Disney bootlegs

[Mike Blakesley]

I keep seeing "ads" on my Facebook feed for this outfit selling Disney films, included the much-desired but not-available "Song of the South." This is obviously a bootleg outfit, I'm just surprised that they haven't been shut down.

Maybe they're not really selling anything and maybe just running a scam where they collect your money (or your info) and then you're screwed.

Anyway I just wanted to put it up here to let people know that if some friends mentions that they found "Song of the South" or other Disney classics for sale unbelieveably cheap, it's undoubtedly a screw job of some sort.
poster.jpg

[Leo Enticknap]

Song of the South is in the public domain in Japan (along with every other movie made before 1953). Home video versions of varying quality have long been available by mail and Internet order from Japanese suppliers. There is even one online here. A 4K restoration it ain't, but if you just want to see what the fuss is about, it'll work.

[Jim Cassedy]

I recall running "Song Of The South" in 1972 for some sort of Disney Anniversary. Sold out almost every show. It was a nice, new print- - arriving at the theater on Disney's trademark gold colored metal shipping reels, and I'd have to dig out my notes (yes, I kept notes) but I'm pretty sure it was IB Tech, since Technicolor prints were still being made at that time. I recall the great color, and the excellent live action/animation matte-work, given that it was made in the 1940's.

[Mike Blakesley]

Well, Song of the South aside, you can easily tell by the ad that it's not a real Disney enterprise. Phrases like "Beautiful boxed" and the incorrect Dis logo at the top tell you it's a bootleg operation. A fair share of those movies are from post-1953, so I'm sure Disney would be pissed about this. (There are even a couple of straight to video "Part II"s in there.)

I saw Song of the South at our now-defunct drive-in when I was a kid, somewhere in the early 1960 era. I don't remember it being around here in the early 70s, although by then I was a teenager and not really caring about such things.

[Steve Guttag]

There was a reissue of Song of the South in the mid-80s...something like 1986 or thereabouts. I think that was Disney's last official release of the title.

[Marcel Birgelen]

There is also a bi-lingual Japanese laser disc release for Song of the South. I've seen it popping up on E-bay for quite some astonishing prices. This must be the highest quality public release to date, all other will be in VHS quality, most likely on worn-out tapes.

Some Star Wars 35mm prints made it to "independent restorers", that's why we have decent versions of at least two of the three original releases on the "grey market", maybe a forgotten, still decent 35mm print of Song of the South will eventually leak somewhere.

I see movies like Hercules on that list too, I doubt the copyright on that one expired already, even in Japan.

[Allan Young]

There was a reissue of Song of the South in the mid-80s...something like 1986 or thereabouts. I think that was Disney's last official release of the title.

Presumably because it lacks the cultural baggage the film carries in the States, it was shown regularly on UK television over the years, most recently on BBC2 in 2006.

[Leo Enticknap]

...maybe a forgotten, still decent 35mm print of Song of the South will eventually leak somewhere.

A significant quantity of 16mm IB prints were made for the non-theatrical market in the late '40s. I've seen one, from a private collection: a couple of reels were a bit blurry, but otherwise it was pretty nice.

As usual, Disney have shot themselves in the foot by trying to keep the movie locked in the vault. The result has been to create a mystique about it and encourage people to try to see it, who otherwise wouldn't have bothered. Same thing with Kubrick refusing to allow the screening of A Clockwork Orange in the UK during the final decades of his life (he personally controlled the UK rights and so could do so in that territory alone, but nowhere else). It became almost a badge of honor for teenagers to have claimed to have seen a pirate copy. The movie was given a theatrical re-release immediately after Kubrick's death in 2000, and did almost no business at all. Even the critics tended to agree that it was one of his weaker films.

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

The Japaneses LaserDisc of Song Of The South is only standard definition of average quality. It has a choice of dubbed into Japanese or the original English. Unfortunately, they could not dub the songs, so the songs only have Japanese subtitles over the image. As a result of this thread, I checked their pricing on eBay and was shocked on how much they were going for. I bought mine, brand new sealed, back in the early 1990's for $20. I am almost tempted to put my copy on eBay.

There is an excellent unauthorized Blu-ray transferred in 1080p from an excellent condition 35mm IB Tech print that also includes the original trailer transferred from 35mm. I have no idea of who or where this was originally transferred.

I truly don't understand all the hate this film gets. There is nothing particularly racist in it, it is just a cute little children's film. The closest that anyone has come to a plausible explanation is that it perpetuates the myth that poor black sharecroppers (this is after the civil war) who were trapped on their former plantations due to lack of opportunity and racism were happy people. Obviously they whey weren't, but this film is no different than hundreds if not thousands of other films prior to the 1960's, and the working conditions were not the point of the film.

[Leo Enticknap]

It's become a lightning rod for debates around political censorship, largely, I suspect, because of Disney's decision to try to suppress the movie. If I were in charge of that decision, I would make it available on Disney+, but not in any way promoted (i.e. you have to search for it to find it - it won't appear on suggested viewing screens, etc.), with a trigger warning slide at the start, and age restricted. That way, Disney could not be accused of censorship, or of trying to whitewash its corporate history, or of promoting negative portrayals of a minority group, and the controversy surrounding the movie would soon go away, IMHO.

As it is, we're in the worst of both worlds. You can see SOTS right now if you want to, despite Disney's best efforts (though incidentally, the link to the Japanese rip I posted above did not appear in a Google search - I was only able to find it with LookSeek), but those efforts are giving the film mystique and notoriety which, as you point out, it really doesn't deserve. One could credibly argue that the portrayal of minority groups in, say, Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips or Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat is genuinely malicious: I really don't think you could viably do that for Song of the South.

[Mark Ogden]

There is nothing particularly racist in it

But really, there is. The whole reason it's "Uncle" Remus and "Aunt" Tempy is that "Aunt" and "Uncle" were terms used not as endearments, but instead to diminish house slaves whose masters would not utter their formal names as equals (which is why Hattie McDaniels's character in Gone With The Wind is "Mammie", a common term for a slave woman who looked after children). The fact the the black characters in the film are treated so well is by itself pretty racist, frankly, because no African-American viewing the picture could possibly accept that would be the case, it is a de-facto insult to one's intelligence and has led over the years to charges that the film is populated by "Uncle Tom" characters, itself an offense to Black rectitude.

There's another possible reason for Disney to sit on the film: it's not very good, in fact it's one of the more tedious things that they ever produced. The live-action performers are pretty good and the songs memorable, but the animated segments are filled with annoying not-very-fun characters and run on too long. I have it on a decent quality boot DVD and I sometimes run it for curious friends, but it very rarely gets to the end without fast-forwarding.

[Mike Blakesley]

I do remember when I saw the film as a kid, being bored by the live action segments.

I think the real tragedy of the S-O-S controversy is the loss of the Splash Mountain rides at the Disney Parks, which have nothing to do with the movie but are outstanding attractions in their own right. They are being retrofitted with a Princess and the Frog theme -- which seems odd, since that movie was sort of a flop. The rides will still be the same, but I fear for the theming being cringeworthy. Hope I'm wrong.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Not only are they getting rid of the Song of the South theming, which had none of the potentially problematic elements as there is no Uncle Remus and all the animals in the Briar Patch are "highly diverse", they're also seemingly getting rid of what once used to be Disney's unofficial theme song: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah. The song has been quietly removed from rotation at the locations it used to play around the parks, except Tokyo; which will probably also keep its original theming for Splash Mountain.

While I can understand that Disney doesn't want to be part of too much controversies, as their image as a family friendly franchise may suffer under such conditions, I'd say that trying to erase their history this way really just achieves the opposite effect for me. The way we look now at certain issues is an evolution and hiding your own past is much more evil than just being open about it.

Song of the South should be on Disney+, like Leo indicated. It shouldn't be advertised in any way, but if I specifically search for it, it should still pop up. Maybe they can add a small introductory, which describes the film, the setting in which it was created and explain what the controversies are and why movies like this would not be made today.

[Steve Guttag]

Mike, I suspect that Princess and Frog, which has a meet and greet near the Castle in WDW was chosen due to the princess in that movie being black. I agree with most of what Marcel mentions above in post #13. I wouldn't even put the introductory on it. If they want it to be flagged for made in a different era with different accepted social norms, that is fine by me. Least people tamper with history too much, "Zip A Dee Doo Dah" won an Academy Award for best original song. It is still #47 on AFI's 100-years...100 songs. As to the film being racist...I'll keep my opinions on the matter to myself.

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

The whole reason it's "Uncle" Remus and "Aunt" Tempy is that "Aunt" and "Uncle" were terms used not as endearments, but instead to diminish house slaves whose masters would not utter their formal names as equals

Respectfully, unless you have actual evidence supporting this, I have to disagree. Close friends and employees of a family are commonly referred to as "aunt" or "uncle" regardless of race of either parties. Mark, do you have any actual evidence from the 1800's thru 1946 that this naming convention was used to demean rather than as an endearment? I would actually be curious to find out.

The fact the the black characters in the film are treated so well is by itself pretty racist, frankly, because no African-American viewing the picture could possibly accept that would be the case, it is a de-facto insult to one's intelligence and has led over the years to charges that the film is populated by "Uncle Tom" characters, itself an offense to Black rectitude.

Quite honestly, no modern white American could accept that the black characters were treated so well, and if the film's purpose was to accurately show plantation life just after the civil war, you would have a point in that the film perpetuates the myth that poor black sharecroppers and servants were happy with their lot in life. However, the film was about a 10 year old boy who was spending the summer on his grandmothers plantation while being told various stories by an older black man who lived on the plantation, all of which had a moral or life lesson to them.

There's another possible reason for Disney to sit on the film: it's not very good, in fact it's one of the more tedious things that they ever produced.

No more or less boring than many other Disney films that have not held up over the years. I recently watched the Blu-Ray of 20,000 Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. I liked it as a kid, but as an adult is was a snooze fest that talked itself to death. Great special effect and set design, but maybe 10 minutes of action in an almost 2 hour movie...

The only thing Disney should do is add a card before the movie indicating that the movie takes place after the civil war. This was not needed in 1946 as the popularity of the books made that unnecessary in 1946.