Movie Myths: ‘The Rescuers’ and the Topless Woman

Disney's 1977 animated feature 'The Rescuers' features the image of a topless woman, but the studio wasn't aware of this until 1999, when they had to formally issue a recall of the 1992 home video version.

True or False? Surprisingly true! The image pops up during a scene in which our leading rodents, Bernard and Bianca, are strapped into a sardine can aboard an Albatross named Orville. You can see the topless woman in a window in two non-consecutive scenes -- first at the bottom left, then at the top. Disney acknowledged that the imagery had been in the film's original print, released in 1977, and was transferred onto the home video version in 1992, but it wasn't until 1999 -- 22 years after the offending image first appeared -- that it was noticed.