7 Disney Movie Facts You may Not Have Known

Welcome back folks, today we are going to look at 7 Disney Movie Facts not everyone knows.

Disney has been around, for what seems like forever and has become such a normal part of everyday life, it's hard to imagine we don't know absolutely everything about it. However, after some research, I have come across some obscure facts not everyone seems to know, so read on to find out more and I hope you enjoy!

Number 1:

First Movie Soundtrack

Kicking us off at number one, is the first Disney film to be released, back in 1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Despite being released over 8 decades ago, you can't deny it's not still a watchable classic. What you may not know, however, is it was actually the first commercially issued film to release a film soundtrack. At the time, Disney did not have it's own music publishing company so the rights to release the soundtrack actually belonged to the company Bourne Co.

Number 2:

Princesses weren't always popular

So this one may seem strange to the younger generation as they will be so used to there being Disney Princesses, however they weren't as popular back in the day. As of 2020, there are officially 12 Disney Princesses (take points for yourself if you can name them all) and, despite the first Princess being Snow White, released in '37 as stated above, 9 of them where added in the last 30 years. The reason behind this is down to Sleeping Beauty. Released in 1959, the movie performed so poorly against Disney's expectations, it would be a whopping 30 years before they went back to making Princess movies. The first of which was The Little Mermaid, released in 1989.

Number 3:

The Beast was once voiced by a well known action movie star

Released in 1991, Beauty and the Beast (my favourite Disney film I have to say) went on the become Disney's most successful film at the time. It was the first animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Whilst it did not win this award, it would scoop up two others for Best Original Score and Song. What you may not know though, is that there was a mandarin version released for Chinese audiences and the Beast was voice by none other than action star Jackie Chan. He even provided the singing voice. You can check it out on YouTube.

Number 4:

Hyena's getting a bad reputation

The 90's are mostly seen as the turning point for Disney movies, going on to become known as Disney's Renaissance era. During this time, we were treated to the absolute classic - The Lion King. A film widely regarded as the best Disney film ever made and is usually in everyone's top 5, if not number 1. However, what you may not know is, a Hyena researcher is known to have tried to sue Disney for deformation of character, based on how Hyena's where portrayed in the film. A bunch of other researchers also tried to boycott the film for the same reason. Statements where released explaining Hyena's are actually very gentle creatures and that Lion's where more known for stealing their kills than the other way about.

Number 5:

Naughty Animators

The Rescuers is one of those Disney films which was a great addition to the collection, but has since become forgotten by recent generations, despite receiving extremely positive reviews at the time and it being a very successful release (it out grossed the original Star Wars in France during it's initial release). However, when it was released on VHS, it had to be recalled due to an inclusion of a topless women in a window in the scene where the Albatross Orville takes off by one of the animators. There are numerous stories as to how it came about, but no one really knows for sure.

Number 6:

"A113" Easter Egg

The 90's didn't just give us a whole host of amazing Disney films, but also introduced us to the magic of Pixar. This allowed for a whole new type of animated film to be made and completely changed the game from then on. Pixar has produced some of the most successful films ever, from the Toy Story franchise to Monsters Inc, Cars and The Incredibles. If you pay attention to each movie though, you will notice the code "A113" appears in every Pixar movie. This is actually a nod to the classroom at the California Institute of the Arts where most of the animators got their start in animation work.

Number 7:

No Expense Spared

Finally, we come to last fact on today's list. In 2010, Disney released Tangled, based on the fairytale Rapunzel. An adaption of this classic fairytale actually began way back in 1996, however it would see numerous rewrites from then until it's actual release. It was received incredibly well, becoming extremely popular, but by the time it was released, the film had raked up a huge budget cost of around $260 million, making it the most expensive animated movie ever made. With a Box Office total of $592.4 million though, I'm sure everyone can agree, it was worth every cent.

So there you have it - 7 Facts about Disney Movies you may not have known. Did any surprise you?

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Hope you enjoyed it, until next time :)