General "Did you Know?"s

[CLXcool]

I remember reading about that in a book. That character could explain why there were zoomed in shots in some of the early home video releases of Fantasia(although, I heard the Blu Ray version of the film has the character in it. I dont know if its legit since I haven't seen the blu ray version of Fantasia).

[Hexadecimal*]

I remember reading about that in a book. That character could explain why there were zoomed in shots in some of the early home video releases of Fantasia(although, I heard the Blu Ray version of the film has the character in it. I dont know if its legit since I haven't seen the blu ray version of Fantasia).

If Disney won't release Song of the South in region 1 areas I doubt they'll let Sunflower ever see a DVD release. She was only ever in the original theatrical run from what I've been told.

[CLXcool]

There has been a huge demand for an official release of Song of the South, but Disney isn't paying attention to it since they dont want to be accused for being racist. Speaking of Song of the south. There is a similar movie(although its an adult cartoon and parodies the stereotypes of blacks in general) called Coonskin. The working title of the movie was 'Harlem Nights', but Ralph Bakshi couldn't get that as the name of the film due to Eddie Murphy being part of a movie with that title.

Coonskin has been wildly considered as Ralph Bakshi's masterpiece. Solely for the fact that he managed to dodge the bullet of losing his career as a director. Al Sharpton protested against Coonskin before it was even released. Despite the film getting banned from a complete theatrical release, Coonskin managed to be showcased at film festivals(but was given a different name by the name of Street Fight). In the late 80s to the early 90s Coonskin did receive a VHS release, but was considered rare before Coonskin managed to get on DVD in 2012. And to this day. Ralph Bakshi holds a grudge on Al for banning Coonskin to this very day, as well as abusing the power of the NAACP to get the attention to ban the film after all that hard work that was put into making the film.

[Hexadecimal*]

I bought a bootleg version of Song of the South since I was so desperate to have it. The film is not politically correct, but it's not racist either. It has nothing like the content of the infamous Censored 11 (I have to admit I really liked Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, though). If it weren't a Disney film we would've had no problems getting in on DVD.

I still wonder how many kids ride Splash Mountain and wonder who the characters are.

[CLXcool]

I find it rather hypocritical on Disney's part that they refuse to release Song of the South, but have a ride based off of the film. And a song(that not a whole lot of people know that it comes from Song of the south) that has been known for the film.

[Hexadecimal*]

I find it rather hypocritical on Disney's part that they refuse to release Song of the South, but have a ride based off of the film. And a song(that not a whole lot of people know that it comes from Song of the south) that has been known for the film.

Well it's mainly Uncle Remus being what people call the "Magical Negro" stereotype that's the "problem" with the film. Disney is cool with everyone knowing about the animated characters.

[Hexadecimal*]

Even to this very day the entirety of Pete's Dragon has never been released for home video. When it first premiered in theaters it ran at 134 minutes and received many different cuts as it was re-shown over the years, one version even removing Candle on the Water. The High Flying Edition DVD is the closest Disney's gotten to releasing the whole moving with it clocking in at 129 minutes. There's been many inquiries about it on the internet, but no one can say for certain just what the five minutes of cut footage entails.

Chances are, it's not too big of a deal. 134 minutes is quite long and a few snips of scenes here and there gradually add up. One person claims that the Gogans spoke a little at the beginning before bursting into song, but that's the most information I've been able to gather. I tried to watch for any obvious jumps in the film (which is hard because old films tend to be jerky anyway) and personally I THINK there was a cut in Every Little Piece and the I Swear I Saw a Dragon bar scene.

[Psychospacecow]

I love how I posted something about a Persian/Polish Military Artillery Bear and no one mentions it, but something being censored by Disney starts a conversation.

[frankfrost2]

I love how I posted something about a Persian/Polish Military Artillery Bear and no one mentions it, but something being censored by Disney starts a conversation.

Well, I mean, its a cool bear and all, but Disneys cut movie scenes are more interesting.

[Psychospacecow]

I love how I posted something about a Persian/Polish Military Artillery Bear and no one mentions it, but something being censored by Disney starts a conversation.

Well, I mean, its a cool bear and all, but Disneys cut movie scenes are more interesting.

Oh, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I legitimately found in funny.

[frankfrost2]

I love how I posted something about a Persian/Polish Military Artillery Bear and no one mentions it, but something being censored by Disney starts a conversation.

Well, I mean, its a cool bear and all, but Disneys cut movie scenes are more interesting.

Oh, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I legitimately found in funny.

Oh, all right then. :P

[gamemaster1991]

The aliens from the Animophs book series, the Andalites, were meant to be the original little gray guys that everyone knows about. Scholastic, Thinking more in money than in plot, told K.A. Applegate to make the aliens more original so that if there were ever to be a TV series or Movie, than they could stand out. K.A., being the jackass that she could be when she didn't like something, made the Andalites so different that no one could pull it off successfully, not that Nick didn't try. Speaking of which, K.A. voiced her opinion of the TV show in #48 The Return. In the book, Rachel lists a handful of studios who she's convinced would mess up the morphing, including Nick, which is funny since the special effects where the only good parts of the show (being on par with that of T2 if one critic is to be believed).

I just brought it up to show you my new favorite book cover.

Spoiler

[RepentantSky]

The Cat bus in My Neighbor Totoro is based off of a shape shifting cat in Japanese folklore. Many may believe it was a variation of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland but while Miyazaki does admit to liking that character, he also says he didn't get any influence from it.

The Totoro name came for Miyazaki's own hometown called Tokorozawa. Miyazaki admits, the idea was nothing special.

My Neighbor Totoro was actually a failure at the box office. It wasn't until a year later, when it made it's first Television appearance that it gained in popularity. To celebrate this, Studio Ghibli had a contest where they would give out free Totoro dolls to fans. Since they didn't have e-mail back then, people mailed in to receive these gifts. The total number of letters sent to studio Ghibli isn't known, but it took ten 3 ton trucks to transport them all.

My neighbor Totoro took 15 years from when Miyazaki first started making it to it becoming a movie to happen. He started it off as a manga idea but as it developed he decided he eventually wanted it to be a movie, but thought the timid and innocent nature, as well as characters without superpowers wouldn't be entertaining enough to grasp an audience so he patiently waited until the film had a chance to be successful.

[GameWizard001]

^I had just bought My Neighbor Totoro about a week, week 1/2 ago. I loved it. The sisters were not the typical little girls you see in film but very adventurous and playful. Wanting to discover new things outside and not afraid to either get dirty or go seeking after creepy things like the Dust Sprites. Or that the adults don't tell the kids that the magical things they are seeing isn't real, but that they are lucky to see them and encourages them to keep trying to see them since only children can.

I found it interesting that a movie without any antagonist would still be so enjoyable. It is a movie about 2 girls trying to adjust to a new home while their mother recovers from an illness and the girls worry for her.....oh and some strange Bear/Cat/Something forest spirit lives in the woods outside their house. I have yet to watch a movie Miyazaki makes that I don't enjoy.

Also fun fact: Lea Salonga who voiced the mother in this also did the singing voice for Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and also the singing voice for Mulan.

[Hexadecimal*]

A113 refers to a classroom at CalArts where many Pixar animators went to school. Keep an eye out for it in their films; it tend to pop up very frequently. It also shows up every once in awhile in other Disney films.