We didn’t post an article on it but a couple of weeks ago, there was a big hoo-hah from various leprosy groups including Lepra Health In Action and the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP) who complained about a specific scene in Sony / Aardman’s new movie, The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists or The Pirates! Band of Misfits (depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re from). The scene in question is where The Pirates Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) jumps on board a ship which turns out to be from a leper colony. It’s is about 10 seconds long and you’ll see pretty much all of it in all of the trailers that we’ve put up so far. I’m not really sure what I think about the scene being cut but in this world of being uber PC, I guess Sony / Aardman had to make the description to cut it. This is what they said on the matter courtesy of Deadline:
“After reviewing the matter, we decided to change the scene out of respect and sensitivity for those who suffer from leprosy. The last thing anyone intended was to offend anyone and it is clear to us that the right way to proceed is to honor the efforts made by organizations like ILEP to educate the public about this disease.”
Anyway, this evening, Sony have put up a brand new trailer, 4 seconds shorter than it’s predecessor minus the now infamous scene. I’ve placed both the original version of the trailer which we placed back in November (that’s the Yahoo embed) and then the new version which Sony have just released this evening.
The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists is quite possibly the movie I’m looking forward to seeing most this year. I know that’s a controversial thing to say what with the first part of The Hobbit, The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers and Spider-Man coming out but I simply cannot wait to see the complete version of the masterpiece that Aardman have created. I mean just look at my set report! AMAZING!
The scene in question is 26 seconds in. Make sure you don’t laugh at it because it’s not funny!
Original from November
Edited Version
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiaEQ2VZDpw’]
