I'm anticipating adding Disney Nature's "African Cats" and Pixar's "Cars 2" and the latest "Winnie the Pooh" film, later this year.
But there is one Disney film, I've had to come to accept, might never be added to my collection. That film is "Song of the South."
Culturally questionable, since its initial release in 1946, for portraying allegedly misleading idyllic images of post Civil War race relations, the film remains locked up in the "Disney vault", hidden from generations of Disney fans. This in spite of the fact that there are several major attractions in Disney theme parks throughout the world based on the film and feature its animated characters.
Now I'm not going to go into the lengthy details of the nearly 65 years of controversy that surrounds "Song of the South". My favorite Disney historian and author, Jim Korkis, is a much better source of information and more qualified to write about the subject. Here's a link to an internet article about the movie along with some links to other articles he's written on the subject: http://www.mouseplanet.com/9602/The_Sad_Song_of_the_South
The Disney Company's decision not to release the Oscar winning film ("Zippidy Do Dah" won the Academy Award for "Best Original Song") made it the one of the Walt Disney films that I would probably never own.
Whenever the opportunity to discuss Disney movies and my personal collection would come up I always made sure I mention the one movie that's conspicuous by it's absence from my storage cabinet. Apparently my laminations (other than when you are referring to a book in the Old Testament when do you get a chance to use that word?) did not fall on deaf ears and was a lot more frequent than I had realized.
A couple of weeks ago a family member gave me a gift for my birthday that I never thought I'd ever get: an "unauthorized" DVD copy of "Song of the South." Through an exclusive path of channels and extensive efforts, with the help of some tech savvy friends (you know who you are) the family member was able to give me a rather decent copy for my collection.
As I sat in my living room relaxing on my recliner watching the DVD on my big screen TV I realized what a "home run" this birthday present was for me. It's just about the perfect gift for me at this point in my life. "Song of the South" is one of a group of films that defines who Walt Disney was as a film maker. It's part of the fabric and culture that is "Disney". Now I have my own copy of it in my Disney movie collection.
Getting to be in Walt Disney World in September 2010 on my 50th tops the list of ultimate Disney themed birthday day presents. Of course it was given to me by my wife. This year's gift, Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox on DVD is worthy of second place on the list. The only intent of that statement is a big "thank you" to my family member and everyone involved in the process that put the DVD in my hands. I really appreciate it more than I can ever tell y'all.
Now anytime I need wan t to I can put the movie in my DVD player and make it a "Zippidy Do Dah" day.
