Disney Facts!

Facts 4111-4140

Just a week and half left of this semester and then it's Christmas break! So here are a few movie facts, a Disney Guest story, and some themed facts for all of you Prince of Persia, and Star Wars Rebels fans!

Oh, and happy Hanukkah!

Fact #4111
Looking for your special someone? Where there's a whole dating site completely dedicated to Disney fans. It's called MouseMingle, and it's unclear whether or not Disney actually owns it.

Fact #4112 (Disney Guest Story)
On my first day visiting Castaway Cay, I went to a Captain Jack Sparrow meet & greet. When it was my turn, he told me that I'm a lady and then asked me what my name is. I told him my name and then he said, "What a lovely name." After that, he told me that he is going to kiss my hand for a picture and I was like, "Sure, I don't mind." When both of us were done taking pictures, he said something that indicated that we are married. After that, my mom came and as she was coming, I told him that that's his mother-in-law. He said, "Hello mother-in-law" and then my mom said, "Oh! You're married to my daughter? I approve." All three of us then took pictures. When all three of us were done, we hugged and then he spun me around. When I was leaving he told me, "Please stay with me on the island." So that basically means that I'm in a long-distance "marriage" with Captain Jack Sparrow making me: Mrs. Sparrow.

Fact #4113
Rapunzel is the only Disney Princess with a supernatural power.

Fact #4114
In Cinderella, the characters Gus and Jaq were both voiced by the same person: James Macdonald.

Fact #4115
In an early version of the story, Pocahontas' mother was embodied by a star. The star helped Pocahontas find her path to John Smith. Filmmakers eventually integrated the spirit of her mother into the swirling wind.

Fact #4116
The voice actor for Sleeping Beauty's mother is unknown because at the time, smaller roles were not given a credit. It has been suggested that it may have been Verna Felton who provided the voice of the fairy, Flora.

Fact #4117
In 1979, a stage version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was performed at Radio City Music Hall.

Fact #4118
Jackie Chan voiced Shang in the Chinese version of Mulan.

Fact #4119
During the invasion of Alamut at the beginning of the movie, there is a scene where Dastan is about to jump off of a wooden contraption. He stops for a moment to get his bearings, during which the camera focuses on him while moving around him in a circular motion. While this very unique scene never happens in any of the Prince of Persia games, it is an iconic feature of the Assassin's Creed franchise; in all of the Assassin's Creed games, the assassins ascend to high vantage points to get their bearings, an event that is presented in a nearly identical fashion and with similar musical cues as the way it is presented in this movie. This is likely an intentional homage to Assassin's Creed (which was created many years before this film), as the Creed series is considered to be the spiritual (and more successful) successor to the Prince of Persia series.

Fact #4120
In The Prince of Persia, characters are prominently seen handling apples and pomegranates. Pomegranates were considered the "original" apples, and were symbols of strength to the Persian armies.

Fact #4121
In February 2008, Iranian star Golshifteh Farahani was invited to do a screen test for Prince of Persia in London along with Gemma Arterton for the role of Tamina but she was arrested at the airport by the Iranian authorities & banned from leaving the country for six months because she had played in Ridley Scott's Body of Lies in 2008.

Fact #4122
Michael Bay was rumored to direct Prince of Persia before the actual director was announced. 

Fact #4123
While Disney based their Prince of Persia movie from the Sands of Time video game that was released in 2008, screenwriter Robin Morningstar approached property owner Jordan Mechner with a script based on the 1989 game.

Fact #4124
Before Jake Gyllenhaal was cast in the leading role of Prince Dastan for Prince of Persia, both Orlando Bloom and Zac Efron were rumored for the part.

Fact #4125
Rey-Phillip Santos was replaced by actor Toby Kebbell to play Garsiv, due to a motorcycle accident on location. 

Fact #4126
Although there are many similarities between Ezra Bridger and Disney's Aladdin, both in his appearance and his 'street rat' background, Dave Filoni insists that his inspiration for the character was Ralph Macchio as the Karate Kid. 

Fact #4127
Dave Filoni proposed to do a Star Wars Rebels series without Force users and focus on fighter pilots. Eventually Carrie Beck's an idea of focusing on group of heroes that were always on the run while trying helping others, like The A-Team (1983) was chosen. In some versions Kanan had a robot arm, Zeb was an Ithorian (Hammerhead) instead of a concept Wookiee, and Hera went from being a plump matriarch to being a young girl (combining the characters of Hera and Sabine) and back to the mother of the group, but this time thin.

Fact #4128
Ezra shows similarities to Anakin Skywalker. Both show they have a strong connection with the force, let their arrogance cloud their judgement, show a great amount of anger and fear, and both gained a scar in a fight between a Sith Acoltye. 

Fact #4129
According to Dave Filoni, Chopper is the complete opposite of R2-D2. Where R2 is loyal like a dog, Chopper can be selfish and a pain in the butt like a cat. 

Fact #4130
Before Rebels was originally announced, production began under the code name "Wolf". This name can be seen on various concept art published on Starwars.com. The voice actors were not told they were auditioning for a Star Wars TV series, but for an animated series called "Wolf" which featured "sun swords" instead of Lightsabers and the 'Tyranny' instead of the Empire. 

Fact #4131
Kanan Jarrus was influenced by Bill Munny, Clint Eastwood's character in 1992's "Unforgiven". Kanan is forced to return to his former life as a Jedi, 15 years after Order 66 to lead the crew of the Ghost against the evil Empire.

Fact #4132
The tale of the Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney made was inspired by the original version written by Victor Hugo, who also wrote the famous story Les Miserables. 

Fact #4133
The Fox & The Hound has a much more sinister ending in Daniel P. Mannix's novel, written in 1967. In Disney's version, Copper defends Tod as he puts his own life at risk, while as for the original novel version, Copper hunts Tod until the fox drops dead from exhaustion. After that, Copper's owner then shoots the hound dead.

Fact #4134
Disney's Tarzan was adapted by Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel, written in 1914. In the novel, Tarzan confesses his love to Jane, and she reveals that she feels the same way, but she is however already engaged to Clayton. As you progress in the novel, you also discover that Tarzan is Clayton's long lost cousin, and is the rightful heir to his estate. In the end, Tarzan renounces his heritage for the sake of Jane's happiness.

Fact #4135
In the 1675 Sui Tang Romance version of the tale of Mulan, when she returns home from the war, she discovers that her father has died, and that her mother has remarried. She also receives a summons from the local ruler to become his slave. Rather than suffer that fate, she committed suicide.

Fact #4136
In R. Kipling's original version of the Jungle Book, Mowgli is not welcomed back into civilization, and instead gets banished back to the jungle after a family who tried to take him in was tortured. Enraged by their suffering, Mowgli enlists the help of a bloodthirsty elephant and a pack of wolves to help him destroy the village.  

Fact #4137
Wall-E was Pixar's first shot at a proper love story, despite their policy of avoiding romantic sub-plots.

Fact #4138
Wall-E's name was originally going to consist of one "L", but animators worried people would miss pronounce the name.

Fact #4139
Wall-E's eyes are modeled after a pair of binoculars. 

Fact #4140
The local San Francisco police department brought over a bomb detecting robot to Pixar Studios to help the design team to create Wall-E's signature style.

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I hope you all enjoyed these facts as much as I do!