On January 8, 1999 the Walt Disney Company recalled 3.4
million copies of "The Rescuers" video release due to two
objectionable non-consecutive frames in the 110,000-frame
movie...
On January 8, 1999 the Walt Disney Company recalled 3.4
million copies of "The Rescuers" video release due to two
objectionable non-consecutive frames in the 110,000-frame
movie. The frames in question featured the photographic image
of a naked female in a background image inserted as a gag by
a cameraman when the movie was originally filmed in the 1970s.
The 1992 home video release of the animated film didn't use
the original print and therefore didn't have the objectionable
images. Under ordinary viewing circumstances, the two images
could not be seen since they advance at the rate of 30 frames
per second on video but were clearly visible when
freeze-framed. The incident was rather harmless, and generated
more reaction from the press than from customers. But Disney
needed to keep its promise to families that they can trust and
rely on the Disney brand to provide the finest in family
entertainment. Therefore, Disney immediately announced that
customers who had bought the video since its new release could
exchange it. Brand image control is a constant task, and
Disney has always been very careful about it. However, this is
going to be a much bigger challenge with the corporation's,
and everybody else's, activities on the Internet -- Disney's
Buena Vista Internet Group oversees Web sites that include
ABC.com, Disney.com, ABCNEWS.com, ESPN.com and Family.com.
Disney has developed new means/tools to control this new media.
In October 1999, Larry Shapiro, executive vice president of
business development and operations for Disney's Buena Vista
Internet Group (BVIG), was appointed to the COPA Commission on
Child Online Protection. COPA is tasked with identifying and
studying technological or other methods to reduce and restrict
access to harmful material for minors on the Internet
(AF 10/26/99). This announcement came a little more than a
month after the arrest of Patrick Naughton, executive vice
president of products at Infoseek Corp., the Internet media
site which is part of Disney's Go Network, on September 16,
1999. Naughton was charged with interstate travel with the
intention of having sex with a minor (AF 09/21/99). This
"incident" might have accelerated Disney's move to continue to
secure its brand image as a safe destination for kids,
regardless of the medium.
