Even if you don’t consider yourself a Disney fanatic, you probably have a lot of love for the company (or at least, some of its franchises). And, I mean, it’s kind of hard not to love at least something about Disney.
But there are a lot of things about this company that most of us don’t know. In fact, you’d probably have to be a pretty huge Disney fan to know all of the facts in this list.
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Walt Disney himself has won the most Oscars… ever.
With a whopping 26 wins over 59 nominations , Walt Disney is the most decorated Oscar recipient ever. His last win was for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day , which was awarded to him posthumously.
The first time Disney released a film for home video (relatively) shortly after its initial theatrical release was with ‘The Little Mermaid’.
It only took six months for fans of the film to get their hands on a VHS copy. At the time, this was considered a gamble for Disney, since they would general wait years before re-releasing movies. But it paid off big time, and started a trend of home releases following theatrical runs.
Pinocchio was a box office bomb.
Pinocchio , which may be best known for its song, “When You Wish Upon a Star” (which is still used as the company’s jingle all these years later), didn’t do well in its initial theatrical run. A lot of that had to do with the fact that it released in 1940 — in the midst of World War 2 — and Disney relied on Europe for a lot of its income.
Before Mickey, there was Oswald.
Disney’s first animated character was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, whose rights were taken by Universal Studios not long after his creation. Disney went on to create Mickey Mouse, who then went on to become the company mascot, and probably one of the most recognizable characters ever.
The spaghetti scene in ‘Lady and the Tramp’ almost didn’t happen.
Apparently, Disney himself didn’t want the scene to happen , but eventually gave in after seeing a rough draft. It ended up being an incredibly iconic scene that still gets mimicked and parodied in media today.
People spread loved ones’ ashes at Disney parks — a lot.
It makes sense, that people would want their ashes to be spread in the happiest place on Earth . Though, apparently, one of the more popular places to spread ashes is the Haunted Mansion attraction.
‘Sleeping Beauty’ was in production for eight years.
Sleeping Beauty is another super iconic Disney movie (It’s a princess film, after all.), but it had an exceptionally long production time. Beginning in 1951, the movie didn’t come out until 1959 . That’s a long time, even for animation!
Disney didn’t create any animated sequels until 1990.
The Rescuers Down Under is the first Disney animated sequel… ever. It came out in theaters in 1990 , and is only one of a few sequels to not be direct to VHS/DVD/streaming.
The only other one I can think of off hand is Frozen II …but I’m sure there are more.
“When You Wish Upon a Star” was Disney Studio’s first song to win the Oscar for Best Song.
Which is pretty funny, considering the movie it came from bombed.
The most recent Oscar win (not including Pixar Studios songs) went to “Let It Go” back in 2014 . Other winning songs include “Beauty and the Beast,” “Colors of the Wind,” and “You’ll Be in My Heart.”
‘The Aristocats’ is the last movie to have the “A Walt Disney Production” credit.
Releasing in 1970, after Disney’s death in 1966, it’s the last movie he officially approved for production . Unfortunately, he wouldn’t live to see its premiere.
Disneyland is home to a sizeable amount of feral cats.
Unless you go to the park a lot, you may not have known about their ” cats members ,” which have been checked on by veterinarians, and brought in to be spayed and neutered. They may be strays, but they do a good job at controlling the rodent population in the park.
Mikey Mouse has his own Hollywood star.
That itself may be a pretty well-known fact. But he was also the first animated character to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, back in 1978. It took four decades before Minnie Mouse got her own…
Disney parks have a secret menu.
Just like plenty of restaurants and chains around the world, the eateries in Disney parks offer items not found on the menu . You just have to know what to ask for.
Epcot grows some of the food the park serves.
Staying true to its theme, Epcot boasts a greenhouse where much of the produce the park serves is grown. You can even visit it during the Living with the Land attraction.
Disney park cast members aren’t allowed to say “I don’t know.”
Being part of the cast at a Disney park comes with a lot of rules. There are plenty of things the cast members (in other words, the people dressed up as characters who wander around the parks) can’t say, including “I don’t know” if a patron asks for directions .
They have to find another cast member to answer the question.
One of the Frozen songwriters’ daughters got to sing for the movie.
The singing voice of young Anna during “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” is the daughter of the movie’s married songwriters , Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. How cute!
Walt Disney would often have live animals on set.
In order to make animations as realistic as possible, Disney would oftentimes bring animals to the set in order to study their appearance and movements. Plus, it would probably be really fun, just having them around.
The Disney “vault” is a real place.
It exists in Glendale, California , and has a surprising amount of security. But, outsiders have been aloud to roam the halls (within reason), occasionally.
The first movie to be re-released from the vault was ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’.
The 1937 film was re-released during WWII, in 1944. The move was to help the company, which was struggling financially at the time . But it ended up being a smart move, and kicked off the trend of re-releasing older films in theaters every few years (which is basically done now, thanks to Disney+).
Anita from ‘101 Dalmatians’ was partially modeled after Julie Andrews.
Funny enough, the actress went on to star in Mary Poppins , several years after her likeness was used in part to create Anita. Funny how things work out like that.
