BURBANK, Calif. —Citing widespread criticism and calls for a boycott, Disney has announced it will pull the now-controversial Adolph Hitler scene from “Home Alone” on streaming and any future broadcast of the film, sources confirm.
“While not particularly polarizing at the time of its release in 1990, we recognize that the public’s perception of Hitler has grown increasingly negative over the years,” said Disney Spokesperson Susan Wright. “Though his appearance is brief and relatively lighthearted, many viewers find the Hitler cameo to be unnecessarily triggering for a family comedy picture, and therefore, we have made the decision to cut the scene from streaming and all future releases of the film.”
While the decision has been met with overall approval, a vocal minority of film enthusiasts and/or Hitler fans have expressed outrage across the internet.
“I knew I should have added this John Hughes holiday classic to my physical media collection,” lamented self-proclaimed cinema connoisseur Sheldon Jaccobs in a Blank Check fan group. “I am beyond disappointed knowing that now, on all future rewatches of this childhood cornerstone movie, I won’t get to enjoy the adorable scene where Kevin tells Hitler he should try switching to decaf. This has nothing to do with politics, I am not political, I don’t care about Hitler one way or the other, I’m just a cinema purist, and I think this is wrong!”
While not condemning the edit, film historian Margo Keppling expressed some trepidation on social media.
“First, they pulled Donald Trump from Home Alone 2, and everyone celebrated because he is a monster, and that was objectively the right move, but that was just a sequel. The original Home Alone is a more important cultural artifact, and while I stand against Hitler almost as much as I stand against Donald Trump, I can’t help but feel the original should be preserved as is for historical posterity, warts and all.”
At press time, Disney announced further plans to remove Donald Trump from The Apprentice.
