James Cameron’s 1989 sci-fi thriller The Abyss was removed from Disney+ in the U.K. this week due to belated concerns over its depiction of animal abuse. The movie includes a scene where a rat is intentionally dunked into a vat of oxygenated liquid to demonstrate that mammals can breath underwater in it. The scene was filmed with a real rat โ which survived โ under the supervision of an expert on this breathing technique, but it still incensed animal rights activists around the world. In the U.K., activists successfully lobbied for the scene to be removed from theatrical and home video releases, but it appeared in the streaming version. They argued this was a loophole around a previous ruling.
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The Abyss is about a team of U.S. Navy SEALs working with a civilian oil platform crew to try and rescue a sunken submarine before either Soviet vessels or a hurricane arrive. They utilize an experimental new technique for diving deeper into the ocean than previously possible โ filling their suits with an oxygenated fluid that mammals can breathe, which protects their lungs from being crushed by the extreme pressure at those depths. At the time, this technology was truly in development, and had been successfully tested on several animals.

Cameron brought in the researchers who were working on this breathing fluid technique as consultants on the film, and they oversaw the scene where it is explained to the audience using a rat. It can be found 19 minutes, 40 seconds into the movie’s runtime. The scene was not staged โ a real rat was submerged in the fluid, breathed it briefly, and then recovered without harm. Still, the scene was shocking to animal lovers and upsetting to some.
In the U.K., the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) conferred with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and determined that the scene should be removed before the movie could play in theaters. They later ruled that the scene should be removed from home video releases under a separate law, so it was not included in VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray copies of the movie sold in the U.K.
So far, that law has not been applied to streaming content, and once again it was the RSPCA that took up the fight. In May, the animal rights organization’s Head of Public Affairs, David Bowles, issued a statement calling for the scene to be removed from Disney+. He stressed that the RSPCA is particularly worried that this scene could set a precedent, creating a loophole for banned scenes to be played in the U.K.
“As the way millions of households consume entertainment changes, it’s vital the legal framework is responsive to that and continues to consistently protect people and animals,” he said, according to IGN. “This isn’t about cancel culture โ we’d welcome Disney Plus reinstating the film to their platform, just with this troubling scene removed โ as is already the case in cinemas, on TV, and on DVD. This was instead about highlighting a loophole that currently exists allowing animal abuse scenes deemed unacceptable elsewhere to be streamed freely and legally into our homes โ and protecting the public from having to see this animal abuse content.”
Cameron’s Take
Disney+ removed the movie from its platform in the U.K., and has not commented on if or when it may be reinstated there. It can still be streamed in the U.S., with the scene in question intact. It’s worth noting that the censorship of the rat scene was a point of contention for Cameron as recently as last year. When Disney released a remastered version of the film on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Cameron reportedly refused to allow the removal of the rat scene for the U.K. version. Consequently, the remaster was never released in the U.K. at all.
There’s no indication that Cameron has had any part in The Abyss’ removal from Disney+ in the U.K. The streamer has not commented publicly on its plans, so it’s unclear if the British version of the movie will be reinstated there eventually or not. For now, The Abyss is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.