Disney Facts

Disney Facts Infographics

Pocahontas is the only Disney princess based on a real life person.

Disney based the character off a real historical figure of the same name. The real-life Pocahontas was a Native American known for her association with the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.

History states that Pocahontas was originally captured and held for ransom by colonists in 1613. In popular culture, she is often seen as a princess due to being the daughter of a Native American chief.

The original Disney logo showed a profile of its mascot Mickey Mouse.

When animated, the logo would always appear on the company’s films and television shows and would revolve to change its colors. At the time, it was considered to be a testament to the technological advancements in animation that Disney had created. 

Since then, the Disney logo has been changed several times until settling on the 2006 version.

Disney World is one of the most photographed locations in the United States.

On average, official Disney photographers take around 100,000 to 200,000 photos of their guests per day. In 2016, Disney Properties also ranked among the top of Instagram’s location list with over 800 million active users checking in.

A hyena researcher once sued Disney.

One of the more suprising Disney facts: A biologist studying Hyenas once sued Disney for the way it portrayed the animal in The Lion King. In the film, the hyenas were depicted as slobbering and stupid poachers, which is actually far from how they are in real life. 

The scientist felt so strongly about this issue that they sued Disney for defamation of the character in the film. Others also attempted to boycott the film for the same reasons, in fear that this would give hyenas a bad reputation in real life. 

Disney offers ongoing internship program.

Students can begin their career with Disney through the Disney College Program and directly have an on-the-job experience working at Disney parks and resorts. This program lasts from five to seven months and allows participants to network with company leaders and develop their careers. 

Disney also offers housing for the interns near the resorts and offers a variety of positions.

Only Disney cast members can access Disney Hub.

The Disney Hub contains tools and information available to all members of the Disney Cast. This online service is used among employees and contractors as well. 

The Disney Hub also provides news and information regarding the company and any corporate changes that may occur.

The personality of Disney villain, Hades was inspired by the audition of James Woods.

During casting for the characters of Hercules, the actor approached the character as a fast-talking and fun car salesman. The writers for the film enjoyed James’ audition so much that producers eventually incorporated the personality into the character.

The Disney Skyliner was first opened on September 29, 2019.

This serves as Disney World’s newest form of transportation. This ski-lift cable car system uses enclosed gondola cabins that can hold ten people at a time. 

Connected to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot, resort hotels, and the Caribbean Beach, the Disney Skyliner makes it easier for tourists to roam while offering a scenic view. The cabins also feature numerous popular Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Chip and Dale, characters from Finding Dory and Finding Nemo, and many more.

You can get rewards from buying products from Disney.

In September 2019, Disney released its Disney Movie Insiders membership. For each purchase of Disney products, a member can earn points that they can redeem for vacation perks, merchandise, shows, and many more.

Disney’s Chernabog is considered to be the best representation of pure evil.

Disney’s animated feature film Fantasia first introduced this demon as its antagonist. The character is based on the Night God in Slavic Mythology. 

The Chernabog is also considered a primary member of the Disney Villains franchise.

Walt Disney’s motto is “Dream, Believe, Dare, Do”.

For years, Walt Disney continuously tested his dreams against his beliefs and took many risks to achieve his success. Walt Disney states that sticking by the motto “Dream, believe, dare, do.” proved essential to making his vision come true. 

These four words eventually became the four core pillars of the Disney Corporation.

Visitors can come to see the Walt Disney Concert Hall for free.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall offers free entrance for visitors to explore during opening hours. Visitors may opt to walk around on their own or avail for a 90-minute tour guide of the entire music campus. 

An hour-long guided tour is also available for those who only wish to see the Disney Concert Hall by itself. Audio tours are also available for visitors aged 10 and up, featuring esteemed actor and musician John Lithgow’s narration.

Disney does not own nor manage all the Disney Springs restaurants.

A few of these establishments include Chef Art Smith Homecomin’, Wine Bar George, The Edison, Jaleo by Jose, and more. Instead of being handled by Disney itself, The Patina Group runs the Italian restaurants at Disney Springs and even holds special private events.

As of 2019, there are a total of 13 non-Disney owned restaurants located in Disney Springs.

Avalanche Software launched Disney Infinity in 2013.

Disney Infinity is a sandbox action-adventure game aimed towards children aged 7 and above. The game features playable characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars franchises. 

The video game incorporates special figurines that are scanned on a platform attached to the game console which players can switch out for a new character at any time during play. However, Avalanche Software closed down in 2016. Consequently, Disney had to retire the game franchise as well.

Disney has a streaming platform called Disney Plus.

Launched in 2019, Disney+ directly rivals video streaming platforms such as Netflix and Apple TV Plus. Much like other platforms, Disney Plus offers a paid subscription that allows unlimited access to all of Disney’s watchable films and shows without advertisements. 

Disney Plus also grants subscribers access to Fox’s legacy content as well as new and exclusive television shows, documentaries, and movies. The Disney Plus streaming service is available as an app and is compatible with smartphones, computers, Smart TVs, and tablets.

The first Disney film produced after Walt Disney’s death was the Aristocats.

Before his death, Walt Disney managed to approve the film. As a result, Aristocrats became the last Disney animation branded as a Walt Disney Production in the credits. While critics stated an evident decline in quality due to the loss of Walt Disney, the animated film remains as one of the most beloved in the franchise. 

The New York Times has since stated that the film was sweet and heartwarming which stood by Disney’s reputation of amazing animated storytelling.

Disney has strict rules for all of its cast members.

Disney is famous for keeping such high standards for its employees and keeping the magic alive. As such, those who wish to be employed by the company must follow strict requirements at all times. 

Some rules include strict jewelry permissions, a certain body type and weight regulation, a dress code, and as well as a grooming code. Cast members are also not allowed to say the word ‘no’ and cannot point with one finger to show directions to others.

The Little Mermaid was the last Disney film to use a traditional animation process.

The 1989 Disney film was the last to use the traditional hand-painted animation due to Pixar’s development of digital animation at the time. This new method of animation included the ability to color and combine drawings through scans.

Eventually, Disney transitioned fully into this method as it was cheaper and more efficient. This method also allowed Disney to experiment with more complex blending and shading to create new multiplane shots with a sense of depth.

In Aladdin, Genie’s lines were recorded in 20 different ways.

The voice of the Genie, Robin Williams, ad-libbed so many of the Genie’s lines that the studio ended up with hours worth of lines. The studio stated that while Robin Williams did read out his lines as written, he also did it numerous other times but as different characters.

The studio stated that they loved Robin William’s work so much that they just went ahead and chose the best lines that made them laugh the most.

Disney’s first real original film in terms of storyline was the movie The Lion King.

The Lion King is the first Disney film that did not adapt from a pre-existing story. However, some still believe that the film was inspired by Hamlet, and the animated series The White Lion from the 1960s. 

Disney studios first conceptualized The Lion King in 1988, beginning its production in 1991. At the same time, Disney had also been producing Pocahontas. Eventually, The Lion King was released in June 1994.

The spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp almost never happened.

During the production of the film, Walt Disney felt that the scene could not go well as he envisioned two dogs eating pasta messier than it would be soulful. He stated that in real life, it would look more like a food fight than anything given the common nature of dogs which would not seem realistic in the film at all.

However, animator Frank Thomas somehow managed to convince Walt Disney that the scene was necessary to complete the story. After the film was released, this scene became one of Disney’s most iconic moments in history.

Playhouse Disney officially closed on February 13, 2011.

The Playhouse Disney programming offered series aimed towards children between the ages of 2 to 6. The network first debuted in April 1983 and has undergone numerous relaunches since then.

A few of its popular programs included shows such as Bear in the Big Blue House, PB&J, Rolie Polie Ollie, and Out of the Box. In the year 2000, Disney made the programming available worldwide.

The Disney Boardwalk Resort Hotel ranks as an AAA Four-Diamond Award-winning hotel.

First opened in July 1996, Disney designed this hotel to resemble authentic boardwalks such as Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. The resort holds several different dining establishments and shopping districts for all to enjoy. 

For those aged 21 and over, Disney’s Boardwalk Resort also has the most bustling nightlife located on Disney properties. Apart from the resort areas, Villas and Inns can also be availed by visitors.

The Disney company owns a line of cruise ships.

Incorporated in the year 1996, the Disney Cruise Line officially operates as the Magical Cruise Company Limited. Its first vessel was named Disney Magic and is domiciled in London, England.

As of 2020, the cruise line owns four ships and a private island located in the Bahamas that was exclusively designed for Disney’s ports. Three additional cruise ships are also planned to be added in the following years of 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Disney Bounding is a popular way for fans to cosplay Disney characters.

Disney Bounding’s main concept involves finding easier ways to dress up as Disney characters by using simpler clothing. Most costumes make use of stylish everyday clothing that can resemble the full-on costumes of the characters.

This idea can also be linked to ‘Casual Cosplay’ that many cosplayers do to reimagine characters and how they would dress in everyday life. Since Disney parks do not allow adults to dress up in costumes, this is the best alternative way for these fans to express themselves and their love for the character.

Over 1,500 costumes were made for the second movie of Disney’s Descendants.

The lead costume designer for the Descendants 2 film, Kara Saun, stated that she wanted to ensure that each costume design could fit the character well. Each costume was made with the character’s storyline and narrative in mind.

As a result, the costume team went above and beyond to create over 1,500 costumes for the main characters and cast members.

Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment in 2009.

The Disney company paid Marvel Entertainment in cash and partly in stocks to acquire the franchise. In total, Disney acquired Marvel for $4 billion. 

This also plays into Disney’s strategy on building a bigger audience with both male and female viewers.

The horses that are found on Disneyland’s main street have rubber-soled shoes.

Horses in Disneyland walk an average of 4 hours a day, 4 days a week. These horses are driven to and from their stables, each having an individual water fountain and private beauty shop to make sure that they are properly cared for. 

Some horses also have custom-tailored suits and costumes as they pull streetcars and other vehicles around the Disney parks.

As of 2019, Princess Aurora is the only real blonde Disney princess.

Unlike other princesses, Aurora is the only princess known to be born a true blonde. Characters such as Cinderella is considered to be a strawberry blonde and Elsa is noted to be a platinum blonde. 

Rapunzel is also not included as her real hair color is brown without her magical hair.

Alligators have been found swimming in Disney World frequently.

The Seven Seas Lagoon attraction at Walt Disney World has experienced numerous alligator sightings on its attraction due to the location of the park. On one occasion, there was an incident where a boy two years of age was dragged into the water by a wild alligator found in the park. 

The child was reported dead the next day, with many other visitors reporting similar incidents.

The most popular souvenirs bought at Disney parks are the famous Mickey Mouse ears.

These trendy headbands are considered as one of Disney’s quintessential Disney World souvenirs. The start of these iconic accessories dates back to 1995 during the first broadcast of Disney’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show. 

Over the years, Disney parks have offered more variety of famous accessories available in different styles, colors, and themes to suit individual tastes. Various designs can also be bought on online shops such as Amazon.

Disneyland has a secret basketball court hidden inside the Matterhorn roller coaster.

This secret basketball court is available only to Disney employees for them to enjoy during their breaks. According to interior designer Bob Gurr, the court is not up to regulation size but is still enjoyed by most of the staff members.

Disney World buys the second-most explosives in the United States.

Disney World comes second to the United States Military when it comes to being the largest purchaser of explosive materials in the country. These materials are used for many of Disney’s nightly grand fireworks displays at the end of the park’s closing. 

Each nightly fireworks display lasts approximately 20 minutes each time. How’s that for surprising Disney facts?

As of 2012, a total of three babies have been born at Disneyland.

Many rumors have circulated the internet claiming that babies born within the grounds of Disney Parks receive a lifetime pass to its properties. However, the company has since debunked these rumors as completely false and management would not grant you such a pass. 

Additionally, official reports refuted succeeding rumors that babies born at the park were named after Disney characters.

Mickey Mouse only has four fingers for a specific reason.

Disney animators believed that giving the clothed mouse five fingers looked too strange and would not be able to attract its targeted audience. One animator also stated that giving Mickey five fingers would just make his hand look like a bunch of bananas.

Disney’s Descendants 2 was said to be inspired by West Side Story and Hamilton.

Steven Vincent, the Vice President of Disney Channel’s music and soundtracks stated that the film’s centerpiece numbers were largely influenced by the musical Hamilton. The soundtrack did so well on the movie’s premiere that itplaced 6th in the Billboard 200 chart.

The soundtrack for the second film also did well on the iTunes Album chart in July 2015.

The first words Mickey Mouse ever spoke were “Hot Dog!”.

The famous animated Mouse was first given a voice in 1929 in the short animated film released by Celebrity Productions. Karnival Kid was the ninth film released as part of the Mickey Mouse series. 

During his other animated appearances, Mickey Mouse was only seen whistling, crying, and laughing.

There are exactly 6,469,952 black spots in the film 101 Dalmatians.

Disney’s production team has stated that the dogs appear in exactly 113,760 frames in the film. The canine lead, Pongo has exactly 72 spots on his body while his partner, Perdita has a total number of 68. 

Animators at Disney stated that it took nearly 800 gallons of special paint to draw all the spots and color effects required for the film. Definitely one of many amazing Disney facts.

A unified theory connecting all Pixar films is one of the most popular Disney theories among fans.

The theory states that all animated Pixar films are connected and found in the same universe and are run by an evil company located in Buckingham Palace. The theory was first popularized in 2013, which attracted many fans after a statement from the film critic Jon Negroni. 

While Disney has yet to confirm if this large theory is true, it is one of the most famous and popular conspiracy theories in entertainment.

Disney princesses found at Disney’s theme parks must fit a specific body type.

Strict requirements and auditions are held for those who wish to work at any of Disney’s parks. Aspiring princesses must stand between 5’4 to 5’7 tall, have similar features to the Princess they are applying for, and be under the age of 30.

All that pass the auditions are also required to perfectly imitate the princess’s handwriting and natural responses.

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse married in real life.

The 1977 voice of the world-famous Mickey Mouse, Wayne Anthony Allwine provided his voice to the character for 32 years. Allwine began as an employee in the mailing room until he was able to work in sound effects with Jimmy MacDonald in the 1970s.

In 1991, he married Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse. The two were also named Disney Legends in 2008, a year before Allwine’s death.

Disney once used real skeletons for the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.

The famous attraction opened to the public in 1967. However, the engineers for the ride wanted to give a more authentic spooky aura for the guest that the plastic skeletons could not provide. 

As a result, they obtained real skeletons from the UCLA Medical Center to put on display on the ride. Since then, the skeletons have remained Disney’s property and have been used for many prop purposes.

You can send certain Disney characters an invitation to your wedding.

If a couple sends a Disney character an invitation to a wedding, they will receive a postcard back from them stating ‘Congratulations.’ A ‘Just Married’ button is also given as a gift with a signed congratulatory certificate. 

Invitations may be sent to Walt Disney World Communications or Mickey and Minnie Mouse’s special address.

You are not allowed to bring pogo sticks inside Disneyland.

Disney parks have a strict list of banned items and rules for all of its guests. One of these prohibits guests from bringing in pogo sticks, skates, tricycles, and scooters into the park grounds. 

This is to avoid any accidents that may occur to the guests and other visitors to the park. Selfie sticks, vulgar clothing, and tattoos are also prohibited in all of Disney’s parks.

The image of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast was inspired by several animals.

The Beast from the famous film is based on many animal body parts. The beast has the head of a buffalo, the mane of a lion, the eyebrows of a Gorilla, tusks of a wild boar, and many more. 

The character’s tail and legs are also shaped after a wolf, with its body based on the average brown bear. However, animators noted that his eyes must remain human as an important reminder that the prince is only under a curse.

Many believe that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen to be revived at a later date.

Walt Disney passed away in December 1966 when a reporter supposedly snuck into his hospital room to publish a story about his death. While it is uncertain if it is true or not, the reporter stated that Walt Disney’s body was cryogenically frozen in a metallic cylinder. 

Many believed that this was to preserve Disney’s body and to be thawed out at a later date. Some also believe that his grave is just a decoy to make people believe that he is buried there. 

Employees at Disneyland are referred to by their first names.

This tradition is strictly followed as Walt Disney refused to be addressed as Mr. Disney. All employees at Disney will be given a name pin with their first names written in the famous Disney font.

The name of the little girl in Monsters Inc is Mary.

If you look closely, the name of the little girl can be found in her room written in crayon. Her full name is Mary Gibbs but is referred to as ‘Boo’ in the Monsters Inc. film.

If you are an employee at any Disney theme park, you are not allowed to date a coworker.

Disney has a strict ‘no-dating’ policy among co-workers. However, there are a few loopholes to this rule. 

For example, if the two employees work in two different reporting stations, they may be able to work around this ruling. Cast members are also exempted from this rule, given that they can play their characters and roles as long as they are working. 

Animators used to have a secret code to warn others when Walt Disney was coming.

The code “Man is in the forest” was used often by the production team to alert others that their boss was coming. This would signal everyone to look busy as Walt Disney passed by to check up on production. 

This is a reference to the Disney film, Bambi where the man in the forest acts as its main antagonist.

The elephant, Dumbo is the quietest central character among all Disney characters.

Dumbo is the only main character that Disney has that does not speak at all. This makes him the most silent protagonist in the Disney franchise.

In 2017, a teenager died on a roller coaster in Disneyland Paris.

The girl was reported unconscious after going on the Rock n Roller Coaster ride at Disney World Paris. When the ride was over, park employees immediately attempted to revive the girl and called an ambulance. 

The ride remained closed until the police completed their investigations.

There are approximately 2.3 million individual hairs on Sulley from Monsters Inc.

Disney animators stated that all hairs found on the blue monster had to be animated one by one to create a realistic effect. Production took 12 hours to render and model each frame one at a time. How’s that for mind-boggling Disney facts?

Disneyland’s Main Street takes inspiration from 1910 America.

The location was also inspired by Walt Disney’s hometown of Marceline, Missouri. This theme was also featured in the film Lady and the Tramp.

Disney animators often hide other classic characters in the background of certain scenes.

The animators for Disney are known to recycle old frames from previous movies to save on production times and costs. However, did you know that they also often sneak in other characters into the background of the film from time to time?

One of the most well-known examples of this is when Goofy, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck are seen in the opening scene of The Little Mermaid. The characters can be seen amongst the background of mermaids as King Triton enters the frame.

Mickey Mouse became the first animated character to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On November 13, 1978, Mickey Mouse officially made Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. This animated mouse claimed the 1700th star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame in the city of Los Angeles. 

Ariel’s perfect proportions are based on a real model named Sherri Stoner.

Disney Princesses are known for their perfect features and body shape. However, what most are not aware of is that the body of The Little Mermaid Ariel is based on a real model. 

Sherri Stoner’s proportions served as a reference for both Ariel and Belle by Disney animators during the production of the films.

The Disney World Resort measures as big as San Francisco.

It is estimated that the Walt Disney World Resort spans 40 square miles. This is around the same size as the city of San Francisco.

The park is home to nearly 50 attractions as well as weekly parades and fireworks displays. 

Disney World has a network of secret tunnels used by staff.

These tunnels are known as Utility corridors or ‘Utilidoors’ by the staff members. Disney World staff use these tunnels to avoid costumed employees from walking and crossing over to different parts of the park that do not fit the theme of their character. 

It is also used to transport garbage and props from one location to another without being seen by the public. Definitely one for secret Disney facts.

Each year, Disneyland finds thousands of missing items around the park.

According to Disney, an estimated 210 pairs of sunglasses end up in Magic Kingdom’s lost and found center each day. Since 1971, Disney estimates that over 1.65 million pairs of sunglasses have been lost at their parks. 

Cellphones, digital cameras, hats, and autographed books are also commonly lost within the premises of Disney’s properties. Among the most unusual items include a prosthetic leg, a glass eye, and a toilet trainer.

Around 2 million pounds worth of Turkey legs is sold at Disneyland each year.

This is equivalent to over 1.6 million turkey drumsticks annually. In recent years, the prices for this Disney treat have also increased due to demand. 

On average, guests at Disneyland pay around $12 per leg.

Disneyland once denied entrance to people with beards.

It is not a surprise that Disney follows a strict code to maintain the magic found at its parks. However, this policy once extended to its guests as well. 

Until the year 1960, both employees and visitors were not allowed on park properties if they had facial hair. The appearance and dress code was first established in 1950 and has since then been re-written to accommodate modern statements. 

Many Disney films do not feature a mother due to Walt Disney losing his mother.

Disney movies often portray characters with only one parent. Most of the time, only the father of the protagonist is present. 

The ‘motherless’ storylines of many of Disney’s films are said to be due to Walt Disney’s grief over the loss of his mother. Walt Disney believes that he is responsible for his mother’s death after giving her a house in California that he did not know had faulty ventilation. Unfortunately, Disney’s mother succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Several families annually ask to spread the ashes of their loved ones on the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland.

For some reason, many families believe that spreading the ashes of their loved ones on the horror-themed attraction will calm their spirits. Of course, Disney always refuses these requests.

However, one family was once caught red-handed doing so anyway. As a precaution to this, the rides are cleaned thoroughly each day.

Hidden Mickeys can be found throughout Disneyland.

Disney has stated that there are exactly one thousand hidden Mickeys located throughout their parks. However, the company has never released an official list of locations as to where to find these hidden marks.

There is also no clear way to confirm or disprove any of the hidden Mickey sightings. This gives guests a special kind of enjoyment when spotting one of these marks throughout their visits to the park.

Mickey Mouse was named by the wife of Walt Disney.

Walt Disney settled on the name “Mickey” after an argument with his wife, Lilian Disney. His wife found the previous name ‘Mortimer’ too depressing for such a character and doubted it would appeal well to the audience.

Employees are not allowed to break character at any of the Disney theme parks.

All employees are required to act as if there is no world outside of Disney. This rule is strictly implemented towards those playing characters from films such as princesses and princes. 

An employee must speak only within the knowledge of the character and cannot ever reference anything outside of Disney.

The garbage compactor, Wall-E has a real name.

Many people are unaware that this robot’s name is an acronym. Wall-E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class.

Mickey Mouse has a wardrobe of around 300 outfits.

In total, the famous Disney mouse has over 300 different suits and costumes while Minnie Mouse has significantly less in her wardrobe. I guess now we know who the real star is.

Disney’s Hollywood Studio was a real studio.

Originally, the company intended for Disney Hollywood Studio to be a central part of the theme park as well as an operating production studio for the company. This would include productions on film, television, and animation services. 

However, the Disney park began to separate itself from the studio in 2010.

The snowman Olaf was originally going to be Elsa’s sidekick.

The lovable snowman from the film Frozen was not always intended to be a memory of Elsa and Anna’s childhood. However, after re-writing the script several times, director Jennifer Lee stated that it would be better if Olaf was turned into Anna’s sidekick instead. 

Olaf’s first character design also used a penguin rather than a snowman, which made dealing with the character even more difficult for the production team.

There are approximately 30,000 rooms available at the Disney World hotels.

It would take 68 for an average person to sleep in each of the rooms in Disney World’s hotels. If you were to include all the independently owned properties found in the resort, it would add an extra 10,000 rooms to stay in. 

Approximately 160,000 visitors are accommodated at the resorts at a time.

The Spice Girls were originally considered for the roles of the muses in Hercules.

The muses that show up in Disney’s Hercules are often portrayed in most Roman myths and legends. However, in the film, the muses are shown as a group of musical women who are unseen by the main characters in the story. 

At times they also act as the narrator of the film as seen in the beginning. The Spice Girls were considered for the roles at the time due to their success and popularity as well as the number of girls in the group.

The Little Mermaid features over one million hand-painted bubbles.

Animators stated that the job was so tedious that they had to outsource some of its production to the Pacific Rim studio located in China. This was done for all of the film’s backgrounds apart from the final scene of The Little Mermaid.

Sleeping Beauty took eight years to complete.

Disney’s Sleeping Beauty was released in theatres on January 29, 1959, and received mixed reviews. The film also was unable to perform well in the box office, causing the studio to avoid fairy tale adaptations for some time after the film’s release. 

The film was directed by three different directors and was also under the supervision of Clyde Geronimi.

Disney World is one of the cleanest theme parks found in the United States.

Disney emphasizes on the cleanliness of its amusement parks. The park focuses on the guest’s experiences throughout their visit which includes providing a clean environment.

As a result, Walt Disney created a family-safe environment in contrast to traveling to other amusement parks.

The film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs received a special Academy Award.

This award consisted of an Oscar trophy with seven smaller sized awards that come as a package. The film was also nominated for the Best Musical Score.

Zootopia originally intended to revolve the story around Nick Wilde instead of Judy Hopps.

During the early testing of the storylines, animators noticed that the audience reacted better towards Judy rather than Nick’s character. This inspired the switch of perspective and made the film focus on Judy’s background.

Disney World welcomes an average of 50,000 visitors per day.

It is estimated that Disney World has an average of 58 million visitors annually. Among all the Disneyland properties, Disney World is the most visited Disney vacation property in the world.

Tiana is the first black Disney princess.

The story of The Princess and the Frog is based on a novel written by E.D Baker titled The Frog Prince. In 2006, Disney bought the rights to the story to adapt it into their version. 

Directors and the film’s writers said the concept of making the princess for this film black came naturally as a result of the story’s setting. 

Disney’s Mulan is based on the legend of a real female warrior in China with the same name.

The character Hua Mulan is based on a real legendary figure in Chinese history. The original story describes a young woman who takes on the role of a man to fight in a war for her country. 

In the legend, it states that Mulan fought for twelve years in her father’s place and gained high merit over time. However, in the story, she refused to accept any form of reward and later retired and moved back to her hometown.

The vultures found in The Jungle Book were based on the band The Beatles.

If you look closely, the vultures introduced in the film The Jungle Book hold similar features to the members of The Beatles. The animators deliberately based their designs off the band member’s mop-top hair and even their accents. 

The Beatles were also originally going to be the voices of the vultures as well until it was retracted due to scheduling conflicts.

The movie Frozen took more than 300 million hours for animators to complete.

Animators stated that it took 132 hours to render just a single frame for the film. The crew used 4,000 computers, taking 30 hours to complete a single frame. 

Overall, the production team took 4 years to develop and complete the project.

Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise in 2012.

In 2012, George Lucas informed Iger that he was considering retirement already and had planned to sell the company shortly. After some discussions with the Disney company, the two companies agreed to seal the deal worth $4.05 billion. 

Disney paid this is half by cash and the other half in Disney stock.

The first Disney movie to inspire a sequel was the film The Rescuers.

Disney’s The Rescuers did so well during its first film release that production for the sequel was put into action. The sequel, The Rescuers Down Under acquired $47.4 million in the box office and is considered to be even better than the original film.

Until 2013, The Lion King was the highest and best-selling home movie of all time.

The film has sold over 55 million copies worldwide since its release. However, after the release of Disney’s Frozen, The Lion King got pushed down both in terms of International and Worldwide box offices.

Over 100 garments were made for the film The Incredibles.

This includes the hero costumes, casual daily clothes of the main characters, and as well as the clothes for the background characters in the film. Over 100 distinct outfits were made to fit the background characters and as well as the leads. 

All the clothes were specially designed to look as realistic as possible when animated. This is the same technique used on Boo’s t-shirt in Monsters Inc.

Merida is the second Disney Princess to not have an American accent.

The first princess is Princess Aurora who has an English accent. Merida’s accent is noted to be Scottish which also makes her the first Scottish Disney Princess in the ongoing franchise.

The little blue alien, Stitch was originally not able to talk.

The original story of Lilo and Stitch focused on the little blue alien living in the forest alone. However, filmmakers realized that this would make it difficult to give expressions to the character if he was not able to speak. 

As a result, the story was re-written in a way that could show how the alien would learn how to speak.

Disney princesses who do not wear gloves were born into royalty.

As of 2019, all princesses who were not born royal have worn opera gloves with their gowns in their films. This includes Disney Princesses Belle, Tiana, and Cinderella.

Meanwhile, all other princesses that do not wear gloves are born of royal blood. Among these princesses are Merida, Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, and more.

Rapunzel’s hair measures around 70 feet long.

If you do the math right, this would mean that her hair weighs around 21 pounds. On average, hair grows around 1cm per month.

For a person to grow out their hair to this length, it would take around 178 years to complete. However, considering Rapunzel had magical glowing hair, it might have been growing faster as she aged.

Jasmine is the only Disney princess who is not the main character of their film.

As of 2019, Princess Jasmine is the only Disney Princess to not be the titled character in her film. She is also the first non-white Disney Princess to join the franchise. 

Jasmine is also the first Middle Eastern princess.

Merida is the only Disney princess to not sing in her movie.

Disney’s Brave is the only film to feature a Disney Princess that does not sing a single note. All other official princesses from the Disney franchise each have their song in their respective films.

Thelma Howard, Walt Disney’s housekeeper was given Disney shares as holiday bonuses.

Walt Disney stated that because Thelma was so loving she eventually became part of the Disney family. He also described his housekeeper as the real-life Mary Poppins. 

Each Christmas and birthday, Walt Disney gave Thelma a generous bonus in the form of Disney Stocks without fail.

Tokyo Disney Sea began construction in October 1998.

The project for the Tokyo Disney Sea was considered groundbreaking as a ceremony was held to commemorate the beginning of the construction of the park. The project alone cost 335 billion Japanese Yen to build and complete.

After two years of construction, the park opened to the public in 2001. Tokyo Disney Sea is more oriented towards adult Disney fans and generally also has fewer people crowding with children.

The voice of Snow White, Adriana Caselotti was underpaid and uncredited for her role.

Adriana Caselotti was 18 at the time when she was used for the voice of Snow White. She was paid a total of $970 in 1935 which is now equivalent to $17,251 in 2019.

Due to her being uncredited for her critical role in the film, she struggled in gaining new opportunities in the industry later in life. Definitely one of the more unfortunate Disney facts.

Disney has a special event called Disney After Hours.

The Disney After Hours events allows guests to remain in park premises after working hours. This allows select visitors to experience an uncrowded Disney park 

However, these are separate tickets that are sold from $129 and are currently limited to 5,000 people at a time by Disney.

Disney has requirements for its animated princesses.

For a character to be considered a Disney Princess, they must hold a primary role in their animated feature film. They must also be born or married into royalty or perform a significant act of heroism. 

The character should also not have been introduced in a sequel film. Lastly, the character’s film must also be a box office success that is neither overwhelming nor underwhelming.

The Disney Channel Original movies are typically filmed within three months or less.

Unlike Disney’s animated films, the Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) have always had shorter production time. Most DCOMs have also had subsequent releases of VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray discs. 

Major DCOM franchises include High School Musical, Camp Rock, The Cheetah Girls, and Halloweentown. The Descendants series is also one of the newest additions to the DCOM franchise that has grown quickly in popularity.

Lilo and Stitch is the first feature-length animated film set in Hawaii.

It was stated that the inspiration for the setting of Lilo and Stitch was from a bridge located in Hanapepe, Kauai. This town underlines a laid-back atmosphere that the film’s production designer wanted to incorporate into the film. 

This town also inspired Disney’s use of watercolor backgrounds.

Walt Disney died from lung cancer in 1966.

Throughout his life, Walt Disney was known to be a heavy smoker. This took a great toll on his health when he developed lung cancer which eventually changed his image after his death.

Mulan is the only Disney princess who is not a real princess.

In the film, Mulan was shown to come from an ordinary Chinese family and therefore not born a royal. Her husband, Shang was also not born as a royal therefore making them an ordinary couple. 

However, Mulan does earn the title of Imperial Consul in the film. Mulan was made an official Disney Princess due to her heroism and not because she married into royalty.

Walt Disney was a big fan of trains.

Ever since he was a young child, Walt Disney has held a strong interest and fascination for trains. The ruthless tycoon stated that he was invested in this interest since his visit to the Santa Fe railroad in the town of Marceline as a child.

Belle’s blue dress is meant to symbolize her role as an outsider.

It was suggested by the art director, Brian McEntee that Belle be the only character in the film to wear the color blue. This also symbolized her status as the village outsider or outcast. 

The colors Belle wears in the film also represent her emotions, where blue would often be associated with loneliness and sadness. On the other hand, this was also used to symbolize good as opposed to the red color that the villain of the film, Gaston wore.

Wall-E and the robot R2D2 are played by the same actor.

Both sound effects from the two characters were developed by sound designer, Ben Burtt. Ben Burtt was also known for his work on the E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, and Star Trek franchises.

In High School Musical, all Wildcats basketball members had to go through an audition.

According to Corbin Bleu, there were numerous auditions held for several roles in the film, including roles for extras. One of these auditions was to fill up the positions on the Wildcats basketball team. 

Actors had to show how well they could act as a high school basketball player in terms of ball play and skills.

Toy Story 2 was almost entirely deleted.

Chief Technical Officer Oren Jacob stated that they discovered that someone had incorrectly inputted a command in the company’s server. This led animators to lose nearly two months’ worth of work which took over hundreds of hours to make. 

At that point, a large portion of the film was deleted but was miraculously recovered after intense efforts by the Pixar staff. Since then Pixar has tediously been backing up its data to avoid future instances like this again.

Snow White is the youngest Disney princess.

As of 2019, Snow White is currently the youngest among all the official Disney Princesses at the age of 14. Next to her is Jasmine who was portrayed in her film as a 15-year-old princess. 

The oldest of the Disney Princesses is Tiana who was 19 years old when the film The Princess and the Frog released.

The movie Cars was Paul Newman’s last film that he had worked on.

Paul Newman took on the role of Doc Husdon in the 2006 Disney Pixar film. In the film, his character is an old retired 1951 Hudson Hornet race car who settles in the small town of Radiator Springs. 

This role was also Paul Newman’s last non-documentary role in a film before his retirement in 2007 and unfortunate death in 2008.

Monsters Inc was originally centered around a grown man haunted by his drawings.

The original storyline for Monsters Inc was completely stray from the film we know today. During the early stages of production, one of the storylines pitched for the movie involved a thirty-year-old man who had to deal with monsters he drew as a child. 

This involved the monsters in the drawings coming to life and haunting him, with each monster representing a fear he has. The only way for the monsters to disappear as if the man could face his fears. Definitely one of the darker Disney facts.

There was no Disney Pixar movie released in 2014.

Due to some delays in production, The Good Dinosaur’s release got pushed back to 2015. This year marks the only year the studio has gone without a feature film release since 2005.

Disney made a special animation software just for Merida’s hair in Brave.

In 2012, Disney’s Pixar studios created new software for their next film project dedicated to Princess Merida’s hair. The software allowed the character’s hair to move more naturally and realistically in the film. 

It took animators approximately 1,500 individually sculpted curls of hair to create a distinct three-dimensional space and programmed it around that base. To prevent anyone else from being able to imitate this form of animation, Pixar states that it will not license its program to any other company.

All screams in Monsters Inc were supplied by the children of the animators.

During the production of the film and recording, Pixar animators brought their children to work with them to fill the role of the children’s screams in the movie. Different types of screams from the kids were recorded and edited to fit the sound they needed for several scenes throughout the animated movie. 

Now that’s what we call a fun bring-your-kid-to-work day.

The color of Elsa’s ice palace changes depending on her mood.

Animators noted that inside the heart of the ice palace, the floor and walls change into colors that reflect Elsa’s current mood. This concept is something similar to a mood ring and each color signifies a different emotion she is currently feeling. 

Purple is noted to be sad while red means she is experiencing fear. When Elsa is angered, the heart of the palace can be seen turning red.

Animators modeled the character’s teeth in The Incredibles based on people.

This was done by referencing toothy grins of the animators and staff around the studio. If you pay attention to certain characters’ grins in the movie, you can tell what kind of smiles they were making for the photo.

Walt Disney has won numerous Academy Awards for his work.

From 1901 until his death in 1966, Walt Disney received a total of 22 Academy Awards. This grants him the title of record holder for the most Academy Awards won in history. 

Some of these awards include the creation of Mickey Mouse and the Best Short Animated Film. 

The film Ratatouille created a trend for pet rats.

During the release of the film in 2007, several families began adopting rats for pets due to the popularity of the movie. Pets at Home, a British pet store chain reported that the pet rat sales soared up to 50% after the film’s release. 

The pet store chain also states that rats are one of the cleanest pets available and can also be taught to do tricks over time. However, this requires much care for the creatures and as well as time and attention.

Ellen Degeneres voiced Dory.

This famous talk show host was given the role of Dory in Disney’s 2003 animated film Finding Nemo. After the success of the film, Ellen Degeneres made a running joke on her show stating how the film she appeared in has not had a sequel yet after so many years. 

Ellen Degeneres has also campaigned for the sequel of a film for some time before Disney announced any official signals about its production. In 2016, the sequel Finding Dory was released and Ellen Degeneres came back to offer her voice to the character once again in its feature film.

Woody from the Toy Story franchise has a last name.

The entire Toy Story franchise centers around a toy cowboy named Woody and his journey throughout the films released. Woody’s last name is Pride which was revealed by the director of Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich.

He stated that Woody’s last name was developed during the development of the first movie. This was mainly due to Buzz having the last name as well which made the production team feel that it is only right to have the two main characters both have surnames.

There are 10,297 balloons in Disney Pixar’s movie UP.

For the film UP, the production team carefully calculated how many balloons it would take to realistically lift a house as big as Carl Fredrickson’s.

The actual calculations predicted that it would take 26.5 million balloons to lift a small house. However, only 20,622 balloons were made for the lift-off sequence in the animated film.

Disney Pixar’s lamp mascot is named Luxo Jr.

This desk lamp character serves as Disney Pixar’s primary mascot. He also has his short film of the same name which plays as the production logo of every Pixar film. 

In the short animation, he is shown to hop into frame and bounce on the letter I in the word Pixar. When the letter is squashed flat by Luxo Jr he looks into the direction of the camera, and the shot fades.

The girl who voiced Boo in Monsters Inc had difficulty staying still for her lines.

The voice of boo was provided by Mary Gibbs who shares the same name as the animated child character. She is also the daughter of Rob Gibbs who works for Pixar as a story artist. 

As of 2015, Monsters Inc is the only film Mary had worked on despite her outtakes being used in the film Inside Out.

In the movie Cars, Mater’s name was inspired by a real NASCAR fan.

The character Mater in Disney’s Pixar film Cars was based on Douglas “Mater” Keever. Filmmakers met Douglas Keever during their research trip in North Carolina’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway. 

After talking, Douglas Keever was given a small cameo in a film where he is given one line. He plays the motor home who says, “Well dip me in axle grease and call me slick.”

The movie Wall-E was originally titled Trash Planet.

In this previous concept, Wall-E was supposed to lead a revolution and encounter aliens along the way. However, after exploring the concept, it was deemed too difficult to get a solid storyline out of it. 

Instead, the story writers for the production opted to work on the version we know today. The title for the film was made when the Pixar team was making the acronym for the robot.

The early concept of Inside Out included over 27 different emotions.

One of the screenplay writers, Docter, along with Josh Cooley and Meg LeFauve stated that there were originally going to be more emotions introduced in the film. Apart from the five central emotions, other characters such as Hope, Ennui, and Envy. 

However, after thinking about how these characters would interact with one another the emotions were eventually cut to five. Instead of giving the names to the featured emotions, the writers decided just to call them by their moods.

The voice of Dashiel Parr from the Incredibles was made to run laps around the studio.

When Spencer Fox voiced Dash, he had to run laps around the Pixar studio. According to director Brad Bird, this created a genuine out-of-breath voice that needed to be used in particular scenes of the animated film. 

Barbie was only added to the Toy Story world after the success of the first movie.

The Barbie dolls were first featured in the second Toy Story film in 1999. In the films, Barbie plays a supporting character in the series.

In the third Toy Story film, Barbie plays a bigger role and joins Woody’s group at the Sunnyside daycare after being donated by her previous owner, Andy’s sister.

Pixar’s first human-only feature film was The Incredibles.

Until 2004, Pixar has only released full feature-length films that feature non-human characters as its main cast. Disney Pixar’s The Incredibles is the first film Pixar has released without any talking animals, insects, or objects of any kind. 

The film was well-received globally and earned around $633 million in the box office. It also had a two-disc DVD release in the United States in March 2005.

Each Pixar film holds an easter egg that features the code ‘A113’.

Pixar hides many easter eggs in all of its films, and amongst the most well known is the code A113 that can often be found hiding somewhere in the background. This serves as Pixar’s tribute to their former California Institute of Arts classroom, which was room A113.

This classroom holds special meaning to the members of Pixar as many of the studio’s animators from both Pixar and Disney used to study and work in that very classroom. This is also where most of the artists at the studio discovered their passion for animation and graphic design. 

The most profitable Disney Pixar film is The Incredibles 2.

As of 2018, Disney Pixar’s highest-grossing film is the long-awaited sequel for The Incredibles franchise. The sequel was able to gain $1.164 billion gross in the global box office which surpasses the third Toy Story film which only gained $1.066 billion in the global box office. 

After several years since the release of the first film, the sequel continues its storyline from where it left off and introduces new villains. It also reveals the long-awaited powers of the youngest member of the Parr family, Jack-Jack.