We just ordered a "remastered" DVD off the internet. Yes, you can get a copy if you really look around. I was told long ago that it was available overseas so I asked my brother (while traveling) to look into getting a copy. Easier said than done.
We just ordered a "remastered" DVD off the internet. Yes, you can get a copy if you really look around. I was told long ago that it was available overseas so I asked my brother (while traveling) to look into getting a copy. Easier said than done.
The film version we received was the complete movie along with some extras. I could not be sure that it was officially sanctioned by Disney and it did not have the common Disney intro - but the included theatrical trailers did.
We visited Magic Kingdom in Orlando some years ago. My oldest son noted that every ride had a strong alignment with a Disney classic animation and could not place Splash Mountain - which is a great ride with all the characters from this film. I had seen the film many years before as a child, so this ride was particularly rich for me. But for him - it was lost - the little animals running around us were meaningless and childish - although perfectly executed. I spoke of the film as we were moving through the ride and he felt like he'd really missed something. How was I to know that finding a copy of it would be so difficult?
In most modern films, the dynamics would play on the suspicions between the cultural leaders players. We'd see dark machinery and legal actions certainly darker content in the dialogue. This entire film is lighthearted and celebrates the innocence of youth and the wisdom of the elderly while still honoring parents everyone is trying to do the best for the boy. With the exception of two brothers that are malcontents no matter what even here we see the elderly man equipping the boy with tools to deal with a harsh situation.
The people who made this film took the high road and depicted multi-faceted cultural relationships in a way that in today's films would be hollow and shallow - but would also be diametrically different in depiction and outcome.
This is masterful storytelling - simply done. We are rooting for everyone by the end of the story because everyone wants the best for the kid and nobody questions their motives otherwise. You don't often find this kind of power in modern scripts - especially scripts that are this simple and straightforward - there is no pretense or "agenda" machinery - it's not trying to make a case, make a point, offer an agenda or prove anything - it's just a story about love - a song and a summer in a place that a child should and would never forget.
In the end of the film, the children have all embraced and immersed into the wonderful world created by Uncle Remus. They are happy, singing and engaging each other in a picture of healthy fun, clean, crisp air surrounded by a harmless, healthy and exciting environment. The kids actually "see" B'rer Rabbit and the Blue Bird. In today's films - Remus would be under investigation by the FBI for creating a personality cult and roping impressionable kids into a fantasy existence, a Pied-Piper-like following that encourages irresponsibility and denial of reality.
I've noted that a lot of modern films like to make their settings in the far past - half a century or more - so they can tell their story without it being lost in a modern cultural quagmire. Movies set in today's time frame are often high-CGI action/body/count movies - culture is not on the radar because James Bond's underwater submarine is on the sonar and we give the main character a pass if he is politically incorrect with anyone because harsh language is a form of mercy when his tendency is to spray bullets instead.
Short answer to everyone - lighten up. Accept it in the spirit within which it was intended - enjoy the movie - it's one of Disney's best works and a jewel in America's cultural crown.
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