Song of the South (1946) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Spain ]

This review is for the Blu-Ray import from Spain that is Region A playable.This is now the very best way to view Song of the South. Superior to all DVD versions out there. It is time to upgrade. The film source does indeed appear to be 35mm.The film was not digitally cleaned up prior to the transfer, but the master was in fairly decent condition to begin with. The clarity and sharpness throughout were very good to excellent - about what you would expect from a worn, but unrestored, 35mm print. The color appeared vibrant but just slightly oversaturated in the first reel and during nighttime shots there was some loss of detail in shadows. But overall, the film was generally nicely rendered. The cartoon segments were consistently pristine in all aspects... although as other reviewers have noted, about 30 seconds or so is missing in the tar baby sequence - even so, the story flow was not compromised - i.e. you would not necessarily realize that something was missing if not informed about it. The rest of the film is complete.This Blu-ray should not be judged against official release Blu-Rays - it is not an A+ presentation and has a few seconds here and there of dirt specks, damaged frames and changeover reel markers, etc. plus occasionally uneven color... but even so it still rates as the best quality presentation currently available. Highly recommended! The disc I received arrived sealed and in perfect condition - a factory manufactured disc and not a burned copy. I see a review here that compares this Blu-Ray to a VHS tape - that's not accurate - it is clearly better than any DVD I have seen of this film. They also say there are frequent jump cuts, also not true. The film is what I said earlier - a good transfer from a decent 35mm source.You can easily choose English audio and English subtitles or no subtitles at all, although you do have to utilize the subtitles on or off option from the player itself (as opposed to the on-screen menu) to specifically stop the subtitles during songs which are always in Spanish for some strange reason even if you had already chosen English from the on-screen menu.Too bad for Disney! They have effectively lost the battle to ban this film. Thanks to Spain's copyright laws this film is now in the Spanish public domain. It has become available on Blu-Ray in a region-free format for all to see despite the misguided notions about what this film is actually about. The bottom line here is that Disney lost control of this film... game over and the Consumers won... Too bad Disney!James Baskett was awarded a special Oscar for his endearing performance. Those who think this movie should be banned have never actually viewed it. The Uncle Remus character is consistently portrayed as much wiser than all the other adults in the room. And for that reason alone, it is obviously not a divisive film. So, in any case you can now watch it in decent quality and decide for yourself. Of course Disney should just release it officially, but they never will... However, until Disney management comes to their senses you have this serviceable Blu-Ray release from Spain. Let the consumer decide for themselves!

This is a total buried movie. You may NEVER see an official digital restoration, but this Blu-Ray looks very good. The menu is in Spanish, but the movie is English. I had no problem playing the disc in my regular US player. No changes to region settings or anything. I just put the disc in and it played perfectly. If you have any interest in seeing this movie, I'd buy the disc.

Song of the South was based on tales of African-Americans as recorded by Joel Chandler Harris. He wrote them in the dialect spoken by black people in Georgia after the American Civil War (reconstruction era). Walt Disney’s intention was to get an authentic feeling of the stories and be faithful to them. Song of the South was almost universally praised by critics and audiences, but falsely accused of painting a stereotypical picture of slavery by some.When the film was released, Walter Francis White, the executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) telegraphed major newspapers around the country with the following statement: "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People recognizes in Song of the South remarkable artistic merit in the music and in the combination of living actors and the cartoon technique. It regrets, however, that in an effort neither to offend audiences in the north or south, the production helps to perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery. Making use of the beautiful Uncle Remus folklore, Song of the South unfortunately gives the impression of an idyllic master-slave relationship which is a distortion of the facts."White, however, had not even seen the film. His statement was based on memos he received from two NAACP staff members who attended a press screening on November 20, 1946, Norma Jensen and Hope Springarn. Jensen had written that the film was "so artistically beautiful that it is difficult to be provoked over the clichés" but that it contained "all the clichés in the book," mentioning that she felt scenes like blacks singing traditional black songs were offensive as a stereotype.NAACP’s reaction itself sounded like a stereotype, especially since NAACP or anyone else never questioned why none of the black actors could attend the film’s premiere in racially segregated Atlanta!Two people who were not critical of the film's depiction of former plantation slaves were Hattie McDaniel and James Baskett. In a February 1947 interview, printed in The Criterion, Hattie McDaniel stated: "If I had for one moment considered any part of the picture degrading or harmful to my people I would not have appeared therein." In the same article, James Baskett defended the film and commented: "I believe that certain groups are doing my race more harm in seeking to create dissension than can ever possibly come out of The Song of the South."The Disney company defended the movie by pointing out that the story was placed at the time after the Civil War and that it had no slaves in it. The company said that it was “making a sincere effort to depict American folklore” and “to put the Uncle Remus stories into pictures”. Per the company, it was “to prove of inestimable good in furthering of interracial relations”.Walt Disney also campaigned for Baskett to be given an Academy Award for his performance, saying that he had worked "almost wholly without direction" and had devised the characterization of Remus himself. Thanks to Disney's efforts, Baskett won an Honorary Academy Award in 1948.The 1960s brought up the civil right issues everywhere in the United States, and some black groups who were against slavery and plantation life organized minor protests against films like Gone with the Wind and Song of the South. This scared the Disney company so much that Song of the South has been released on home video in Europe, Latin America and Asia, but never in the U.S.This is a shame since the movie is really about a charming relationship between an old, warm-hearted black man and a confused white boy who idolizes him. Song of the South also contains some of the most delightful moments and most memorable songs Disney ever captured on film and all of the old man’s stories (animated sequences) show that brains can always outwit brawn.Clarence Page, nationally syndicated African American columnist for the Chicago Tribune, called the film one of his favorites from his childhood and one he had hoped to share with his son. He said in an interview: "There's a deep African tradition in Song of the South. Br'er Rabbit is an emblematic figure of African folklore, a direct descendant of the trickster who gets by on his wits. Where 'Political Correctness' gets ridiculous is when corporations trying to avoid a controversy just presume that if something is stereotypical, then African Americans aren't going to like this. There is a diversity of images in the media now that reflect our diversity in real life. We can look at Song of the South with a new awareness and appreciation."A veteran African American animator and Disney Legend Floyd Norman stated: "The film is charming in its simplicity and sadly people tend to read too much into it. Issues that are simply not there. The 'Tar Baby' being the most notorious example. It was never meant to be a metaphor for black children, yet those with a social agenda often point to this particular story to prove their point."When accepting her award as a Disney Legend in 2017, Whoopi Goldberg expressed the desire for Song of the South to be re-released publicly to American audiences in its entirety again and stated: "I'm trying to find a way to get people to start having conversations about bringing Song of the South back, so we can talk about what it was and where it came from and why it came out."This Spanish Blu-ray was not made of a pristine or restored copy of the movie, but it is the best quality copy you can buy until Disney decides to forget all the false controversy and issues that don’t exist, see the actual interracial good will in the movie and release a restored version for everyone to enjoy.

Great