10 Movies & TV Shows You Can No Longer Watch

6. Song Of The South

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Disney

Though Disney have made a massive chunk of their back catalogue, both animated and live-action, available on their Disney+ streaming service, there is perhaps one anomaly above all others which continues to tantalise Disney enthusiasts.

The film, of course, is Song of the South, the 1946 live-action/animated hybrid adaptation of Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus stories, which has been massively controversial for its idealised depictions of post-slavery America and stereotypical depictions of Black people.

As a result of the film's decades-long infamy, it isn't available on Disney+ nor has it ever been released on DVD or Blu-ray. It was, however, released on VHS and LaserDisc in some European and Asian territories as recently as 2000.

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed last year that the film wouldn't be joining Disney+, deeming it "not appropriate in today's world," and while his assessment of the film isn't wrong, there's certainly an argument to be made that it's still a cultural artefact worth preserving.

On one hand you can't really fault Disney for not wanting such a glaring illustration of their own bigoted history to be readily available to children with a few clicks - even with some additional contextual disclaimers - but on the other, it does have value as an historical, academic work.

If you know where to look it isn't terribly difficult to find a bootleg copy ripped from a VHS, but anyone hoping for an official, HD version is basically out of luck.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.