The launch of the Disney+ streaming service featured a lot of amazing documentaries from National Geographic, including many award-winning features that have proven to be important parts of their individual genres. And with the release of Free Solo on the National Geographic section of Disney+, the award-winning documentary is gettin more expose than it’s ever had among audiences. Unfotunately, it appears as if that version of the film is being censored for other audiences.
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Free Solo originally appeared on Hulu, focusing on the climber Alex Honnold in his attempt to do a free climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. But the film was uncensored, featuring adult language surrounding the climber’s trepidation about making the trek.
So it’s not a major shock that Disney+ would censor the graphic language in the film, especially the use of the F-word, considering that the service itself is billed as a family friendly platform.
According to a report from ScreenRant, the Disney+ edit of the film cuts out uses of the F-word in multiple instances, including the part where he Honnold says “this is f—ked” and instead replaced it with a recording where he says “this is messed up.” According to the report, the Disney+ cut also omits a line of dialogue in which the climber uses the phrase “goddamn.”
Free Solo is not only a critically acclaimed picture but also an award winning film, as the movie was recently named the Best Documentary Film at the Academy Awards earlier this year. So it’s not only that the movie was censored, but that a previous version was made available to the public and won awards before being edited.
It makes sense that Disney+ would censor certain language from their platform, but that won’t stop fans from noticing it — especially when it comes to award winning projects like Free Solo. While adult content isn’t necessary for every movie and show they produce, it certainly affects documentary projects when its removed.
The edited version of Free Solo can now be viewed on Disney+.
