DC Feature: Five Things You Didn't Know/Realize About Disney Films

Welcome to the first feature of my blog! It's been a long time waiting, but it's finally here! In this feature, I'm gonna share with you five things from Disney movies that you probably didn't know or realize.


#1: The Fair Fairy
You remember the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio who helps transform Pinocchio into a real boy? Well, the voice actor attributed to her was Evelyn Venable. Miss Venable was also a model; indeed, she was the live action model for the logo of famed studio Columbia Pictures.





#2: What's In A Name?
The picture on the left is from Fantasia. He is the very sorcerer from the iconic Mickey Mouse segment "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Perhaps you didn't catch his name: it's Yensid. And "Yensid" backwards? "Disney."



#3: Nana in Neverland
Aw. Poor Nana! The worn-out nurse dog from Peter Pan got thrown out of the main story! Remember when Michael Darling throws the fairy dust onto Nana as the gang left for Neverland? But Nana is trapped to a leash, so she floats up only to get restrained at an unfortunate and uncomfortable height. Well, in the original storyline written up by Disney, this wasn't going to be the case. Nana was meant to go off to Neverland, and ultimately was to bite Hook, making him jump of the ship. But this never happened.

#4: Architecture Comes Before Art
Sleeping Beauty was one of Disney's most famous films about a princess. And like any other princess film, it featured an iconic castle. To the right is that castle, featured in California's Disneyland. That attraction was first seen by the public on July 17th, 1955, when Disneyland was opened. Park-goers didn't know that they had to wait another four years for the film that fit the castle. Sleeping Beauty was finally released in the U.S. on January 29th, 1959.








#5: Mom? Dad?
This is a well-circulated fact on the internet about a certain pattern in Disney movies. The fact is this: there are but a few Disney films where BOTH of the main character's parents are features AND at least ONE of them doesn't die during the movie. There are inconsistencies, however, about which films these are. For example, www.unnecessaryknowledge.com notes that these films are 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Mulan. However, in Sleeping Beauty, both parents of Aurora are present, and neither dies throughout the movie. I can't speak for certain movies past Robin Hood, but there still seems to be a very small amount of films that fit this criteria.