Song of the South for sale?

pg0314

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 18, 2012
Went to a big craft/gift show in Harrisburg, PA and there was a booth selling DVDs. Much to my surprise, they had Disney's Song of the South. I thought Disney had vowed this movie would never be released because of the racist content. Has something changed? These didn't appear to be bootleg DVDs nor did they look to have come from overseas. They honestly looked like new in package, made for sale in the USA DVDs. :confused3
 
There's a gift shop in our town that had these for sale for $36. I asked and she stated they were imported. I have a VHS copy but would like the DVD.
 
I have a copy that I bought off eBay. After researching it a bit, I discovered that it is possible for European/Asian market VHS tapes to be imported and then converted to USA format. After that is done, the VHS can be copied onto a DVD. Combine that with someone with good graphics skills and a good printer and you get a pretty professional looking copy.

The copy I bought came with both the VHS and the DVD (this was a long time ago) - the condition of the recording is terrible, but at least I have it.
 
Disney has never released Song of the South in the US and last I heard doesn't have any plans to ever do so. I have seen bootleg copies on sale on the internet and in gift shops. I think Disney just looks the other way when it comes to the bootlegs since no one has prosecuted in years and clips of the movie are readily available on youtube.
 


The packaging on the pirated copies can look really good and very legitimate. Buying one may be the only way you'll ever own this movie. I think $36 is a bit high though. The people producing these discs have probably less than $2 in materials, and they sure aren't paying any royalties to anyone.
 
Years ago one of the guys I worked with took a business trip to England. I helped him prepare his presentation and he asked if I wanted him to bring me back anything. DVDs weren't invented yet. I knew they had VHS tapes of Song of the South and Black Cauldron which at that time wasn't released in US, so I asked if he saw either of them to bring it back for me. He brought back both. Of course, I didn't know they were in the other format (PAL I think), so I couldn't play them. I called a local conversion center and they told me that they could legally convert 1 copy to our format as long as it was for my personal use and I had the original packaging and receipt. Of course, it cost more to convert the 2 movies than it did to buy them and you always loose some resolution too. A few years later Black Cauldron was released here and I regretted going though so much to have it, but I'm glad I have Song of the South. I got to spend a wonderful afternoon watching it with my mom who has passed away now. She remembers seeing it when she was young and had never seen it again. We both love the animated portions and music.

Kathy
 


And look what just hit the theaters. What would you rather have your kids see?

I don't know...what just hit theaters? lol

I have a copy of SotS on DVD, DBF gave it to me a few years ago for Christmas. He found it on eBay I believe but can't remember for sure, I think it was from Canada. It is a DVD copy of a VHS tape, you can tell because there are small defects that wouldn't be there in a DVD copy. But I have it and I have shared it with my kids (it was my favorite when I was younger, along with the Jungle Book) and we all enjoy it now and then. :)
 

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