Things You Didn't Know About Disney Kingdoms

For the making of the animated Beauty And The Beast, Disney artists went through tons and tons of various rejected designs for the Beast character before finally landing on the one used in the film. Animator Glen Keane described the unique challenge of trying to draw a character who was unsightly and terrifying while also being warm and likable:

 He can’t look like an alien; he has to look like a creature that’s actually from this Earth. He has to be an appealing character, but he has to be frightening. And people have to believe that Belle would fall in love with him.

Eventually, they hit on the perfect combination, stringing together various features from lions, buffalo, boars, and other animals. The early sketches of the Beast then got a second life by being sprinkled throughout the Beast's castle as various sculptures and statues.

The 2017 movie Coco is all about tradition and heritage, but did you notice the architecture in the afterlife world, the Land of the Dead? Each tower has a certain order, meant to mimic the different eras of Mexican history. According to The Hollywood Reporter, production designer Harley Jessup said he made multiple trips to Mexico for research and inspiration to create the layered world:

At the bottom of each tower are the Aztec and Mayan pyramids; above that, Spanish colonial period buildings; above that are Mexican Revolution era and Victorian era buildings; and then into the 20th century and modern day. That created a logic to the Land of the Dead - they are always building on the earlier era as more people die and enter that world. 

The flags of Arendelle bear the image of a crocus flower, a plant that blooms at the beginning of spring and thrives in extremely cold-weather areas. It's also a symbol of "rebirth," since its arrival usually means the end of a long, harsh winter in the places where it naturally grows. In the context of the Frozen films, it may also carry some additional symbolism: Elsa is miserable when her cold powers make her an outcast, but she eventually warms up and has a 'rebirth' of spirit.

You can also spot various crocus logos throughout the castle, such as on the castle doors.

Some eagle-eyed Disney fans have noted that the forbidden area on the outskirts of the Pride Lands is full of mammoth remains, along with everything else. The woolly mammoths became extinct over 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, and although it's not known exactly when The Lion King takes place, it's definitely in modern times.

The many pop culture references in the movie, like Pumbaa quoting Taxi Driver ("Are you talking to me?!"), Zazu singing "It's a Small World," or even Timon suggesting he could "dress in drag and do the hula" as a diversion, mean that the movie takes place way after the ice age. That adds some layers to the Elephant Graveyard, considering that ancient remains are all over the place. No wonder Scar is so cranky - he lives with a gaggle of hyenas and ancient skeletons.

This one is for the word buffs and the word buffs only. Wall-E is full of lessons about how humans take advantage of the planet, and even the name of the Axiom spacecraft is a dig at how they are destroying planet Earth. Even the passengers' day-to-day lives on the ship involve every single thing from eating to moving to entertainment automatically selected for them, without having to give anything a second thought.

In the dictionary, "axiom" is defined as "an established rule or principle or a self-evident truth"; i.e., something taken for granted.

When Disney first decided to adapt the story of Aladdin, it was supposed to be set in Baghdad, Iraq. But given that the Gulf War was waged just a year before its release in 1992, the creators decided to create the fictional kingdom of Agrabah, which is still very much inspired by Baghdad's history as a vibrant hub of culture and business.

It's not a real place, but it is a city of magic and enchantment on some side of the Jordan River.