I have a letter I would like to send to Disney about releasing Saludos Amigos, Make Mine Music, and Melody Time on Blu-Ray uncensored. I also wanted to request they release an "extended cut" of The Black Cauldron with the 12 missing minutes put back in. I already posted my rough draft on Blu-Ray.com, but I would like to put it up here, as well.
Keep in mind that this is a very rough draft. I'm not yet satisfied with the structure of my sentences and paragraphs yet. If anyone wants to help me out, please let me know.
Dear Disney,
I understand there were a few big edits made to the DVDs of Saludos Amigos, Make Mine Music, and Melody Time.
In Saludos Amigos, the first close-up shot of Goofy in the El Gaucho Goofy segment was edited to remove him smoking a cigarette. The edit also removes a bit of the narrator’s narration. What I do not understand is why Goofy’s cigarette is censored out, when José Carioca is allowed to smoke a cigar in the same movie?
I am aware Saludos Amigos just went through a new digital restoration, and is on the iTunes Store, but unfortunately, it is still censored. I know the movie was released uncensored on the DVD for Walt & El Grupo, but it does not use the newly restored print, so please reconsider the decision to censor the movie when it comes out on Blu-Ray. It is important for kids to know that everyone back then smoked, and the movie is a product of its time.
In Make Mine Music, the entire first segment of the movie, The Martins and the Coys was removed because of “graphic gunplay not suitable for children.” But there are plenty of other Disney movies that have guns used in various ways, like Bambi, and The Fox and the Hound. This whole segment was included in the Region 2 DVD. A minor edit was also made that removed a woman’s breasts in the segment, All the Cats Join In.
In Melody Time, two edits were made in the Pecos Bill segment that removed Bill’s cigarette and the scene of him lassoing a tornado. Because the cigarette was removed, it sometimes looks like Bill is making odd hand and mouth gestures for no apparent reason. They also remove some lyrics from the song playing during the tornado scene. These scenes were unedited in the Region 2 DVD of Melody Time.
For a side-by-side comparison of Pecos Bill on the Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGTQ3aHfeY
I honestly believe that if these edits will be in the eventual Blu-Ray releases of these movies, there will be many people criticizing Disney about them. I know Disney is aware they have a “family friendly” reputation, but I don’t think anyone would complain if they left these scenes uncensored. It’s been almost 15 years since the original DVDs of these movies came out, and I really hope Disney has had a change of heart for the die-hard Disney fans out there. To sum it all up, “Please release the Blu-Rays of the movies uncensored.”
I have read somewhere that The Black Cauldron had 12 minutes of finished animation and music that was cut from the movie before release. I have a feeling that the lost minutes could add a lot to the movie, even if it would make the movie much darker. It would be great if you could release an “extended cut” of The Black Cauldron, as long as it contains a disclaimer saying that this version may not be suitable for children. I am pretty sure the negatives still exist somewhere in the Disney archives.
Here is a cel from one of the missing shots:
For more about this, go to these links:
http://michaelperaza.blogspot.com/2010/09/cauldron-of-chaos-part-3.html
http://kylesanimatedworld.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-original-black-cauldron-can-it.html
Thank you so much!
End.