Top 5 Disney Controversies

By Tyler Esposito

TOP FIVE DISNEY CONTROVERSIES Over the years (especially beginning with the Disney renaissance of the early 90's) people have been reporting obscene and inappropriate material hidden within several Disney films. Most of these accusations came from kids who would watch these movies over and over again on VHS. How the kids would even understand such content is beyond me, but lets have a look. 5. "Good Teenagers, Take Off Your Clothes!" From: Aladdin (1993) With a genie and a magic lamp, it's hard to imagine a teenage boy not wanting some hooters. Even the folks at Disney knew this, or so they say. According to an indistinguishable line of dialog and a couple of dirty minds, Prince Ali Ababwa wants "good teenagers" to "take off their clothes!" Have a listen for yourself! 4. "Nude woman in The Rescuers" From: The Rescuers (1977) It will take more than a team of good natured mice to rescue this film from the chopping block. Disney got a lot of flack from this film when a 1999 home video release contained a subliminal message. Apparently, during a high speed chase sequence, the image of a topless woman appears in the background for a split second. We'll let you be the judge. 3. "Phallic image on VHS cover" From: The Little Mermaid (1989) Whoever designed this undersea castle was probably a spokesman for Viagra. If you look closely at the artwork on the VHS release of this Disney classic, a phallic type structure is clearly seen in a portion of the castle. Disney claims that it was a mistake. They did not intend the image to resemble a phallus. Sure. 2. "Baby Herman flips the bird" From: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) In the opening scene of this critically acclaimed marriage of live action and animation, Baby Herman allegedly sticks his middle finger up a woman's dress. The discovery of this frame of animation resulted in many more accusations, including a racist Donald Duck remark, a nude frame of Jessica Rabbit, a dirty message written on the bathroom wall in Toon Town, and drawings of people being murdered on a train. Sounds like these animators wanted to make a different kind of film. 1. "S-E-X" From: The Lion King (1994) One of the most infamous Disney urban legends is the appearance of the word "sex" in a scene from The Lion King. Most of this story's public awareness comes from the fact that The Lion King is Disney's most popular film. Some claim it's just a message from the special effects team (S-F-X), but the more perverted viewers see the letters (S-E-X). What do you see?

It's interesting to note that all of these accusations occured within roughly the same decade. Disney has not been in hot water over such issues for a long time now, but don't write them off yet.