Aladdin, 1992
The opening scene with the street merchant was completely unscripted. Robin Williams was brought into the sound stage and was asked to stand behind a table that had several objects on it and a bed sheet covering them all. The animators asked him to lift the sheet, and without looking take an object from the table and describe it in character. Much of the material in that recording session was not appropriate for a Disney film.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937
For the scene where the dwarfs are sent off to wash, animator Frank Thomas had Dopey do a hitch step to catch up to the others, as suggested in the storyboard. Walt Disneyliked it so much he had the step added to other scenes - much to the chagrin of the other animators, who blamed Thomas for the extra work they had to do.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937
Walt Disney auditioned voices for Snow White by secretly listening through a speaker in his office while each actress recorded her test in the sound stage. This allowed him to base his decision strictly on their voices, and kept the actresses from being nervous about auditioning for the boss.
Treasure Planet, 2002
The first Disney film in which the maquettes (small character reference sculptures) were not made entirely by hand, out of clay. Silver’s cyborg parts were constructed out of plastic, using laser technology.
Oliver & Company, 1988
Animators shot photos of New York streets as reference, using cameras set eighteen inches off the ground to get a dog’s point of view
Dinosaur, 2000
The backgrounds in the movie are actually superimposed photos of exotic tropical locations such as Tahiti and Hawaii.
Pocahontas, 1995
A song titled “If I Never Knew You” was cut after children in test audiences found it boring. At the time, it was almost fully animated, with the exception of color. The unfinished sequence was shown in ABC’s 1997 airing of the film. For the 10th anniversary DVD release, the animation was completed and the song inserted back into the film, as well as a short reprise in the final scene.
Pocahontas, 1995
“She is open, athletic, dynamic, intelligent, and quite beautiful. One historian described her as sort of the first diplomat.” (Producer James Pentecost)
