10 Movies That Were Re-Edited After Release (And Why)
1. Shrek 2
Shrek 2 is an example of a film that managed to offend literally one person, resulting in it being pulled from Israeli cinemas, re-edited, and re-released there shortly after.
Not too long into its theatrical run in Israel, singer David D'Or started to complain about one particular joke in the film, wherein Donkey threatens to neuter Puss In Boots by saying "let's do a David D'Or on him", a reference to the singer's high-pitched voice.
Speaking to an Israeli newspaper (via the BBC), D'Or said that "this film intends to present me, in perpetuity, as a eunuch, a man with no testicles, and turn me into a laughing stock". D'Or pursued legal action in order to get the joke removed or changed, which resulted in the film's distributors having a week to edit the film.
And they did just that, altering the joke to remove any references to D'Or, and this edited cut of the film was put back in Israeli cinemas. The joke simply became "let's take a sword and neuter him". Interestingly, in the English-language version of Shrek 2, the joke is more in-depth, reading "I say we take the sword and neuter him right here. Give him the Bob Barker treatment!"
Regardless, D'Or was presumably satisfied with the outcome of the Israeli cut.