There are ones about classic characters like Minnie Mouse, princesses like Cinderella and Jasmine, beloved characters like Olaf and even evil villains like Ursula. Once you discover all of this info, you won’t be able to help but wonder how some of these movies would have turned out had things not been adjusted to what they are now. Plus, you’ll know tons of new insider-info that’ll impress your other Disney-loving friends. Check out all the 50 Disney character facts below if you want to be magically impressed. We bet even Mickey Mouse himself doesn’t know all of these!
50 Facts about Disney Characters
- Snow White is the youngest Disney princess at 14 years old.
- In Frozen, Elsa was originally supposed to be the villain. However, once producers heard “Let It Go” they changed her storyline because they loved how empowering that song was.
- It took more than three years for engineers to get Merida’s curly hair just right.
- Aurora, from Sleeping Beauty, only has 18 lines of dialogue in the whole film, making her the most silent Disney princess.
- Monsters, Inc.’s Sulley has more than 2.3 million individual hairs!
- Tiana from The Princess and the Frog is left-handed.
- Rapunzel’s 70 feet long hair took over 30 animators and engineers to animate.
- Bhalu’s name in The Jungle Book is actually Hindi for “bear.”
- Donald Duck’s middle name is “Fauntleroy.”
- Believe it or not, Aladdin’s face and smile were largely modeled after Tom Cruise.
- Ariel was originally going to be a blonde in The Little Mermaid, but then changed it to red.
- Rafiki isn’t a baboon like many people might assume. He’s actually a mix of a baboon and a mandrill.
- Pocahontas is the only Disney princess based on an actual person. The real Pocahontas was born in the late 1500s.
- In the first script of Pocahontas, Grandmother Willow wasn’t even a character. Instead, the spirit of the river, named “Old Man River,” took on the role of Pocahontas’ guide.
- Cinderella has a really small foot and wears a size 4 ½ shoe.
- Before Angelina Jolie took on the role of Maleficent, the animated character was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who also voiced Lady Tremaine, AKA Cinderella’s evil stepmother.
- Maui may be known for his head of curls, but his character was bald in early designs.
- Bambi’s sidekick, Thumper, wasn’t initially going to be as big of a role. However, Walt Disney fell in love with his scenes with Bambi and upped his significance.
- “Minnie” is actually the character’s nickname. Her full name is Minerva Mouse.
- In the original script of Peter Pan, Nana, the Saint Bernard nursemaid, traveled to Neverland with all of the Darling kids and acted as the story’s narrator.
- Jasmine is the only Disney princess that is not the main character in the film she is in.
- In the beginning of the script’s stages for The Lion King, Nala had a little brother named Mheetu who Simba was supposed to save from the stampede, but he was written out of the final cut of the movie.
- Daisy Duck’s birthday is June 7, 1940.
- In Fantasia, the sorcerer is called “Yen Sid,” which is actually “Disney” spelled backward.
- The character of Ursula is based on the famous drag queen, Divine.
- Pongo has a lot of spots: 72 to be exact.
- Before Goofy was Goofy, he was referred to as Dippy Dawg.
- Lady from Lady and the Tramp was inspired by a Disney writer’s dog.
- The Beast in Beauty and the Beast is a combination of several animals: the horns and head of a buffalo, the eyebrows of a gorilla, the mane of a lion, the tusks of a wild boar, the upper body of a bear and the legs and tail of a wolf.
- Jiminy Cricket wasn’t originally a character until Walt Disney suggested that Pinocchio needed a sidekick to help guide him in making the right decisions.
- Olaf wasn’t always the lovable snowman in Frozen. He was initially supposed to be Elsa’s obnoxious sidekick.
- The Spice Girls were considered to voice The Muses in Hercules.
- Toy Story’s Woody almost wasn’t a cowboy pull-string doll. In fact, at first he was a ventriloquist dummy named Tinny.
- Sebastian was almost given a British accent!
- The lovable Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast originally went by “Mrs. Chamomile,” but it was later changed because it was too hard to pronounce.
- Tarzan always appears to be skating along tree branches because the animator who drew him was inspired by his son who loved to skateboard.
- Flynn Rider attends Elsa’s coronation in Frozen.
- Dopey wasn’t always imagined as a silent character. In fact, writers planned for him to be chatty, but when producers couldn’t find someone suitable to voice the role, they made him a quiet character.
- Pinocchio makes a surprise appearance in Aladdin.
- Prince Phillip was named after the real Prince Philip, who is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Jafar and Iago had each other’s personalities when the characters were being developed. However, once Gilbert Gottfried was cast to voice Iago, they switched the characters’ personalities.
- The character of Cruella de Vil was partially based on the actress Tallulah Bankhead.
- Mickey Mouse was the first animated character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
- Prince Eric is the first prince to be saved by his future princess. Talk about girl power!
- Captain Hook and George Darling were voiced by the same actor (Hans Conried) in Peter Pan.
- Dumbo is the only main character in a Disney film that never actually speaks.
- Instead of Buzz Lightyear’s color scheme being green and purple, it was originally going to be red.
- The Evil Queen in Snow White was the first character to ever speak in a Disney movie. She said “Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space, through wind and darkness I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face.”
- Pumbaa was the first Disney character to fart on screen. Check out…101 Disney Trivia Questions and AnswersComplete List of Pixar Movies, Ranked!
