fitprod

Unfortunately, I think Aladdin is a bit of a victim of political correctness fears. In a way, it's the modern day "Song of the South," in that the Arab anti-defamation league is going to be all over this release in the US because of it's portrayal of Arab society. I remember there being a bit of of a shit storm even during it's initial release, beyond the song lyrics... Even though they we're true to how thieves were handled back in those days.

fitprod

Josh Z

I think we had this conversation about 8 posts ago.

PhantomStranger

I definitely think Disney is spooked by political correctness concerning Aladdin.

Supermallet

That doesn't make much sense to me. The UK has a huge Arab and Muslim population. It's a much bigger percentage of the population than there is in the US. If PC fears were holding them back, why release it in the UK of all places?

fitprod

The main reason is that our special interest groups are just a "tad" more vocal than most of the rest of the world, and dealing with them is a pain in the ass for a studio.

The release will happen, but I'm just not sure when. We haven't gotten 101 Dalmatians, Tarzan or Hercules yet either, so maybe it's part of a 2014 schedule we are not aware of. It seems Disney releases 2-3 non-Diamond editions every Feb and August.

Who knows when we'll see Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, The Black Cauldron, Make Mine Music, Melody Time and The Adventures of Ichabod Crane. (I believe that covers the remaining missing titles... No, I will not count the Toon Disney productions such as A Goofy Movie.)

fitprod

fitprod

We did... But the average attention span on the internet is only 3-5 posts.

fitprod

Supermallet

I really doubt that the home video release of a 20-year old movie will spark such a massively different reaction in the US than it would in the UK.

joltman

Yea, I agree, I really don't think it's a matter of controversial subject matter, it's just that Disney hasn't put it on the calendar yet. Tarzan and 101 Dalmatians were released in the UK last year and neither of them have been announced for the US either.

Hokeyboy

Next time you're in London, go to Hyde Park on a Sunday and listen to the large groups of Islamist extremists protesting, proselytizing, and soapboxing. Our special interest groups are entirely harmless in comparison to these loudly vocal nutjobs.

PhantomStranger

It entirely has to do with political correctness. Disney has to be the most PC corporation on Earth due to the value and nature of their brand. We will never see a legitimate Song of the South release from Disney.

Supermallet

Song of the South is a whole other level of racial representation than Aladdin.

Hokeyboy

Trust me: you don't want one.

Deco King

It's strange to me that Disney always used to release Blu Rays in the US first , and these days we get the first releases over here for example 101 Dalmatians , The Jungle Book , Cinderella and The Little Mermaid have all had Blu Ray debuts in the UK already and tomorrow we get Mary Poppins on Blu Ray!

Class316

I have it on DVD (copied from the LD) but I still want one.

Hokeyboy

May I ask why? Do you like the movie? (This isn't a trick question or anything, I don't think SotS is racist, just a colossal fucking bore...)

hanshotfirst1138

I haven't seen the film, but do think that a lot of people are simply curious about it too. Obviously, it'll forever remain in the realm of bootlegs since Disney damn sure won't ever release it officially.

Josh Z

Sadly, I agree. Which I discovered only after spending $200 to import the Laserdisc back in the day.

Class316

It's a decent Disney movie and a technical marvel for its time. Plus it's a spit in the face for those wanting to suppress it. I actually have a shrine dedicated to it. http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/4071/1015710.jpg

Did you ever sell it or do you still have it?

Spottedfeather

I'd love to see an official release on, at least, dvd. It's a good movie and an awfully strange move for Disney to promote (at least, at one time) the main song of the movie, zip-a-dee-do-dah, but completely ignore the great movie it comes from. Luckily, I have a really decent quality dvd (well, dvd image. I don't have the money to get a dvd to burn it to) with a lot of features.

Hokeyboy

Good movie? If you need to prep for a colonoscopy, maybe...

I don't think it should ever be suppressed, but zowie is it fucking awful.

Josh Z

Still have it. It's a dreadful-looking transfer, even before the forced Japanese subtitles over all the songs.

Michael Corvin

Someone here hooked me up with a DVD bootleg probably 10 years ago(probably a LD transfer) and I tried to watch it. Forget racial overtones, Hokey described it best... it's just a colossal fucking bore. Never did make it all the way through it.

Class316

I disagree it's an ok transfer. The DVD I have is copied from that LD.

Why don't you sell it?

Also, if anyone has a DVD with no subs, then it's either

1) copied from VHS

or

2) copied from the Hong Kong LD which in itself is a copy of the UK VHS

Josh Z

Collector's item. Conversation piece.

Mabuse

I've never seen Song of the South in it's entirety, but I've seen the famous Zippity Doo Daa number and most of the animated sequences. The animated sequences are great and the DP was Greg Tolland the same guy who shot Citizen Kane, so I've always wanted to see the live action sequences.