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December 23, 2006
Rare Song of the South Behind-The-Scenes Footage on Disney.com
On Disney's official website is an exhibit within the Walt Disney Family Museum section featuring Song of the South. This isn't your everday overview page of Song of the South, however—on this page there are three movie clips with over 10 minutes of rare behind-the-scenes footage! For any fan of Song of the South or anyone just interested in Disney history, this is a serious must-see. For example, how many of you knew that Glenn Leedy (the boy who played Toby) wore glasses off camera? This is an amazing find, and exactly the kind of material we would hope to see on a Special Edition DVD someday.
Link: http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/
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Song of the South DVD Release Possible on New Walt Disney Legacy Series?
And speaking of DVDs, there is a new DVD series coming out called the Walt Disney Legacy Collection. Could this series possibly be an avenue to finally release Song of the South? Maerj over at the UltimateDisney.com Forums recently went to a DVD signing with Roy Disney:
- "I asked about the possibility of releasing Song of the South on one of these Legacy sets and he [Roy Disney] knocked on the nearest peice of wood and said 'I'm hoping they agree to it.' So it sounds like he is really pushing for it. I think the Legacy sets would be the perfect outlet for the film. Maybe if the fans really started writing in to the right people it might help the process along?"
Take it for what it's worth. I'd like to thank the anonymous source that contributed both news reports! Well, this will probably be the last news update until 2007. So until then, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
November 12, 2006
60th Anniversary Celebration: New Song of the South Radio!
Today is a very special one indeed: it marks Song of the South's diamond anniversary! 60 years ago today, Song of the South premiered at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia at 8:30PM.
In celebration of Song of the South's 60th anniversary, a brand new feature has been added to SongoftheSouth.net: Song of the South Radio! Featuring over 3 hours of songs and vintage radio ads from Song of the South recorded by dozens of artists from 1946 to present! This 60th Anniversary special will run from November 12 until the end of the year. If enough interest is generated in this new feature, it may become a permanent fixture here at Song of the South.net!
In notable absence is the long-rumored Song of the South 60th Anniversary Special Edition DVD that was anticipated to be released by Disney. It had been hoped that with the removal of Michael Eisner, the new heads at Disney would come to their senses and release this film to the American public once and for all. Our hopes were all but dashed during a Disney stockholder's meeting back in March 2006, in which new CEO Robert Iger said "...for now we simply don't have plans to bring it back..."
And so, the petition continues...
October 17, 2006
YouTube Features Song of the South Clips, Disney Legal Removes Them
YouTube is a free web site that allows the posting of video clips to the public. As the popularity of YouTube has boomed, several video clips featuring snippets from Song of the South have emerged recently. These clips, usually compiled by fans, are sometimes straight clips from the movie, and at other times are set to different songs.
Disney, of course, is not happy with the proliferation of clips from the movie it doesn't want the public to see, and so several of the movie clips have been removed. Offending clips have been replaced with the text "This video has been removed at the request of copyright owner The Walt Disney Company because its content was used without permission."
Song of the South clips aren't the only related clips showing up on YouTube; there's also several clips of Splash Mountain, and one really cool historical clip that hopefully Disney won't take down: a 1955 Nash Car Commercial featuring Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear.
September 30, 2006
New Petition Hits 10,000 Signatures; SongoftheSouth.net Hits 750,000
In September 2006, the new Song of the South Petition reached a landmark: 10,000 signatures! With about a month and a half to go before Song of the South's much-anticipated 60th Anniversary, now is the time to send this petition to every Disney fan and family member you know.
Also of note is SongoftheSouth.net's homepage hit counter, which has been counting visitors since March 8, 2000. It has reached 750,000, over a quarter of a million visits to the homepage alone! The site now averages over 800 visits a day. I'd like to give a sincere thank you to all the faithful visitors, and a special welcome to any new visitors out there!
5th Song of the South Collectible Released: "To The Briar Patch" Harmony Kingdom Box
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I was contacted by several individuals noting that in fact a fifth collectible had been released by Disney and that it is still available through DisneyShopping.com:
Title: "To The Briar Patch" Harmony Kingdom Box
Description: That wily Brer Fox is up to no good--again! Lift open Brer Bear and you'll find a knapsack quicker than you can say zip a dee doo dah! Made of crushed marble tumbled to create a fine patina. Imported. Certificate of Authenticity. Limited Edition of 500. (Item #96258)
$99.95
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August 6, 2006
Disney Releases Four New Song of the South 60th Anniversary Collectibles
In anticipation of Song of the South's upcoming 60th Anniversary on November 12, Disney has released four new collectibles, available now through DisneyShopping.com:
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#1: 60th Anniv. Snowglobe with LE Pin & Artist's Notes
Description: Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit share a chuckle at Brer Bear's expense on this handsome musical snowglobe, which plays the tune ''Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah'' when wound. Each snowglobe arrives with enamel cloissoné pin and artist's notes detailing the making of the globe. Snowglobe 9 3/8'' H x 6 1/2'' W x 10 7/8'' L . Pin 1 1/2'' H. Hand-painted, sculpted resin and glass. Imported. Limited Edition of 500. (Item #96254)
$99.95
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| #2: Walt Disney's "Song of the South" Scenic Lantern
Description: The Briar Patch welcomes one and all to your favorite memories from ''Song of the South.'' Images from the title sequence are carefully recreated from Ken Anderson's original art direction and rendered as vintage engraved drawings that illuminate the engaging characters and sense of place so beloved by generations of fans in a soft, warm glow. Maximum 15-watt Type C bulb, not included. 9 3/8'' H x 7 1/8'' W x 7 1/8'' D. Cord 72'' L with on/off switch. Glass and metal. Imported. Certificate of Authenticity. (Item #96257)
$79.95
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| #3: Walt Disney's "Song of the South" Big Figure Trio
Description: Just the happy sight of these critters will make room for a ''laughing place'' in your heart. In honor of the sixtieth anniversary of ''Song of the South,'' our charming trio Brer Bear, Brer Fox and wily Brer Rabbit capture a memorable moment from the groundbreaking feature. 13 1/2'' H x 18 L x 9 W. Hand-painted, sculpted resin/metal/wood. Imported. Certificate of Authenticity. (Item #96253)
$175.00
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| #4: "Song of the South" Musical Jewelry Box
In honor of the 60th anniversary of the classic film, our musical jewelry box arrives complete with four enamel cloisonné pins of the film's cartoon stars: Bluebird; Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear. The delicate line art of Brer Bear atop the box originates from the film's opening credits. Plays ''Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.'' 2 3/4'' H. 6'' W 4 1/8'' D. Wood, composite wood. Imported. Certificate of Authenticity. (Item #96256)
$49.95
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Of course we also hope that Disney will release the movie itself for Song of the South's 60th anniversary, although based on previous comments made by Robert Iger, it doesn't sound like that's going to happen. Thanks to Tim Hauser for informing me about these items!
July 14, 2006
Song of the South Among MSNBC's "10 Least Politically Correct Movies Ever"
MSNBC Contributor Michael Ventre has compiled a list of 10 comedies that "really went to the precipice of good taste and decorum in the quest for laughs." The list includes Blazing Saddles, Airplane!, There's Something About Mary, Caddyshack, Love and Death, Kentucky Fried Movie, Team America: World Police, Porky's, Song of the South, and Bad Santa, respectively.
Song of the South seems out of place in this list. While its animated sequences could certainly be considered a comedy at times, the movie was billed as a live-action drama. Ventre aknowledges this in his description:
- This mixture of live action and animation probably doesn’t fit snugly into the category of politically incorrect comedies, simply because it isn’t a straight comedy but more a lighthearted family picture. Also, the depictions of African-Americans here weren’t mean to elicit laughs, but were done in earnest in an attempt to portray life in a particular time period, right after the Civil War. But there’s no doubt this could never be made today the same way. In fact, Disney has refused to even release the film on home video in the United States (although it is available overseas) because the portrayals of African-Americans would create a firestorm today. Uncle Remus, a wise old black man, tells the story of Brer Rabbit and his pals to cheer up little Johnny, a white kid. But most of the black people are shown as subservient to whites. This isn’t exactly “Birth of a Nation,” but in terms of racial stereotypes, it’s in that ballpark. “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Song.
You can read the entire article here. Thanks to Erik W. and Nicole for the news report!
July 8, 2006
New Song of the South Article: "My Year in the Dark"
Bill Vaughn has posted a new article entitled "My Year in the Dark." In this article, he recounts watching Song of the South as a child in 1956, includes a synopsis of the story, shares his views of the film and intermixes it with other life events. Vaughn is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine and his web site, darkacres.com, is a journal devoted to current events, sports, and the arts. It's a great article, and I highly recommend taking the time to read it!
Article Link: darkacres.com; Page 2
June 13, 2006
Two New Splash Mountain Brer Rabbit Pins Released
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Disneyland Resort recently released two new Splash Mountain pins depicting Brer Rabbit released on Sunday, May 7, 2006.
The first pin features Brer Rabbit in a Splash Mountain log. Part of the E-Ticket Thrills Collection, this pin was a Gift With Purchase pin, available with each $20 purchase of pins or pin accessories at select Disneyland Resort locations.
The second pin depicts Brer Rabbit in the foreground of a pin-on-pin design with Splash Mountain in the background on a postage stamp. This pin, part of the Greetings from Disneyland Resort 2006 series, was limited to an edition of 1000 and retailed for $10.95.
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April 16, 2006
Song of the South Parodied on Saturday Night Live
On TV yesterday, Saturday Night Live aired an episode of TV Funhouse that poked fun at Disney's DVD sequel exploits. Modeled after a Disney commercial, kids are invited to take a "Journey to the Disney Vault." Inside, the kids discover things that Disney has "kept secret." One of the children picks up a video:
Boy: "I've never heard of this one... Song of the South?"
Mickey Mouse: "Ohh, nobody wants to see that one anymore!"
Girl: "How bad could it be?"
Mickey Mouse: "It's the very original version that he [Disney] only played at parties."
Uncle Remus: "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay... negroes are inferior in every way; whites are much cleaner, that's what I say; Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay."
Interestingly, they use actual footage from Song of the South. A clip of the entire TV Funhouse segment is available for viewing here. [Some content may be considered offensive.] Thanks to Nate for the initial news report and to Hans Geyer for posting the video clip to the forum.
Disney's portrayal of Uncle Remus has been parodied before in Saturday Night Live's "Uncle Jemimah's Pure Mash Liquor" commercial, in which Uncle Jemimah walks among animated characters and music similar to Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah is played in the background.
March 11, 2006
Disney CEO Robert Iger: No Song of the South Yet
During the question and answer session at Disney's 2006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Anaheim, CA, the question was raised by a Disney shareholder why Song of the South has not been released. Here is a transcript:
- "My name is Howard Cromer. I live in Cypress, I'm a Disney shareholder. I'm actually delivering a message from my son, 10. He wants to know in recent years, in the midst of all your re-releases of your videos, why you haven't released Song of the South on your Disney Classics?" [Applause] "And, he wonders why. Frank Wells told me many years ago that it would be coming out. Well obviously Frank Wells isn't around anymore, so we still wonder why. And by the way, Mr. Iger, he thinks it was a very good choice when they made you CEO of Disney." [Applause]
- Iger: "Thank you very much. You may change your mind when I answer your question, though. Um... we've discussed this a lot. We believe it's actually an opportunity from a financial perspective to put Song of the South out. I screened it fairly recently because I hadn't seen it since I was a child, and I have to tell you after I watched it, even considering the context that it was made, I had some concerns about it because of what it depicted. And thought it's quite possible that people wouldn't consider it in the context that it was made, and there were some... [long pause] depictions that I mentioned earlier in the film that I think would be bothersome to a lot of people. And so, owing to the sensitivity that exists in our culture, balancing it with the desire to, uh, maybe increase our earnings a bit, but never putting that in front of what we thought were our ethics and our integrity, we made the decision not to re-release it. Not a decision that is made forever, I imagine this is gonna continue to come up, but for now we simply don't have plans to bring it back because of the sensitivities that I mentioned. Sorry."
And with that, folks, it doesn't look like we'll be seeing a 60th anniversary of Song of the South either. If you'd like to listen to the audio of this, please click here to visit Disney Corporate. The question is asked about 1hr. 43min. into the presentation. Thanks to everyone who informed me of this. And if you haven't signed the petition yet, you know what to do.
February 18, 2006
The Adventures of Brer Rabbit DVD Now Available for Pre-Order
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As of February 14, Universal's The Adventures of Brer Rabbit DVD is now available through Amazon.com for pre-order and is scheduled for a release date of March 21.
While the movie itself may not be directly related to Disney, it certainly has some Disney ties: the Executive Producer is former Disney artist Tad Stones, Director is Byron Vaughn, and Line Producer is Mary Thorne. And with the vocal talents of African-American stars Wayne Brady, Danny Glover, Phil LaMarr, Nick Cannon, D.L. Hughley, Wanda Sykes, and others, it sounds like it will be a great movie! This is Universal's first direct-to-DVD release of a movie not based off of a feature film.
For more in-depth background information on the movie, I encourage you all to read Animation World Magazine's article entitled The Tad Stones Interview. I certainly hope that this movie is received well, because if it is, it could possibly help pave the way for Disney to roll out the long-rumored 60th anniversary DVD of Song of the South we've been hoping for.
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January 14, 2006
Jesse Cryor, Singing Voice of Brer Rabbit, Passes Away
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I was recently contacted by Jesse Cryor's granddaughter with the following sad news:
- "I'm sending this email out to let you know that my grandfather, Jesse Cryor passed away this Wednesday past (January 11, 2006). He was 99 years old and still walking, talking, remembering, reading the paper, and writing and revising songs in his head up to the last week of his life. he was still singing up until he could no longer form his mouth to talk - about 2 days before death. i'm sure he was on stage performing long after that.
"His sense of humor was alive and intact, even on his death bed. Along with him he took a wellspring of information because there was no way for him to remember it all. But, his legacy will never die. He was a good man - a good human being - who with liberal, forward-thinking ideas about the world. He continued to advise many a young soul about the ways of life, the world and, of course, music and the business."
Jesse Cryor performed the singing voice of Brer Rabbit. My sincere condolances go out to Jesse's family. I would also encourage everyone to read Kimberley's moving letter she sent to me in 2003 regarding her grandfather.
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January 10, 2006
"Songs of the South: Hidden Melodies" – Audience Feedback
Today I was contacted by Kyle, who was able to attend "Songs of the South: Hidden Melodies" on Sunday (as previously reported):
- As an enormous Song of the South fan, Imagine my shock when I saw the article showing Song of the South's glimpse into the real world. The article ran in my hometown newspaper, and naturally, I decided to go.
First off, the show wasn't like I expected. Some singers came up and sang full versions of How Do You Do?, That's What Uncle Remus Said, and Song of the South. Then along came To-Ree-Nee Wolf and company to sing their own version of Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and Ev'rybody has a laughing Place, filling tham with hauntingly hypnotic melody and music, encouraging everyone in the theatre to listen.
Of course, afterward came the movie itself, but we were given a special announcement. We had a special guest in the audience: A woman hired to play as Ginny's understudy! What an honor!
As the movie gradually unfolded, the audience (about 20-25 people, very modest for the little publicity.) laughed quite often, given most of it at Brer Bear, especially his clumsy version of the movie's anthem. Naturally, I can say with the utmost conviction, that most everyone enjoyed this timeless classic. But before we all bid adieu, the singers had one last thing to say:
"Everybody has a Laughing Place...I know," Sho' nuff. I know I found mine.
I also received the following feedback from Brandon:
- I also got the honor of attending the Songs Of The South: Hidden Melodies that Sunday. I have been wanting to see Song of the South for years, and this was finally my chance to do so. The music beforehand was interesting and very entertaining, and the movie was a very beautifull movie. I give my thanks to this site and Disneyland's Splash Mountain for introducing me to this movie. I will remember it for years to come.
Thanks to both for their reports! If anyone else had the chance to attend this performance, I'd like to hear from you too. Please contact me. Thanks!
January 6, 2006
Arizona Daily Star: 'Looking Anew at Song of the South'
An article by Djamila Grossman reports on "Songs of the South: Hidden Melodies", an upcoming performance by Arizona Onstage Productions. The show will include a screening of Song of the South and will be accompanied by "performances that will challenge the audience with thought-provoking material."
The show will be performed at 2:30 and 6:00 PM on Sunday, January 8th at Zuzi's Theater. For more information about this event, click here to read the full article. Thanks to Joey Sartin for the news report.
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