by one eBay seller, Disney is enforcing its U.S. embargo on Song of the South now more than ever. We all know that bootlegs are taboo, but this particular seller was offering official, out-of-print Great Britain PAL format tapes on eBay, which were promptly removed by Disney's order. Disney even goes so far as to include Song of the South specifically in their VeRO FAQ:

"Q. What about Song of the South?"
"A. Song of the South has not been released for distribution in the United States in any home viewing format. Any listing that offers any video, VCD or DVD of Song of the South for sale in the United States may be suspended. Any listing that offers Song of the South 'converted' for viewing on NTSC video players or Zone 1 DVD players is an illegal copy."

Apparently, since the Great Britain PAL format tape was not released in the U.S., it cannot be sold FROM WITHIN the U.S. This would not prevent a seller in Great Britain from offering the tape to a United States bidder, however.

One other seller who tried to sell the rare Japanese VHS NTSC official release on eBay several months ago also had his auction suspended for the same reason. However, he had purchased the tape from the Imports section of Tower Video in Atlanta, Georgia back in 1996, so technically his video was sold in the United States! He was allowed to relist the video without further issue.