Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508310091
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Newport News Daily Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
It's one thing for Walt Disney to squeeze the not-so-little mermaid into a barely-there bikini. It's OK for them to transform 12-year-old Pocahontas into a Victoria's Secret model.
But for them to sneak a sexscene into ``The Lion King,'' a film adored by children around the world - well, for some people that's a bit much.
``It's just appalling for them to do that,'' said Tracey Casale of the Stafford-based American Life League. ``To put a sexual message, no matter how subtle, in what's supposed to be a family movie, negates everything they claim to be.''
Casale's organization is demanding a public ... wait, wait, wait. You didn't notice the sex scene? Well, fire up the VCR and prepare to hit rewind. The image lasts only a split-second and you've got to look closely. It also helps to tilt your head a little to the left and stand back from the screen.
Here's where to look:
About halfway through the film, Simba, the hero of the story, is rolling around laughing with his buddies Pumbaa and Timon. He gets up, walks to the edge of a cliff and plops down on the ground. A cloud of dust rises above him and swirls into the air. Then the dust trails off to the left of the screen forming, it seems, the letters S-E-X.
It's ephemeral, and one letter dissolves before the next one is fully formed. But it sure looks like ``sex'' is spelled out, and that's enough to prompt the American Life League, a conservative Christian group, to demand a public apology and request an expensive remedy.
``What we'd really like,'' said Casale, ``is for Disney to remove the movies [from video stores] and edit them.''
The organization says it first heard about the fleeting message in July when a Louisiana woman called to say her 4-year-old nephew spotted it while watching the film. The group's staff members viewed the video, saw the same thing and began encouraging readers of their newsletter to call or write Walt Disney Co. with their complaints.
At the time, the league was already encouraging a Disney boycott over the film ``Priest,'' a controversial drama about the priesthood released by a Disney subsidiary. ``The Lion King'' incident, said Casale, ``just added fuel to the fire.''
``Parents should know about this,'' she said. The company ``should be held accountable.'' Despite a series of calls to several offices, Disney officials were unable Wednesday to find anyone to talk about the charge.
Animation experts, meanwhile, say it's not unheard of for artists to draw in secret messages or inside jokes when working on cartoons or animated features. It breaks up the long hours of the work and allows an otherwise anonymous artist to leave his signature on the final product.
by CNB