Image via Complex Original
Animated films hold a special place in our hearts, but no matter how many times we've seen the Disney classics, there's still stuff we don't know about the lovable movies. Many contain hidden graphics that flash by too quickly when viewed in real time. Also, so much goes into pulling off an animated movie, that it's easy to forget everything that happens behind the scenes. From the longest frame in Frozen to the dirty picture hidden in the original poster for The Little Mermaid, here are 22 Things You Didn't Know About Your Favorite Animated Films.
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Every LEGO creation in The LEGO Movie can be reproduced in the real world.
Even though the on-screen world of The LEGO Movie is a digital rendering, the software used to make the film would not allow a single LEGO creation in the film to be built if it could not be reproduced using real LEGOs.
Peter Pan is the last film that Disney's legendary Nine Old Men created.
The 1953 animated adaptation of J. M. Barrie's classic tale about the boy who never grew up was the last film that involved all of Disney's legendary Nine Old Men. The Nine Old Men were artists and animators who codified the Disney style. They created some of the most memorable scenes and characters in Disney's animated features.
Beauty and the Beast changed the animation game.
Combining traditional animation techniques with the CGI technology that was available at the time, the animated film based on Jean Cocteau's classic was the first animated film in history to be nominated for an Academy Award. Even more impressive, Beauty and the Beast was nominated for Best Picture.
FernGully was the first film to be shown at the UN General Assembly Hall.
On Earth Day in 1992, FernGully, a film with a strong environmental message, was appropriately the first film shown at the United Nations General Assembly Hall. It was introduced by Olivia Newton-John.
Disney characters are meant be understood even with the sound turned off.
In the early days of his movie-making franchise, Walt Disney wanted his characters and scenes to be extremely easy to understand through clear visuals. His goal was to make sure they conveyed a story even without sound.
Goofy and Donald Duck attend King Triton's concert in The Little Mermaid.
You may have missed it when you were a kid, but two Disney favorites are among the fishy attendees of an underwater concert in Ariel's mer-world.
Pinocchio is a disturbing morality play.
In Medieval morality plays, allegorical plots and personifications of moral attributes were used to make the protagonist choose good over evil. Similarly, in Pinocchio, the animated feature shows us how, by choosing the wrong path, you can be turned into a jackass and sent off to work in the salt mines.
Older Disney classics made their way into Tangled.
In one scene of Tangled, Flynn and Rapunzel are surrounded by a mess of books on the floor. Here, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Sleeping Beauty enter the picture.
Ariel is sitting front of a golden penis in the original poster for The Little Mermaid.
It's been rumored that the artist behind The Little Mermaid poster knew he was about to be fired, so he made his last stand with an inappropriate addition to the graphic. Whatever the truth is, it's hard to believe that no one at Disney noticed Ariel sitting in front of a golden penis in this poster.
The protagonist's name in WALL·E stands for "Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class."
The name of WALL·E's eponymous hero is an acronymfor "Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class," which ties in nicely with the groundbreaking animated feature's overarching environmental message.
The beast in Beauty and the Beast is a lion-buffalo-boar-gorilla-wolf-bear hybrid.
Designer Glen Kleane, created Beast by mashing up the features of six different wild animals.
The slain lion in Hercules is Scar from The Lion King.
Even if you thought Scar was one of a kind, he makes an appearance in Disney's Hercules, and his fate is equally unlucky.
The Lion King is a version of Hamlet.
As film critic Robert Ebert mentioned in his print review of the animated feature, the "saga of Simba" is much indebted to Greek tragedy and "certainly to Hamlet."
Monstro, the whale in Pinocchio, returns to the screen in Monsters, Inc.
61 years after Pinocchio was released, its largest character appears again in a poster in Monsters, Inc.
The dogs from Lady and the Tramp lend a paw in 101 Dalmatians.
Pongo and Perdita from 101 Dalmatians need all the help they can get to find their puppies. In one scene, the lead pooches from Lady and the Tramp help with the search.
Snow White's blush is hand-painted.
The rosy cheeks in Snow White may have been painted on by hand, but they remain relatively consistent in every frame.
Aladdin takes place in the future.
While Aladdin may seem like it takes place in the ancient setting of the Arabian Nights, clues from the film suggest that it takes place much further in the future. In one scene, Genie calls Aladdin's clothes "so third century." We also know that Genie was locked inside a lamp for the past 10,000 years. That would mean the movie takes place in at least 10,300 AD. "A Whole New World," for sure.
Snow White cost Walt Disney his house.
In 1937, Walt Disney had to mortgage his house to help finance the production of Snow White, which cost almost $1.5 million to produce. But it was worth it; after adjusting for inflation, Snow White remains the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Simba means "lion" in Swahili.
The choice was appropriate for a movie about lions that takes place in Africa. Also, Nala means "gift" and Rafiki means "friend" in Swahili.
The longest frame in Frozen took 132 hours to complete.
The longest frame in Frozen is during the Oscar-winning song "Let It Go," where Elsa walks out onto the balcony of her newly constructed ice palace. The entire scene is 218 frames long, and a single frame from this scene took 132 hours to complete.
Beast has a rainbow butt.
According to Beast creator and 30-year Disney animator, Glen Kleane, Beast's pants hide a multicolored bottom. But only Belle has seen it.
The Land Before Time was too dark for children during its first cut.
According to New York University professor Matthew Bruen, many gory scenes in the film were edited out of the final cut because Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and angry parents thought that some scenes were too dark and intense for young children. This included portions of the scene where Littlefoot's mother is attacked by Sharp Tooth.