The Urban Legends & Subliminal Messages of

I'm sure we've all heard and talked about (and have maybe even seen) the infamous sexually-related scenes which have alledgedly sneaked their way into various Walt Disney cartoons. Since I had only seen a few of them with my own eyes, I decided to take it upon myself to find still images of these scenes and show them to my fellow bloggers on MindSay, as well as post a few notable comments about each that I found from various sites.

And so, I present to you the urban legends and subliminal messages of Walt Disney cartoons:

The Rescuers

I actually remember my dad coming home one day, years ago, with a copy of The Rescuers (one of my least favorite Disney cartoons). He popped it into the VCR and fast forwarded to a scene where Bernard and Bainca are flying through the city on the bird. It took him a few tries, but when he finally paused at the right spot, you could see a real cropped photograph placed into the background in one of the animated building's windows. The picture was of a topless model.

It seems that someone at Disney had had a little fun. Disney quickly recalled the version of the film... But of course, we still own it for kicks. ;-)

The Little Mermaid

When I was younger and The Little Mermaid first came out on video, I can remember friends of mine telling me to look carefully at the cover of the tape. One of the towers looks like a penis. Snopes.com (a website dedicated to urban legends) talked to the actual artist who drew the cover and the artist apparently fully intended for the tower to look like a penis, although when he had finished the cover, he realized that it was actually a bit too obvious. The artwork was sent for approval with the assumption that some changes would be required, but no such request was ever made and so the cover was released with a not-very-hidden phallus on it.

Also, there is some suggestion that in the scene where Eric and Ursula are about to get married, the priest has an erection. However, there is equally as much suggestion that in fact what can be seen is merely his knee. 

Erection?

 
Or knee?

The Lion King

This subliminal message caused some parents to boycott the movie's video sales, demanding the film be taken off the shelves because of it's sexual message. In the scene where Simba watches his father die, the word “SEX” is briefly formed in the clouds above his head. Some observers think that the hidden word is actually the letters “SFX”, referring to Disney's Special Effects department. Perhaps those artists are still having their underground revolution.

Aladdin

A few months ago, my sister and I decided to watch this favorite of ours.  After watching a particular scene, and rewinding it several times, we were convinced we had heard Aladdin say, "Come on kids, take of your clothes."

It occured in the scene in which Aladdin, disguised as Prince Ali, flies up to Jasmine's balcony on his magic carpet to convince her that he is not just another self-absorbed, empty-headed prince. When Aladdin steps onto the balcony, Jasmine's tiger Rajah threatens him and backs him up against the railing. As Rajah growls, Aladdin tries to shoo him away with his turban and then supposedly whispers, "Good teenagers, take off your clothes."

Apparently the mistake occured during editing. Disney stated that the script had the line as "C'mon . . . good kitty. Take off and go." However, closed captioning says, "Good Kitty. Take off." A close listening to the audio track, Snopes.com says, reveals Aladdin speaking the words "C'mon . . . good kitty," and just as Aladdin says the word "kitty," a second voice begins to whisper, "Pssst . . . take off your clo . . ." Who this second voice is, and exactly what he says, is a mystery. There is no other character in the scene who could have said it. You can listen to the actual line here.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

This time, there is a distinctly "Basic Instinct" type shot when Jessica Rabbit bounces out a Taxi - it only lasts for two frames.