Hey everyone, I saw earlier in this thread about a 1988 Disney Channel airing. I have a copy of BLT taped on to VHS (date unknown to me) that I’ve digitized. It still has the original star pasties during the scene with the TV. Does this mean its from that airing or were there other releases that didnt edit that to a bra?
I wish I knew, but that sounds pretty cool if it only came out that way originally in the film fest circuit.
Well, it seems that the censored edit with the bra was only made exclusively to the USA DVD release, while the VHS releases (or at the very least, the 1991 edition) contain the uncensored version with the star pasties. International releases outside of the USA also use the uncensored version, with the exception of Brazil and Japan, which use the same edited NTSC master as the 2003 USA DVD.
Pretty interesting. I know part of this reason was/is due the film technically not being owned by Disney entirely, they just own the rights to select markets to distribute it in.
Just a shame there isn’t a 30th Anniversary BluRay of it already.
From what I read on a “Disney Movie Re-Release” Thread somewhere (been years since I read it; sorry) a member of the production was asked about the slipshod copy on VHS/DVD with the response being that the NTSC DVD was a transfer (with those edits) from the VHS; as someone who watched the HELL outta my childhood copy I can confirm.
Anywho, the theory on said thread was that Disney had no better copy than the 4:3 cropped version that aired on Disney Channel (which was how the distribution deal fell through, btw) and unless another version was found itg would not be seeing any new release.
Also noted was how the (cancer) sequels were not under such problems as they were made in-house (and have been featured on Netflix FTR).
I feel like the only way we would ever get a Anamorphic copy would be if some ex-employee has a print somewhere that can be transfered (like how an Anamorphic preservation of Raggity Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure was done by fans) but considering how the Pappa Mouse has sat on Song of The South, a DMCA would be veeery likely…