Old Disney Movies You'd Love to See Again

[cy1229]

We all remember movies that we loved but are not available on DVD for whatever reason. So, which ones would you love to see?

I'll throw this out there - I'd love to be able to watch "Song of the South" again. I know it's horrifically inaccurate and politically incorrect. If they could extract the Brer Bear stories and put them together in a shorter-than-feature-length release I would love that. But it also serves as a good lesson about the extent to which African Americans have been mistreated for so long.

Weren't the "Witch Mountain" movies also Disney?

Ok your turn...

[Amy]

I've never seen Song of the South, but I would love to someday.
I remember the Witch Mountain movies too. I liked the first one the best.

[theBIGyowski]

I liked the Apple Dumpling Gang. I also loved Pete's Dragon.

I remember watching Song of the South when I was younger, but now you can't find it anywhere in the US. I want to say you can buy it on VHS from Europe, but they never made a DVD version of the movie.

[roguepawn]

A friend just got Song of the South on DVD, but the quality is pretty bad (it skips every 10-15 seconds). Maybe another DVD player will fix the problem...

Also, I just watched The Great Mouse Detective for the first time in about 15 years (even though this doesn't really count here because it's widely available on DVD), but I was was pretty bummed how low the quality of the production was. Shame, because the characters and the story weren't bad.

[MmeLeota]

We heard an interesting bit of information from a CM while at WDW last month. Apparently sometime this year the copyright on Song of the South expires and the movie becomes public domain. Here's hoping that someone will restore it! We bought a copy on DVD years ago, and shamefully, we haven't watched it so I don't know how good of a quality it is...not expected to be good though.

It's funny this topic should come up. It came up last night on twitter when someone asked if anyone remembered Snowball Express. We have not seen that one in years.

The "witch" movies are all good (except for maybe the newest one...didn't have the charm of the originals)

Anyone remember "Watcher in the Woods" "Candleshoe" or "Not Quite Human"?

Hubby is hoping to find "Tiger Town" on DVD sometime soon too...

[roguepawn]

Unfortunately the Song of the South doesn't appear to be coming into the public domain anytime soon. This is not a legal opinion, but assuming the work was copyrighted and published during the year of release (1946), and was properly renewed, it is at minimum eligible for a total of 95 years of protection, leaving a public domain date of 2041 or 2042. See http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf (starting in the section "Works Originally Created and Published or Registered before January 1, 1978"); or alternatively: http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/calculator.html)

Sad stuff for anyone interested in seeing the movie.

Ps. For anyone interested in an amusing Disney copyright short, check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

[DemonOfMusic]

I would love to do something to get my hands on Song of the South. There are tons of red herrings on Youtube that disappear as soon as you click on them. I don't know if I'd be it's hugest fan, seeing as anything that comes off as racist infuriates me, but I do adore the songs...

[Soarin08]

I know I've read you can get Song of the South in Japan... it's been ages since I've seen the film. And I mean ages. Probably 15 years.

[cy1229]

I would love to do something to get my hands on Song of the South. There are tons of red herrings on Youtube that disappear as soon as you click on them. I don't know if I'd be it's hugest fan, seeing as anything that comes off as racist infuriates me, but I do adore the songs...

It's racist by today's standards, but not by the standard for the time in which it was made.

Which sounds ludicrous, because racism is racism period. But I think you know what I mean.

Anyway, one of the main themes of the film is to put aside prejudice and see people for who they really are. That usually gets lost with most people who can't see past the way Uncle Remus behaves and is treated in the story. I love it. Wish we could see it again, in spite of everything.

[Soarin08]

Anyway, one of the main themes of the film is to put aside prejudice and see people for who they really are. That usually gets lost with most people who can't see past the way Uncle Remus behaves and is treated in the story. I love it. Wish we could see it again, in spite of everything.

That's because the so-called "tolerant" people really aren't and find any reason at all to cry racism or some other foul. For it's time it wasn't considered as such but that was also the norm of that era, I suspect a lot of the racism comments came post-60s and beyond.

[mindflipper]

For along while Song of the South was avaiable on VHS in Europe and Japan and on Laserdisc in Japan. With DVD, they never released it internationally because the black market was already flooded in the USA with bootlegs made from the VHS and Laserdisc versions released overseas. Disney has had mixed community support for its release. At one point, rumors had it that Bill Cosby was on board with providing some commentary about it, but rumor had it Maya Angelou said she would form a protest movement against it. Again, those are rumors. But it would indicate that Disney has had some obstacles about its release.

[Sleepy90]

I have a copy on Vhs that I have had for years not sure what the quality is like as I haven't watched it for a long time.

[Amy]

I have a copy on Vhs that I have had for years not sure what the quality is like as I haven't watched it for a long time.

I've found it online, but have never sat down to watch it. I should try that this afternoon and see if it really works

[cy1229]

For along while Song of the South was avaiable on VHS in Europe and Japan and on Laserdisc in Japan. With DVD, they never released it internationally because the black market was already flooded in the USA with bootlegs made from the VHS and Laserdisc versions released overseas. Disney has had mixed community support for its release. At one point, rumors had it that Bill Cosby was on board with providing some commentary about it, but rumor had it Maya Angelou said she would form a protest movement against it. Again, those are rumors. But it would indicate that Disney has had some obstacles about its release.

I can see Cosby getting behind it for educational value, and I can see Angelou being opposed to it because of her own personal struggles. It's interesting that they both would take opposite approaches, though, because they're about the same age and from the same generation.

One of my best friends is a social studies teacher and she and I get into some lengthy discussions about the movie - she would love to get a copy of it to use in her sociology class. One of the benefits of using it as an educational piece would be getting to watch "de Tar Baby" all over again! Love that story.

[MmeLeota]

For along while Song of the South was avaiable on VHS in Europe and Japan and on Laserdisc in Japan. With DVD, they never released it internationally because the black market was already flooded in the USA with bootlegs made from the VHS and Laserdisc versions released overseas. Disney has had mixed community support for its release. At one point, rumors had it that Bill Cosby was on board with providing some commentary about it, but rumor had it Maya Angelou said she would form a protest movement against it. Again, those are rumors. But it would indicate that Disney has had some obstacles about its release.

I can see Cosby getting behind it for educational value, and I can see Angelou being opposed to it because of her own personal struggles. It's interesting that they both would take opposite approaches, though, because they're about the same age and from the same generation.

One of my best friends is a social studies teacher and she and I get into some lengthy discussions about the movie - she would love to get a copy of it to use in her sociology class. One of the benefits of using it as an educational piece would be getting to watch "de Tar Baby" all over again! Love that story.

I had a Disney Book Club book with the "Tar Baby" story. Actually, I had a couple of books based on "Song of the South" featuring the Br'er characters.