36 fantastic facts you didn’t know about Disney
23 June 2016
The magic of Disney
It’s one of the world’s biggest companies and most beloved brands but we bet you didn’t know all these facts about Disney.
Before Mickey
Before he became a household name, Walt Disney had big dreams of becoming a solider. Aged 16, Walt dropped out of school and signed up for the army, but was rejected because he was too young. Instead he became an ambulance driver in France in WWI. When he wasn’t driving he was drawing sketches for the canteen menu, designs on the ambulance canvas flaps and caricatures for his friends to send to girlfriends and families.
Making a buck
One of Walt Disney’s first art jobs was drawing cartoons for a local barber in exchange for haircuts. A scrapbook containing some of his earliest drawings went on sale for $200,000 (£135k).
Laughing all the way to the bank
These days Walt Disney Co. is worth an incredible $169.3 billion (£114bn) according to Forbes, with a revenue of $53.9 billion (£36bn), profits of $9.08 billion (£6bn) and assets worth $90.12 billion (£61bn).
Tough times
But it wasn’t always so easy. Disney never made much money from the early cartoons he painstakingly crafted. According to a 1934 article in The New York Times, one of the original Mickey Mouse cartoons only turned a profit about six years later.
How much?
According to Forbes, Tangled is the most expensive animated movie ever made (and the third most expensive film of all time) costing Disney $260 million (£175bn) to make.
What’s in a name?
While we fell in love with all of Snow White’s pint-sized helpers, dwarf names that didn’t make the cut were: Jumpy, Deafy, Dizzy, Wheezy, Hickey, Baldy, Gabby, Nifty, Sniffy, Swift, Lazy, Puffy, Stuffy, Tubby, Shorty, and Burpy – we think we understand why they didn’t work out.
What a paycheck
Disney CEO Robert Bob Iger, who has been at the helm of the company for 11 years and was named by The Hollywood Reporter as the most powerful person in entertainment, is reaping the benefits of its success. In 2015 his total compensation was a cool $46.5 million ($31m).
The coolest job
Disneyland park princesses make a reported $16 (£11) an hour.
Star quality
Mickey Mouse was the first animated character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
It’s the little things
When Disney World opened in 1971 Walt didn’t like seeing costumed characters having to run through the park to get to their allotted spots. So he created an elaborate tunnel system which runs beneath Disney World, and allows actors to put on their costumes and appear in the right area without anyone noticing.
No thank you
The Beatles almost had roles in a Disney movie. The fab four were meant to be the voices of the vultures in The Jungle Book but ended up pulling out. Oh what could have been.
The money makers
The highest-grossing Disney movie ever made is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, taking a whopping $936 million (£630m) and counting at the box office.
To infinity and beyond
Its highest-grossing animated film is Toy Story 3, which made $415 million (£279m).
Flops
But not all Disney’s films were an instant success. Fantasia is considered to be one of Disney’s greatest achievements today but it opened in 1940 to dismal reviews. Even worse, it cost the company a whopping $2.3 million (£1.6m) to make and nearly bankrupted the studio. Taking inflation in account that would be equivalent to almost $40 million (£27m) in today’s money.
The boss is in
Walt built Disneyland in the early 1950s. Wanting to be on site as much as possible, he built an apartment for his family above the 'Fire Department' on Main Street. A lamp in the window signaled to staff that he was in residence.
Love at first cartoon
Just like Disney’s fairytale endings the same can be said for his employees. Wayne Anthony Allwine, who was the voice of Mickey Mouse for 32 years, married Russi Taylor, who played Minnie, in 1991. The two remained happily married until Allwine passed away.
The happiest place on earth
The first Disneyland ticket reportedly cost $1 (70p) for a day pass and 50 cents (35p) for children – which would be worth $8.95 (£6) and $4.50 (£3) today. It was purchased by Walt Disney’s older brother, Roy O. Disney. These days tickets cost a little more – around $97 (£65).
Huge numbers
The total attendance for Walt Disney Parks in 2015 was a staggering 137.9 million.
Now ear this
A whopping 84 million Mickey Mouse ears have been sold since 1955.
Sleep tight
According to reports it would take you 68 years to stay in a different room every night at the Disney World resorts.
Apple of their eye
Steve Jobs was Disney’s largest single shareholder (7%) and was also on the board of directors. When the Apple co-founder passed away, Disney World flew its flags at half-mast. Jobs’s widow Laurene Powell Jobs is now the largest individual shareholder in Disney with a reported 130 million shares which is thought to be worth around $12.7 billion (£9bn).
Big names on the board
And Jobs wasn’t the only familiar face on the Disney board of directors. Others include Twitter Chairman Jack Dorsey, former Starbucks CEO Orin Smith and Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg (pictured).
Arr me hearties
According to Forbes, Disney made the world’s most expensive film – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – with a budget of $300 million! It also takes second spot with John Carter, which had a budget of $263.7 million (£177m).
A big heart
The staff at Disney are a generous bunch. In 2015 they donated nearly $19 million (£13m) to the community.
Meticulous detail
According to reports Walt Disney's attention to detail was legendary. So much so he placed the garbage bins at Disney World 25 steps away from the hot dog stall, as this was how long it took him to eat a hot dog.
Celebrity inspiration
Some of Disney’s characters took inspiration from A-listers. According to reports Aladdin’s face was modeled on Tom Cruise, while Ariel was partially modeled on Alyssa Milano.
Light up the sky
It is estimated that the Disneyland Resort spends between $41,000 (£28k) and $55,000 (£37k) a night on its fireworks display. Disney is second only to the US Military when it comes to purchasing explosives in the United States.
International princess
Merida from the movie Brave, is the only Disney Princess who doesn’t have an American accent, even though they’re meant to be from all around the world.
Bigger than what?
The Disney World resort is about the same size as San Francisco.
Famous faces
A few celebs have got their start at Disneyland. Michelle Pfeiffer worked as Alice from Alice in Wonderland while funnyman Steve Martin sold guidebooks and worked in the magic shop.
Working hard
Tiana from the movie Princess and the Frog is the only princess in Disney-lore that had a paid job. She was a waitress in a New Orleans café.
Behind the velvet rope
You can’t drink alcohol at Disneyland, that is unless you’re a member of the exclusive Club 33. Hidden in New Orleans Square, the secret cocktail lounge opened in 1967 and has a strict member only list of around 500 people – with another 800 on the waiting list. But being a VIP doesn’t come cheap; members are required to pay $25,000 (£17k) to join and must pay annual fees of $10,000 (£7,000).
Snack time
Every year, 2.8 million churros are sold at Disneyland. Yum!
Savvy deals
Disney has grown its empire by snatching up some formidable companies. It bought Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion (£5bn) and Marvel, home of Marvel Comics, in 2009 for $4 billion (£3bn). And while that’s a lot of dough, it proved to be a savvy deal. Since then, Marvel films have made Disney a staggering $8.5 billion (£6bn) – and counting – at the box office.
But wait there’s more
In 2012, Disney purchased Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas’s company Lucasfilm for a cash payment of $2.21 billion (£1.5bn) and just under 37.1 million Disney shares.
The last princess
Aurora was the last princess to be created before Walt Disney's death. He sadly passed away in 1966, 23 years before The Little Mermaid was released.
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