Disney And Conservative Religious Groups
When I was researching my book Forbidden Animation, I was shown a copy of The End Times from North Carolina. According to Joseph Chambers of the Paw Creek Ministries, The Lion King and toys relating to the film are part of a conspiracy to brainwash the youth of America into believing in VOODOOISM! The feature is described as "a picture of a pagan society...acted out in the panorama of idolatry and pagan bondages. The struggle between good and bad is a classic occult picture of black and white magic. Even the relationship of the king and his evil brother draws attention to the pagan suggestion that Jesus and Satan were brothers..." The writer says the appearance of a baboon shaman who used methods used by witch-doctors and the references to the worship of a sun god are further proof for his thesis. He warned that "almost every toy, television series, comic books or items targeted for the young generation is steeped in occult practices and psychic phenomenon." For people wanting more information the publication offered a booklet called Rebuilding The Foundation of Your Home. It "exposes the dangers of The Lion King, Barney, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."

In the eye of the beholder: One group felt The Lion King represented voodooism and paganism; another group saw sex in the sands. © The Walt Disney Company.

The American Family Association (AFA) is a much larger group warning America about the dangers of Disney. When I first read their journal in the late 1990s, it was carrying stories about their protests against Aladdin, Pocahontas and other Disney films. They were upset about images hidden in Disney animated films including a tower on the video tape box of The Little Mermaid (1989) that resembles a phallus. Other phallic looking spires are on the Aladdin video package cover. Let's face the facts, towers are usually considered phallic. They reported that The Lion King (1994) is supposed to have the word "sex" written in the sands of the desert somewhere in the film. They say the word is a subliminal image, so it may not really be there, but they think it is. They also noted that The Little Mermaid has a scene that depicts a priest becoming noticeably aroused while presiding over a wedding.

While I've never seen these shocking images, a Website snopes.com has devoted countless hours searching for them. They have a large Disney section and have issued reports on which legends are true and which are false. Their report called "The Aroused Minister" concludes the bulge in The Little Mermaid is the preacher's knee. If you are not convinced here is what Tom Sito, the animator who drew the scene, says: "I animated the bishop in The Little Mermaid scenes and they are his knees. He's standing on a box that his long robes cover."

The AFA determined that there were hidden sexual images in The Little Mermaid (left) and Pocahontas. © Disney.

The essay on the aroused minister then attacks rumors about subliminal sex messages. They mention that a court case in Arkansas was brought against the studio for including images unsuitable for young children, but it was eventually dropped. Elsewhere on the site they say that the spelling of the word "sex" in a cloud of dust is "ambiguous." The only really naughty images they have found were in Roger Rabbit, which wasn't released as a Disney film (it was a Touchstone release rated PG) and 2 frames of a barely visible topless woman in a moving background shot in The Rescuers. This is a great site and it reports on dozens of myths about Disney not covered in this article.

The AFA's research into naughty things hidden in Disney animated films resulted in a major find that was announced to the world, January 12, 1996, in a press release that read: "DISNEY BLASTED FOR USING THE 'F' WORD IN DONALD DUCK CARTOON." Anybody who can understand what Donald Duck says is an amazing linguist, but the Reverend Donald Wildmon, president of the AFA, says the word is in Clock Cleaners. He didn't believe the story until he listened to the duck's dialogue in the short. Wildmon claims Donald says, "Fuck you" to the clock when it comes to life and begins to taunt him. Wildmon calls this discovery "the latest in a growing list of anti-family incidents by the company that has long been a stalwart of family entertainment." The press release did not bother to say the cartoon was made in 1937 and didn't bother to note that for almost 60 years nobody seemed to have noticed the word in the film. Why? Does anybody really care now except people out to get Disney?