Every film has a story. Unfortunately, not all of those stories can have a happy ending.
On the contrary, some of the most monumental films from our childhood are actually mired in tragedy.
Below are 10+ sad facts about classic kids’ movies that may just ruin your childhood. Be warned: you may never look at your favorite films in the same way again.
Everyone loves reminiscing over their childhood.
We do it by looking through family photos, old videos, or talking around tables with our family.
Sometimes, however, it is by going through the old movies or shows that brought us some joy!
But just because we have happy memories of these classic childhood movies, it doesn’t mean that they are light and fluffy like we remember!
So let’s get into some of these classic movies that have some dark facts behind them!
1. *An American Tail* is an allegory for racism, anti-antisemitism, and the profane treatment of immigrants.
Apparently, there are many levels to Fievel and the Mousekowitz family that I missed the first time around.
2. Robin Williams had a death clause in *Aladdin*.
Supposedly there was enough audio recording for an entire other sequel. However, a clause in Robin’s contract stated that no material could be used for up to 25 years after his death.
3. Nemo is really dead.
There’s a very convincing Pixar fan theory that says Nemo is dead . He supposedly died with his mother and the film is an analogy of Marlin’s grief.
The word “Nemo” is Latin for “no one.”
4. Sleeves say a lot in Disney movies.
According to one fan theory, Disney tends to differentiate between their princesses.
If you look at the characters who are depicted wearing dresses with sleeves, they come from royalty. Those who wear long gloves, are commoners .
5. *Wall-E*’s imagery is based on a true story.
The barren futuristic wasteland that Wall-E inhabits is based on the real-life nuclear disaster of Chernobyl .
The design teams studied images of the nuclear fallout and made their model mirror the destruction.
6. Watching *Bambi* may be bad for your mental health.
The killing of Bambi’s mother is so traumatic, there’s a psychological condition known as ” The Bambi complex .”
It refers to an especially strong sympathy and love for cute animals, as well as a stronger aversion to them being killed.
7. Sid Phillips from *Toy Story* was inspired by a real Pixar employee.
Apparently this former Pixar employee also derived pleasure from Frankensteining his own childhood toys.
8. *The Secret Of NIMH* is based on a true story.
In the movie, NIMH stands for the National Institute of Mental Health. Supposedly this was a real spot where horrible experiments were actually conducted on rats and mice.
As if you needed another reason to be afraid of this film.
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9. Disney animators are kind of gross.
There are a number of examples of Disney animators slipping sexually explicit messages into the films.
For example, the scene in The Lion King where Simba collapses on the overhanging rock, the dust from the flowers spells S-E-X.
10. The real reason behind why Dopey doesn’t talk is shocking.
In the Italian version of the tale, Dopey is mute and purposely holds everything he wants to say back.
The one word he does say, is “mama,” leaving fans to believe that something terrible happened to his mother, resulting in him refusing to speak.
Fans believe Walt Disney chose to stick to that version of the tale.
11. Disney’s lack of mothers.
The dead or absent mother is a common theme in Disney films.
Many believe this was Walt’s way of dealing with the death of his own mother.
12. Walt blamed himself for his mother’s death.
He had purchased a home for his mother that had a leaky gas line .
It wasn’t discovered in time and his mother died as a result.
13. Santa was supposed to get shot.
In an original draft of The Santa Clause , Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) was originally supposed to shoot Santa , thinking him to be a burglar.
15. Jim Carrey underwent torture training from the CIA for *How The Grinch Stole Christmas*.
Apparently the makeup was what made it so unbearable for Carrey.
Talk about dedication to your craft!
14. Mara Wilson from *Matilda* lost her mother before the film’s release.
The young child star lost her mother during post-production.
Mara wasn’t even 8 years old when her mother lost her battle with cancer.
16. *Finding Nemo* inadvertently caused the deaths of hundreds of clown fish.
The success of Finding Nemo drove many people to purchase clown fish from their local aquariums. However, in an effort to “free” the fish, many flushed them down the toilet.
Which ended up killing them all.
18. *The Princess And The Frog* caused a salmonella outbreak.
This seems almost unbelievable, but apparently there was a salmonella outbreak shortly after the release of The Princess and the Frog , specifically caused by frogs.
In a bit of journalistic fun, it was suggested that it could have been caused by children trying to kiss frogs and turn them into princes.
17. *Cars* co-director perished in a car crash.
While co-directing and co-writing Cars , Joe Ranft tragically lost his life – in a car crash.
The irony is only surpassed by the tragedy.
20. The songs in *Beauty And The Beast* have a double meaning.
Howard Ashman was the lyricist for the film. He was also openly and publicly battling AIDS . Many have interpreted the songs in Beauty And The Beast to be commentaries on the AIDS crisis.
Ashman died of the disease before the film’s release earlier that same year.
19. The plane in *Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory* crashed in real life.
The flight went down in 1974 in Bali.
Over 100 people were killed that day, which is so utterly tragic.
21. *Cinderella* has a very Grimm origin story.
The original Grimm Brothers fairytale version of Cinderella is incredibly dark and violent. In it, Cinderella’s stepsisters cut off chunks of their feet in order to make the glass slipper fit.
Cinderella also enacts revenge by having birds peck their eyes out.
22. Sometimes a great book makes a terrible movie.
They really had to clean up The Hunchback of Notre Dame in order to make it even passable as a film.
In the book, Esmerelda’s dies and her body is thrown unceremoniously into a graveyard to decompose. Quasimodo stays beside her dead body out of grief until he dies of starvation.
23. *Pocahontas* colors the truth.
The real story of Pocahontas is a tragedy. She was taken prisoner from her lands and forcibly converted to Christianity.
She was given the Christian name of Rebecca and made to openly denounce her sacrilegious ways.
24. The original boat scene in *Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory* was even worse.
Apparently a number of graphic images were cut from the final boat scene.
One of which included a giant needle being injected into a person’s arm.
26. *Finding Nemo* is very real.
In order to capture the inside of a whale in the most realistic way possible, Pixar sent members of the Finding Nemo design team to take pictures of the dead beached whales that would wash up on shore.
25. That was a real hotline in *The Santa Clause*.
Charlie’s mom gives Scott the number where she can be reached in case of an emergency. Scott reads the card and replies “1-800-SPANK ME? I know that number!”
It was an actual sex chat hotline.
27. The Brazilian voice of *Harry Potter* died.
The Brazilian voice actor who played Harry Potter was Caio César , who was also a police officer, passed away in the line of duty.
28. *Pinocchio* is not for kids.
According to the IMDB trivia, there were:
“43 instances of violence and other unfavorable behavior in this film, including 23 instances of battery, nine acts of property damage, three slang uses of the word ‘[expletive],’ three acts of violence involving animals…” and so much more.
Can you think of any more classic kids’ movies facts that people might not know about?
If you can, let us know what they are below in the comments!
If you can’t, let us know which fact put a damper on your day!
