More Mad Doctor Madness

2719 Hyperion friend and supporter Jim Korkis sent some additional information about The Mad Doctor that was featured in a post yesterday:

"Yes, you are right that The Mad Doctor was banned in Britain. With Dracula and Frankenstein (1931), the British Board of Film Censors demanded extensive cuts, enforced age restrictions, and outright banning of Hollywood horror films. The issue was “unsuitability” to children. (A) for Adults (H) for Horrific which both meant restricted viewing to those 16 or younger.

"The Mad Doctor was banned by the BBFC because of the skeletons (the "living dead"), not for Pluto being almost cut in half. It was also banned in Britain when it was released on 16mm for home use.

"Mad doctors and scientists were very popular in the 1930s. It was the mistrust of science. Whether it was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908) which Walt read and was made into a 1920 film version with John Barrymore or the popular 1932 film with Frederic March that won him an Oscar as best actor. Or Dr. Frankenstein. Or Dr. Moreau in The Island of Dr, Moreau (1896) by H.G.Wells. In the book, Moreau is deported from England because of his cruel experiments on pet dogs so goes to a tropical island. This is the book that featured the line “The natives are restless tonight.”

"It was the first ever black and white Mickey Mouse cel set up offered for sale in 1988 and purchased by Steven Spielberg for $64,000. Mickey is at the top of the stairs with his back toward the audience and skeletons are starting to pop out of the stairs. (The next year a black and white cel from Orphans Benefit sold for $450,000.)

"It was the only Mickey Mouse cartoon improperly copyrighted so it fell into public domain.

"The triple XXX also meant poison."

Thanks, Jim!

Image © Walt Disney Company