Yet those sequences have quickly become the stuff of suburban myth, like the ''Paul is dead'' rumor from the heyday of the Beatles or the persistent allegations that Procter & Gamble Co.'s moon-and-stars logo symbolizes devil worship.Īs the rumors spread, though, so did a common refrain: Where does this stuff come from? And the three allegedly obscene sequences are hardly crystal clear even using the pause button on a videocassette recorder, viewers may debate whether they exist. The charges were reported around the world TV news shows broadcast the offending snippets in slow motion, among them a scene from The Lion King in which dust supposedly spells out the word ''sex.''ĭisney denies inserting any subliminal messages. Indeed, Disney catapulted into the headlines a few weeks ago on reports that there are subliminal sexual messages in three popular Disney videos: The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, as well as Aladdin. ''It's like a toddler introduction to porn.''īy now, just about everyone has heard the rumors that so shocked Runge. ''I felt as if I had entrusted my kids to pedophiles,'' says the Carthage, New York, homemaker, who promptly threw the videos into the garbage. Until, that is, an acquaintance tipped her off to a startling rumor: The Magic Kingdom was sending obscene subliminal messages through some of its animated family films, including Aladdin, in which the handsome, young title character supposedly murmurs, sotto voce, ''All good teen-agers take off your clothes.'' ''Disney was almost a member of the family,'' she said. that she owned stacks of its animated home videos, a Beauty and the Beast blanket and a Disney diaper bag. It's one of the best investigative pieces we've ever seen on the spread of an urban legend.Īnna Runge, a mother of eight, was so enamored of Walt Disney Co. This article by Lisa Bannon, which appeared in the Wall Street Journal on October 24, 1995, tells the story of how a significant rumor was born. The following is an article from Uncle John's Giant 10th Anniversary Bathroom Reader.
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