12 Secrets About Disney Characters Only Snow White’s Magic Mirror Could Reveal

In today’s world, there’s hardly anyone who has not heard of at least one of Disney’s characters. Most of us grew up with them, thought of them as our heroes, and even cried when they cried too. Years went by, and we treasured those cartoons as beautiful memories from the past. However, we might have to unearth them today because, we can assure you, those cartoons hid many secrets.

Bright Side loves Disney characters, and for the sake of true love, we compiled some facts about this wonderful fictitious world that not many people know.

1. Minnie Mouse’s real name

Mickey Mouse’s cute girlfriend, Minnie Mouse, is one of Disney’s most beloved characters. Since her first appearance in 1928, we saw her wearing dresses and hats that won over people’s hearts. Later, her polka dot costumes made her a fashion reference.

You may not know, though, that Minnie’s full name is Minerva Mouse. This was revealed in the 1942 comic strip The Gleam.

2. A mouse on the Walk of Fame

The world’s most famous mouse jumped off the screen to become one of the most prominent symbols ever. In 1978, he celebrated his 50th birthday by entering the Walk of Fame. Mickey Mouse was the first animated character to join the more than 2,700 stars in the iconic Hollywood landmark.

3. An Oscar that’s worth seven

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937 and quickly became a box-office hit. In 1939, Walt Disney received an honorary Oscar for that movie. However, while the statuette had just the usual size, seven “little Oscars” came with it on a staggered base. It is one of the most unique awards ever given by the Academy.

4. A king with a lion’s name

If you’ve ever wondered where the names for so many characters come from, here’s a little hint. For The Lion King, for example, the names come from the African Swahili language, in which Simba means lion; Nala, gift or beloved; Pumba, fool; Rafiki, friend; and Shenzi, wild.

5. A short and surreal fate

Two great architects of 20th-century fantasy, Salvador Dalí, and Walt Disney, began an adventure in surrealism and animation in 1946. The result was to be a short film that, unfortunately, only made it to 15 seconds and was then dropped.

However, Disney’s vice-president, Edward Disney, took up the work and released Destino in 2003. A short film of 6 minutes and a lot of art that had to wait more than half a century to air.

6. A character that runs in the blood

Dwayne Johnson voiced Maui in the 2016 film Moana. What few people know is that The Rock’s grandfather, who was also a wrestler, served as an inspiration for the character. This is how Johnson put it on his social media: “A little Disney secret, my character Maui was inspired, in part, by my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia of Samoa. #thankful.”

7. The little mouse that learned to speak

The first thing Mickey Mouse said on screen was “hot dogs!” in 1929. Before that, nobody had heard him speak. He said it in the short film The Karnival Kid. So if you ever hear the cute little mouse saying “hot dogs!” in Mickey Mouse’s House, you know it’s a reference to his first words.

8. A distinctive look

We are not sure if, when the fairy godmothers appeared to leave the gifts to Aurora, she already had this peculiarity in her eyes or if she acquired it after such a deep sleep. What is certain is that Sleeping Beauty is the only Disney princess with violet eyes.

9. Singing with the enemy

Pinocchio was released in 1940, becoming another important Disney symbol. Nothing new so far, but what you may not have noticed is that it was the first time a main character sings with the bad guys in the movie. We are referring to the song Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee-Dee.

The second time happened in 2013, in Frozen, when Anna sings with Hans Love Is An Open Door, making Anna also the first princess to sing with a villain.

10. A very long feature film

It took 3 years for a team of 100 people to complete the film The Nightmare Before Christmas. To obtain one second of film, sequences of 12 stop-motion movements had to be made. In other words, 720 photographs had to be taken in 1 minute and 43,200 in 1 hour. We could not imagine how sad a mistake would be.

11. Two queens, one crown

In Disney’s stories, there is only one princess who is crowned queen on screen: Elsa from Frozen. Of course, in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Princess Kida also becomes queen, but her coronation is not shown. Kida is the first princess to become queen, and Elsa, the first to be crowned on screen.

12. A mouse with a big name

At first, the famous animated mouse was going to be called Mortimer Mouse. But it was precisely Walt Disney’s wife, Lillian Bounds, who convinced him to call him Mickey Mouse. The full name of our beloved rodent is Michael Theodore Mouse, while Mortimer became a secondary character who’s in love with Minnie.

Which Disney character brings back the most memories of your childhood? What do you think will be the future of cartoons?