Animal welfare charity the RSPCA has decried an ‘unacceptable’ scene in The Abyss which was cut by the BBFC but remains intact on Disney+.
In April, James Cameron’s 1989 sci-fi thriller The Abyss emerged on Disney+ in pristine 4K. Rather surprisingly, however, it retained a brief, controversial sequence long edited out of UK versions, in which a live rat is shown to be submerged in liquid. After consulting with animal welfare charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in 1989, the BBFC ruled that the scene had to be cut down before The Abyss could be granted a certificate.
It’s a decision that has remained contentious with Cameron and his company Lightstorm Entertainment; when the BBFC refused to change its decision over the rat sequence last year, the 4K remaster’s release in the UK was cancelled.
The uncut version streaming on Disney+ doesn’t carry the BBFC’s certification, but rather an age guidance of 16+. In a recent statement, the RSPCA has described this as a “loophole” which allows for the “broadcasting [of] animal abuse long considered to be unacceptable on other mediums.”
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“The RSPCA is really concerned that a loophole currently exists allowing animal abuse scenes deemed unacceptable elsewhere to be streamed freely and legally into our homes,” said David Bowles, the charity’s head of public affairs. “The Abyss’ controversial rat scene has long concerned the RSPCA, and has always been deemed unacceptable by BBFC – so it’s hard to fathom out why Disney Plus has decided to broadcast it.”
The charity points to the Media Act, a relatively new piece of government legislation which passed into law last May. It hopes that it will result in more “consistency” between streaming platforms and other media.
Said Bowles, “It doesn’t make sense that we have robust safeguards for animal-related content shown in cinemas, on DVDs or on traditional television channels – yet those protections could go out the window when you turn on a major streaming service. We can’t backtrack now on what society deems is acceptable in terms of how we treat animals.”
Film Stories has contacted Disney+ for comment.
