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Subscribers to Disney+ have been enjoying access to a big library of classic movies from the House of Mouse that otherwise haven’t always been easily available. This includes several titles that contain “outdated cultural depictions,” which are pointed out in the synopses of movies such as Saludos Amigos. This particular movie features a live-action set-up from Walt Disney and several animated shorts with Goofy, Donald Duck and a new Brazilian parrot character named José Carioca. But aside from the outdated cultural depictions, the movie does not appear to be “presented as originally created,” despite saying so in the description.
Saludos Amigos originally featured a scene of Disney’s beloved talking dog Goofy smoking a cigarette. But for some reason, this scene has been cut from the Disney+ version of the film, even though another smoking scene with José Carioca remains in the movie. On top of that, there’s even a warning on the movie that it “contains tobacco depictions.” So what’s going on here?
Gizmodo noticed the missing scene on the Disney+ version of Saludos Amigos, and shared the cut scene here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4yy4XjaekU?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
However, this scene still remains in the movie, showing José Carioca clearly smoking a cigar lit by a spicy burp:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y60cy2d-Kwk?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
The explanation for this cut scene appears to lie in the history of the movie itself. IMDb says that the initial DVD release of the movie cut the scene with Goofy smoking and blowing smoke rings. However, the scene was eventually restored when the movie was released on Blu-ray. It was also included in a DVD version of the movie that accompanied the documentary Walt & El Grupo, a documentary about how Saludos Amigos was made as propaganda at the request of the U.S. State Department during World War II.
We’re betting that the wrong version of the movie was used for the Disney+ release of the movie rather than any intentions to shield children from smoking. This is something that has happened plenty of times before with movies from other studios that have been made available on-demand at various cable channels and streaming outlets. After all, if you’re going to cut one scene from a movie due to depictions of tobacco consumption, then why wouldn’t you cut the other?
Disney was contacted for an explanation by Gizmodo, and while they wouldn’t provide a comment on the record, they got the impression that Disney would restore the original version of the movie with Goofy’s smoking scene intact. Only the most hardcore film purists out there will care in the end, but it’s good to know that there are people out there paying such close attention to these classics and the manner in which they are presented.
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