Ass. Sh*t. Motherf*ckin’.
As far as curse words go, these are pretty tame (uh, most of them), but they might be too much for Disney+. Earlier today, Disney announced that Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony/Emmy/Pulitzer Prize/everything-winning musical, will be coming to the company’s streaming service much sooner than expected, on July 3. “No other artistic work in the last decade has had the cultural impact of Hamilton,” Disney chairman Bob Iger (not to be confused with the other Disney Bob) said in a statement, although he failed to answer a question many have about Hamilton under Mickey’s umbrella: will it be censored
Disney+, like Disney itself, bills itself as the “family-friendly content” alternative to that smut on Netflix. It’s why Love, Victor, a spin-off of Love, Simon, a romantic comedy about a gay teen, was moved from Disney+ to Hulu (also a Disney property), and why Splash was edited with “digital fur technology” and why “this is f*cked up” from Free Solo has been replaced with “this is messed up.” (The most risqué thing on the streaming service might be Brendan Fraser “almost” showing his butt in 1997’s George of the Jungle. Not exactly pearl-clutching material there.) But while Disney+ is cool with PG-13 swears, like Morgan Stark repeating her dad Tony’s “sh*t” in Avengers: Endgame, what about the occasional f-bomb (or “cuckold” or “whore”) in Hamilton PG-13 movies are allowed one “f*ck,” after all, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
When asked by New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan about Disney+’s PG-13 and under mandate back in February, Lin-Manuel Miranda replied, “I think we’ll figure it out when we get there, but we’re not going to cut any sections of the show. If we have to mute a word here or there to reach the largest audience possible, I’m OK with that, because your kids already have the original language memorized. I don’t think we’re depriving anyone of anything if we mute an f-bomb here or there to make our rating.”
There’s understandable nervousness among fans over the censorship, but Lin-Manuel Miranda is not going to throw away his shot at letting people watch Hamilton on Disney+ over a few measly swears (the $75 million payday didn’t hurt, either).
— Tinseltwist Grace (@annalyngraceful) May 12, 2020
So with the Broadway version of Hamilton going up on Disney+ in July, my wife was wondering if they were going to censor the f-bombs. I was wondering if they were going to turn some of the characters into talking animals. To each their own.
— "Robison Wells", I guess (@robisonwells) May 12, 2020
I’m excited for Hamilton but is Disney really gonna censor half of the swearing cause that would be a mood killer.
— Elle✨ (@itsellewasup) May 12, 2020
Disney: "YOU BELONG TO US NOW!"
Hamilton: "Huh But I'm not exactly family friendly material"
Disney: "THEN I WILL CENSOR YOU!"
Hamilton: "Then why bother owning me if you're just-"
Disney: "SILENCE, FRANCHISE!"
— ToonSkribblez (@ToonSkribblez) May 12, 2020
So… Disney has to know if they censor Hamilton that it’s gonna be a big story, right
Like, it’s not Splash where the general public has either never seen it or doesn’t give a shit anymore.
— Dallin Agatone (Hail to the Milkman) (@DallinAgatone) May 12, 2020
Are they gonna censor Hamilton on D+ Because…uhhhhhh
— Blue Leader (@HuckelCommaSean) May 12, 2020
So speaking of hamilton,,, are they just gonna… censor everything… ITS DISNEY
— gail ✧ (struggle tweets) (@pcterspidey) May 12, 2020
Hamilton hits Disney+ on July 3.