The Rocketeer's objectional phrases

[akhenaten]

i just watched the movie and noticed the dialogue has the damn and the s.o.b's. how can disney allow it under the disney pictures banner?

[Escapay]

Well, it was a PG film after all, and while it can be enjoyed by the whole family, seemed pretty geared towards adults and the graphic novel fans. The dialogue wasn't even heavy in the use of those words, which is likely how it passed as PG.

According to an online transcript, "damn" was only used four times, while "s.o.b" (unabbreviated) was used once. All five times those words were used, it made sense in the context of the film.

Peevy: That's fresh paint, damn it!

FBI Guy: It was damn sloppy.

Howard Hughes: I don't work for the government. I cooperate at my discretion. Two of my best pilots were killed during the test phase. God knows how many more men would have died if it had flown. No, gentlemen. I'm sorry I ever dreamed the damn thing up.

Peevy: Runs on alcohol. What's the damn thing for?

Howard Hughes: The son-of-a-bitch will fly.

Escapay

[akhenaten]

oh..i dont mind the damns but the s.o.b certainly is unfitting for a disney picture. has anyone seen the film captain ron? is it out on dvd?

[Luke]

has anyone seen the film captain ron? is it out on dvd?

Yes, it's on DVD:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... vemz"><img src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B ... _.jpg"></a>

But it was released under the Touchstone banner.

[Just Myself]

Well, in the Haunted Mansion, Eddie Murphy mentions 'Big-Ass Termites' and 'whuppin your ass for ass from all eternity', which is uncommon of Disney. Also, Flight of the Navigator was only released five years before Rocketeer, and they say 'shit' in that quite a few times if I recall. A lot of films aimed at families in the '80s/early '90s contained some language, whether it be minimal, or in some cases, downright shocking (They drop the F-word in PG rated Big!).

Cheers,
JM

[Super Aurora]

Well, in the Haunted Mansion, Eddie Murphy mentions 'Big-Ass Termites' and 'whuppin your ass for ass from all eternity', which is uncommon of Disney. Also, Flight of the Navigator was only released five years before Rocketeer, and they say 'shit' in that quite a few times if I recall. A lot of films aimed at families in the '80s/early '90s contained some language, whether it be minimal, or in some cases, downright shocking (They drop the F-word in PG rated Big!).

Cheers,
JM

Yea like in Space Balls they said the f word and it was rated PG. Cool Running was Disney(one of my fav) and that had some curse words too.

[thatartguy]

oh..i dont mind the damns but the s.o.b certainly is unfitting for a disney picture.

Suprisingly, I would think that "damn" would be more objectionable considering that it is a curse word when used as an adjective. SOB on the other hand could be construed as any male dog.

[blackcauldron85]

I haven't seen "The Rocketeer" since I was little and it first came to the Disney Channel...so when I saw it a) I was young, and b) they probably didn't have those words on TV.
I haven't seen "Flight of the Navigator" (but I've always wanted to!) or "The Haunted Mansion (I'd like to), but I'm shocked at the language! Surely the writers were talented enough where they could have replaced
'Big-Ass Termites' and 'whuppin your ass for ass from all eternity' with something more family-friendly? I understand that Eddie Murphy was in the film, and that his core audience may have been interested in the film, but as a family film, they really shouldn't use those words. I'm disappointed in Disney. "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (Touchstone) was rated R for one "bad" word I read recently...sure, it was in the '80s, but, as a Disney film, that should be how it's done- if "The Haunted Mansion" needed those words, a PG-13 rating would have fit better, even though that would have hurt at the box office...

[akhenaten]

in mulan mushu said lets kick some huny buns which is easily a polite alternative to huns ass. it is possible to keep it clean

[Finchx0rz]

So what? I subscribe to the George Carlin philosophy of "they're just words." Curse words are, in and of themselves, no different than the euphemisms used to mask them. The only thing that makes 'em bad is their attached negative connotation.

[The Merman]

I was wathing Lion King last week and found something of a similar sort. In the fight scene at the end when Timon and Pumba are fighting they say "Run you yellow belly's"! Now if im am correct (correct me if i am not ) this refers to a swear word used in the Vietnemese war? Yellow Belly refers to Asian or Vietnamese/Japanese right? If I am wrong its cause Im from Europe and we dont use this phrase much.

[Luke]

I was wathing Lion King last week and found something of a similar sort. In the fight scene at the end when Timon and Pumba are fighting they say "Run you yellow belly's"! Now if im am correct (correct me if i am not ) this refers to a swear word used in the Vietnemese war? Yellow Belly refers to Asian or Vietnamese/Japanese right? If I am wrong its cause Im from Europe and we dont use this phrase much.

"yellow belly" is merely slang for cowardly. There's no way Disney would include a racial slur in the midst of the PC '90s.

[NarniaDis]

I would say that the only movie disney did that shocked me was Flight of the Navigator due to the S and GDs that it contained (more from the fact it was disney than anything else)

All I can say is that from about 1985-1995 Disney had more of the "offensive" language in their Live-Action films than had been previously or there after (with out the afore mentioned exception - Haunted Mansion)...

But you know what, If these were not DIsney we wouldn't even be discussing this, other PG movies have this language all the time and we dont even say a thing about it...

[DL-Craze]

I remember in "The Santa Clause", He says "I'm freezing my nuts off out here". Does anybody know the first film under the Disney Logo to say a curse word?

[Luke]

I remember in "The Santa Clause", He says "I'm freezing my nuts off out here". Does anybody know the first film under the Disney Logo to say a curse word?

First of all, "nuts" isn't a curse word. Secondly, he says "I'm freezing my nubs off." Thirdly, as has already been pointed out in this very thread, <i>Flight of the Navigator</i> has some undisputable curse words, and that was released 8 years before <i>The Santa Clause</i>. I'm not sure of it, but <i>Tex</i> might have some swearing too. And certainly "damn" and "hell" both appear in <i>The Devil Max Devlin</i>, I think.

[gardener14]

The Journey of Natty Gann and A Far Off Place both use the word sh*t.

[2099net]

I'm surprised that The Rocketeer is a Disney film (in fact, I always thought it was Touchstone) because it features Nazis! Does no one object to that?

I know Bedknobs and Broomsticks featured Nazis, but lets face it, it didn't really.

[blackcauldron85]

So what? I subscribe to the George Carlin philosophy of "they're just words." Curse words are, in and of themselves, no different than the euphemisms used to mask them. The only thing that makes 'em bad is their attached negative connotation."

I understand what you mean, but Disney movies are family films, which means little kids will see them. Some little kids may repeat some of the words they hear in a Disney film. It disturbs me when I hear little kids use swear words, and I bet it disturbs their parents even more. akhenaten is right, there is a way to substitute language and make it "cleaner".

But you know what, If these were not DIsney we wouldn't even be discussing this, other PG movies have this language all the time and we dont even say a thing about it...

That's exactly right. Disney is held up to a higher standard than other companies (In "Prince of the Magic Kingdom" by Joe Flower, Jeffrey Katzenberg said this like it was a bad thing), and they should realize the influence they have. Most of their movies, though, are appropriate for the age group corresponding to their ratings. (I think that "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Cars" should have been rated PG, but that's another topic altogether).

Also, I've heard (and agree with) that it takes more intelligence to put in alternatives to "dirty" words..."hunny buns" is funny..."Hun ass" really isn't.

[Disney-Fan]

(I think that "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" [...] should have been rated PG, but that's another topic altogether).

Huh? What for? Save the occasional scary moment that every Disney film boasts, there's nothing PG-worthy in it. I know the story is one that deals with powerful themes, but they really do fly above most kids' heads. Even for those that get it, there's no harm done in showcasing a movie with a half-decent message about how we should act towards those different from us.

[Touchstone84]

I'm surprised that The Rocketeer is a Disney film (in fact, I always thought it was Touchstone) because it features Nazis! Does no one object to that?

I know Bedknobs and Broomsticks featured Nazis, but lets face it, it didn't really.

The Rocketeer was released as a Touchstone Pictures film in Europe (which includes the UK). I read somewhere online in an interview with Dave Stevens (don't remember the exact link) where he stated that it originally was to be released as a Touchstone Pictures film in the USA, but it was changed at the executive level very late in the process. The Touchstone Pictures label though was kept for the international release, which maybe due to the notion that its limited box-office in the States was because of the Walt Disney Pictures banner attached to it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaRPsQmE1IE