The Bootleg Files

[Eric Campos]

Any comments on Phil Hall's new column?

Here's a sneak preview -

http://www.filmthreat.com/Features.asp?Id=773

[El Duderino Diablo]

Good article. While Song of the South couldn't possibly make enough money to warrant a commercial release I agree it should be made available, as Phil put it, "as a curio from a less-sophisticated era and as the lone missing piece in the Disney canon... "

I have my own grievence towards Buena Vista\Disney\Miramax\Dimension Films. I can't stand that they scooped up the rights to so many HK flicks from the nineties and either won't release them without first butchering them, dubbing in English dialogue, replacing original scores with really poor hip-hop and liberally cutting whole scenes from the movie, only offering pan and scan prints and not having the decency to include an original print with their chop-job variations on DVD or they just won't release the movies at all.
:tdown:

[Reverend Ned]

Decent read. I must like "SotS" a lot more than Mr. Hall does. Then again, I've had a fascination with 'race' cartoons for years.

I bought the Japanese laserdisc at my local Tower Records a few years ago for $65; if I knew then what I know now, I would've bought every disc in stock and sold them on eBay for $300 apiece.
The laserdisc has two audio tracks - one English, one Japanese (with Japanese subtitles during the songs), which makes for a very surreal experience to watch poor black sharecroppers in 1860s America speaking fluent Japanese. The picture quality is pretty good, but the colors are kinda murky for a Technicolor film.

As far as racist content goes, "Song of the South" is relatively harmless, especially when compared to other 'race' cartoons made during that time. The worst stereotype in the film is the rampant bad English by the black characters, although the poor white characters speak almost as well. There are no blatantly racist sight gags or scenarios in the movie.

For a fun double feature, watch "Song of the South" and Ralph Bakshi's "Coonskin" (released on video as "Street Fight").

[Gorillaboss]

I saw Song of the South when it made a return appearance in 1986, when I was 14. Does anyone remember how it was received--press reviews, articles, etc?

My memory is very foggy, but I remember being entertained by the Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear segments BECAUSE they seemed to mimic the Tom and Jerry asthetic. Are the segments really that dull and/or uninspired?

[Phil Hall]

Hey folks, thanks for the feedback.

I found the animated sequences to be second-tier Disney. Of course Disney was capable of making some hilariously sadistic cartoons (Donald Duck and Chip & Dale frequently got pretty rough), but I genuinely found the SotS animated sequences to be nasty without being funny. Perhaps because Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox aren't really appealing villains and Br'er Rabbit is a bit of bore...to me, any way. The sequences also seem way out of place when dropped in the midst of the lumbering live action stuff. But that's my take. After all, we are dealing in opinions here and I know many people love this movie.

And please visit www.songofthesouth.net for more info on this title.

Next week's Bootleg Files: the most infamous home movie of all time. Which one is it? Here's a clue: hang on to your pillbox hat!

[egoett]

I always have heard that Song of the South took place during the Reconstruction Period and that it was AFTER the Civil War. These weren't slaves, per se, but free blacks who chose to stay and work on the Plantation (as most did). One would hope that they were paid for their services!

My mom bought a bootleg of this film in Florida on her winter vacation. When we went home on this summer I got to see it again. The last time I saw it was in the 80's when they used to show it at the outdoor movie at Fort Wilderness in Walt Disney World. My 11 year old daughter really loved it and got into the story....(little girl, mean big brother, ruined the party dress..etc.), but it wasn't as much of a great film as I had remembered. I think we all want it so bad because we can't have it.

Ed G.

[Phil Hall]

The Joel Chandler Harris stories, from which the film is derived, take place in the post-Civil War years. But the film is not clear regarding when the action takes place. At one point Uncle Remus decides to leave the plantation for Atlanta, which provides a sense of liberty that slaves lacked, but earlier in the film the boy's father is described as being a controversial journalist in Atlanta (though what he is controversial about is not stated--I assumed he was anti-slavery). It also wouldn't make sense why Uncle Remus was living on the plantation as a free man, given that he did virtually no work that contributed to the plantation's financial success.

There is no talk of being paid for work in this film, which makes things all the more confusing.

[JohnnyReb]

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

Copies of SOTS can be purchased at any Sons Of Confederate Veterans Convention during the Summer months. They are mint copies in the same type box as the original Disney - except the little girl is carrying a Confederate flag in her fist. They sell for $19.95. I received one as a Father's Day gift last year.

JohnnyReb

[Reverend Ned]

Originally posted by JohnnyReb
Copies of SOTS can be purchased at any Sons Of Confederate Veterans Convention during the Summer months. They are mint copies in the same type box as the original Disney - except the little girl is carrying a Confederate flag in her fist. They sell for $19.95.

I'm sure there's a few bloodthirsty Disney attorneys out there that would gladly thank you for sharing this information.

[JohnnyReb]

REVERENED NED:

All I can say to that is they must have some clot as a Non-Profit Organization and the sales are used as fund-raisers. They have been distributing SOTS for over 10 years at the Conventions.

JohnnyReb

[baires]

Just read the "The Zapruder Film of the Kennedy Assassination" article. I agree that it is shamless the way those 26 seconds were bootlegged. But the real tragedy is that other Zapruder masterpieces are not so easily found (or even available.) For example: "The Zapruder Film of the Diner by the side of Loop 12" in that film you can actually see the first foray of Mr. Zapruder into filmmaking. Or "The Zapruder Film of Little Kates 2nd Birthday". In this one Mr. Zapruder already shows a promising future by establishing different color patterns to express different emotions (of those 19 sec of film make sure to stop on frame 58... that is a beauty.) The later Zapruder years where in turmoil and artistic indifference. As can be witnessed in "The Zapruder Film of the Flat Tire Near Irving" here he just goes through the paces, he seems to be phoning this one in. And "The Zapruder Film of Mark Going Off To College", this 27 seconds of film should have been more emotional. But by this time it seems he was`t even committing to the project.
It would take a 2 year hiatus. 2 years away in Nepal with the monks... the meditation... the breathing methods. Those 2 years would give us a new man.
When he returned to America he was ready to work again. That`s when he gave us his true masterpiece... "The Zapruder Film of the Sunday Barbacue at Phill`s" Not only his most heart wrenching project, but also his longest. The colors... the perfection applying the rule of thirds... the loneliness... the anguish... and yes, why not? The happiness. That film is pure perfection. It makes you think, laugh and cry. It does everything a film should do. The way the tension is held for exactly the right time before he lets you go with a laugh, and then he turns it right back at you and a tear just rolls down your cheek. Few films come close to providing the rollercoaster of emotion this one does. Those were the best 34 seconds of my life. Don`t believe me? Just stop in frame 345 and weep. WEEP DAMN IT!!

Fuck that, I invented movies. You all owe me a nickel.

[AmaiStina]

Originally posted by The Dude
I have my own grievence towards Buena Vista\Disney\Miramax\Dimension Films. I can't stand that they scooped up the rights to so many HK flicks from the nineties and either won't release them without first butchering them, dubbing in English dialogue, replacing original scores with really poor hip-hop and liberally cutting whole scenes from the movie, only offering pan and scan prints and not having the decency to include an original print with their chop-job variations on DVD or they just won't release the movies at all.
:tdown:

Thank you!

[El Duderino Diablo]

You're welcome.

EDIT: Here's a website that addresses the issue of Miramax's HK movie butchery and here's a Disney email addy so you can let them know how you feel about said butchery: disneyinfo@disneyhelp.com
And a phone number, too! 1-800-72-DISNEY

[dentree]

Good SoTS article. I completely forgot about that flick, which seems to be exactly what Disney is after. I saw it when I was a kid and recall it as pretty turgid. I also seem to remember the kid getting mowed down by a bull and almost expiring near the end. Am I dreaming this?

The ultimate bootleg movie is, as far as I know, completely unavailable and is the Holy Grail of enthuiasts of bad taste. I am referring, of course, to Jerry Lewis's clown in in the Nazi concentration camp flick The Day the Clown Cried. Does anyone out there know of anyone who has seen this? It is rumored to be the most jaw-droppingly distasteful piece of celluloid ever produced, although its reputation is probably distorted by legend. It was so judged in another era when The Producers was considered shocking. Nevertheless, I want to see it real bad.

Facts as well as wild rumors about TDTCC are very welcome.