Has Disney ever released a rated-R movie?

[Seymour]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I personally think it would be cool to have an R-rated Disney film, with the actual Disney logo at the film's opening, but to my knowledge, none have been made. Closest contenders we have are The Black Hole (has a few wicked deaths), but that's still just PG. The National Treasure and POTC movies are PG-13, for action violence, but nothing really hardcore. John Carter has a beheading and lots of creature violence, but it's still just Star Warsy type of violence.

The National Treasure films are actually PG.

Disney's Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures are the closest they've come to releasing an R rated movie, since they're technically just labels under the Disney/Buena Vista name. They created Touchstone Pictures specifically because they wanted to release R rated features.

Disney bought the Miramax Films company in the '90s (side note: Dimension is just the genre label for Miramax), but later sold it after the Weinsteins left.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Seymour

Disney bought the Miramax Films company in the '90s (side note: Dimension is just the genre label for Miramax), but later sold it after the Weinsteins left.

In fact, during the Eisner-bashing era, it was popular to confuse the two where convenient:
If Miramax had their usual Oscar-bait nominee that year, "the Weinsteins continue to dominate their hold on Hollywood"--
If Miramax had a release that got firestorms of controversy, the headlines read, "Big blowup for Disney!...What would Mickey say? "
Apparently, Miramax/Dimension only released the good movies.

[Guydowood]

even though "Song of the South" was not R rated, it's one of Disney's most controversial films due to parts of the subject matter. In fact it's never been released on any home video format at all, legally speaking.....

[zafisher94]

Originally Posted by Guydowood

even though "Song of the South" was not R rated, it's one of Disney's most controversial films due to parts of the subject matter. In fact it's never been released on any home video format at all, legally speaking.....

what does being controversial have to do with being rated r? There is not one element in SotS that would qualify it for an r rating. And it was released in Japan on laserdisc (and vhs?)

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by zafisher94

what does being controversial have to do with being rated r? There is not one element in SotS that would qualify it for an r rating. And it was released in Japan on laserdisc (and vhs?)

And in other countries.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

And in other countries.

Us bonkers Brits, eh?

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Us bonkers Brits, eh?

No, they're just racist already, so what would it hurt?

[Elandyll]

I think that The Watcher in the Woods and The Black Hole are as close to R as Disney itself (not its affiliates) as ever wanted to be.

TWitW in particular, considered too dark, was toned down a lot along the way.