15+ Truly Magical Facts About Some Of Your All-Time Favorite Disney Films

Find out new things about your dearly loved Disney movies

Chelsi

• Published in Film & TV
• April 6, 2022

Disney has been a world full of magic and certainly has some best-kept secrets. It’s an empire that had its humble beginnings with animation. 

There had been ups and downs before it became what it is now but through it all, Disney had produced numerous memorable movies. From Snow White to Peter Pan, a lot of people’s childhood is filled with fairy dust and tunes from those movies.

Each movie had its own history. They had their own team who worked on it and made it possible for it to tell the tales to viewers everywhere.

There were some with the production lasting for years and costing millions of dollars. Others are thought to not succeed but were actually late bloomers at the box office.

One thing's for sure, each and every movie stemmed from a dream of bringing an idea to life. Whether they were reimagined or original works, there's great research that went into them.

Walt Disney had his fair share of producing films in the midst of hard times and a lot of people then wouldn't think that he would achieve what he did with the Disney brand. Fortunately, he ended up being a part of history and getting good films out like Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Moana.

1. There was a lot riding on the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt Disney risked his own home to finance the production of the movie when the cost started to go beyond the budget.

What’s a Disney movie without Easter eggs? Walt Disney was sly to include the acronym of his name in the movie as the circus’ name.

2. Even Walt’s daughter couldn’t persuade him from straying away from following the origin story of Bambi where the mom had an early death.

The team went far and beyond to get things as accurate as they can by going on zoo trips and even observing deers that were donated to the studio.

3. Cinderella came from a folk tale and was another one of the movies Walt had to take a risk on. They were at that time in serious debt because of numerous reasons when the war was finishing. Things turned around and the movie earned well, enough to solve financial problems for the studio.

4. Famous for remaking stories that caught his attention, Walt Disney went beyond when he wanted to see the touring performance of J.M. Barrie’s masterpiece when he was young and even played Peter in one of his school’s productions.

The voice actors, namely Wendy and Peter’s, were a source of inspiration for the animators’ way of coming up with designs.

5. Lady and the Tramp’s dogs was inspired by the writer’s Springer Spaniel. Walt worked on progressing the idea with the adventures of the Tramp.

As per usual, animators tried to work closely with animals that are in the story like canines to achieve accuracy in their work.

6. Sleeping Beauty was actually a late bloomer. It didn’t do well at the box office during its release and prompted the avoiding animated fairy tales for a while. But after the re-releases, the movie was the second-most profitable movie in 1959.

7. Rocky the Rhino was booted from the 1967 adapted film when Walt decided that it would be overwhelming to have a back-to-back comedy scene right after King Louis’ scene.

The vultures were quirky characters and the composers of the song “That’s What Friends Are For” actually wanted to book the Beatles for it but it didn’t end up working out.

8. Disney movies have their eras too and The Little Mermaid is known more like the Disney Renaissance.

The coloring of Ariel’s hair was discussed in detail and how it could help differentiate her from other famous mermaids like the one in Splash’s 1994. It was also colored ref to complement her other features.

9. Writers find inspiration in different characters and Linda Woolverton who was the screenwriter for the movie at that time based Belle’s trait on Katherine Hepburn’s Little Women character.

10. Disney produced Royal Princes one after the other but then Aladdin came to life and he broke that mold.

There were actors that were considered for Iago the parrot and in the end, Gilbert Gottfried took the role. However, Genie was truly constructed for Robin Williams.

11. The Lion King wasn’t like the previous animated films. It wasn’t based on other original stories and it was in the works at the same time as Pocahontas. And although they didn’t think that it would succeed, it eventually did.

12. The story of Pocahontas was Disney-fied and although it was already 1995, it was the first one to feature a relationship between an interracial couple.

13. Pixar’s fame skyrocketed when Toy Story became a hit as the first computer-animated film that was feature-length.

14. Brad Bird had the idea of a family of superheroes for a while but he hesitated because he knew it would need a hefty budget and a lot of time to produce. It still went into production when he pitched it to Pixar and the movie garnered two Oscars.

15. Say hello to Disney’s first black princess, Tiana. There were talks of Beyonce refusing to audition for the part, and after auditions from Alicia Keys and other huge stars, the role went to Anika Noni Rose.

During a Disneyland trip, the directors told Oprah the concept of the upcoming movie and she loved it so much she eventually voiced Tiana’s mom.

16. Probably one of the longest overdue ideas by Walt. Frozen was something he had thought of around 70 years after the first time he wanted to adapt the story of the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.

17. Moana creators wanted to cover all of the information that makes up the Polynesian region’s culture. They went on to create a team of anthropologists, navigators, haka practitioners, and many more that created the Oceanic Story Trust.

Disney is a fact-filled world and there is always something surprising in every film produced. From Easter eggs to regular clues that tie up one movie to another, they make it a point to take creativity to a whole new level.

Each of the films also has its own interesting history. Some required more people to be part of the production, while others had to be released during tough times and ultimately become saving graces for the studio.

Chelsi