The absolute scandal at the time of the original Little Mermaid movie cover!

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MsBlondeViking@reddit

This wasn’t the only thing hidden in this movie. The priest that marries them, he had an obvious erection in a few of the shots. The video store I frequented as a teen had the copy. Two of my friends ran the store and showed anyone and everyone they knew lol

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tgrofire@reddit

The Lion King and Aladdin also had sexual easter eggs. Blew my mind as a tween!

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Acrobatic_Ad7061@reddit

I’m from Sweden and I can’t see anything wrong or strange? What are you talking about, is this a US thing?

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Suitable-Peanut@reddit

Apparently one of the golden towers in the background looks like a penis

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Acrobatic_Ad7061@reddit

Eh.. ok..

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sjp1980@reddit

I remember there being an issue but I can't figure out what the problem is with the cover either. Not a clue but I assume something 'adult'.

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Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit

Disney insists to this day that Aladdin said, “Good kitty…take off and go!” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=64BAeTdmyQo&pp=ygUWYWxhZGRpbiBnb29kIHRlZW5hZ2Vyc9IHCQmyCQGHKiGM7w%3D%3D

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TopLife644@reddit

For anyone unfamiliar, its sounds like "take off your cloths" in creepy whispered voice. Or at leeast that was the urban legend at the time.

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Distinct-Banana-7937@reddit

It did say that. I remember rewinding and turning the volume up and "take off your clothes" was DEFINITELY whispered.

Also in Lion King when adult Simba flops down on a grassy hill, the stuff that blows up spells sex for a split second.

Sounds nuts, and if I hadn't seen and heard these for myself, I wouldn't believe it.

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katieclooney@reddit

It does sound like it! Jack up the audio on the vhs.

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gamblinonme@reddit

Good god, I missed this drama. Wtf is looking at a poster that hard?

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Intangiblehands@reddit

Some random Karen in the 90s.... Quite literally went back to the store and demanded they remove all the little mermaid VHS tapes. News picked it up and it was downhill from there.

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puma_pantss@reddit

I still have this on VHS. if Ebay is to be believed, I'm sitting on trillions of dollars.

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Ol_Man_J@reddit

https://www.ebay.com/itm/277115798619 or tens of dollars?

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EmeraldHawk@reddit

The full story from the guy who drew it was posted here several months ago, and it's a great read. Really interesting history about how Disney contracts out these jobs:

https://13thdimension.com/the-complete-uncensored-truth-behind-the-infamous-disney-little-mermaid-scandal/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR29oCalOAcYXXNFZX7UBwxkczvLp8P9IqpWdi0FWl4ZXt0QcIye03-D-2Y_aem_cz1dh-BS_1pAHrSBk6ijKA

Spoiler: >!It was not on purpose.!<

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CoffeePieAndHobbits@reddit

Interesting read. I did not know the full history. Thanks for sharing the libk!

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lexxatron84@reddit

The fact the company in question has a long history of being extremely litigious aside - it was still enough to be edited out of all future releases.

Being an 80s kid who still remembers seeing it in theaters during its original run (yea I’m that old) I was also fortunate enough to meet Pat Carroll a year later (she was every bit as delightful as you’d expect) during a performance of Peter and the Wolf and I’m a huge champion of Alan Menken (RIP) - I choose to continue to see it at face value: a great act of rebellion against the House of Mouse.

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UndisturbedInquiry@reddit

Alan Menken is still around. You might be thinking of Howard Ashman. Those 2 together gave us the Disney renaissance.

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Gsquat@reddit

That's actually not quite the original.

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brieflifetime@reddit

You mean they didn't have a few different designs for different things like VHS covers and posters?! Weird! That's very not typical for the time to have 3-5 variations for different things to advertise and push out for purchases.

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toucanstubz@reddit

WITH-A TEETH-AAAA

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firenamedgabe@reddit

gif

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Myfourcats1@reddit

I have the original too. I got rid of all my vhs except that one.

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Cael_NaMaor@reddit

Still no more penile than the others. Somebody somewhere was needing to get laid....

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sed2017@reddit

gif

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_Face@reddit

gif

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Cael_NaMaor@reddit

https://i.redd.it/sv9bky8adf5f1.gif

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ferociouswhimper@reddit

I believe the poster was the original. The artist was asked to make a VHS cover that looked like the poster, but he was super rushed. The details weren't as refined and the castle peaks ended up looking like penises (unintentionally!).

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Gsquat@reddit

Yeah right. "Unintentional" is not Disney's track record.

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Defiant_Cookie_4963@reddit (OP)

Still has the penis though! 🤣

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GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit

Looking back, it said sooo much about the adults who freaked out about this at the time.

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Bushwazi@reddit

I don’t recall anyone freaking out..I recall teenage boys giggling.

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GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit

The supposed phallic imagery on the cover cover caused a lot of controversy and many people believed Disney put the image there on purpose.

Yes, parents complained.

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Anjapayge@reddit

My MIL has mentioned to me several times that she has this VHS. It’s one of her stories that is shared repeatedly.

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AbbreviationsBorn276@reddit

I bunked school once to go to the library to watch this on a video.

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Chaserjim@reddit

It’s a dick on a box

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LateEvening6026@reddit

I have it in the VHS case!!!

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Antron_RS@reddit

“There’s a chance you’re gonna get a dick”

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Nadathug@reddit

Where you going? Here us out

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PercentageRoutine310@reddit

I see it. What a pederast.

https://i.redd.it/zv1hisd4of5f1.gif

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KnownNormie@reddit

Dri should take some Midol for his cramps

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anOvenofWitches@reddit

This is a great reminder that the US was founded by Puritans and the rest of the table laughs at us for this. I say this as an American Xennial.

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murph0969@reddit

Brought my sister's VHS copy into my AP Chemistry class to watch after we took the AP Exam (1999... I got a 4 if you're curious) and Ms. Doerr didn't believe that the priest popped a woody in the wedding scene on the boat. She was a believer by the end of the block...

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JadieRose@reddit

I love the look on Ariel’s face like this douchenozzle of a dude just won’t stop hitting on her and she really wants him to take a hint

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AerwynFlynn@reddit

We still have that poster! Lol. It’s been up since I was a kid. It was my favorite movie.

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lazyMarthaStewart@reddit

At the bottom of the poster..... are those maybe future Nemo characters?? Disney always slid in little nods to future projects.

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BrashPop@reddit

It’s random fish. From a movie about the sea. A full decade before planning for Finding Nemo even started in development.

Seems… unlikely.

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