Ladies and gents, I'm not a salesman by nature, nor am I directly trying to sell you what I'm about to mention below. Some of you may or may not remember seeing Walt Disney's SONG OF THE SOUTH, the 1946 cartoon/live-action film that was based on Joel Chandler Harris' "Tales of Uncle Remus."
If I say "Tar Baby," "Brer Rabbit," "Laughing Place," or "Uncle Remus," and you have no idea what the devil I'm talking about, get out, Google some Uncle Remus information, and come back informed. In short, in 1946, Walt took Joel's stories, and adapted them to the screen starring Bobby Driscoll and James Baskett, as the little boy and Uncle Remus respectively. The hit song is in the title, and on YouTube.
The film has not been legitimately released by Disney; they feel a backlash from the NAACP and others, because the slaves on the plantation are happy; slavery is apparently sugar-coated. Slavery is not the focus of the film, the Remus stories are.
I purchased a collector's copy of the DVD from a seller on eBay for $20 shipped, and a soundtrack to the film on CD from another for $15; I love this film. But, I need the money, and seeing as this is the movies thread, I thought I'd post it here.
The DVD-R and CD-R both play fine, both come in nice cases, and have lovely cover art - I really got lucky. I plan on digging the film out of storage and replaying it to ensure it held up over time, but until then, I thought I'd just post a thread to gauge interest in someone buying either the film, the soundtrack (digitized from clean vinyl) or preferably both.
This DVD abounds online as an unofficial collector's copy, but be assured that my copy is perfect; it even has nice menus and extra features, such as radio spots for the film and theatrical trailers. Until a proper copy comes along, this will do fine, and I would be surprised if the soundtrack ever got a release, let alone the film. Who knows, maybe with Obama in the White House and the release of "The Princess and The Frog," with a leading African-American role, political correctness can take a step back and admire its rich past through the Disney camera lens. The world isn't perfect, but this is a great film.
I'm not asking for money now, I'm only looking to see who's interested in buying, if anyone. I know we're busy with the holidays, so take some time off and think. Feel free to post your memories of the film below, and mods, if this thread is in bad taste due to the content, I apologize. I mean no harm to anyone, and loved hearing the Remus stories as a boy, 'slave' dialect intact. I just need to make a little cash to cover a major back surgery coming up.
"Please, Brer Fox, whatever you do, don't fling me in that brier patch!"
[videos are not from my copy of the film, which I would rate between a visual 9/10 and an audio 9/10]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNDS7NgYn0Y - Brier patch/tar baby scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6jFMkmSQ2c - Uncle Remus/Zip Ah Dee Doo Dah scene.
I also want to note that in posting this thread, I am only seeking an interested party to purchase my copy of the film, as well as the soundtrack, either separately or together. The money will be going towards medical surgery that I am happy to elaborate upon with a kind PM.
I am a seller on eBay (begonesatan!) with 100% feedback over the past twelve months, as well as
Amazon (
http://www.amazon.com/shops/keganmahon, where I have a near-spotless record; one lady claimed she never got an item, but I showed the tracking info, and a gentleman curiously claimed my description of a book was more accurate that than the book condition itself, which was better; so he docked a point. Go figure, but I'm 4.9 out of 42 ratings, agan, for the past year.)
Lastly, I have a perfect record on here with three trades, one sale, and one purchase.
We'll hammer out the details as soon as I find the DVD and re-watch it to ensure quality - the CD is right here and is used, but the case and inserts are fine, and it plays beautifully with maybe the faintest crackle of vinyl, which is overpowered by the music, and is not an issue.
Let's talk about the movie, does anyone remember seeing it in '46, or during any of its re-releases in theaters? I believe the last time it was shown was in the '80s or so.
Purchase inquiries may be PMed to me, but for now, think back, and let's talk classic Disney happiness.
Thank you for reading.
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I'll put ya on the list, Andre, and tell ya what. Shoot me a PM with your email, and I'll send you an MP3 of the song
:-)
I should add to everyone that this would be a first come first serve sale.
Personally, I first saw the film about five years ago on a bootleg VHS; it'd been released in the UK on PAL VHS, and in Hong Kong on laserdisc in English. PAL format is 30 frames per second, and the US NTSC is 24 fps, or maybe I've got that backwards. Anyway, I tried to sell the VHS I had on eBay, watched it shoot up to $75 and eBay shut me down for bootlegging. Personally, I think Disney's stupid for withholding, but when I caught the DVD and soundtrack on eBay a few years later, I grabbed it up.
And here we are. Zip a dee doo dah, zip a dee day, zip a dee dooh dah, my oh my, what a wonderful day!
Political correctness is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever learned of, following racism and/or affirmative action itself, but I won't get political, because I don't know a lot about politics, nor do I care.
As I said, Andre's first on the list, and if you'll PM me your email, I'll send you the theme song.
All the best,
Kegan
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