Intro
There aren't many people who've only seen a Disney movie once, but even on repeat viewings,
some of the best kept secrets and details can still be hard to spot.
Allow us to fill you in.
Here are 20 Hidden Secrets in Disney Movies You Won't Believe.
Beauty and The Beast
Younger fans might keep their eyes covered in the movie's terrifying forest, but look
again: on the worn out road signs there's an arrow pointing to Anaheim - the home of
Disneyland - and Valencia - the hom of Cal Arts, where plenty of Disney animators learned
their trade.
The Little Mermaid
It's hard to forget the visual design of the movie's villain Ursula, but her unlikely inspiration
deserves most of the credit: the 1970s drag performer "Divine."
Wall-E
The movie may be set after the fall of the Disney and Pixar universe, but it's named
for the one who started it: Wall-E, as in Walter E. (for Elias) Disney.
Mickey Mouse
Disney's mascot has always had a sweetheart in Minnie, but when his voice actor Wayne
Allwine met voice actress Russi Taylor a decade into his career, real life sparks flew.
The two were married five years later.
A Goofy Movie
It may not get the same attention as other Disney flicks, but A Goofy movie's famous
Powerline number has a great Peter Pan easter egg backstage: Tick Tock, the Croc.
Cinderella
Ever gotten a real "Wicked Stepmother" vibe from Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent?
You should, since both iconic villain roles were played by and modeled after the same
actress, Eleanor Audley.
Tangled
During the lantern sequence, one of the thousands floats down next to Rapunzel, who keeps it
from sinking and sends it back into the sky.
Notice the royal emblem?
It's the same one her parents sent out in her honor.
Snow White
The movie made animation, and Disney overnight sensations, but the artists took some clever
shortcuts to get there.
To get Snow's skin looking just right, they applied actual rouge to the animation cells
- clearly, it worked.
As for the Dwarves, well the final seven were just a few of dozens of potential names, like:
Baldy, Hickey, Jumpy, Wheezy, Puffy, Tubby, Burpy, and Deafy.
They made the right call - even if "Wheezy" would be easier to remember.
Hercules
The Musical Muses of the movie steal the spotlight, but they also pay one massive tribute to the
broken busts in Disney World's Haunted Mansion.
Toy Story
Tom Hanks' performance as Woody helped make him Pixar's mascot, but his lines were actually
performed during breaks from other films - mainly Sleepless in Seattle and A League of Their
Own.
With Terminator 2 releasing just years before, the animators planned to have Buzz and Woody
rescued by their own Sarah Connor badass: Barbie, in her toy Corvette.
Mattel who owned Barbie refused, saying Barbie's personality wasn't set - and because they
figured the movie would flop.
Good call on that one.
Toy Story 2
The team at Pixar clearly featured some Canadians, with a magazine on sale on Toy Story 2 priced
at $5 America, but $50 Canadian, taking a shot at the retail mark-up for imported products.
Jessie's exclamation, "sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln" upon meeting Woody may fit her characters,
but it's also a joke at Tom Hanks' expense.
The actual mother of Abraham Lincoln was Nancy Hanks - a distant cousin to the actor himself.
Zootopia
The animal cast includes a total of 64 species, but also pay tribute to past Disney releases.
Assistant Mayor Bellwether is a nod to the lambs of "Melody Time" and "Make Mine Music,"
and Mayor Lionheart was designed after The Lion King's Mufasa.
The movie is all about Judy Hopps' journey, but that wasn't the plan.
Actress Ginnifer Godwin had already recorded her lines for a supporting role to Nick the
Fox's lead, until one of the vocal crew informed her the script had been completely re-written
with Judy as the star.
The team tried to be accurate with their character designs, even traveling to Africa to see native
species up close.
But when they realized a talking rabbit's upper lip would be split up to its nose, they
made an executive call, and stuck with the classic - and inaccurate - talking rabbit
tradition.
Frozen
The one-of-a-kind style and artwork in Frozen's world might seem like a Disney animator's
work, but it's actually known as "Rosemaling" - a traditional folk art hailing from Norway,
where the film is set and was used as inspiration for Arendale.
Most fans know that the movie started development with Elsa as the villain, but when that was
the plan, her character design was based on the late Amy Winehouse, with short, spiky
hair and blue skin.
The movie's success is mainly due to the bond shared by the starring sisters.
That might be because unlike most animated films, actresses Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel
actually recorded some of their scenes together - including the songs.
Conclusion
Those are some of our favorite bits of trivia and insider information, but what other Disney
secrets have we missed?
Let us know in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe for more videos like this one.