November 12, 1946

Tag Lines: "Walt Disney's First Live Action Musical Drama"; "An Epochal Event in Screen History"; "You'll Want to See It Again and Again!"

Song of the South's world premiere was on Tuesday, November 12, 1946, at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. A record-breaking release campaign for both Walt Disney and RKO pictures alike, this movie was heralded far and wide as Walt Disney's greatest accomplishment yet. A great deal of memorabilia can be found from this era because of such a successful campaign to boost the popularity of Walt Disney's first live-action/animation full-length film.

The 1946 campaign book contains a wealth of information about the film's premier, including merchandise (much of which can be seen below), publicity articles, photos, promotional materials, and much more.

According to the 1946 Campaign book, ad coverage ran at an all-time high for this campaign, with one- and two-page color ads appearing in magazines nationwide for a combined total of over 100,000,000.