Hi I’m Elliott. This is Mental Floss on YouTube. Today I’m going to talk about some
misconceptions about Disney -- both the man and the company.
Misconception #1: Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen.
After Disney died in 1966, he was cremated. But, the rumor that he was frozen was so persistent
that his family opened the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco in 2009. According
to his daughter, Diane Disney Miller, “Other little kids would say to my kids, ‘Your
grandfather is frozen, isn’t he?’ And I couldn’t let that stand.” Plus, if he
HAD been frozen, don’t you think they would have unfrozen him for the premiere of the
movie Frozen? That’s the best possible publicity stunt ever. Use your brains, people. That
movie totally flopped.
As for where people think his frozen body might be stored, that brings me to...
Misconception #2: Disney is buried underneath the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.
I guess we can’t know for sure, but his family claims that he was cremated and his
ashes were placed in Glendale, California, at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park. So let’s
just put this urban legend to rest. Get it?
Misconception #3: Walt Disney designed Mickey Mouse.
It turns out that Walt didn’t even draw Mickey all that much. After he went into business
for himself in 1928, he DID come up with the idea to create a mouse character. But Mickey
himself was designed by Walt’s partner, Ub Iwerks. I guess you could call the character
a collaboration between the two men. Fun Fact: Mickey was originally named Mortimer Mouse.
Which brings me to... Misconception #4: Mickey Mouse was named after
Mickey Rooney. This is an interesting myth because it was
Rooney himself who claimed it to be true. He said that he was playing a character named
Mickey McGuire when he met Walt at Warner Bros. studio, which prompted Walt to name
the character after him. Well, it was actually Walt’s wife, Lillian who suggested the name
“Mickey” in place of “Mortimer.” Still, it’s possible that his wife could have been
inspired by Rooney. But, it’s hard to believe considering Rooney was working for Warner
Brothers at the time, and Disney had his own studio. And Rooney changed his story a couple
times. So who knows.
Speaking of character inspiration... Misconception #5: Disney animators based Tinkerbell
on Marilyn Monroe. People tend to believe this one because the
film came out around the time that Marilyn Monroe was becoming a very popular actress.
But, the animators actually hired a model to base Tinkerbell on. Her name was Margaret
Kelly and it took her six months of work to pose for the film. She acted out all of the
motions that Tinkerbell does. Plus, Kelly modeled for and voiced one of the Neverland
mermaids.
Misconception #6: The Disney logo is Walt’s actual signature.
Actually, Walt’s real signature didn't even really look like the logo. While he was alive,
a few Disney employees were authorized to sign Walt’s autographs. The logo that later
emerged appears to be a fancier version of the signatures that various employees had
attempted. An authentic Walt Disney autograph that looks like the logo has yet to be uncovered.
Misconception #7: The word “SEX” can be seen in The Lion King.
So, this one is kind of a maybe. There’s a scene in the film in which Simba lays down
and some dust flies off of a cliff. If you look closely, it looks like the dust spells
out “S-E-X” for a moment. The film’s animators have claimed that it was supposed
to look like “S-F-X,” short for “special effects.” But like, you can decide for yourself
whether you believe them. (You have to admit, it’s PRETTY weird that they’d choose an
abbreviation only one letter off from “sex”... liars)
Misconception #8: You can see Disney’s face in the Haunted Mansion.
There’s a bust that slightly resembles him in the graveyard scene of the Haunted Mansion.
But, that man is Thurl Ravenscroft, who you might know as the voice of Tony the Tiger
for fifty years. Although Disney and Ravenscroft had similar mustaches, so it could be some
sort of tribute, who knows
Speaking of the Haunted Mansion... Misconception #9: The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland
was shut down due to a guest’s heart attack. There’s an urban legend that the Haunted
Mansion really opened in 1962, then a guest rode it and had a heart attack. So, the ride
was shut down until 1969, and it was made significantly less scary. It’s true that
the ride’s opening was postponed, but it wasn’t for that reason. Other events got
in the way, like Disney’s death. Plus, the building hadn’t even been completed by 1962,
so there’s no way this legend could be true.
Misconception #10: No one dies at Disney Parks. The story goes that anytime there’s a serious
medical emergency at a Disney park, that person is rushed outside the gates, so no one is
ever declared dead at a park. But, there have been numerous declared deaths there, including
some from a 1984 plane crash in the EPCOT parking lot. It’s not really a preventable
thing. Even with that Disney magic.
Thanks for watching Misconceptions on Mental Floss on YouTube, which is made with the help
of all these nice people. If you have a topic for an upcoming Misconceptions episode that
you’d like to see, leave it in the comments. See you next week! Bye!