Disney quietly removed a casting couch scene from a recent rerelease of Pixar classic Toy Story 2, a few months after animation mogul John Lasseter left the company in the shadow of #MeToo.
The scene appears in a fake “blooper reel” that accompanies the credits of the film and depicts a candid moment between the villain of the movie, Stinky Pete, and two Barbie dolls. “I’m sure I can get you a part in Toy Story 3,” Pete says in a low voice as he rubs one of the dolls’ hand. When Pete notices that he’s on-camera, he panics and ushers the girl away, stressing that he was only talking to them about “tips on acting.”
Disney re-released all of the Toy Story films this year on Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD and 4K to coincide with the release of Toy Story 4. Eagle-eyed fans quickly noticed that the scene was removed from all of these latest versions of Toy Story 2.
Toy Story 2 was directed by Lasseter, who stepped down from his role as chief creative officer of Disney late last year after sexual misconduct allegations against him were widely reported on by media outlets emboldened by the high-profile fall of Harvey Weinstein. One graphic designer detailed how Lasseter would give “lecherous up-and-down looks (or unwanted hugs and touches)” to his female staff, and Deadline reported that Disney would assign handlers to Lasseter to ensure he didn’t “engage in inappropriate conduct with women” at office parties.
Watch the censored scene below (begins at 3:29).