I could be here all day with the amount of Disney shit I know, some of which may be more obscure than others. I'll try to do one fact per movie (not for every movie though).
Snow White was Adrianna Caselotti's only acting role, because Disney trademarked her voice, disallowing her from doing anything else.
Walt Disney threw out the first six months of development on Pinocchio because he did not like how the titular character was turning out: Pinocchio was originally just as edgy and unlikeable as the character in the original novel, and the animators made him look as wooden as possible. When they started over, the animators instead chose to draw and animate him like a human boy, adding in puppet features like leg and elbow joints after the fact.
Disney originally wanted Fantasia to be a movie that would be rereleased every year or so with new segments added each time.
In Cinderella, there was originally a scene after the ball where Cindy would overhear her stepfamily talking about the "mysterious girl" who danced with the Prince, which Cindy would laugh at. This was nixed because they thought it made Cindy too mean-spirited.
For a two-in-one: the opening credits song from Peter Pan, "The Second Star to the Right", used a melody that was originally written for a scrapped song from Alice in Wonderland, called "Beyond the Laughing Sky" (the final movie used "A World of My Own" in its place).
The opening scene of Lady and the Tramp, where Darling is given Lady in a hat box, was based on something from Walt Disney's own life: he also gave his wife, Lillian, a puppy in the same way, to make up for missing a dinner date with her.
Arthur/Wart from Sword in the Stone was voiced by no less than three different actors throughout the film's duration. It's very noticeable.
The Fox and the Hound was essentially an "in-name-only" adaptation of the 1967 novel. The original story was basically Moby Dick but with a hunter and a fox.
The Black Cauldron was beaten at the box office by the Care Bears Movie, of all things, when it was originally released.
Oliver & Company originally opened with a scene of Sykes' two dobermans killing Oliver's parents.
"Part of Your World" was nearly cut from The Little Mermaid by Jeffrey Katzenberg because he thought children would find it boring. It's pretty safe to say thank God Howard Ashman successfully fought tooth and nail to keep it in.
In Beauty and the Beast, "Be Our Guest" was originally supposed to be sung to Maurice when he first arrived at the castle. It was decided relatively late that the song should be sung to Belle instead. The already mostly animated scene was scrapped and certain parts of the song had to be rerecorded.
Aladdin was originally a bit younger, and way shorter and scrawnier than in the final movie. Jeffrey Katzenburg ordered the filmmakers to make him older because he found it hard to believe that a character like that could realistically end up with the princess. Some bits of "Friend Like Me" had already been animated with the original design by the time the decision was made, and these bits can still be kinda-sorta seen in the final movie.
The Lion King was originally called "King of the Jungle". The title was changed when the filmmakers realised that lions aren't actually found in the jungle.
Before Meeko the raccoon, Pocahontas' main animal sidekick was a talking turkey called Redfeather, voiced by John Candy. Voiced animation tests of the character exist.
Tarzan's final battle with Clayton originally took place on his ship. Clayton would have originally been blown up along with the ship.
The "evil genetic experiment" storyline in Lilo & Stitch was devised halfway through the film's development, when the original story, of Stitch being the leader of a criminal gang (of whom Jumba was a member), did poorly with test audiences.
In Brother Bear, Kenai was originally going to be the "younger" brother bear to a larger bear called Grizz, voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan. When Grizz was changed into the cub Koda, Duncan was recast as Tug, the bear leader at the salmon run, because of how much the filmmakers liked his vocal performance.
Chicken Little was originally a female character voiced by Holly Hunter. Yes, that Holly Hunter.
Meet the Robinsons was originally going to end with Lewis giving Goob/Bowler hat guy the chance to change his own future, by taking him back to the moment he lost the baseball game.
Bolt was originally a more surreal movie called "American Dog", directed by Lilo & Stitch creator Chris Sanders.
In The Princess and the Frog, Tiana was originally called "Maddy" and worked as a chambermaid. Both the name and occupation were changed following complaints for… obvious reasons.
Big Hero 6’s San Fransokyo is, according to the director, a literal alternate timeline version of San Francisco that was rebuilt by Japanese immigrants after the 1906 earthquake.
Snow White was Adrianna Caselotti's only acting role, because Disney trademarked her voice, disallowing her from doing anything else.
Walt Disney threw out the first six months of development on Pinocchio because he did not like how the titular character was turning out: Pinocchio was originally just as edgy and unlikeable as the character in the original novel, and the animators made him look as wooden as possible. When they started over, the animators instead chose to draw and animate him like a human boy, adding in puppet features like leg and elbow joints after the fact.
Disney originally wanted Fantasia to be a movie that would be rereleased every year or so with new segments added each time.
In Cinderella, there was originally a scene after the ball where Cindy would overhear her stepfamily talking about the "mysterious girl" who danced with the Prince, which Cindy would laugh at. This was nixed because they thought it made Cindy too mean-spirited.
For a two-in-one: the opening credits song from Peter Pan, "The Second Star to the Right", used a melody that was originally written for a scrapped song from Alice in Wonderland, called "Beyond the Laughing Sky" (the final movie used "A World of My Own" in its place).
The opening scene of Lady and the Tramp, where Darling is given Lady in a hat box, was based on something from Walt Disney's own life: he also gave his wife, Lillian, a puppy in the same way, to make up for missing a dinner date with her.
Arthur/Wart from Sword in the Stone was voiced by no less than three different actors throughout the film's duration. It's very noticeable.
The Fox and the Hound was essentially an "in-name-only" adaptation of the 1967 novel. The original story was basically Moby Dick but with a hunter and a fox.
The Black Cauldron was beaten at the box office by the Care Bears Movie, of all things, when it was originally released.
Oliver & Company originally opened with a scene of Sykes' two dobermans killing Oliver's parents.
"Part of Your World" was nearly cut from The Little Mermaid by Jeffrey Katzenberg because he thought children would find it boring. It's pretty safe to say thank God Howard Ashman successfully fought tooth and nail to keep it in.
In Beauty and the Beast, "Be Our Guest" was originally supposed to be sung to Maurice when he first arrived at the castle. It was decided relatively late that the song should be sung to Belle instead. The already mostly animated scene was scrapped and certain parts of the song had to be rerecorded.
Aladdin was originally a bit younger, and way shorter and scrawnier than in the final movie. Jeffrey Katzenburg ordered the filmmakers to make him older because he found it hard to believe that a character like that could realistically end up with the princess. Some bits of "Friend Like Me" had already been animated with the original design by the time the decision was made, and these bits can still be kinda-sorta seen in the final movie.
The Lion King was originally called "King of the Jungle". The title was changed when the filmmakers realised that lions aren't actually found in the jungle.
Before Meeko the raccoon, Pocahontas' main animal sidekick was a talking turkey called Redfeather, voiced by John Candy. Voiced animation tests of the character exist.
Tarzan's final battle with Clayton originally took place on his ship. Clayton would have originally been blown up along with the ship.
The "evil genetic experiment" storyline in Lilo & Stitch was devised halfway through the film's development, when the original story, of Stitch being the leader of a criminal gang (of whom Jumba was a member), did poorly with test audiences.
In Brother Bear, Kenai was originally going to be the "younger" brother bear to a larger bear called Grizz, voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan. When Grizz was changed into the cub Koda, Duncan was recast as Tug, the bear leader at the salmon run, because of how much the filmmakers liked his vocal performance.
Chicken Little was originally a female character voiced by Holly Hunter. Yes, that Holly Hunter.
Meet the Robinsons was originally going to end with Lewis giving Goob/Bowler hat guy the chance to change his own future, by taking him back to the moment he lost the baseball game.
Bolt was originally a more surreal movie called "American Dog", directed by Lilo & Stitch creator Chris Sanders.
In The Princess and the Frog, Tiana was originally called "Maddy" and worked as a chambermaid. Both the name and occupation were changed following complaints for… obvious reasons.
Big Hero 6’s San Fransokyo is, according to the director, a literal alternate timeline version of San Francisco that was rebuilt by Japanese immigrants after the 1906 earthquake.
