Erasing historical films and stories that of the reconstruction era don’t erase the actual history. It’s my personal belief they allow for discussion that is necessary to teach about a history that did exist and how we can teach our children how we don’t want to repeat it. Again just my opinion but erasing the issue is more racist now. I could easily make the case that black America should be furious that the circumstances of the past area purposely being hidden from our youth. Feels like a missed opportunity to teach about cultural and racial progress in America.
It seems interesting that the author completely ignores the reality that Song of the South was released on home video in VHS and Laser Disk format practically everywhere in the world EXCEPT the United States.
I know this because when the copyright for the Japanese Laser Disk expired in the 1980's, I was able to purchase a Laser Disk copy of SOTS in a local laser disk store on the San Francisco peninsula.
I then immediately sent the video and audio streams to my video editing PC, then assembled them into a single video file for subsequent burning to a DVD.
You might want to visit YouTube contributor "Disney Dave's" posted discussion about the true history of Song of the South for a fifteen minute background of both how and why SOTS ended up on everyone's black list in America while it was welcomed wholeheartedly everywhere else in the world.
Sadly, it will probably never be viewed publicly in America again, but I have managed to share a few copies with acquaintances (if they actually still HAVE DVD players) so they can relive this cherished memory of my youth since first seeing it in downtown San Francisco back in the '50's.
Very interesting article, and it covers several topics I've discussed with my family before. I was lukewarm on Song of the South when I saw it in the theater--as you point out, the film isn't great--but did enjoy the ride. It was put together like most Disney rides were; the characters were bright, colorful, and thanks to the music that follows you everywhere on Disney property, the songs were familiar. That final splashdown was great, especially since the Magic Kingdom is short on thrill rides. But what was consciously omitted was painfully obvious, and even as a child, I wondered why the ride existed back when it was first introduced. Song of the South is one of those films that deserved to slide quietly into obscurity, but the controversy keeps it alive--so did the ride, which is why I'm not sorry to see it go.
Erasing historical films and stories that of the reconstruction era don’t erase the actual history. It’s my personal belief they allow for discussion that is necessary to teach about a history that did exist and how we can teach our children how we don’t want to repeat it. Again just my opinion but erasing the issue is more racist now. I could easily make the case that black America should be furious that the circumstances of the past area purposely being hidden from our youth. Feels like a missed opportunity to teach about cultural and racial progress in America.
It seems interesting that the author completely ignores the reality that Song of the South was released on home video in VHS and Laser Disk format practically everywhere in the world EXCEPT the United States.
I know this because when the copyright for the Japanese Laser Disk expired in the 1980's, I was able to purchase a Laser Disk copy of SOTS in a local laser disk store on the San Francisco peninsula.
I then immediately sent the video and audio streams to my video editing PC, then assembled them into a single video file for subsequent burning to a DVD.
You might want to visit YouTube contributor "Disney Dave's" posted discussion about the true history of Song of the South for a fifteen minute background of both how and why SOTS ended up on everyone's black list in America while it was welcomed wholeheartedly everywhere else in the world.
Sadly, it will probably never be viewed publicly in America again, but I have managed to share a few copies with acquaintances (if they actually still HAVE DVD players) so they can relive this cherished memory of my youth since first seeing it in downtown San Francisco back in the '50's.
Very interesting article, and it covers several topics I've discussed with my family before. I was lukewarm on Song of the South when I saw it in the theater--as you point out, the film isn't great--but did enjoy the ride. It was put together like most Disney rides were; the characters were bright, colorful, and thanks to the music that follows you everywhere on Disney property, the songs were familiar. That final splashdown was great, especially since the Magic Kingdom is short on thrill rides. But what was consciously omitted was painfully obvious, and even as a child, I wondered why the ride existed back when it was first introduced. Song of the South is one of those films that deserved to slide quietly into obscurity, but the controversy keeps it alive--so did the ride, which is why I'm not sorry to see it go.
Thanks for making to available to all.