Originally Posted By Doobie This topic is for discussion of the June 27th Jim On Film column at <a href="News-ID180080.asp" target="_blank">http://LaughingPlace.com/News-ID180080.asp</a>.
Originally Posted By TheMadHatter Bravo Jim! Hopefully someone from Buena Vista/DisneyDVD will read it. All I know is... my wife just loaned our copy of "Song of the South" to a Afro-American friend at work to watch. Not only wasn't he or his family offended, but wants to keep it a little longer and watch it again (his kids loved the movie.) It upsets me to think that some people may never get to see this (and other) classics the way they were ment to be seen. All because someone we don't even know decides that it may warp our fragile little minds. I would be more than happy to pay a little extra to get "unedited" widescreen versions of movies. If there's problem with the content, then maybe they could get Disney's new movie spokesperson, Leonard Maltin to do a warning spiel before the movie (like he does on the Walt Disney Treasures - Silly Symphonies.) Oh well, I guess in a perfect world, this would happen. Again Jim... great article... Keep The Faith! - tMH
Originally Posted By DisneyDude81 I agree with the topic of discussion is not fair for us collector's! i would also pay more to see the unedited i would pay anything that was Disney, besides most of the disney movies have something bad, plus we have to think if kids dont learn learn to smoke and violence from Disney they will learn it from parents that smoke, other tv shows, friends, etc.... plus a cartoon is just make believe and is not to be intended to be taken seriously, and is the parents job to teach there kids what's right and wrong. socirty is getting messed up as years go by minors problem and stupid ones get big deal while more serious ones get shuned. what's wrong with this world!
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 Excellent article Jim, it seems the people at Cartoon Network got the message by puting Speedy Gonzalez back on the air. Hopefully Disney can follow this example.
Originally Posted By JimG I fully agree, Jim. I was so angry at the "censorship" in Make Mine Music that I almost returned the DVD. I *did* phone Disney's video sales department and vehemently complain. Long-time Disney fans like myself shell out good money to peruse a fondly-remembered classic film, only to find something has been changed to agree with the company's current PC mindset. And don't even get me started on Song of the South... <sigh>
Originally Posted By AladdinAZ Yep, one big thing missing in the article, "Song of the South". The WHOLE thing has been censored by Disney in the USA. "Aladdin - Lyric altered from theatrical release." The lyric: [Original first verse (1992-93):] Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place Where the caravan camels roam Where they cut off your ear If they don't like your face It's barbaric, but hey, it's home Yep that lil' ol' phrase conjured up a lot nasty feeling, and all for a ficticious country called Agrabah: The New lyrics were sanitized for your protection, and go as follows: "Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place Where the caravan camels roam Where it's flat and immense And the heat is intense It's barbaric, but hey, it's home"
Originally Posted By AladdinAZ Actually, in Agrabah they still cut off your hand if they don't like your face. It's just that they don't advertise it in their travel brochure. If you don't believe me, just ask Jasmine.
Originally Posted By CuriosWolfSo If no guns are allowed in "Make Mine Music's The Martins and the Coys" , how come in the same movie's "Peter and the Wolf" Peter and the Hunters still have their guns? (True, Peter's toy gun would never harm anyone [Unless you get too close and its cork pop you on the nose like it did happen to the Wolf] and the hunters are too clumsy with their guns to shoot straight.)
Originally Posted By Dlmusic If you bring in animated shorts there are literally hundreds of clips edited out of them.
Originally Posted By mattmclean I am surprised Jim didn't mention "Song of the South." This is Disney's biggest crime... especially since there is very popular ride associated around the movie. I saw this movie in the theater back in the 80s... I assume before Michael Eisner, but I could be wrong. Never once did I think that Uncle Remus was in a bad spot because he was a slave... heck I don't think it ever occurred to me that he was a slave! And I was a little 8-10 year old... perfect for impressnable images! Yet every high profile african-american claims that "Song of the South" paints a bad picture of slavery... since it appears that Uncle Remus wants and likes being a slave. It's not even an issue!
Originally Posted By Sapphire I agree with you on this; it didn't warp me at all when I saw it. The last theatrical reissue was in 1986 for its 40th anniversary; Eisner was in command but I don't think that was the issue so much as that political correctness wasn't yet in full force. But IIRC there were some rumblings by that point about the film's appropriateness, so maybe that's why this turned out to be the last we've seen of the whole film in the U.S. so far.
Originally Posted By fredb On edits, don't forget that the Disney Afternoon shows have beening edited also, to remove guns and matches in "Talespin", a whole set of episodes of "Gargoyles" got pulled, then there is "Song of the South" And I don't know if you should call it an edit, I read that "Lilo and Stitch" was showing a different ending to test groups, that was changed after Sept. 11 fredb
Originally Posted By Disneyland55 As for the violence being removed- There is violence of some sort in all Disney movies, often involving weapons such as swords, knives, guns, etc. As for the erasing of the lady's cleavage- No kidding this is silly! Look at Jessica Rabbit. Why is Jessica ok, but not the other one? When they realeased the DVD's of these movies in the last few years, I think they should have done one of two things. 1. Release a normal version with a parental advisery lable, and an edited version. This would give parents the choice of what to show their children. 2. Edit out these scenes from the origional location in the film, and put them with the special features with a warning on the description telling why it is not in the film and that parental disgression is advised. >>>Sweet because it was one of the two Disney animated features that had never been released for purchase on either video or DVD (Saludos Amigos, the other one, was released the same day), <<< I don't think they have released "Song of the South" on video or DVD. I could be wrong though.
Originally Posted By JeffG >> "Yet every high profile african-american claims that "Song of the South" paints a bad picture of slavery... since it appears that Uncle Remus wants and likes being a slave. It's not even an issue! " << For what its worth, the film takes place during the post-Civil War reconstruction period. Uncle Remus and the other black characters are sharecroppers or voluntary servants, not slaves. Of course, it is pretty nearly a certainty that blacks working on a southern plantation during that time period would have been former slaves and that they wouldn't have been enjoying a significantly improved life post-emancipation. A lot of the criticism of the film centers around the idea that the film presents a much happier life for these characters than they would have really had. -Jeff
Originally Posted By spoonfullofsugar i think they have released song of the south, which i'd love to see, but you have to go to Australia to get it or somethin. did they ever edit out that few frames in the great mouse detective or the adventurers or some film with verman, were they fly past a window and if you slow it down you can actually se a naked lady in the window off a building?
Originally Posted By JimG DisneyDude81 wanted to know what the Disney video sales people had to say when I phoned and expressed my extreme displeasure at the censorship in "Make Mine Music". They said "it was because of the guns", referring to the missing "Martins and the Coys" segment. I told them that, in the first place, that segment was intended to be only a comic farce based on a famous hillbilly legend, and, in the second place, there is nothing inherently evil about "guns"-- I've owned various guns almost all of my life and am considered a decent person and good citizen by those who know me. Their "PC response" (i.e, knee-jerk anti-gun, etc) really riled me. I advised them that I would think twice before buying any further edited Disney classics. Buena Vista Home Entertainment can be reached at 1-800-723-4763, 9:00AM-5:00 PST; I imagine this number is still valid. I feel that Disney needs to be more in touch with its fans and receive feedback from them. There is also a mailing address on the back of most Disney DVD cases.
Originally Posted By TheMadHatter spoonfullofsugar... The film you are refering to is not "The Great Mouse Detective", but "The Rescuers." When it was released the last time on video (and LD.) Someone inserted a picture of a naked woman into a window for about 2 or 3 frames. They imediately pulled them from the shelves, and re-released 'em — sans the naked woman. - tMH
Originally Posted By TheMadHatter ...as for "Song of the South" being released by Disney. Yes, it was released on video in the UK as well as Japan, but has since been discontinued. The UK version can still be had reasonably, but it's in PAL format, so you'd need to convert it to NTSC to be watched in the states. The Japanese LD is in NTSC format, but hard to find, and expensive to obtain (I'm glad I bought mine when I did — just wish I had bought extras.) ;-) - tMH
Originally Posted By Jim I didn't include SONG OF THE SOUTH because it is not part of "the canon," the forty-one. I think that it will someday be released on video in America; however, they won't do it yet. I really wish I could see it just to see it. I can't comment on it otherwise except to say that if it is for Uncle Tom-ism, then they are fighting a losing battle. Harriet Beecher Stowe's wonderful novel has always been taught in high schools and colleges, and we can thank her, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, for having a hand in the Civil War with that very book. I can't believe SONG OF THE SOUTH can be that bad. As for the edit in THE RESCUERS, I did not buy the second video release. It was my hope that they would digitally remove the offensive image without doing any actual cutting. I've never seen the image, but I highly, highly doubt that the directors or producers were aware of it, so digitally removing it would be in line with what their original wishes were. How did they handle this in the video re-issue? Did they make actual cuts? I think they best thing people can do is make Disney aware of their wishes. They don't always show a strong concern for collectors, but we can always hope!
