The Disney characters are all special in their own ways and all known for different things, from Belle’s beautiful yellow gown to Merida from Brave’s crazy lioness-like red hair. However, there was a stage for some characters where Disney went through a bit of a denial and initially changed some of their key characteristics, check it out for yourself. NOTE: If this doesn’t blow your mind, nothing will.
- Cruella De Vil was meant to look youthful and graceful
Being dubbed as the ‘original Devil Wears Prada’, the magazine Style Noir explains the 101 Dalmatians’ character was initially based on the idea of being a fashionista. She was meant to be a glamorous young woman with class and style. However, her animator Marc Davis noticed that she was too similar to other Disney baddies like Maleficient, so he decided she should be more of a schemer and react only on impulse. To put this in place, it would suit her better to be older and more ragged looking.
- Iago from Aladdin was meant to be British
Everyone’s favourite talking bird was actually meant to be a snobby parrot with a British accent. Yet, this wasn’t comedic enough for Disney, so his extremely important character was changed drastically to what his animator Will Finn calls ‘Gilbert Gottfried as a parrot’.
3. Elsa was supposed to be evil!
NO, IT CAN’T BE. The creators of Frozen revealed that THE ice queen was actually meant to be the villain of the movie instead of Prince Hans. Screenwriter Jennifer Lee admitted Elsa wasn’t even initially related to Anna and was meant to be the film’s antagonist. However, they realised you can’t go wrong with a sisterly bond so they developed Hans’ character instead. THANK THE HEAVENS.
4. Buzz Lightyear was meant to be called: Larry.
Yep, Disney first thought Woody would go to infinity and beyond with ‘Lunar Larry’ in the early brainstorming stages of Toy Story. In order to honour astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, however, he soon became Buzz Lightyear. Also, check out how different Larry looked!
5. Aladdin’s Genie was originally not blue, but green.
Green. Really. In rough early drawings, the Genie was actually meant to be green. It was only when Robin Williams was assigned to his voice, Disney realised they had made a -HUGE- mistake and changed him to his iconic blue colour. They also changed his face to look more like Robin Williams too.
Feel like your whole childhood could’ve been a lie? All we can say is, thank you, Disney, for not making Elsa the bad guy. THANK YOU.
Make sure you drop us a tweet @CelebMix, to let us know if your mind is as blown as ours.