My best anecdotes about Disney and the Disneyland parks

The brilliant designer Harper Goff, whose work continues to exert a considerable influence, has left an indelible mark. A Disney collaborator, this American artist notably shaped the visual universe of the film “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and introduced numerous innovative concepts and sets for the Disneyland parks.

At Disneyland, most American flags don’t have the correct number of stars. This particularity, a reference to Walt Disney’s childhood flag, exempts Disneyland Paris from the obligation to illuminate them at night or lower them in bad weather.

In the early 1960s, Doritos chips were invented in a Disneyland restaurant, Casa de Fritos, where surplus tortillas were processed. Following their success, Frito-Lay acquired the recipe, enabling large-scale production of this iconic snack, still sold today even at Disneyland Paris.

From 1987 to 2016, the Disney parks in the United States had their own currency, the Disney Dollar. With the same value as the US dollar, these bills, printed in the same format, were used as a means of payment within the parks.

At Disneyland Paris, the terrace of the Bella Notte since 1992 is steeped in history, as the colorful tiles that adorn it come from a huge mosaic fresco created in 1967 by Mary Blair for the Adventure Thru Inner Space attraction in Tomorrowland, California, a work commissioned by Walt Disney himself.

The “Superstar Limo” attraction remains one of Disney’s biggest failures. Originally, visitors were supposed to board a limousine chased by paparazzi. However, Lady Di’s death forced Disney to revise the concept into a simple, aimless ride. Launched in 2001, the attraction closed in 2002.

In 2013, in Florida, a company came up with the idea of offering to hire people with disabilities to get priority benefits at Disney World, charging $130 an hour for the service. Deemed totally immoral, the practice was fortunately banned.

After the US military, Disney is the world’s second-largest consumer of explosives. Every year, the company invests over $50 million in these materials, particularly for fireworks and other pyrotechnic displays. At Disneyland Paris, these investments are magnificently reflected in breathtaking shows such as Disney Dreams.

The Phantom Manor attraction at Disneyland Paris is full of nods to the number 13, reputed to bring bad luck: when the waiting time is short, it’s displayed as 13 minutes, and the clock at the beginning of the attraction also shows the number 13.

Disney’s “Fantasia”, released in 1940, was partially reworked to appease creationists. The portion of the film depicting dinosaurs was to continue with the evolution of mammals and the appearance of humans. But, under threat from fanatics, Disney withdrew this part.

Relations between Walt Disney and his employees were not always harmonious. In 1941, half the animators went on strike for five weeks to demand higher wages and improved working conditions. This period of conflict is evoked in the film Dumbo.

In 1942, Disney animators gathered in a room to practice their drawing skills by observing a real doe, which became the inspiration for the character of Bambi in the film of the same name.

Disney’s “The Jungle Book” stands out as the most popular film in Germany, racking up an impressive total of 27,293,363 admissions. That’s almost 10 million more viewers than the second-biggest hit, Titanic, released three decades later. What’s more, the German version is one of the few to be unanimously preferred to the original.

Disney’s Aladdin cartoon was originally planned to take place in Baghdad. However, due to the first Gulf War during production, the team took the decision to create the fictional city of Agrabah to avoid any direct association with the conflict.

The Lion King, which turned out to be Disney’s second biggest hit after The Snow Queen, was a real surprise. Initially entrusted to a secondary team with limited resources, its realization was intended to serve as a transition between the triumph of Aladdin and the anticipation of the next hoped-for success, Pocahontas.

The first name of the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear originates from the name of the second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin. As the second man to walk on the moon, he received less media coverage than Neil Armstrong, and Pixar wanted to pay tribute to him by naming the famous toy astronaut Buzz l’Éclair.

Toy Story 2 was a near disaster for Pixar. A computer error led to the deletion of a large part of the team’s work. Fortunately, the technical director, who had recently given birth and was working from home, had a copy of the film files on her computer. These files represented over $100 million worth of work.

In 2002, during the heyday of 3D animation, the film “Lilo & Stitch” marked a notable exception. Due to budgetary constraints, the sets were meticulously hand-painted, forcing the team to adopt a complex watercolor technique that Disney hadn’t employed in over 60 years.

The Pixar animation studio has a tradition of concealing a clue to one of its future productions in each of its films. For example, in Monsters and Company, the little girl Boo gives a clown fish to Sully, who then becomes the main character in Nemo. Similarly, in Nemo, the dentist has a comic book from The Incredibles.

American actress Linda Hunt, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in “The Year of Living Dangerously”, is also said to have been the inspiration for the Edna Mode character in “The Incredibles”.

Chef Gusteau’s restaurant in the movie Ratatouille is directly inspired by the prestigious Parisian restaurant La Tour d’Argent. The production team meticulously visited the restaurant, faithfully reproducing details such as the cheese cart and the design of the lamps.

Although Marvel is now valued in the billions, the company came close to bankruptcy in 1996. At that time, the value of the group’s shares had plummeted, and the company was heavily in debt. It wasn’t until the late 2000s that it returned to profitability, even reaching an extremely lucrative level after its acquisition by Disney in 2009.

The waterfalls of paradise in Pixar’s film Là-haut are inspired by a very real place: Mount Roraima in Venezuela. This peak is a plateau surrounded by cliffs reaching a height of 1,000 meters. The film’s production team even took the time to visit these mountains to capture the essence of this unique environment.

Prior to the release of Coco, a film immersed in the colorful world of Mexico’s Festival of the Dead, Disney considered registering the “Dia de los Muertos” trademark, to the consternation of Mexicans. In the face of widespread indignation, the multinational finally decided to abandon this controversial move. However, this attempt was not the first of its kind: since 1993, Disney has held the trademark for “Hakuna Matata”, a Swahili expression made famous by the film “The Lion King”.

In the recent Avengers films, the teams used a special stuntman for the riskiest sequences. This special stuntman is a robot called Stuntronic, weighing 45 kilos and capable of impressively reproducing human movements.

Phil Collins, composer of the Tarzan and Brothers of the Bears soundtracks, has also performed these songs in five languages, including English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. This remarkable achievement has earned him recognition as a “Disney Legend”.

Less publicized than some film composers, Alan Menken remains one of the most decorated, and you’re no doubt familiar with his compositions. For example, he created the soundtracks for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, among others, racking up 8 Oscars and 7 Golden Globes.