Song Of The South - many projects, much info & discussion thread (Released) — Page 33

RowMan said:

jerryshadoe said:

Is this a hoax: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPER-RARE-Walt-Disneys-Song-of-the-South-JAPANESE-VHS-NTSC-Free-Shipping-/120988966852?

if not, would it be a good color reference? considering buying this but still unsure

 

It is indeed a legitimate release. I worked in a local video store back in the day that actually rented it as well as the Japanese laserdisc.

The labels and cover in the photos do not look like copies and it has the custom clamshell case used with many Disney Japanese VHS releases.

Does anyone know about this one?

http://youtu.be/01jnFkJBugA

Claims to be a rare NTSC VHS screening copy. The quality looks fairly good (considering it's VHS).

 First of all, thanx to everyone's input on that copy of the movie. I have decided that it in fact was too much for the movie.

The reason I am quoting that message is the youtube video there. WOW!!! If its real, then WOW. Am doing research to see if there is any reference online to that copy anywhere else and haven't found anything yet and will continue to look. However, I have sent a message to the poster, asking him/her if there is any possibility of sharing a rip of the tape for reference. Explained and linked this thread a little bit in the message stating I am not part of the project but merely an observer which was wondering if that copy could be shared for reference. Would be great to have it (assuming that there are no issues with the copy) as opposed to the PAL vhs tape or the any of the LD releases. Ah, there were issues with the BBC transfer as well, so this would be a great reference. If I hear anything, I will post updates here ;)

Perhaps one of you involved in the project would also like to contact said poster to give my message more validity and hopefully a chance at seeing that amazing tape (looked nice on youtube) ;)

Well, it's been a couple of weeks and I never heard from that person on youtube. Damn shame :( On the bright side, I have attained two "new" (they are to me) copies of the movie, which I had some questions about. Whenever there are references to sources for the movie there is always mention of the Japanese releases (both VHS and LD) and then to the UK PAL VHS tape, however there is never any mention of the other VHS releases. I have discovered that the movie was also released in German, Italian, Spanish, and French (this one is of particular interest to me as it's NOT a PAL transfer.)

After much searching all over the internet, I have acquired VHSrips of the German PAL VHS release (circa 1991 like the UK release) which is in a very nice 1.8GB xvid file and a French SECAM VHS release (circa 1981) which is in an ok 1.2GB mp4 file.

I don't speak either language, but was curious to see if the transfer suffered from the same issues as the UK VHS release. Does anyone know whether the German release used the same video as the UK release? I am leaning towards yes, due to the fact that most of the title cards are still in English in beginning of movie (where the cast names are, as I'll illustrate in screencaps below) However, what about the French release. It's NOT PAL, but SECAM, so whole different transfer process (was the SECAM copy from the UK PAL transfer or from original NTSC transfer?) I am wondering if the French SECAM VHS might be a good frame reference and am willing to share these two releases with anyone that wants them (just shoot me a PM)

here are six screencaps that I took, demonstrating alternate language versions:

1) The "Walt Disney Presents" title card (French left-German right)

2) The "Song of the South" translated title cards

3) Entire "book" with title of movie title card (looks like they got lazy on the German release as the whole bottom half is missing, unlike the French release)

4) the "starring" title card (notice that ONLY the French one is translated)

5) Introduction title card

6) "The End" title card (notice, again, that ONLY French one is translated)

I really think that the German release might be using same transfer as the UK release, but that French one might be promising for a copy with a proper transfer. Anyone have any input on this please?

You just need to look for frame blending, no?

jerryshadoe said:

I don't speak either language, but was curious to see if the transfer suffered from the same issues as the UK VHS release. Does anyone know whether the German release used the same video as the UK release?

 Hi jerryshadoe

I'm from Austria, almost Germany. I have the german video too. When I was a child late 70s early 80s, we had a cinema across the street which played Disney double features every Saturday late in the morning. One of our bi-monthly highlights where either Pete's Dragon/Song of the South or Bedknobs and Broomsticks/Song of the South. So I've seen the movie plenty times in my youth. Over the years it played a lot on TV too, last time in 2001 before it was "banned" and forbidden to be shown internationally too. I can't be 100% sure but I'm pretty sure that the German video comes from the German TV version source from the late 80s because they look identical. I'm almost certain- also many years have gone by- that it's identical to the old cinema version too - at least the one used for the reruns. It's not uncommen that german versions of foreign real-life movies don't change the cast cards. Most of the time only the title cards were changed. Animated movies are a different subject - cause of the dubing actors.  Hope that helps a bit.

Is the Brer edition the best transfer of the film right now in terms of picture quality and sharpness? Is it sourced from the BBC airing?

jade88 said:

Is the Brer edition the best transfer of the film right now in terms of picture quality and sharpness? Is it sourced from the BBC airing?

 To the best of my knowledge, until the 16mm/35mm (not sure which one) preservation gets completed, yes the Brer' edition is the best one and yes it is sourced from the BBC airing that was capped by Mentor back in 2006 (if I remember correctly as far as year is concerned)

According to the info on the other forum (amps) there was an issue with some part giving out in the equipment and it would be a moment before that member has the money to replace the parts. Once that's done, there are some other projects that need finishing before Song of the South is converted.

The 16mm has been scanned in full. The 35mm has been scanned, but on an inferior scanner. While we have requested the 35mm, there has been no response on the other end. As far as release, we are not sure what the future will bring...

I hope we see some of those screenshots soon ;)

This is one we have all been waiting for, for a long time (so I guess we can wait longer, but I'm sure I don't speak just for myself when I say we are anxious to see this movie properly)

Damn shame that Disney "dropped the ball" on this, just like they have done with numerous other films and tv shows (especially their stuff from the late 80s-early 90s)

This question is more rhetorical than anything else, but why oh why would they let so much of their great material go to sh*t?! Thankfully there are people (such as, here, on this forum) that see the need in preserving things that studios have ignored. And since I don't want to be just an observer, I too, have taken up some projects that studios have ignored.

And this "Song of the South" project is a wonderful en devour and will be a treat to all of us, especially if the release ends up being in HD (even if only 720p) On that note, with some of the talent I have seen from "fans" on this forum, I am wondering why some of you don't do these things professionally.  AND, on the other hand, I understand why that doesn't matter to some as then their "creative genius" would be wasted on corporate interests, LOL

I'm rambling now, sorry... Again, thanx2ALL involved in making this happened and we can't wait2see the results ;)

Just want to chime in on this. appreciate everybody who is involved with this project right now. I also live in New Jersey- the freehold area so i had to create and account and say hello. First time I ever watched this movie my parents had taken us for a family vacation for 3 weeks in the UK in 2000. We had bought the PAL VHS (which we still have) and watched it probably one a day for the trip as coming back home we couldnt watch it. Since then we have been in search of an amazing copy of this movie, especially with my grandparents, as they used to go to the drive-ins to see this movie. Looking forward to the 16mm and the 35mm releases of this movie =)

Not to be off topic, but do you guys realise this thread/topic has been around almost as long as "How I Met your Mother" which ends tonight!!!

alienbiker99 said:

Just want to chime in on this. appreciate everybody who is involved with this project right now. I also live in New Jersey- the freehold area so i had to create and account and say hello. First time I ever watched this movie my parents had taken us for a family vacation for 3 weeks in the UK in 2000. We had bought the PAL VHS (which we still have) and watched it probably one a day for the trip as coming back home we couldnt watch it. Since then we have been in search of an amazing copy of this movie, especially with my grandparents, as they used to go to the drive-ins to see this movie. Looking forward to the 16mm and the 35mm releases of this movie =)

 I'm in Chery Hill ! :)

I sure hope to see this project come to fruition! Any idea where I might donate to get the HD video?

Has anyone considered the excerpt of SotS that's in One Hour in Wonderland as good color reference? That's the closest thing we have to an official release in the digital age- it's available on the Alice in Wonderland DVD and Blu-ray.

I DL'd the remastered 2006 BBC version off TPB and it is pretty good. Many thanks to whoever did the PAL to NTSC conversion and titles. I will be giving it to several folks who live near Eatonton, GA so they will be thrilled.

A 1080p version from film would be even better, so cheers to Poita and all the other folks involved!

An HD transfer of this would be to die for. I still watch the BBC broadcast of the film from time to time. I love it. Thanks to all who did work on that many years ago :)

Monroville said:

There is a 1080p wmv on MySpleen now:

Song of the South 16mm 1080p v1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song of the South - 16mm LUT Scan, 1080p Release (version 1)

Welcome to part 1/3 of our Song of the South Christmas Release!

This is the 16mm scan, performed with an LUT and slightly color corrected.

Format : 1080p WMV ( 4.04 GB)
      VIDEO: 1080p downscale from Raw scan
      AUDIO: BBC Television Broadcast

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minor cleanup with some color correction has been done. This print was scanned nearly two years ago,
but for the holiday season we wanted to make it available to the general public. This 16mm scan is rough,
with a fair amount of damage, but we believe it should be just as available as the other prints.

Originally, the small team working on this had considered waiting for cleanup to be completed before release.
However, due in large part to the cleanup coming to a virtual halt (with other scanning projects taking
precedence over a clean-up job) we feel that now is the time.

We will be releasing the Raw data in the future, if anyone is interested.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ^