Several urban legends surround Disney's animated feature films and television shows. Perhaps you've heard some of them on the playground when you were a kid. Back then, any juicy rumor was spread like wildfire, true or not. And the Disney stuff was as good as it got. Tales of images of sex and foul language secretly hidden in wholesome Disney films—poisoning the minds of our youth—still persist to this day.
Most of you probably think that an animated Disney movie would never feature nudity. Well, if so, then most of you would be wrong (I include myself in that group). It's been said fore awhile now that a topless woman can be seen in a background shot in The Rescuers. True or false? True of false? Hmm ... TRUE!
In January of 1999, Disney had to recall 3.4 million copies of The Rescuers because someone slipped images of a topless woman into the film. A little under 40 minutes in, Bernard and Bianca are flying through the city on Orville's back. In the window of a building in the background, the photographic image of a topless woman is seen. Now, by "seen," I mean you have to view the film frame by frame, and in doing so, you'd see the image appear in two consecutive frames.
Disney claims that the scenes had been present in the movie from its original theatrical release in the 1970s to the point when the company recalled the videos. Disney also said the images were inserted in post-production, and claimed none of its animators were responsible for them.
It's interesting to note that Disney itself announced the recall prior to anyone really finding out about the images. Cynics suggest it was Disney's way of moving copies off of store shelves due to people wanting to see what the "objectional" material was all about. Of course, if you believe in Disney's mission statement, then you know the recall was merely to protect our children. You trust and rely on Disney to provide the finest in family entertainment. Am I right?
