Ratatouille: $109 mil and only a 35% drop in box office from the previous weekend, with no marketing campaign (cause they don't know how to market it), no WalMart tie-ins, no trip to France, no cooking school promo, and minimal advertising for a summer picture.

Will the target market for HSM spend a half hour turning up the speakers and replaying a boring promo in the hopes of hearing a dirty word? One they hear at school every day for free with no rewinding necessary? (Yes, they even hear it at the proper school your angelic child goes to. They also talk about sex and drugs there.) Most dvds already have the disclaimer that the extras are unrated. If a parent is concerned, I'm sure Disney Co will refund their money. This just isn't the same thing as nudity in an animated cartoon sold to and for children. Some lawyer could bring a civil suit, but it's completely frivolous. Play the old standard, "that's not what the actors said...the actors are screaming 'truck yeah' "

I guess I'm just one of those folks who thinks it's just a word, and not a particularly harmful word at that.  Sure, it is considered an obscenity.  But (as curmudgeon pointed out) this is a word that kids could hear at school.  Or at home.  Or in the mall.  Or on the street.  Or on TV.  Even in some PG-13 movies.  It isn't hate speech.  It's...a word.  A word with many meanings, sure, but still...just a word.  As far as I'm concerned, it's much ado about nothing.

On an entirely different note, I once heard that Brad Bird made it so that Ratatouille would be critic-proof.  I wonder what the story was there...

Honestly, my first reaction was to laugh, just because of the way Disney company has put so may eggs into the HSM basket.

But, I don't think this will be that big of a deal.

First off, if the word is so inaudible, hopefully most people won't care.

Also, as far as I understand the article, this wasn't one of the film's stars or anything. I wouldn't think this would cause a major backlash, but you never know what someone will latch on to..

Hey Jim, a great second weekend for Ratatouille (only a 38% drop) and that doesn't merit an article?  

Must be too positive.  

makes me wonder how many people would even hear the word or would have even heard about it if someone like Jim would not make such a big deal about it.

If anything the only reason people will know about this is if the media reads jim's article or gets a call by someone and is told about it just so that they later could report it and have something interesting to dish out on a boring news day.

and Ratatouille over 109+ million  in 10 days.  At this pace within the month it should easily reach CARS numbers which had 117 in ten days. I also have a strong feeling that the international numbers might even be higher than CARS.  Ratatouille still has not been released in any big foreign market and already has garnered over 5 million in small markets like russia, brazil and Uraguay.

Ratatouille's results for the weekend are still estimates and not final yet. Jim is probably waiting for the real numbers to come in before commenting on them.

I honestly cannot believe that Jim thought this story was newsworthy enough to write an entire article on it. Oooooooooooooooooooh .... someone said a bad word!!! Whatever shall we do???

First off, this is HIGH SCHOOL Musical, not ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Musical. I'd be very surprised if there was one high-schooler in the entire world who didn't know the effword. Second, if it's barely audible anyway, who's gonna know?? That is, unless people like Jim write big stories about it.

Also ... if anyone actually sees a topless chick in that window in the Rescuers frame, you've got better eyesight than my LASIK-corrected 20-20!! It looks like a purple blob to me.

WDWTITAN24: "Honestly, my first reaction was to laugh, just because of the way Disney company has put so may eggs into the HSM basket."

My laugh would have to come out like "Muhahahahahaahaaa," admittedly.

WDWacky, someone has kindly placed a black box over the appropriate spot in the image. You can read more about that image, and see the uncensored one, here.

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/rescuers.htm#zoom

I thought when I saw it that it was a painting, actually. Very small and grainy. Done with that now. Yeugh.

Too bad it wasn't a two-disc set. Perhaps it would have been possible for the Mouse to edit the content, make tens of thousand more discs of bonus features and send them out? ;)

I'm sorry, but each time I read something about High School Musical on any Disney website, all I ever have to say is..."Who cares?"

I realize it's a big Disney franchise, and as a fan of the Walt Disney Company I should care...but I just don't care.

I guess I'm 38 years old and I'm not in-touch with the young audience, but I teach Middle School and High School and I'm pretty exposed to what they're into and ...I still really don't care!

I guess Jim has to report it. It's company news. I just find it the furthest thing from my mind when I think of Disney.

Was bringing Ratatouille up in the comments really necessary?  People here complain every time Jim writes an article about Pixar, but mentioning it here again and again sure as heck won't make him write any less.

*sigh*

Now that that's out of the way...isn't it pretty much standard to throw a "Bonus features not rated" line somewhere on the back of most DVD boxes?  If it's on the package, then Disney is probably in the clear, especially since it sounds like this is anything but a blatantly obvious use of the word.

Anyone have the DVD handy that would be willing to check what the legal text says?

Changeling said:

"WDWacky, someone has kindly placed a black box over the appropriate spot in the image. You can read more about that image, and see the uncensored one, here."

Oh my God, are you serious??? What I want to know is what derranged moron actually spent enough time analyzing this film frame by frame to come up with that! Even knowing it was there and staring it took me a good 10-15 seconds to finally see the woman!

Losers .....

Swearing on the one of the DVD bonus sections? I'd just leave it alone. 50 years ago it would have been a big deal. Not anymore. It would cost millions of dollars to fix and that's money that can be better spent elsewhere. Plus you got the fact that many people may not even watch that section of the DVD. It the flub happened during the concert then yeah go ahead and recall it. But it didn't so don't worry about it. That's my two cents worth.

Just love it as it is. No point of making a big deal about it, that would just draw attention to it. And if it's hardly recognizable, why bother..

Uhmm.. Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) becoming Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE).. So, WDSHE will *only* be distributing Walt Disney Pictures films, and Touchstone & Miramax Home Entertainment will come back (in full capacity)? Because, I couldn't imagen an R-rated Hollywood Pictures horror baring the name "Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DVD"..

(Love?! Leave, of course..)

Disney should simply offer a refund to those few parents who might be so offput by the F-bomb in the bonus DVD material. I think most people will be forgiving, especially if it's hard to hear and featured in "unrated" bonus material. Still, I understand Disney's dilemma. Confess and apologize to that .02 percent who might be irked. No need for an expensive recall, unless the story gets so much attention that Wal-Mart and others are demanding action.

It's certain that most kids (especially at the high school level) hear and use the F-word on a fairly regular and consistent basis. Heck, I've heard preschoolers use the F-word in addressing their parents ... ever seen Super Nanny? I agree the context and use of the word in the bonus material here isn't all that disconcerting and certainly not directed as a slur against some individual. I find attack speech far more offensive.

All this is a bit silly, but I can understand the concern.

Still, I'd argue that parents often don't pay close attention to song lyrics or things their children are watching or hearing. For example, the film and soundtrack for "Grease" was a big deal when I was in high school ... and I remember our pep squad doing routines to "Greased Lightning," which features some pretty graphic language.

If I had been an adult at the time, especially the coach of the pep squad, I doubt I would have approved the "Greased Lightning" number. As a student back then, I felt like we were in on a joke that went over the head of many adults who simply looked at John Travolta/Olivia Newton John/PG rating as safe and wholesome.

You wanted an "EXTREME Access Pass"?  Well, you got it!

I just don't understand how High School Musical is popular... It's just... terrible. I understand its my own opinion... but... I'm sorry but all Disney Channel movies are just.... so fake and .... kinda gay.

That and the 20-30 year olds playing high school kids on shows at CW... ugh ...

Also, the F word is just a word. High school students say it all the time and its okay... the world is not going to end and Disney will not fall apart because of it.

Disney Channel movies don't seem to be expensive productions, so there's gotta be lower expectations there.

while it's interesting to know that the f-word is muttered on the DVD, aren't you just adding fuel to the fire? who knows how many people read this article, but those people will probably try to obtain a copy of the DVD and hear for themselves. if they hear it, then they'll no doubt tell someone else. who will tell someone else.

so soon this will become known to whole lot of people who previously may not have known about it. a hoopla could be started about it a la Little Mermaid VHS cases and Rescuers VHS, prompting Disney to recall the DVD.

and it all might be in part due to to you.

Generally, extras on a DVD are noted as "unrated". Not having seen the cover of the above mentioned DVD, as long as it indicates that additonal content is unrated, this should not be a problem, and therefore a non story.

Most DVDs have a disclaimer of "not neccessarily reflective of the studio".

But I don't think one barely audible cursing is all the bad when you think what else is accessible out there. I mean, what I do know about HSM suggests it's cleaner than Grease- a longtime preteen mainstay.

Merchandise-wise, it doesn't seem like a huge launch outside specialty stores. I suspect Mattel lumps it in with their RBD telenovela/Pop dolls that came out around the same time. But then again, I think we're seeing the decline of mass market and media as well.