Why I THINK we're a baby step closer to a legit SotS DVD...

[slappy magoo]

This is PURE SPECULATION/OPINION on my part, so grain of salt and all that...

www.warnerarchive.com

This is a new website that will (supposedly) eventually have every single Warner Brothers movie ever made for download (currently 15 bucks) or a special-ordered DVD delivered to your home (currently 20). This is meant to be the mecca for movies that WB feels don't have the fan base necessary to warrant a wide official DVD release, but there's still SOME level of demand.

Seems to me, if Warner can do it, eventually every major studio, with a deep library of titles unreleased on DVD, can and will do it.

Not only will this give other heretofore unreleased Disney movies a chance to be purchased by those that want 'em, but a movie like Song of the South, an eternal lightning rod of (in my opinion, largely unnecessary) controversy, can be made widely available without Disney having to make a big blowsy DVD, with the usual ginormous marketing campaign releases like that would usually get.

What do you think? And what unreleased Disney classics would you buy when/if Disney gets on the on-demand-DVD bandwagon?

 

[Master Yoda]

I think SotS will remain in the vault for quite some time because of it lightning rod effect that you described. The executives at Disney know that there is a huge demand for this movie and unfortunately an even greater number of misguided sheeple waiting in the wings to pull out the race card regardless if the shelf it sits on is one at Wal-Mart or one in cyberspace. The D23 store has an LE SotS animation cell listed so maybe they are testing the waters to see how much flack awaits them if they release the movie. If it goes largely unnoticed and we see more reasonable priced items hit the regular Disney store and if they to slip under the radar then I will start to expect a DVD release of the movie.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

It's an interesting idea. Maybe I'm hopelessly naive, but I just don't see a mountain of protests foaming up if they ever go with a full release on DVD.

Warner Bros. has been putting all of their old cartoons on DVD, with some explanatory lead-in material laying out the "times change" spiel, for a while now. Nobody's made any noise about it, as far as I can tell...and the stuff that studio put out ("Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips," "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs") was far more explicit in playing up racial stereotypes than Song of the South.

But as far as this topic goes...if they think they can avoid a little negative PR by going this route instead of a full release, so be it.