I should start out by making sure you all know a few things about Song of the South and how I got interested in it. Firstly, I have been to Disneyland at least 10 times starting in 1995, and from my first ride on Splash Mountain I fell in love with the ride (well all but the final drop until recently). Now interestingly, during one of my trips in '98 (I think) I rode the great ride and I decided to ask my parents if they knew more about Brer Rabit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox. They told me they thought these characters were from a movie but they weren't sure. I decided to ask someone that would know more about it, one of the cast members that worked in the hat shop near the Splash Mountain que, she told me that they were from the Disney movie Song of the South. I asked her if they had the movie in the park because I was very interested in seeing the movie (keep in mind this was the summer between 1st and 2nd grade for me). She looked at me with an apologetic look and told me that it hadn't been released to VHS (DVDs didn't exist yet let alone Blu Ray) in the United States. She did tell us that it was released in other countries and that my parents should look for a copy from the UK.
So I kept an eye out for it online, but I couldn't find anything affordable, and we wanted to get it from the US if possible. The next important thing you need to know about me is that I did spend a few years in late elementary and junior high where I was more of a closet fan, and I only really watched the 90s animated movies and Pirates of the Caribbean, and of course Pixar, but I had lost interest in Disney animation so I kind of stopped looking for the movie. Then my interest was sparked again, and I think this happened when I started Band because the teacher had us play Disney music every now and then. When I was in 9th grade I got my 1st ipod and while looking for free content to put on it, I discovered 2 very interesting podcasts. The first was the "Official Podcast of the Disneyland Resort" hosted by Michael Geoghegan, I found this interesting because it offered behind the scenes looks at things going on at the park. This podcast has since switched from lengthy audio podcasts to short 2-5 minute video podcasts. The other show I discovered was the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Pod hosted by Aaron Wallace which I found interesting for its content, and the title being a play on one of my favorite Disney songs. His podcast is always book-ended by the beginning of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, yet a version I hadn't heard before by James Baskett.
Now I wouldn't bring up the podcasts at all if it weren't for the fact that it is actually thanks to the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Pod that I was actually able to FINALLY watch Song of the South. In episode 23 of his podcast he Aaron dedicated it to Song of the South and why Disney absolutely MUST release it, despite Bob Iger's personal feelings about the movie. Now it just so happens that he then played a voice mail from yet another podcast host who gave his thoughts on the movie, and where this guy got his copy: Scarecrow Video in Seattle. I have recently listened to this episode again and I decided to contact Scarecrow to see if they had any copies of Song of the South anymore. They have 2 copies now, 1 that is a Laserdisc, and 1 that is a PAL VHS (UK), they also rent players for both media types. I decided to rent it when I knew I would have time. And I can now say that there is absolutely no reason for Disney to keep this wonderful movie in the vault.
Song of the South is now approaching its 70th anniversary in 2016. The 70th anniversary and no home video/DVD releases in the US. This movie is the 1st Disney live action movie and Disney hasn't released it yet. One of their most popular attractions at any park is Splash Mountain which is directly themed to the animated characters from Song of the South. For more on this I am going to direct you to episode 23 of the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Pod because I don't feel like writing the same things Aaron talked about.
And I must say I agree with another point he made about the Splash Mountain shirt pictured above. Due to wanting to keep this blog PG I will only say that the saying is an obvious twist of the term "It Was F***ing Awesome". I ask you, if Disney is willing to sell such a vulgar shirt in their park, why won't they sell the much less offensive movie Song of the South. For more on this go to this episode of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Pod.
I think i'll wrap this up with this for now, and my next post will likely be about some recent announcements and rumors from Disney regarding the Disneyland Resort and the movies.
You can all follow me on twitter @wraithkelso and I highly recommend subscribing to Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Pod. which for now is the only Disney podcast I listen too. I also am subscribed to the Disneyland podcast and the D23 Disney Geek podcast which are both video shows.
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