Despite the fact that I wasn't born in that decade, I consider myself a 90s kid. Go ahead and laugh at the tired old meme, but it’s true. Like many born in their own generations, I consider it to be the golden era for so many things be it video games, cartoons, films, books, and so on. To single one of those out, let’s take a look at Disney movies in the 1990s. This was their last full decade dedicated to 2D animation. It continued into the early 2000s, but it eventually shifted into 3D films. Plus, those movies aren’t that great. A few hidden gems are in there like The Emperor’s New Groove, but for the most part, it was a weird, dark period for Disney.

So what does that have to do with this article? Well, given that knowledge, it would come to no surprise that in loving these films I wanted to learn more. So I got to researching a bunch of Disney films, both animated and live action, from the 90s to not only increase my brainpower, but yours as well. Some of these are pretty obvious and some you may have heard before. Others are a bit more secretive and were actually kind of astonishing to read. I’m not going to uncover the lost city of Atlantis or anything like that with these knowledge bombs, but I did my best. Hopefully, these twenty-five fun little factoids will give you a deeper appreciation for these Disney films.

25 From TV To The Big Screen

DuckTales was a huge part of my life growing up. Even though I was a mere child when it initially came out, the reruns went on for ages so I was able to catch up. This love transferred to the movie aptly titled DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. This was the first TV cartoon to get green lit for a full-length feature film. It didn’t get the best treatment, though, since the TV division produced it and not the Feature Animation team. It doesn’t have the same fluid animation as, say, Aladdin, but it’s still good.

24 Disney's First Sequel

The classic white clamshell box was a signature of Disney’s movies on VHS. I had a ton of them, and still do. I don’t have a VCR to play them, but I assume they still work. Anyway one of my earliest was The Rescuers Down Under, which at the time I thought was the first film since the original came out way before my time. Turns out it was a sequel, and not only that, dear readers. This was Disney’s first theatrical sequel, which broke the chain of almost half a century of films.

23 Dedication To The Craft

I can’t help but feel weird about liking The Nightmare Before Christmas. That would be thanks to Hot Topic merchandising it out the behind. Creepy feelings on faux goths aside, it really is a tremendous movie especially when you learn about how painstakingly difficult it was to make.

Talk about a nightmarish task.

For every minute you watch onscreen, it took the team a full week to shoot, which altogether was about three years of production time. I’d say the hard work was worth it.

22 I Do My Own Stunts

The Rocketeer is one of those classic live-action Disney films that has a lot to love about it, and one that was probably better as a kid than it is today. Anyway, in the climatic fight between Cliff and Neville, Cliff yells out, “Where's your stuntman now, Sinclair?” With a quick jab back Neville says, “I do my own stunts." Timothy Dalton played Neville, and prior to that he was one of the James Bond stars infamous for doing his own stunts. That’s what this line is referring to.

21 The Beast’s Real Name Is?

Beauty and the Beast is a tragic tale of a prince and his court being cursed by a mad witch. Can you imagine how many people in the comments section would be cursed if one of our writers were a witch capable of curses? A lot, let me tell you. Anyway, this little factoid is small, but might be one fans of the film never knew. It is never stated outright during the movie, but the Beast’s human name is Adam. That’s it!

20 Disney’s First DVD

Remember when DVDs were the “in” thing and everyone complained about having to upgrade from a VCR to a DVD? Ugh, they’ll get scratched. That’s what I heard my parents complain about a lot. Anyway, did you know that Disney held out for a long time until they finally caved and put out a DVD?

A film worth fighting for.

Know what it was? If you guessed Mulan, you’d be right! What a weird first for them. Not to besmirch the movie, because it’s fine, but you know, not one of the best.

19 Those Ducks Are Mighty

It’s hard to believe, but the Anaheim Mighty Ducks are based on a film. A lot of readers may not know that fact alone, since they haven’t made another one of those movies in years. More importantly, you may be wondering how could a national team steal a movie’s name? Simple. Disney owned the team, thus, there was no trademark dispute. Bonus fact! For a long time Nintendo owned the Seattle Mariners Baseball team. To think they could have been the Seattle Marios or something.

18 Arabian Legal Disputes

Aladdin is my favorite animated Disney movie of all time, and part of that is because of Robin Williams’ performance. It kind of broke my heart to later learn he only agreed to do it to appease his kids, took a pay cut, and was asked to not be used in the advertising for the film because he didn’t want it to conflict with his passion project, Toys. Well, Disney did not listen to his request and of course promoted the heck out of him. There was bad blood for quite awhile.

17 A Ghost Of Muppets Past

Jim Henson, the father of The Muppets, passed away in 1990. After this tragedy, the franchise was put on hold for a time until 1992 when The Muppet Christmas Carol hit theaters. Now, Steve Whitmire took on the daunting task of filling Henson’s shoes when voicing and performing Kermit and many of his other roles in the film.

I wish Jim Henson visited my dreams.

Whitmire was understandably nervous, but apparently Henson visited him in his dreams before production started, dousing his fears. Is that true, or just a fun Hollywood story? Who knows, but Whitmire stands by it.

16 Halloween In July

Hocus Pocus has become one of those classic, family-friendly Halloween movies you can pop in to appease all. It may not be a staple for gore enthusiasts accustomed to the likes of The Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th, but you get the idea. Despite the nature of the film being bluntly about Halloween and, in turn, witches, this was not released during the season or anywhere close to it. Not September, October, or even November. Nope. It launched in July. What a weird time for a Halloween movie!

15 The Lion King Made Money Until…

I can distinctly remember going to watch The Lion King in theaters with my cousins from Seattle. Afterward, we went to Target where we got to buy one related item to the movie. Even as a kid, I knew how huge this movie was, but it wasn’t until researching that I realized it was the highest grossing animated film of all time. Well, it was, that is to say. The Lion King came out in 1994 and held this record for almost two straight decades until it was dethroned by another Disney giant: Frozen.

14 A Tale Of Two Hanks

Have you ever wondered who does the voice of Woody when Tom Hanks isn’t around? Maybe you thought it was Tom Hanks the whole time, as it sounds like him in the spinoffs, toys, and even video games. There’s a reason for that. His brother, Jim Hanks, plays the part.

There’s a Hanks in my boot.

Bonus fact! Did you know he even had a brother? I certainly didn’t. In fact, he has two. Larry Hanks isn’t another actor, though. He’s an entomologist and professor. What a family!

13 James Woods Loves Hades

On the opposite end of the spectrum to Tom Hanks giving his voice roles to his brother, James Woods cannot say no to reprising his role of Hades from Hercules. That movie deserves better, and it’s mostly because of his performance. He’s my favorite part and it sounds like he knows it. That’s why he hasn’t missed a chance to do it since. He even plays him in Kingdom Hearts. I can’t wait to hear his crazy dialogue again in Kingdom Hearts III.

12 The American Princesses

Disney appeals to a global audience, but it all began in the grand old United States. The weird thing about this fact is that out of all their movies, only two of them were centered on princesses in the U.S. The first was Pocahontas in 1995 and the second was Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. Actually, it does make some sense. This isn’t a nation with royal ancestry. At least not in the same way Europe is.

11 The Aunts Are Alive!

Thanks to the success of The Nightmare Before Christmas Disney invested in another stop-motion picture: James and the Giant Peach. It’s not as well remembered, as Hot Topic hasn’t merchandised the heck out of it, but it’s still good.

Jack Skellington has a secret cameo if you look hard enough.

This fact centers on a key difference between the book and film. When James escapes with the peach, it crushes his evil aunts in the book. In the film they’re hurt, but left alive. Way to pull your punches, Disney.

10 There Are 250 Dalmatians!

Let’s talk about the live action version of 101 Dalmatians. With CG technology, you may have wondered if there were really 101 Dalmatians onscreen. I mean, think about it. That’s a lot of dogs to wrangle. Well, what if I told you that that’s not only true, but there were more than double that amount? Throughout the time of shooting, Disney used 230 Dalmatian puppies and 20 adults. That set must have been crazy, and loud too. Imagine that. 250 dogs!

9 Three Become One

This next fact about Webby isn’t necessarily a tidbit from the movie, but it is related to DuckTales. Unlike her male counterparts, Webby was completely made up for the show. She is somewhat based on Daisy’s nieces who all wore pink: April, May, and June. She’s sort of an amalgamation of the three. Since the show already has the three boys, adding in three more children would have felt a bit too clustered. This was their solution. Thank goodness for that.

8 Tristan’s Hospital

Despite the fact that The Rescuers Down Under takes place in Australia, there was only one actor native to that country in the film. It’s the most obvious one, of course. Jake is the mouse from the Australian branch.

Wanna play knifey-spoony?

He’s played by Tristan Rogers whom, again, is Australian. Bonus fact! He’s best known for his role in the soap opera General Hospital, which my mom adored. She liked it so much that I was named after him. Now you know more about Disney and me!

7 A Talented Musician

For a long time, I assumed Disney cast actors that could sing in their musicals, but I was wrong. Starting in the 90s, it became more common practice for key roles to be played by two different actors. One example is Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Chris Sarandon handled his speaking role while Danny Elfman performed his singing. You know, the guy that pretty much scores every Tim Burton movie. He’s also pretty famous for his 80s band Oingo Boingo, and he also arranged the theme to The Simpsons. That’s like double bonus facts!

6 The Beast Is How Old?

Like my last Beauty and the Beast fact, this is never stated in the film, but The Beast was transformed when he was only eleven. How do I know this? The beginning says that if The Beast doesn’t fall in love by his 21st birthday he’ll be cursed forever. In the song Be Our Guest, Lumiere sings, “Ten years we’ve been rusting...” If you do the math, then it makes sense, right? How could a witch do that to a child? Of course he’s going to misbehave. He’s a child!