Disney has crafted a large, at times immeasurable universe. The company has, over the years, acquired so many other studios that it has perhaps the widest range of choices available in its plethora of owned IP’s.
In recent times, The Marvel Cinematic Universe has joined the fray and become the most successful franchise for the company. So it goes without saying that Marvel has joined the Disney family. With that it also joins the rest of Disney movies that have large plot holes that have remained a mystery to this day.
Disney usually cares very little for the finer details, opting to focus on the magic achieving the impossible brings and highlighting just how wonderful a happy ending could be. In order to do so, numerous plot holes are overlooked in favour of achieving the final product.
For the most part, we’re not complaining, as who could when most of our childhood memories are directly connected to these beloved films Disney churns out? However, diehard fans always do tend to overanalyze every plot point in their favourite films, which means that there are several mysteries identified by these fans whose resolution they desperately seek.
Alas, it doesn’t seem like most of these plot holes will ever be answered. You can’t really blame Disney for them either considering they were never meant to be identified. And yet, fans can’t be put at fault for wanting some closure to these nagging plot points.
Here are 20 Unresolved Mysteries And Plot Holes Disney Movies Left Hanging.
20 A Friend In Need?
One of the problems in having such a massive universe are the nagging plot holes that are inevitable to catch up. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is no exception to this. Phase Two consists of events that take place after The Avengers, by this point all the team members have a firm friendship which would leave no doubt in mind that if one were to be in distress, they would all band together to help that member.
But it doesn’t seem like it as all of Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Solider and Thor: The Dark World have The Avengers inexplicably absent. In particular is Iron Man 3, as Tony was in quite the conundrum what with his home being destroyed, so it’s a surprise a loyal friend like Steve Rogers didn’t turn up in aid of his friend. Quite a gaping mystery to be honest.
19 Who Am I?
Toys don’t age. Woody has been sentient before Andy was even born and yet we are never made aware of the cowboy’s life before his favorite owner. If you think about it, that story has wonderful potential so it’s a shame Pixar has kept that a mystery after more than two decades.
It is implied during the Toy Story series that Woody was a family heirloom of Andy’s as his mother was very reluctant to give him up when at one point. However, by the end of Toy Story 3, Andy hands Woody over to a new owner, casting the family heirloom theory in doubt. Maybe we’ll never know the toy’s origins, but considering how wise he is, he must surely have had numerous experiences before the first installment.
18 Eye Don't Get It
With the revelation that Hela, Goddess of Death, is Odin’s first born daughter, there are several questions that need to be answered. One of these is her parentage as at no point was it made clear if Frigga was her mother, while it also skewed the earlier timeline.
In the climactic battle with Thor, Hela slices his eye out then remarks how he reminds her of their father. But this can’t be consistent with the chronology as in Thor, it was seen that Odin lost his eye the day he found Loki as a child. However, this would mean Hela was around at the time and Thor should have been born. But during their first meeting in Thor: Ragnarok, Hela has no clue who Thor and Loki are. It’s a pretty big gap in the timeline that is left unanswered as the trilogy concluded.
17 New Hairdo
It’s never truly explained in Tangled how Rapunzel’s magic worked. For the most part it was confirmed that her long sinuous hair were the key, however, by the end of the movie Flynn Rider is healed by her tears after her hair has been chopped off.
Another mystery is why her hair changed color once the magic was gone. Flynn simply sliced off the hair by the tail, not from the root. So shouldn’t the magic have remained within Rapunzel, seeing that its source should have been from the root?
We could even accept the magic leaving her, perhaps all the hair was supposed to remain for it to work, but why did they change in color all the way through, even to the hair that remained on Rapunzel's head?
16 Oh, Heck No!
The entire Hercules animated series is a giant plot hole for the Hercules film. This is due to Hercules interacting with Hades numerous times on the TV show, which takes place entirely during the training montage in the film, even though the God of the Underworld had believed Hercules to be deceased as a baby.
If we were to wave over that part, there’s still a gap in place as Hades had another method to make sure his foe was no more. Hades has all mortal souls in possession, and as Hercules was supposed to be converted into a mortal his soul should have turned up in Hades’ domain. Shouldn’t that have been easy as pie to ascertain if his plan had worked out or not?
15 Slipping Into A Mystery
This has more to do with plot convenience than being a mystery, but it doesn’t hide the pretty big plot hole that is in the form of Cinderella’s glass slipper. The Fairy Godmother provides Cinderella with a magical carriage and dress that are guaranteed to revert once the clock strikes midnight. And it plays out exactly as promised with one exception. The glass slipper that is left behind serves as the crucial factor in proving Cinderella as the mysterious girl at the ball.
But the catch of the fairy godmother’s charm was that everything would change back, so why didn’t the glass slipper change too? We’re all suckers for a happy ending so we’d eat up any lame excuse they could give us. But we never got one and still debate as to why it remained the same.
14 England In Africa
The Lion King is wildly inconsistent in the area of accents. It’s a mystery as to where the Pride lands really are considering that all the animals differ in speech patterns. Of course the intent is to situate the setting in Africa, yet only Rafiki is the one with a definite African accent. A vast majority have American accents, and perhaps this could have been explained as being intrinsic to the lions, this can’t be the case.
Scar is Mufasa’s biological brother, yet the two sound nothing alike. Scar speaks with an English drawl that is only attached by the bird Zazu. Why are these two related in this aspect? It’s never explained why these characters sound the way they do and we can do nothing except speculate.
13 What The Fine Print Says
Solving this plot hole would bring a very premature end to The Little Mermaid. Ariel bargains a deal with Ursula to grant her legs in order for her to interact with Prince Eric and fall in love with her, the catch is that Ariel’s voice is taken away. This was obviously in place to make the task a much bigger hurdle for our protagonist, however, Ariel could have avoided all troubles had she had the good sense to write something down.
You can’t argue that she might not know how to write in English as the contract she signs is clearly in that language. Any reasoning otherwise would be a very lazy excuse to quite a big plot hole that still leaves us scratching our heads.
12 The Heart Wants What It Wants
The individual trilogies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe always end with the protagonist letting go part of his superhero identity. This was started in Iron Man 3, as Tony Stark overcame his PTSD and destroyed all his suits. To build upon this further, he undergoes surgery to remove the shrapnel near his heart and do away the with the constant arc reactor in his chest.
But in Iron Man, a big deal was made with the fact that the shrapnel near his heart was too dangerous to remove and would kill him should they try to extract it. Iron Man 2 also cemented this by having Tony look for a viable substitute in his arc reactor to keep him alive. Why wouldn’t he have undergone this surgery beforehand if it meant being free of these problems?
11 Think About It
To be part of the army one must fulfill a few prerequisites. Some of these include fitness, strength, durability, and not being a limping old man who couldn’t contribute in the slightest. This is how Mulan’s father would have been seen had he shown up to enlist.
In a time when every man was needed to fight off the incoming threat, Mulan’s father was gripped with duty for his country and vowed to join despite being in ill health. However, as we saw later on, Mulan was kicked out for being unfit for the rage of war. It’s fair to assume her father wouldn’t have gotten even to the point where she had been seeing that the old man could barely walk straight. Going by that logic, it’s a mystery why none of the household considered that before Mulan carted off in disguise.
10 Make Up Your Mind, Buzz
Pixar generally does a good job in keeping most points in its story covered well. So when a plot hole presents itself it becomes all the more glaring.
At the start of Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear is the cool new toy that gains Andy’s affection. Buzz, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about this attention and only seeks to fulfil his mission. The toy is based off the Buzz Lightyear cartoon and is thus imbued with that character’s personality. We see him undergo a heartbreaking moment of realization later on and accept his true identity as a toy.
But this leaves a gaping question in that Buzz pretended to be a toy just like the rest whenever Andy showed up. If he thought he wasn’t one, wouldn’t he have confronted Andy instead?
9 I'd Rather Be Vegan
Ariel gave up her livelihood to be with Prince Eric. In The Little Mermaid, she is shown indulging in human customs so as to accommodate herself with her love’s style of living. However, there is one such aspect of this that begs answers.
During a dinner scene, Ariel is shown to have in her plate seafood, a lobster to be specific. That is like a normal human having a friend for dinner! One of Ariel’s best friends is Sebastian, who belongs to the same species. In any case, Ariel should be puking at the thought of consuming almost any sea life as even fish should be out of the question seeing that her closest friend, Flounder, is also fish. Such plot holes only have one advantage: they really stamp in the fact that love is blind.
8 Are We Related?
There’s something so sweet and disturbing about Simba and Nala’s relationship. The two were fast friends in childhood and this blossomed into love once they grew up. It’s a cute story with one big flaw: there aren’t any male lions in the pride except for Mufasa and Scar.
Nala is clearly not Scar’s daughter judging by appearance and personality, leaving only Mufasa as the viable candidate. Scarily enough, all the other lionesses in the pride seem to be without a mate unless you consider they all belong to Mufasa.
All this points to Simba and Nala possibly being half siblings. This is one plothole we’re glad is still a mystery.
7 Now, That's Just Unfair
Putting aside the mystery of the witch casting a spell on a young boy at the age of 11 for being vain, there’s another mystery to be explained. The curse was supposed to last ten years right up until the beast’s 21st birthday. Through sheer stroke of luck, Beauty and the Beast concludes with both protagonists happily ever after. However, this was only possible during the last year because the deal the witch put in place was always unfair.
Considering the prince was only 11 years old when the curse was placed, how would it have been possible for him find anyone to marry or fall in love with for at least seven or eight years? You can’t expect a teenager to find a wife, can you? The odds were always against the poor guy.
6 It's Not All His Fault
In The Lion King, Mufasa is shown as the wise king who cares for all citizens of the pridelands, be it those his lion’s pride or the herbivores who make part of the circle of life. This is highlighted by the flourishing landscape of the African Savannah during his reign.
On the other hand, when Scar takes over the land is noticeably desolate, intended to showcase just how downtrodden he had made the kingdom. However, you can’t ignore that these are just animals, and they have no bearing upon nature. How did the land go barren? Once Simba regains his rightful position, the land is shown to be thriving once more, but this doesn’t explain the drought that came about. Maybe it wasn’t Scar’s fault after all.
5 Talk About Being Lazy
Scar is one of Disney’s most memorable villains. He nails the devious charm most antagonists can only dream of. Despite being responsible for the death of his brother, Mufasa, Scar never has that aura of fear surrounding him. The character does best as a scheming opportunist.
This must be why it was easy to overlook a blunder on Scar’s part that came back to haunt him. However, it’s still a plot hole as a meticulous thinker such as Scar would have ensured there were no strings left loose. And yet in the aftermath of the great stampede that consumed Mufasa’s life, Scar has his hyena cronies get rid of Simba while he assumes they got the job done. Simba was just a cub, who trusted his uncle as well, so it wouldn’t have taken Scar more than a few seconds to kill the cub while he had him.
4 What Was Rightfully Hers
Now that it’s been pointed out to you, go back and watch Tangled to be infuriated like the rest of the people who came upon this realization. Why is Mother Gothel seen as the antagonist of the film when it's made clear at the beginning that she had been the one to stumble upon the magical golden flower?
The narration attempts to make you see her as the villain by claiming she didn’t ‘share’ the magic with anyone else, but that's cheap. Just because she used it for personal gain doesn’t make her a bad person. Even Rapunzel’s parents snatched the flower away for their own selfish reasons. So why they were seen as the good guys and Mother Gothel as the bad one is a real mystery.
3 Where's Your Kingdom?
The whole point of Aladdin’s wish to the Genie was for him to be turned into a prince worthy of princess Jasmine’s hand in marriage. All seems hunky dory when the Genie clads Aladdin in royal garb full with an entire parade of subjects that light up the streets of Agrabah.
The stunt has the desired effect, and ultimately Aladdin manages to capture Jasmine’s heart. But what exactly entails a prince wish? After the first musical number, we never see any more of Aladdin’s subjects, nor does he have any Kingdom to rule over. The explanation, a very pathetic one at that, is implied to be Jafar’s reversal of Aladdin’s wish once he gains control of the lamp. But that is still just an assumption and doesn’t explain what Aladdin’s wish truly brought about.
2 Wow, She's Strong!
Beauty and the Beast abuses plot convenience a lot. For the most part it is the mysterious appearance of the beast in crucial moments to save Belle. None of these instances were ever explained in the movie.
Another, more confusing, mystery is how Belle got the enormous beast all the way back to the castle. During her first escape, Belle is attacked in the woods, only to be rescued by the beast, although this leaves him badly injured. Belle nursing him back to health over the year is what contributes to the two falling in love. However, it is never explained how the frail girl lugged the huge prince onto a horse, then brought him back to the castle, up a flight of stairs and into bed!
1 Hey, I Just Met You, And This Is Crazy...
Loki has gone a very interesting character arc. In Thor, he was more misunderstood than evil, while in The Avengers, he’s a straight up madman. What changed in between is explained as Thanos keeping Loki in his influence. That is a solid reasoning to provide, but it still doesn’t explain exactly how the God of Mischief encountered The Mad Titan.
When last we saw Loki in Thor, he had let himself drift off into space, but judging from Thor’s unsuccessful hunt for the infinity stones in Thor: Ragnarok, space is infinitely large. So chances are slim, if any, that one could chance an encounter with Thanos at his lair, the Sanctuary. Pretty convenient for him Loki just happened to drop by. We’ll never know how, perhaps.