Subliminal Messages or Power of Suggestion?

Sex sells.

This is a common idea that many movies, commercials, and advertisements endorse. But has Disney taken it a step too far?

In the past decade, more and more subliminal messages have been "discovered" in Disney movies that are explicitly directed at children. Although Disney has always been an icon of joy and innocence for children, the hidden signs and messages shown in their popular movies have changed a lot of viewers' attitudes toward the company.

One of the most talked about Disney films that is blamed for using subliminal messages is The Lion King. About halfway through the movie, the protagonist, Simba, plops down and a cloud of dust rises above him. As the dust begins to trail off, the various curves and angles appear to form the letters S-E-X.

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Whether Disney purposefully made this scene to "corrupt" young children on a subliminal level is a matter of opinion. The letters seem to only be apparent to those who know what they are supposed to be looking for, while people who are unfamiliar with the rumors rarely make them out. I know that I have seen The Lion King over 10 times, and never once noticed the word "SEX"; but hey, I do tend to be oblivious sometimes!

The Little Mermaid is another Disney classic that has been a topic of discussion regarding subliminal messages. On both the movie cover and promotional posters for the film, there is a phallus-shaped tower in the castle. However, the artist claimed that this was the result of rushed background detailing (Copeland, D, 2003).

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The only Disney movie in which there is clearly, without-a-doubt something wrong is The Rescuers. At the start of the film, the photographic image of a topless woman can be seen at the window of a building in the background in two different, non-consecutive frames. Unlike most rumors of word-images hidden in Disney's animated films, this one is clearly true, and the images were undenibaly inserted into the movie on purpose (Solomon, 1988). 

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However, upon hearing people's outrage, Disney did everything in their power to fix the situation. In January of 1999, Disney announced a recall of the home video version of their animated feature because it contained a "questionable background image" (LA Daily News, 1999).

Disney claimed that the images were not placed in the film by any of their animators, but were inserted during the post-production process. The company decided to recall 3.4 million copies of the video "to keep our promise to families that we can trust and rely on the Disney brand to provide the finest in family entertainment" (Studio History, 1988). 

So, the question arises: Is Disney a corrupt company trying to influence young children to think about sex OR are people influenced by the power of suggestion, seeing things that people want them to see?

Personally, I think that Disney has too much to lose and nothing to gain from inserting sexual subliminal messages into their films. Their entire company is based around families and children; losing this audience would be the demise of their entire empire. Anybody would agree that having a quick laugh is not worth these devastating consequences.