Hi everybody!
Today I will talk about some urban legends about cinema you already may have heared. As you certainly know, some controversial anecdotes have become so popular that it became hard to make the difference between what's true and what's false. I will talk about two well-knowned urban legends on movies.
Urban Legend n°1: The Poltergeist Curse
The rumour says that all the actors of the saga Poltergeist died in mysterious circumstances while making the movie. Poltergeist is a horror saga and some people say that those movies are cursed. True or false? I have been investigating for you.
First of all you need a little overview of the situation. Poltergeist is made of three movies: Poltergeist 1 (1982), Poltergeist 2 (1986) and Poltergeist 3 (1988). I personnaly remember that heared about that "curse" when I was a child. Anyway, whats the truth about it? Eventually, four actors who starred in Poltergeist died between the first movie and the last one: Dominique Dunne, Julian Beck, Will Sampson and the twelve year old Heather O’Rourke. Anyway, is it a curse? The answer is no. Will Sampson, Julian Beck and the young Heather O'Rourke died because of serious health diseases they already had. Dominique Dunne has been found strangled by her boyfriend. So there is an explanation for all these facts and Poltergeist is not mysteriously cursed as many say it.
Urban Legend n°2: Sexy Disney
There is a popular rumour which says that some Disney movies contain pornographic pictures. The biggest thing someone told me: The porn industrie would have payed Walt Disney Pictures in the late 80's to put subliminal images in their pictures. The goal: to incite children to watch porn later. That sounds amazing, but what's the truth about it? Once again, I have been investigating for you and I found that there are two different urban legends about Disney's.
The first one is that there is a picture of a topless woman in The Rescuers (1977, known in France as Bernard et Bianca for you french reader). That's definitely not a rumor. You can see it in the following video.
The topless woman has been noticed twenty two years after the movie release. Untill now, nobody knows who has made it. Disney pleads not guilty. However, Walt Disney Pictures swapped all the concerned versions with a corrected one without the topless girl.
The second rumour about Disney is that The Lion King (1994) contains a scene where a cloud in the sky presents the word "SEX" in capital letters. Look:
I see you look sceptical. Don't worry, the word you are seeing isn't "SEX" but the abbreviation "SFX" which stands for special effects. Used by those who make cartoons, "SFX" is like a signature which you can find in most of the anime movies.
First of all, I wanted to thank you for your great investigation.
ReplyDeleteAs you said it, the Poltergeist cruse sounded false. It’s not because it’s an horror movie that the movie is cursed, this is ridiculous.
I was more surprised by the “Sexy Disney”. When I was a child, I loved those movies, and I still can’t believe that they are subliminal pictures in it. But they are so discreet that you can’t see them without being warned. That’s why I’m not sure these pictures will influence the children watching Disney’s.
And you, have you ever heard about the soccer player Aaron Ramsey? A legend says that when he scores a goal, a celebrity dies. Often, the victims are movie stars. His last one is Robin Williams; he scored two days before his death…
#12