Disney is one of the biggest media entities in history. It has pumped out movies, shows and live-action attractions that has enthralled billions around the world. The Mouse Empire began in the 1960s when owner Walt Disney decided to make an animation of the classic fairy tale Snow White. The movie was a smash hit at the box office and was lapped up by critics. For Disney, there was no stopping after that.
Over the next decades, Disney put its own unique spin on classic fairy tales and legends from all over the world. Typically characters were transformed into child-friendly incarnations that parents could safely allow their kids to watch.
As the fandom for Disney properties grew, so did the rumors and the legends surrounding the movies. With fans all over the world watching Disney films on an obsessive loop, entire backstories were built up for side characters from throwaway lines and seconds-long cutaway scenes to fill in the gaps in between movies.
The internet has allowed these fandoms to come together, and bring their fan theories before the rest of the world. Some of these theories are too ridiculous to be taken seriously. But then there are certain other theories that make a lot of sense. So much sense, in fact, that they have even been proven to be true and part of the original movie canon. Here are 25 such Disney movie fan theories that will change the way you view your favorite films and characters:
25 Frozen's Elsa And Anna Have A Very Famous Long Lost Brother
This was a theory that was proposed by the good folks over at Reddit during an AMA, regarding the fate of Elsa and Anna's parents. During a later interview, director Buck Lee went into greater detail about the matter:
Anna and Elsa's parents didn't give up the ghost.
'The mother was pregnant. She gave birth to a little boy. The parents end up in a jungle, where a leopard end them, so their baby boy is raised by gorillas. So in my little head, Anna and Elsa's brother is Tarzan."
24 The Peddler In Aladdin Is The Most Powerful Character In The Movie
The peddler appears at the beginning of the movie Aladdin and narrates the story of the poor street rat who found a magic lamp and went on to become the prince of Agrabah. During an interview in 2015, the director of the movie confirmed that the Peddler was none other than the Genie!
This theory is supported by the fact that the Peddler and the Genie are the only two characters in the movie with four fingers instead of five. And they're both voiced by Robin Williams.
23 The Finding Dory And Inside Out Crossover Event
In Finding Dory, the titular amnesiac fish winds up in a massive aquarium being stared at by a bunch of visiting school children. While the children only showed up for a few seconds, eagle-eyed fans noticed that one student bore a striking resemblance to Riley, the main character from Inside Out.
Not only does this mean that two prominent Pixar characters met each other briefly once, but also corroborates the popular theory that all the Pixar movies take place in the same universe with overlapping themes and an inter-related cast.
22 More Than Just Friends
In Zootopia, plucky little bunny Judy moves to the big city to pursue her dreams. She rents an apartment with many noisy neighbors, including Bucky and Pronk, the two roommates who live next door and who carry on long arguments into the night.
Now, the movie never defined the precise terms of the relationship between the two roommates.
But Jared Bush, one of the writers for the movie, has confirmed that Bucky and Pronk were a couple rather than just being really angry friends. So much for showing LGBTQ representation in the actual movie.
21 There Never Was A Hannah Montana
Before Hannah Montana was made into a movie, it was a tv show. It was a gigantic success and launched the career of Miley Cyrus. In the DVD extras for the show's final season, it is revealed that Hannah never actually existed. Miley dreamt her up while fantasizing about being a famous pop star.
This means viewers were basically watching an extended dream sequence throughout the show's run. It also explains why putting on a blonde wig was enough to make even her friends believe that Miley was a different person.
20 Aladdin Is Set In A Post-Apocalyptic Future
The story of Aladdin is not set in the past, but actually a future post-apocalyptic wasteland. That is why the Genie mentions several events and personalities from the late 1900's. Now, while the director of the movie has specifically shot down the theory...
It seems not everyone on the marketing team got the message.
That is why the video game based on the movie showed such things as a modern-day STOP sign in the middle of Agrabah. So does that mean the magic carpet is actually a futuristic hoverboard?
19 The Pirate Who Ended The Life Of Ariel's Mother
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginnings is a direct-to-video prequel to the original Little Mermaid. It tells the story of Ariel's parents before she was born. What causes the demise of Ariel's mother Athena is when she is crushed against the hull of a ship commandeered by Captain Hook, the main villain from Peter Pan.
This means Ariel's mother was once friends with Peter, and indeed, her appearance is shown to closely resemble one of the mermaids that Peter is shown to be playing with in his own movie.
18 Why Nala Actually Left The Pridelands
In The Lion King, Nala meets Simba after many years as an adult, and the two get into an argument about Simba's duty towards his pride.
During the argument, Nala mentions that she left the Pridelands to seek help.
The musical based on the movie that debuted on Broadway goes into greater depth about the matter. The song, 'The Madness of King Scar' talks about Scar's desire for female companionship. He tries to force Nala to become his bride, but she fends off his attacks. Scar then banishes her from Pride Rock.
17 Why The Beast Was Actually Cursed
In Beauty and the Beast, it is mentioned that an Enchantress punished a selfish and arrogant prince by turning him into a horrific beast to teach him humility. A popular fan theory speculated that this was a pretty flimsy reason to curse someone and that the Enchantress was actually the prince's scorned lover.
The Beast Within is the official Disney tie-in novel for the movie. It confirms that the Enchantress had indeed once been in love with the prince before he rejected her advances, leading her to curse him out of anger.
16 The Unexplained Feud Between Humans And Monsters
Monsters Inc. takes place in a truly bizarre universe where real monsters live in hiding and harvest children's screams for energy. Fans have often speculated about the backstory for such a strange reality. One of the most tragic backstories were finally confirmed regarding the monster's origins.
It was revealed that the monsters once lived alongside humans, who were uncomfortable with their scary appearance and drove them away. The monsters had no choice but to retreat to a remote island, where they found a magic fruit that transformed them into actual monsters.
15 Elsa And Anna's Other Famous Relative
Turns out Elsa and Anna have quite a few famous relatives. During Elsa's coronation near the beginning of Frozen, a host of relatives and friends visit Arendelle to witness the arrival of the new queen.
Intriguingly, we get a shot of a couple from the back that looks extremely similar to Tangled's main couple, Flynn and Rapunzel. This means Rapunzel with the magic hair and Elsa with the magic ice powers are most probably cousins. So can we bank on Anna also revealing some sort of hidden magical power in Frozen's sequel?
14 All Those Cars, But No Humans Driving Them?
In Pixar's Cars, we're introduced to a world of talking cars. But why do we never see the humans who built those cars? According to Jay Ward, the creative director of the franchise, there's a disturbing reason for the lack of humans.
Apparently, humans kept making cars that were smarter and smarter.
Then came a point where the automobiles finally became self-aware. The cars then decided they didn't need the extra weight of human drivers, and got rid of them, only retaining the personality of the last human that drove them.
13 When The Real Mandarin Comes Knocking
The Mandarin that was revealed at the end of Iron Man 3 turned out to be an actor posing as a super-terrorist at the behest of the real villain, Adrian Killian. Many Marvel comics fans were disappointed by the anti-climatic reveal for the Mandarin, who is one of the most formidable enemies from the comics
But according to the short film All Hail The King included in the Thor: The Dark World home release, the real Mandarin has finally revealed himself, and is also pretty pissed at the doppelganger who's using his name.
12 Ariel's Powerful Older Cousin
The Little Mermaid is all about Ariel learning to fight the world in order to accomplish her dreams. But little did we know that Ariel could have gotten help from her cousin Hercules, the most powerful man in the world!
You see, King Triton is Ariel's father. King Triton's father is Poseidon, according to Greek Mythology. Everyone knows that Poseidon and Zeus are brothers and that Hercules is Zeus's son. So Ariel and Hercules are related, and their technical relation is that of first cousins once removed. Talk about having friends in high places!
11 Spidey's First Appearance In MCU
Everyone cheered when a teen Peter Parker appeared before Tony Stark in the middle of Civil War. But little did we realize that wasn't Peter's first appearance in the MCU.
In Iron Man 2, the final battle takes place at a giant expo, where armors built by Tony are hijacked by Whiplash and programmed to terrorize civilians. While others are panicking and running, a lone child wearing an Iron Man mask confronts the robots before being saved by Iron Man. Tom Holland himself has confirmed the child was a pre-Spidey Peter Parker.
10 The Longest Living Pixar Character
Boo from Monsters Inc. was the little girl who made friends with the monster Sully. While Sully continued visiting Boo for some time, a point must have come when he had to stop his visits.
This led Boo to attempt to find Sully herself, using doors to teleport herself between not only different locations but through time as well. Fans theorize that Boo wound up in the time period of the film Brave. There she grew to become the witch that Merida meets. You can see a drawing of Sully among the witch's carvings.
9 Peter Pan Is A Dark Angel
Is Peter Pan the boy who refuses to grow up? Or is his purpose much deeper? This theory goes back to the author of Peter's story, J.M. Barrie. The ownership of the story was left to a children's hospital, where the story is read to terminally ill children.
They see Peter as the boy who will help guide them to heaven after they pass on.
So this means Peter is the Angel of Endings in the story as well, who helps children who are have perished find their way to heaven(Neverland).
8 Stan Lee Is Everywhere For A Reason
Over the years, Stan Lee has appeared in almost every new Marvel Superhero movie. So prolific were his appearances that a popular fan theory emerged that Lee's onscreen persona is that of Uatu, the Watcher, a cosmic character from Marvel Comics who observes important events as they occur without interfering.
James Gunn confirmed this theory in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2, where we see Lee sitting with a group of watchers telling them about his earlier adventures. In the movie credits, Lee's character is also named 'Informant for the Watchers'.
7 Hans Got What He Deserved
Hans was the particularly repellant villain of Frozen. He turned Disney's 'Prince Charming' trope on its head, earning the undying hatred of fans in the process. In fact, Fans were so pissed that they demanded that if Hans ever showed up again, his first job should be as a lowly stable boy as punishment for his crimes.
The creators listened, and sure enough, in Frozen Fever, we find that Hans has indeed been assigned the position of royal Stableboy, and he is now spending his days keeping the stables clear of horse manure.
6 The Real Name Of The Beast
While all the other main characters in Disney films got interesting names, the Beast from Beauty and the Beast was simply... Beast. Evidently, the creators thought repeatedly describing a guy by his physical affliction was better than calling him by the name his parents gave him.
Fans were dissatisfied with this type of thinking.
They decided that the Beast must have a proper name and that name's Adam. Fast forward a few years later, and Disney officially adopted the moniker. The Beast is now referred to as Adam in his official merchandise.