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April 15, 2008
Ollie Johnston, Last of Disney's "Nine Old Men", Passes Away
Ollie Johnston, the last surviving member of Disney's "Nine Old Men", passed away Monday at age 95. He died of natural causes at a long-term care facility in Sequim, Washington.
Besides being a Directing Animator for Song of the South, Ollie worked on numerous other Disney films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Robin Hood and The Rescuers.
We will miss you, Ollie! Thank you for all the wonderful films I was fortunate to grow up with.
March 29, 2008
Song of the South Mentioned (Again) at Shareholder Meeting
Carol Koster of Disney Echo shared the following with me: "The annual meeting of Shareholders of The Walt Disney Company was held in Albuquerque MN today, March 6, 2008. A shareholder got up during the Question and Answer segment to ask Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, 'Before the end of my lifetime will I ever see 'Song of the South' released to home video?' To which Mr. Iger replied the now 'standard' reply: They discuss the possibility regularly, there are certain issues of 'sensitivity' surround this movie and the long ago past era it was made in, times are different now, no immediate plans to release it, but they do regularly revisit it, etc."
Last year, at the 2007 shareholder meeting, the topic of Disney releasing Song of the South was raised by shareholder Carol Koster. Iger's response was more encouraging, and it picked up a lot of press.
The year before that, at the 2006 shareholder meeting, the same question was raised. At that time, Iger basically stated that Disney had no plans to bring the movie back.
This marks the third year in a row that Song of the South has been brought up at the annual shareholder meeting. And until they release the movie on DVD, we hope that shareholders keep bringing it up! Thanks to Carol Koster and Shawn Kelly for the news reports.
February 19, 2008
Two Excellent Song of the South Articles from MousePlanet
MousePlanet staff writer Wade Sampson has written two very interesting and in-depth articles related to Song of the South. The first article, published on January 17 and titled "Disney's B'rer Rabbit Hops Into the Funny Pages", describes the history and background of the Disney Uncle Remus comic strip. This weekly comic strip ran for over 27 years, from 10/14/1945 to 12/31/1972.
The second article, published on February 13, is "The Song of the South Premiere" which is a very comprehensive history of Song of the South up to the point of its theatrical premiere on November 12, 1946. If you are interested in learning more about Song of the South's history, this article is a must-read. Thanks to Wade Sampson for publishing these excellent articles and thanks to Joey Sartin for the news report!
January 8, 2008
Song of the South Mentioned at Blu-ray Conference
Engadget has reported on the Blu-ray Press Conference held at CES on Monday, January 7th in Las Vegas. Among many of the panel members was Bob Chapek, President of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. During the question & answer session, the following question was posed:
- Q. With Blu-ray the aparent winner, are we going to see more catalogue titles?
A. Bob says Song of the South won't be covered here today, but one of the pinnacle moments was when we decided to bring out Snow White, which signaled it was mass market, since this was a most cherished title. This time they are releasing Snow White this October. "And what's the price point Bob?" "Wow" -- and as a result we know where this is going. David Bishop says most of the panel lived through DVD and just like that, they look at the core and try to release products that are valuable to them.
It's interesting that he even chose to mention Song of the South at all at a Blu-ray conference. Is he just getting the disclaimer out there to preempt anyone who might ask about Song of the South? At the very least it's a recognition that there is a lot of interest in Song of the South being released, whether it be on regular DVD or Blu-ray. Read into it however you want. Special thanks to Konrad Haskins for the news report!
November 12, 2007
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 (read the article below).
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!
October 14, 2007
Song of the South Plays in Philadelphia Library
Sam Adams of the Philadelphia City Paper has reported that the Chestnut Hill Film Group opened their 34th season with two free screenings of Song of the South. The movie was shown twice on the evening of October 9th at 6:00 and 7:45 PM to guests at the Chestnut Hill Free Library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Adams, like many before him, can't figure out what the big deal is about this movie:
- "Once you've seen Song of the South, it's hard to account for its uniquely untouchable status. It's nowhere near as malicious as The Birth of a Nation, less bizarre than The Jazz Singer and less awful than The Emperor's New Groove. True, Disney has a family-friendly image to uphold, but the studio has owned up to far darker chapters in its history, notably the series of overtly racist propaganda shorts they produced during WWII, reissued with admirable contextual footnotes as part of the collector-oriented 'Disney Treasures' series."
Read the full article here: http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2007/10/04/screen-picks
While free screenings of Song of the South certainly aren't new, it doesn't always make the news. I have even heard scattered reports over the years about libraries having (unofficial) copies of this movie available for free rental. Until Disney gives Americans the choice to view this movie on their own, let's hope that other libraries around the country also take the initiative to show this virtually censored film to the public. Thanks to Jerry over at Cartoon Brew and everyone else for this news report!
September 11, 2007
New Song of the South Petition Hits 20,000 Signatures
In just under a year, the new Song of the South Petition has doubled to over 20,000 signatures! The petition hit 10,000 signatures on September 30, 2006, so that's an average of over 28 signatures a day! The new petition was started on May 10, 2005 to continue on the efforts of James McKimson's original petition.
Thanks to everyone for your signatures and words of support! The work doesn't end here... we want to add as many people to the petition as possible! If you haven't already, please spread the word... send a link to your friends and family and get them involved. Let Disney know you want this movie released on DVD! I know that Disney visits this web site (hi guys!) so they are aware of this petition.
>>> Sign the Song of the South Petition Here!
August 11, 2007
Song of the South To Be Released In Late 2008-2009?
Jim Hill of Jim Hill Media has posted in his July 6th "Why For?" question-and-answer column another interesting possibility for a DVD release of Song of the South:
- "Actually, things are looking pretty good right now for 'Song of the South' to finally be released on DVD in late 2008 / early 2009. But not for the reasons you might think.
"You see, what with DisneyToon Studios now becoming a non-sequel producing operation as well as Dick Cook's decision last year to significantly cut back on the number of movies Walt Disney Studios will release every year ... Well, that leaves Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Soon to be renamed Walt Disney Entertainment) with significantly fewer titles to put out on store shelves in the coming year. And given that BVHE will still be expected to make its numbers ... Well, that means that they're going to have to release something that the public really wants to get its hands on. And that, my friends, is 'Song of the South.'
"As I mentioned back in May, Disney is still hoping to use 'The Princess and the Frog' to help soften any racial concerns that movie-goers may have about this 1946 Academy Award winner. Which is why the studio is looking to get production of this new John Musker & Ron Clements underway later this year. So that they'd then have a full sequence from that still-in-story-development film to drop onto that DVD. Which will then hopefully help rebuff any 'Song of the South''s critics."
- As always, time will tell on how accurate this is... the full article can be read over at jimhillmedia.com. Thanks to Casey S. for the news report! If you have Song of the South news to report, contact me!
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