Disney's self-destructing DVDs idea

[Ravi]

If these discs ever come here, I think I'll go to Wal-Mart and open up each of the packages  

[MacGuffin]

I also wish Disney would release Song Of the South on DVD in the US

dare to dream, duck sauce. there's black people used in a deragotory manner and disney doesn't peddle racism...

Will Song of the South Be Heard?
Maybe, according to one Disney exec.

Will the long-buried Disney classic Song of the South finally see the light of day? Possibly. We've known for some time that some within Disney would like to see it release, as would film critic/historian Leonard Maltin and former Disney vice-chairman Roy Disney.

However, others oppose the release of the film, including critic Roger Ebert and the NAACP, feeling it's demeaning to black Americans. Up to this point, Disney head honcho Michael Eisner has kept the film in the vault.

However, Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios spoke at this summer's annual convention of the NFFC, the Club for Disney Enthusiasts and told conventioneers a release is possible. The club's newsletter, called FantasyLine Express, ran this quote:

Q: Will Song of the South ever be released on DVD?

A: Yes. Cook said that the public has requested a DVD release of Song of the South more than it has requested any other film. That said, Disney also is aware that some elements of the film reflect the time in which it was made and don't reflect current attitudes. He said that the Studio has encountered similar issues with other older material. In some cases, such as some of the World War II material in the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series, they've addressed the issue through introductions that place the material in context. He said that Disney hasn't yet found the ideal solution for Song of the South, but he was confident that they would.

[ono]

However, others oppose the release of the film, including critic Roger Ebert and the NAACP, feeling it's demeaning to black Americans. Up to this point, Disney head honcho Michael Eisner has kept the film in the vault.

I knew Ebert was liberal, but I didn't think he was a FUCKING MORON.

I really love Song of the South.  I saw it in a theatre with my parents and brother when I was just a kid and it was rereleased.  It's an innocent movie, not racist at all, and the complaints are because they simply don't understand the specific time period this is set in.  Silly dumbass NAACP.  What a joke.  So yeah, it obviously is good news that this may get a release.  Just sucks that it's taken so long, and I really could go without the undue media attention this will get when it finally does get released.

[MacGuffin]

'Song of the South' release mulled despite possible controversy

ORLANDO (AP) — Walt Disney Co.'s 1946 film Song of the South was historic. It was Disney's first big live-action picture and produced one of the company's most famous songs — the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It also carries the story line of the Splash Mountain rides at its theme parks.

But the movie remains hidden in the Disney archives — never released on video in the United States and criticized as racist for its depiction of Southern plantation blacks. The film's 60th anniversary passed last year without a whisper of official rerelease, which is unusual for Disney, but President and CEO Bob Iger recently said the company was reconsidering.

The film's reissue would surely spark debate, but it could also sell big. Nearly 115,000 people have signed an online petition urging Disney to make the movie available, and out-of-print international copies routinely sell online for $50-$90, some even more than $100.

Iger was answering a shareholder's inquiry about the movie for the second year in a row at Disney's annual meeting in New Orleans. This month the Disney chief made a rerelease sound more possible.

"The question of Song of the South comes up periodically, in fact it was raised at last year's annual meeting ..." Iger said. "And since that time, we've decided to take a look at it again because we've had numerous requests about bringing it out. Our concern was that a film that was made so many decades ago being brought out today perhaps could be either misinterpreted or that it would be somewhat challenging in terms of providing the appropriate context."

Song of the South was re-shown in theaters in 1956, 1972 and 1986. Both animated and live-action, it tells the story of a young white boy, Johnny, who goes to live on his grandparents' Georgia plantation when his parents split up. Johnny is charmed by Uncle Remus — a popular black servant — and his fables of Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox, which are actual black folk tales.

Remus' stories include the famous "tar baby," a phrase Republican presidential hopefuls John McCain and Mitt Romney were recently criticized for using to describe difficult situations. In Song of the South, it was a trick Brer Fox and Brer Bear used to catch the rabbit — dressing a lump of hot tar as a person to ensnare their prey. To some, it is now a derogatory term for blacks, regardless of context.

The movie doesn't reveal whether it takes place before or after the Civil War, and never refers to blacks on the plantation as slaves. It makes clear they work for the family, living down dirt roads in wood shacks while the white characters stay in a mansion. Remus and other black characters' dialogue is full of "ain't nevers," "ain't nobodys," "you tells," and "dem days's."

"In today's environment, Song of the South probably doesn't have a lot of meaning, especially to the younger audiences," said James Pappas, associate professor of African-American Studies at the University of New York at Buffalo. "Older audiences probably would have more of a connection with the stereotypes, which were considered harmless at the time."

Pappas said it's not clear that the movie is intentionally racist, but it inappropriately projects Remus as a happy, laughing storyteller even though he's a plantation worker.

Gone with the Wind, produced seven years earlier, endured the same criticism and even shares a common actress (Hattie McDaniel, who won an Oscar for "Gone" for playing the house slave "Mammy").

However, Pappas said he thinks the movie should be re-released because of its historical significance. He said it should be prefaced, and closed, with present-day statements.

"I think it's important that these images are shown today so that especially young people can understand this historical context for some of the blatant stereotyping that's done today," Pappas said.

From a financial standpoint, Iger acknowledged last year that Disney stood to gain from rereleasing Song. The company's movies are popular with collectors, and Disney has kept sales strong by tightly controlling when they're available.

Christian Willis, a 26-year-old IT administrator in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., started a Song fan site in 1999 to showcase memorabilia. He soon expanded it into a clearinghouse for information on the movie that now averages more than 800 hits a day and manages the online petition.

Willis said he doesn't think the movie is racist, just from a different time.

"Stereotypes did exist on the screen," he said. "But if you look at other films of that time period, I think Song of the South was really quite tame in that regard. I think Disney did make an effort to show African Americans in a more positive light."

Though Willis is hopeful, there's still no telling when — or if — the movie could come out (beyond its copyright lapsing decades from now).

For this story, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney's distribution arm, issued a statement: "Song of the South is one of a handful of titles that has not seen a home distribution window. To this point, we have not discounted nor committed to any distribution window concerning this title."

[Ravi]

I hope they "restore" it and include a Jessica Simpson music video.