While director Chris Columbus' 1987 teen comedy Adventures in Babysitting was added to Disney+ in the United States several months ago, more and more fans are catching onto the fact that the film has been edited for content on the platform, with the most glaring omission being the use of the f-bomb in Elisabeth Shue's most iconic line.The original, PG-13 version of Adventures in Babysitting that was released in theaters features not one, but two f-bombs. The scene in question sees a gang leader throw a switchblade knife into Brad's (Keith Coogan) foot, at which point he declares, "Don't fuck with the Lords of Hell." In response, main protagonist Chris Parker (Shue) picks up the knife and turns it back on the gang leader, saying, "Don't fuck with the babysitter."
During an early, international rollout for Disney+ back in September of 2019 -- two months before the platform's full launch -- a Swedish subscriber reported that Adventures of Babysitting was available to stream completely unedited, surprising those who weren't expecting a "double f-bomb" movie to be allowed on Disney+. The subscriber explained that while the film carried a language warning, both uses of the word "fuck" and all uses of the word "bitch" were left untouched. (While the rule of thumb is "one f-bomb per PG-13 movie," some PG-13-rated flicks have gotten away with using the word twice, such as The Social Network and, of course, Adventures in Babysitting.)
Adventures in Babysitting was added to Disney+ in the U.S. on June 25, 2021. Almost immediately, fans noticed that rather than the PG-13 cut, the version that is currently streaming is the PG-rated edit. (In this version, the gang leader and Chris' respective lines are changed to "don't fool with the Lords of Hell" and "don't fool with the babysitter.") However, even more people seemed to notice recently, with multiple Twitter posts being made on the matter this month.
Said user Jen Johans, "PSA: If you watch Adventures in Babysitting on Disney+, you get the sanitized version minus the very well-earned f-bomb from Elisabeth Shue that thrilled me as a girl watching this in the 1980s. (It's yet another reason why physical media rules.)" Scott Weinberg added, "Apparently Disney+ (U.S.) cut the single f-bomb out of Adventures in Babysitting, and I think that kinda sucks." Meanwhile, Marvel and Star Trek VFX artist Todd Vaziri simply shared the original, uncensored version of the scene. A number of other users chimed in on the matter as well.
This isn't the first time Disney+ has caught flak for censoring its own movies. Many fans previously called attention to the platform's obvious attempt to censor the brief nudity in director Ron Howard's 1984 film Splash with CGI. "The Wreck of the Relationship," the one and only TV-MA-rated episode of The Simpsons, is also edited for content on Disney+.
HBO Max recently found itself the recipient of similar censorship-related criticism when it came to light that the platform was streaming the TV-14-rated television edit of director Cathy Yan's 2020 DC Extended Universe film Birds of Prey, rather than the original R-rated theatrical cut. However, a WarnerMedia spokesperson informed CBR that this version of the film was uploaded in error, with the R-rated version ultimately being restored.
1987's Adventures in Babysitting was produced by Disney through its now-defunct Touchstone Pictures label, with the company distributing the movie through Buena Vista. In 2016, director John Schultz remade Adventures in Babysitting as a Disney Channel original movie.