How beloved Disney+ movie with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes ended up being banned
Few cinematic powerhouses have done it quite like Pixar, with the beloved Disney offshoot boasting an uncanny knack for delivering movies that are equal measures charming, tragic, and never afraid to tug at our heartstrings – we're still not over Up's opening scene.
As of 2025, there are 29 Pixar movies under the Disney umbrella, with the most recent release being Elio. Upcoming adventures include the likes of Coco 2, The Incredibles 3, and Toy Story 5, alongside original projects Hoppers and Gatto.
As the number of Pixar franchises continues to grow, few hold a candle to the legacy of Toy Story. While the studio's first animated short was The Adventures of André & Wally B in 1984, Toy Story gets the honor of marking Pixar's first theatrical release. More than that, the 1995 adventure comedy earned itself a place in the history books as the first entirely computer-animated feature film. It might've looked impossible to top the success of Toy Story, but falling into that rare category of sequels that are considered better than the original, 1999’s Toy Story 2 is up there with The Godfather Part II, The Dark Knight, and The Empire Strikes Back.
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Busting out of Andy's bedroom to go on the road with Woody and his Roundup Gang, Toy Story 2 surpassed its predecessor to earn $511.4 million against a budget of $90 million. More than this, John Lassetter's movie retains a perfect 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Even though you can watch Toy Story 2 over on Disney+, it's not quite in its original form. In fact, it wasn't long ago that Toy Story 2 was banned altogether. From 2018 to 2019, the beloved sequel was pulled from television syndication due to a blooper involving Kelsey Grammer's Stinky Peter. As we as being the de facto villain of the piece, one of the movie's blooper outtakes featured the sleazy prospector flirting with a pair of Barbies and implying that he could get them cast in the then-mythical Toy Story 3 in exchange for sexual favors.
The #MeToo movement became increasingly publicized in 2017, with Lasseter himself accused of sexual misconduct. Stinky Pete's 'casting couch' blooper was reminiscent of Lasseter's alleged actions, which led to Toy Story 2 briefly vanishing from TV screens.
Lasseter himself stepped away from Pixar for a sabbatical in November 2017, later leaving completely by the end of 2018.
For both the 2019 home media release, the Disney reissue, and a 2024 re-release at Vue Cinemas in the United Kingdom, the Stinky Peter scene was also axed.
Speaking to Vulture in 2019, Grammer discussed the scene and tried to explain Lasseter's intention: "We thought that the Barbies might be in his trailer, talking about how he’d like to get them some work, but he’s actually trying to hit on them. Disney cut it out recently, just about six months ago.
"They said, 'We’re taking it out because of the Me Too movement.' And I said, 'But why? Because, what, they’re guilty of it?'"
Referring to the joke as 'harmless', Grammer suggests that he didn't see a problem with the blooper.
Thankfully, removing one small scene doesn't affect the overall movie and ensures we can enjoy Toy Story 2 once again.