21 amazing facts you didn’t know about your kids’ favourite movies
Are you ready to be considered the coolest mum ever? Because when you share these amazing golden gems of animation trivia with your kids at the next family dinner they are going to think you are the master of animated films.
Which you are. Because you’ve probably watched them 8 squillion times …
If your kids like Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks films as much as my kids do, then you probably know a thing or two about the ins and outs of some of their featured films. You probably know the actors behind the characters, the singers behind the featured songs and even some of the fan theories behind the interconnecting stories.
But here are a few awesome facts that you probably didn’t know:
1. ABBA should have been the stars behind The Lion King soundtrack
But they were unavailable so Disney approached Elton John.
2. Toy Story’s Woody was originally a ventriloquist’s dummy
But the producers thoughts ventriloquist dummies were creepy (and rightfully so!) and usually associated with horror movies and thus swapped to a cowboy. Yeah, probably a good idea, especially after SAW‘s debut in 2004.
3. Rapunzel gets tangled up in Frozen’s plotline
You’ve probably heard the fan theory that Anna and Elsa’s parents in Frozen died while sailing to Rapunzel and Flynn’s wedding. And you probably just ignored it. But, turns out, Rapunzel and Flynn from Tangled can actually be seen during the coronation scene in Frozen.
Mind blown.
4. Tarzan may (or may not) be Anna and Elsa’s brother but Ariel is certainly related to Hercules
Another theory is that Elsa and Anna’s parents did not actually die at sea but rather their boat was shipwrecked and washed up on shore (with a newborn baby boy aboard). Cue the storyline of Tarzan. And while the idea that Tarzan, Elsa and Anna are siblings is only a fan theory, it’s Greek mythology that connects Ariel with Hercules.
Ariel’s dad is Triton. Triton’s dad is Poseidon. Poseidon’s brother is Zeus. And Zeus is Hercules’ father. So that makes Ariel and Hercules first cousins, once removed.
5. The awfulness of Toy Story’s Sid returns in Toy Story 3
He’s the garbage man.
6. Lilo from Lilo and Stitch is actually voiced by the girl from The Ring
In case you needed a reason to never watch Lilo and Stitch again …
7. Tangled was a financial mess
And the most expensive animation film ever. It took six years of production and cost $260 million.
8. Boo from Monsters, Inc. has a real name
And it’s Mary! You can see her name written on her drawings.
9. WALL-E is a lot closer to R2-D2 than we thought
He was voiced by the same dude – Ben Burtt. Ben created 2400 sounds for WALL-E (which, by the way, kids, stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth Class).
10. It took 20,622 balloons to lift Mr. Fredrickson’s house in UP
In actuality, it would take around 12 million balloons to lift it.
11. Minionese is an actual language
It was written by the directors of the film, Despicable Me.
12. Plus, Minions only have three fingers
And five different hair styles.
13. Disney gets sued … a lot
The team behind The Lion King were sued by a hyena-loving biologist for their portrayal of hyenas as villains. The Toy Story 3 team were also sued over the evil Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear character by a New Jersey company who created the Lots of Hugs stuffed toy bear collection.
14. The Pixar creators really, really like pizza
The Pizza Planet Truck is in every single Pixar film, except The Incredibles.
15. The characters’ names in Frozen pay homage to Hans Christian Andersen
Ready for this? Hans, Kristoff, Anna, Sven = Hans Christian Andersen (said really quickly). Hans Christian Andersen was the creator of The Snow Queen, the story on which Frozen was based.
As for Olaf? Olaf was first used to describe the size of a man’s penis in ancient Scandinavia. So there you go.
16. Elsa is the oldest Disney princess at 21. Snow White is the youngest at 14.
Jasmine is 15 (no wonder she didn’t want to get married!). Ariel, Merida, Aurora and Mulan are 16. Belle is 17. Pocahontas, Anna and Rapunzel are 18 and Cinderella and Tiana are both 19.
However, Princess Fiona from Dreamworks’ Shrek is said to be 22. And Shrek? He’s a young 108.
17. The Beast from Beauty and the Beast is an assortment of animals
Look closely and you’ll discover the Beast has the mane of a lion, the beard and head shape of a buffalo, the tusks and nose bridge of a wild boar, the strongly-muscled brow ridge of a gorilla, the legs and tail of a wolf, and the big and bulky body of a bear.
18. Everybody Likes Dory
Dory has 25 million likes on Facebook – the most of any Pixar character. Nemo has 22 million.
19. There could have been up to 27 different emotions in Inside Out
Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger made the cut but other emotions such as Trust and Surprise were axed.
20. Barbie and Ken from Toy Story 3 were based on dolls from the 80s
Barbie was modelled after ‘Great Shape’ Barbie, from 1984 and Ken is based on ‘Animal Lovin’ Ken, from 1988.
21. Kristen Bell voices both fast-talking Anna in Frozen and the slow-talking sloth in Zootopia
Although she only has two words in the whole movie, Kristen was cast for the role after she acknowledged that sloths were her favourite animal of all time.
And, if you haven’t seen Zootopia with the kids yet, do yourself a favour and watch the sloth scene. It’s pretty much the funniest thing you’ll ever see.
So there you go. 21 random facts about animated movies that you didn’t even know you needed to know.
You’re welcome.