The anti-Disney messaging hidden within one of its movies
Not everyone is thrilled with Disney‘s increasing monopolisation of the entertainment industry and their acquisition of countless subsidiaries to strengthen that position. However, actively rebelling against the Mouse House content it produces and pays for is hardly commonplace.
While the increase in self-awareness and meta media has allowed a few thinly veiled digs to make it into various features and TV shows, one children’s film somehow managed to sneak in a message that told the house that Walt built to shove it. All without anybody noticing. What makes it even more impressive – and arguably bold – is that it came in a blockbuster family film adapted from a popular cartoon, which is essentially a market Disney has cornered all for itself thanks in large part to a constant stream of live-action remakes.
Of course, repurposing and cannibalising its own back catalogue was nowhere near as big of a trend as it is now when Inspector Gadget came to cinemas in the summer of 1999. However, somebody involved in the production was still dissatisfied enough with their corporate overlords to take a stand.
Created by Bruno Bianchi, Andy Heyward, and Jean Chalopin, Inspector Gadget was originally syndicated by DIC Entertainment, which was purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 1995. A live-action movie had been stuck in development hell for years beforehand, but the company’s acquisition of the project accelerated momentum.
Armed with a budget estimated to be around $90million, the warning signs were apparent early when countless prospective candidates – including Brendan Fraser – turned down the title role before Matthew Broderick was hired. Alarm bells really started ringing when disastrous test screenings saw the original 110-minute cut whittled down to a mere 76 minutes, but the specifics of why somebody decided to surreptitiously insert “fuck Disney” into the finished product remain unclear.
During a montage espousing the many heroic deeds accomplished by Inspector Gadget, a school newspaper bearing the headline ‘School Gets New Hall Monitor’ appears. On the right-hand side of the front page, the first letters in ten consecutive sentences clearly spell it out.
Upon examining further evidence, though, Arthur F. Repola would appear to be the reason. Currently the Senior Vice President of Visual Effects and Production for the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, he was in charge of the visual effects department for Inspector Gadget and obviously rubbed somebody the wrong way.
In the exact same scene as the “fuck Disney” Easter Egg, the first words of another newspaper column titled ‘Inspector Gadget Cleaning Up the Town’ uses the first words in a string of sentences to not-so-subtly state that “Art Repola can blow me the cheap arrogant jerk off ass wipe tight wad idiot he sucks”. It might be an all-ages adventure, but clearly, the people working underneath Repola weren’t thrilled with either him or Disney during the making of Inspector Gadget.
