In a now-infamous scene from 1989’s The Little Mermaid, the evil sea witch Ursula attempts to marry Prince Eric while disguised as a girl named Vanessa. But it was the bishop officiating the ceremony who sparked considerable controversy following the film’s release because he appears to develop an erection as the couple approaches him.
Take a look for yourself below:
A Hidden Detail in ‘The Little Mermaid’ Sparked a Lawsuit, and Disney Eventually Changed It
One viewer was so angry over this perceived phallic imagery that they actually attempted to sue the folks at Disney for being subjected to it. “The depiction of this ‘event’ is visible at regular speed on the home video, but is even more noticeable when viewed in slow motion or frame-by-frame,” read the 1995 complaint. Although the lawsuit eventually got dropped, Disney still digitally altered the sequence for future releases.
However, the film’s creators have always maintained that something totally innocent was going on with the bishop in that scene. “It’s his knees,” Tom Sito, who drew the character, told The Huffington Post in 2015. “The joke was he’s a little man standing on a box and his robes—his big bishop robes—are draped over everything, so they’re covering his whole body,” he continued. “And people are just seeing what they want to see.”
Directors John Musker and Ron Clements confirmed Sito’s story while promoting Moana the following year, calling the whole erection thing a “misunderstanding” and an “urban legend.” “The minister has knobby knees,” said Clements. “He was designed with knobby knees by animator Tom Sito who was not thinking of anything other than this slightly weirdly designed character. That was never the intention.”
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