Hidden Facts Behind Some Of Disney’s Classic Movies
By: Annabelle Maria Jeffrey
Disney movies have always had a special place in our hearts. They not only bring back memories, but also give us that warm fuzzy feeling inside when we re-watch them over and over again. However, even with the wholesome image, Disney has had numerous eye-opener moments, below are a few that we’re still snickering about.
1. The Lion King movie was initially named King Of The Jungle till the writers realised that lions do not actually live in the jungle, but in savannas and grasslands.
2. Not just dedicated to churning out entertainment for the kids, Walt Disney created a short war propaganda movie, which starred Donald Duck as a Nazi. The name of the short movie is Der Fuehrer’s Face (originally titled as Donald Duck in Nutzi Land) and this movie even had characters that resembled Hitler – think chimneys with mustaches!
3. The artists for The Little Mermaid were so furious at management (we’re guessing they felt stifled); instead of rebuking they included phallus symbols all over the animation. From penis shapes on spires of the golden castle to the very aroused priest sanctioning the wedding of Ursula and Eric.
4. In the earlier version of Mulan, a giant dragon was said to have been her sidekick. However, as the producers felt that a big scary dragon might frighten the kids, they decided to change it and tiny Mushu was born.
5. The Beatles were originally expected to be the voices of the vultures in The Jungle Book but this didn’t happen as one of the members, John Lennon, turned down this opportunity. However, Disney still decided to go ahead and model the four vultures after the British band from the Liverpool (Scouse) accent right down to the mop-top hairstyles.
6. Belle from The Beauty And The Beast was based on Audrey Hepburn. The yellow gown that Belle wore during the waltz scene was inspired by Hepburn’s gown in her movie, Roman Holiday.
7. All Disney princesses were in fact teenagers. The oldest being Tiana at 19, Rapunzel and Jasmine 18, Belle and Pocahontas, 17 (Pocahontas, 12, in actual fact when she met John Smith, but writers made her older so she could have a romantic relationship). Mulan, Ariel and Aurora 16 and Snow White 14.
8. Whenever a character from Toy Story (the original animated movie) blinks its eyes, it’s always one eye followed by another.
9. Aladdin was modelled after Micheal J. Fox in the initial stages but it was eventually changed to resemble Tom Cruise’s visage and the bodies of Calvin Klein models, as they wanted the character to be more hunky.
10. The visuals of Flynn from Tangled first came about by getting opinions of the female staff of what a hot man would look like, and later modelled after a few celebrity hunks like Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman and David Beckham. According to Disney, Flynn Rider is the most handsome hero among all the fairytale heros! Talk about hot stuff!
