With the long-awaited release of Incredibles 2 last month the WubbaNub bloggers (Hi Ellen!) thought we would revisit some of our favorite Disney movies from growing up. Now, without giving away my exact age, I remember marveling at the factoid that the wildebeest stampede in The Lion King took a full two years to animate even before I had seen the movie. “They took two years to make a one minute scene? Wow, I bet this movie is going to be amazing”, I was a thoughtful wee little film critic, with an early love of trivia that has rarely proved worth remembering even though it fills the space in my head that every single math teach thought their lectures would occupy. And with that, our favorite Disney movies plus a bit of trivia about each!

Beauty and the Beast

Ellen: I love the music, especially the first song, which I often belt out to the shock and horror of my children. Being a parent is great— Hee hee!

Katy: Agreed, the year before I left for college I sang “Little Town” (aka “The Bonjour Song”) ad nauseum. My parents were not amused.

Fun Facts:

  • This was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards
  • The Prince is never referred to by his given name. We learn from the Broadway musical that his name is “Adam” but I’m not interested because I am #TeamBeast forever.

Create your own fairytale with the WubbaNub baby unicorn.

The Little Mermaid

Who among us did not swim up the side of their community pool, whip their head back when breaking to the surface, in the vain hope of recreating the perfect aquatic semi-circle? I never mastered it; I managed to hit my head several times on the concrete wall in my pursuit, such was my love for Ariel and her maritime mates.

Fun Facts:

  • The original choices to voice Ursula and King Triton were Bea Arthur and Patrick Stewart, respectively. I wouldn’t change a thing about this movie but my heart breaks knowing such a glorious matchup could have happened and didn’t.
  • The first time I saw this on the big screen I was so scared by Ursula that my dad took me out of the theater and snuck us into the other family film available “The Bear”. Needless to say, I was 0-2 emotionally that day.

Spoiler Alert: Some sea creatures just might be making their way to WubbaNub Later this year.

Aladdin

Ellen: I absolutely love Robin Williams as the Genie. No one could have done it better! He brought such joy to the role.

Katy: Oh man, yeah. This one. It had everything I needed, plus a monkey/elephant!  

Fun Facts:

  • This movie belongs to Robin Williams. Genie is such an unforgettable and moving character. And Ellen is right, no one could have done it better! The screenwriters wrote Genie with Williams in mind and so wanted to him to play the role they animated fifteen minutes of Genie doing some of William’s stand up.
  • Patrick Stewart and his scheduling conflicts AGAIN prevented him from being a part of Disney history. And while he says it’s one of his biggest regrets, weep not for P.Stew, a year later he would take on a role in the hilarious Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Also, he’s just really rad.

I don’t know if I love Abu more as a monkey or an elephant. Why chose though, really?

Lion King

Obviously, this was going to be on the list. It’s Jonathan Taylor Thomas voicing a lion cub in an animated version of “Hamlet”, with a soundtrack from Elton John and Tim Rice? There isn’t a mid-90’s musical theater-loving pre-teen box this movie doesn’t check off. And, as mentioned before the jump, the animation is next level.

Fun Facts:

  • There was a lot of contention about the song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”. The studio wasn’t sure if a love song made sense in the film and initially it was sung only by the characters Timon and Pumbaa. Elton John made a case for the need to show Simba and Nala falling in love and the studio relented. It would later win an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
  • A good friend of mine once casually mentioned that adult Simba was her first crush. Noticing my sideways glance she explained further, “That scene where he gets out of the lake? It’s like Mr. Darcy from ‘Pride and Prejudice’”. I have never not thought about that while watching this movie.

Got a little one who can’t wait to be king? We’ve got just the thing.