Yoo Hoo, Don!
On June 20th '97 you wrote to All:
 DS> If there is anyone out there that can find this Laser-Disc version,
 DS> please contact me. I have been trying to find it and not had any luck.
 DS> My wife's a Disney junkie and I wanted to get it for her for birthday.
Well, good and bad news.  If you try a business called Ken Crane's you
might be able to find this laser disc.  Also try Tower Video.  You can
call 1-800 directory assistance to find their toll free phone numbers in
the US.  What you'll get is a Japanese laser disc of the film with English
spoken/sung and Japanese sub-titles.  Better than nothing.  :-)  This title
is also available on VHS in Europe and Great Britain, but in the PAL format
not NTSC as is the US standard.  You could maybe somehow contact someone
in Europe to buy a copy and ship it to you and have a video service dub
the PAL format to NTSC so you can view it.
Unfortunately, Disney has halted the import into the US of this title,
effective around January of this year.  However, the hot _rumor_ (no
_official_ confirmation from Disney) on Usenet is that SotS will be
released in the US next year with an introduction by James Earl Jones
to put the movie, the era the movie was made, the stories of Uncle
Remus and a buncha stuff into contemporary perspective to stave off
any cries of "racism" or "political correctness" or "stereotyping"
or misconceptions that the characters are portrayed as slaves.  I saw
a post on Usenet's rec.arts.disney.animation that said the poster
heard at a Disney Store that it's "official" that SotS will be released.
However as of a couple of days ago I've seen/heard no confirmation
of that news.  On Usenet sometimes you never can tell when something
is true or not unless a lot of people come to post in confirmation.
If SotS were being released, you'd hear about it f'sure. ;-)
There are lots of folks who have the laser disc who are making
dupications but selling them as "original" tapes for IMHO outrageous
secondary market prices (like around $200 and up), when the Japanese
laser disc sells for something like $40-75 (??? I don't follow laser
disc prices minutely but it's within this price range, I do know).
If you're a patient and investigative sort of man, you can ask around
major video retailers such as Ken Crane's or Tower Video if the title
is still available in their inventory (these two names come up most
frequently on Usenet as a source for this title) or ask at Disney
Stores about the rumor that SotS will be released next year.  If you
are not a patient man and are willing to live a life of adventure
you can try to see what you can get someone in Japan or England/Europe
to send you or if you have Usenet Internet access you can check the
newsgroups rec.arts.disney.parks or alt.disney.collecting.  Let the
buyer beware ;-).  [Moderator's Note:  No buying/selling/trading
on this public echo, please.]
--Carol Koster, Fidonet Disney Echo Co-Moderator
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