70 Fun Facts About 90s Disney

Which film was the first animated feature nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture?

Beauty and the Beast earned the 1991 Best Picture nomination, the only one for an animated film until Up in 2009, after the category expanded to ten slots; it also won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy.

Which Disney film held the title of highest-grossing animated film until Finding Nemo overtook it in 2003?

The Lion King's initial $763 million run made it the highest-grossing film of 1994, second all-time behind Jurassic Park, and the top animated film until Finding Nemo passed it in 2003.

Early story treatments for the 1994 film about Simba were submitted under which working title?

Linda Woolverton, who was also writing the Belle musical, drafted it as King of the Beasts before it became King of the Jungle. Lions do not actually live in jungles, hence the eventual change.

Which composer scored the 1994 Simba film after A World Apart and The Power of One?

Hans Zimmer took the job, he said, so his young daughter could finally see one of his films; the score won him the Academy Award for Best Original Score, with Lebo M arranging the African vocals.

Which Simpsons voice actor replaced Robin Williams as the Genie in The Return of Jafar (1994)?

Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, took over the Genie for The Return of Jafar and the Aladdin TV series; Williams returned for Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) after Disney apologized.

What million-dollar gift did Disney send Robin Williams to patch up the Aladdin marketing dispute?

A Picasso painting was Disney's peace offering after the studio broke its promise not to use Williams's Genie voice to sell merchandise; unappeased, he skipped The Return of Jafar and the Aladdin TV series.

Which song was the first from a Disney film to win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year?

A Whole New World, sung by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle, won Song of the Year at the 1994 Grammy Awards after topping the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1993.

Animators aged up Aladdin mid-production, borrowing features from Calvin Klein models and which actor?

Tom Cruise became the model after Glen Keane's first Aladdin, based on Michael J. Fox, was judged too boyish; the character was aged to about eighteen and given a more heroic build.

Which film was the first feature made mainly at Disney's Florida animation studio?

Mulan was produced mainly at the Florida animation studio, which had opened in 1989 at Disney-MGM Studios to make shorts like Roller Coaster Rabbit; Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear followed as Florida-made features.

Whose pop recording of 'Reflection' landed her a contract with RCA Records?

Christina Aguilera recorded the pop version of 'Reflection' that won her the RCA deal; her self-titled 1999 debut album included the song, while Lea Salonga sang it for the character inside the film.

BD Wong spoke Captain Li Shang's lines in the 1998 film, but which singer performed his singing voice?

Donny Osmond provided Shang's singing voice on 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' while BD Wong spoke the lines; Jackie Chan voiced Shang for the film's Chinese-language dubs.

Who voiced Mushu, the small dragon guardian, in the 1998 film about the Fa family's daughter?

Eddie Murphy voiced Mushu, the demoted guardian dragon trying to regain his place among the Fa family ancestors; the part came three years before his Donkey in Shrek (2001).

Which musician wrote and recorded the songs for Tarzan (1999), winning the Oscar for Best Original Song?

Phil Collins wrote and sang the songs, and 'You'll Be in My Heart' won the Academy Award for Best Original Song; Mark Mancina composed the score around them.

What was the 3D painting-and-rendering system built for Tarzan's jungle backgrounds called?

Deep Canvas let painted jungle backgrounds exist as 3D environments so the camera could swoop with Tarzan as he surfed the trees; its developers received an Academy Technical Achievement Award in 2003.

In which unlikely venue did The Hunchback of Notre Dame hold its June 1996 premiere?

The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans hosted the premiere on June 19, 1996, with a parade through the French Quarter, two days before the wide release; the film grossed over $325 million worldwide.

Who voiced Judge Claude Frollo, the puritanical villain of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

Tony Jay gave Frollo his bass menace and sang 'Hellfire'; Kevin Kline voiced Captain Phoebus, Tom Hulce voiced Quasimodo, and David Ogden Stiers voiced the Archdeacon.

Alongside Victor and Hugo, what is Quasimodo's third gargoyle friend called?

Laverne, the eldest gargoyle, was voiced by Mary Wickes, who died in October 1995 before the film's release; Jane Withers recorded her remaining lines.

Which 1990 film was the first feature-length sequel ever produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation?

The Rescuers Down Under was also the first Disney feature made entirely with the CAPS digital ink-and-paint system; Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor returned as Bernard and Bianca, Gabor in her final film role.

Which Christmas hit opened on November 16, 1990, the same day as Disney's underperforming animated release?

Home Alone opened that day and topped the US box office for twelve straight weekends on its way to about $476 million worldwide, while Disney's film managed just $47.4 million.

Before he became Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story's space toy went by which working name?

Lunar Larry was an early name for the space toy, who began as Tinny from the short Tin Toy; he was briefly Tempus from Morph before becoming Buzz Lightyear, after astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

What did Pixar call its disastrous November 1993 screening of Toy Story story reels for Disney executives?

The Black Friday Incident, Pixar's name for the November 19, 1993 screening, led Disney's Peter Schneider to halt production; Woody had become, in Thomas Schumacher's words, a sarcastic jerk, so the script was rewritten.

Toy Story was the first animated film to be nominated in which Academy Award category?

The Best Original Screenplay nomination went to the script by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, one of three competitive nods alongside score and song; John Lasseter received a Special Achievement Award.

Which 1998 DreamWorks film beat A Bug's Life to theaters and sparked a Steve Jobs–DreamWorks feud?

Antz opened on October 2, 1998, nearly two months ahead of A Bug's Life; both films center on an oddball male ant who saves his colony and wins a princess, and Pixar believed DreamWorks had lifted the premise.

Which Disney executive quit in 1994 after Eisner denied him the presidency, then co-founded DreamWorks?

Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had run Disney's film studio since 1984, left after Eisner refused him the presidency; he sued for bonuses he was owed and settled out of court in 1999 for an estimated $250 million.

Disney president Frank Wells died in April 1994 in what kind of accident?

Helicopter crash: on April 3, 1994, the helicopter carrying Wells's heli-skiing party went down in Nevada's Ruby Mountains; his death set off the succession fight that split the studio.

Which Hollywood super-agent became Disney's president in August 1995, only to be fired in 1996?

Michael Ovitz, co-founder of Creative Artists Agency and a longtime friend of Eisner, lasted about 14 months; his roughly $140 million severance became the subject of a long-running shareholder lawsuit.

In 1995 Disney announced a $19 billion takeover, then the second-largest in US history, of which company?

Capital Cities/ABC, owner of the ABC network, agreed to the $19 billion deal in the summer of 1995; it brought Disney an 80 percent stake in ESPN and ESPN2 and half of Lifetime.

Which network had Eisner planned to buy before General Electric insisted on keeping a majority stake?

NBC was Eisner's earlier target, but owner General Electric would part with only a minority stake; Eisner wanted a broadcast network to guarantee distribution for Disney's programming.

Which indie film distributor did Disney buy for about $60 million in 1993 to reach adults?

Miramax, the Weinstein brothers' company that went on to release Pulp Fiction, joined Disney in 1993 for about $60 million, giving the studio a pipeline of adult-oriented films.

Euro Disney, which opened in 1992, sits about 32 km east of Paris in which new town?

Marne-la-Vallée, a planned new town in Seine-et-Marne, hosts the resort, which opened on April 12, 1992, as the second Disney park outside the US after Tokyo; it became Disneyland Paris in October 1994.

Which Walt Disney World theme park opened to the public in April 1998?

Animal Kingdom opened on April 22, 1998, Earth Day, as Walt Disney World's fourth theme park, marketed as 'a new species of theme park'; its Kilimanjaro Safaris savanna alone covers about 110 acres.

The 145-foot Tree of Life, icon of Disney's 1998 Florida park, is an artificial version of which tree?

Baobab, the broad-trunked African tree, inspired the design; the Tree of Life's trunk is about 50 feet wide and carved with more than 300 animal figures, and it houses the It's Tough to Be a Bug! theater.

Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure, which opened in 1995, sends riders through the Temple of the what?

Forbidden Eye is the temple of the deity Mara, whose gaze riders are warned not to meet; Tokyo DisneySea's near-identical 2001 version is themed as the Temple of the Crystal Skull instead.

Which nighttime show projecting Disney animation onto mist debuted at Disneyland in 1992?

Fantasmic! premiered on May 13, 1992, on Disneyland's Rivers of America; show director Barnette Ricci combined water-screen projections with fountains, lasers, pyrotechnics and live performers, including Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Which future NSYNC member was a Mickey Mouse Club cast member alongside Justin Timberlake?

JC Chasez joined The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1991, two years before Justin Timberlake, and the two later formed NSYNC with Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Lance Bass in 1995.

Disney's NHL expansion team, named after The Mighty Ducks, began play in which season?

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim debuted in the 1993–94 season alongside fellow expansion club the Florida Panthers; Disney sold the team to Henry and Susan Samueli in 2005, and it became the Anaheim Ducks in 2006.

In The Mighty Ducks (1992), Emilio Estevez plays a Minneapolis defense attorney with what name?

Gordon Bombay, a hotshot lawyer sentenced to community service for drunk driving, is forced to coach the District 5 peewee team; Brock Pierce plays him as a boy, and the film was retitled Champions in the UK.

Cool Runnings (1993) is loosely based on Jamaica's bobsleigh debut at the Winter Olympics of which year?

1988 was the year of Jamaica's bobsleigh debut, at the Calgary Winter Games, where the four-man sled crashed on its third run; the team returned to compete at Albertville in 1992.

Who plays disgraced ex-Olympian Irving Blitzer, the Jamaican team's coach, in Cool Runnings?

John Candy plays Irv Blitzer, a two-time gold medalist disgraced for cheating by weighting his sled; Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba and Rawle D. Lewis play the four sledders.

What breed is Chance, voiced by Michael J. Fox, in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)?

American Bulldog is Chance's breed; the puppyish troublemaker is voiced by Michael J. Fox, while Sally Field voices Sassy the Himalayan cat and Don Ameche voices Shadow, the old Golden Retriever.

Hocus Pocus, a Halloween cult classic, was originally released in which month of 1993?

July 16, 1993 was the release date, an odd summer slot for a Halloween story; it flopped, reportedly losing Disney around $16.5 million, before TV airings and home video turned it into a cult classic.

What surname do the three witches in Hocus Pocus share?

Sanderson is the surname of Winifred, Mary and Sarah, hanged in Salem in 1693 after turning the boy Thackery Binx into an immortal black cat; Kenny Ortega, later of High School Musical, directed.

Who wrote the screenplay for Disney's 1996 live-action 101 Dalmatians, starring Glenn Close as Cruella?

John Hughes, writer of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club, scripted and produced it; Stephen Herek, who had made The Mighty Ducks, directed, and unlike the 1961 cartoon none of the animals speak.

In The Santa Clause (1994), what is the name of the divorced marketing executive played by Tim Allen?

Scott Calvin, whose initials match Santa's, startles the real Santa off his roof and, by putting on the suit, triggers the 'Santa clause' contract that makes him the replacement; Eric Lloyd plays his son Charlie.

The voice cast of Disney's Gargoyles (1994–97) was famously packed with alumni of which franchise?

Star Trek: The Next Generation supplied Marina Sirtis as Demona and Jonathan Frakes as David Xanatos, with Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner and Kate Mulgrew among the many other Trek actors who guest-voiced.

In Gargoyles, the clan was cursed into stone sleep in 994 in which country?

Scotland's Castle Wyvern was the clan's home until a spell turned them to stone in 994; Xanatos moved the castle to Manhattan a thousand years later, where they woke and became the city's nighttime protectors.

Which DuckTales character crossed over to become Darkwing Duck's sidekick?

Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge McDuck's crash-prone pilot in DuckTales, became Darkwing's sidekick and flew the Thunderquack; Darkwing's alter ego, suburban dad Drake Mallard, lives in St. Canard with adopted daughter Gosalyn.

Darkwing Duck's civilian name, Drake Mallard, parodies Kent Allard, the alter ego of which pulp hero?

The Shadow, the 1930s radio and pulp crime-fighter, used the true identity Kent Allard beneath his Lamont Cranston guise; Darkwing's rogues' gallery, including Negaduck and Megavolt, likewise spoofs pulp villains.

In TaleSpin, what is the name of the seaplane Baloo flies for Higher for Hire?

The Sea Duck is Baloo's Conwing L-16 cargo seaplane, flown for Rebecca Cunningham's Higher for Hire out of Cape Suzette; the Iron Vulture is air pirate Don Karnage's airship.

Recess and Pepper Ann both premiered on September 13, 1997, as part of which new ABC block?

One Saturday Morning launched on September 13, 1997, with Recess, Pepper Ann and Disney's Doug as its anchors; Pepper Ann creator Sue Rose was the first woman to create a Disney animated series.

TGIF's Boy Meets World followed Cory Matthews growing up in which city?

Philadelphia, specifically its suburbs, is the setting where Cory (Ben Savage) grows up beside best friend Shawn and teacher Mr. Feeny; the show ran seven seasons on ABC's TGIF from 1993 to 2000.

On which network did Doug originally premiere in 1991, before moving to ABC in 1996?

Nickelodeon premiered Doug on August 11, 1991, as one of its first three Nicktoons alongside Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show; Disney bought creator Jim Jinkins's Jumbo Pictures and revived it as Disney's Doug on ABC.

Which Hollywood veteran played Grandma Aggie Cromwell in Halloweentown (1998)?

Debbie Reynolds played Aggie, the witch grandmother who whisks Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) off to Halloweentown on her 13th Halloween; Reynolds reprised the role in three sequels through 2006.

Fantasia 2000 was the first major Hollywood film released in which format?

IMAX theaters, 75 of them worldwide, gave Fantasia 2000 an exclusive run from January 1 to April 30, 2000, before its general release; the premiere was part of a concert tour that visited London, Paris and Tokyo.

Under which label did Disney release The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993, fearing it too dark?

Touchstone Pictures, Disney's adult-oriented label, released it in October 1993 because the studio thought the film too dark for the Disney name; Disney reissued it under its own banner in 3D in 2006.

Newsies (1992), starring a young Christian Bale, dramatizes a New York newsboys' strike from which year?

1899 was the year real newsboys struck against Joseph Pulitzer's World and William Randolph Hearst's Journal over bundle prices; the film grossed under $3 million on a $15 million budget before becoming a Tony-winning Broadway show in 2012.

Lyricist Howard Ashman, who died in March 1991, had earlier written which Off-Broadway musical with Alan Menken?

Little Shop of Horrors opened Off-Broadway in 1982 with Menken's music and Ashman's book and lyrics, running more than 2,000 performances; Ashman's partner Bill Lauch accepted his posthumous Oscar in 1992.

Who directed the 1997 stage musical of the Simba story with costumed actors and giant puppets?

Julie Taymor directed and designed the costumes and masks, becoming the first woman to win the Tony for directing a musical; after a Minneapolis tryout it opened at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre in November 1997.

In Hercules (1997), the story is narrated by which group of five singers?

The Muses, Calliope, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Thalia and Clio, were voiced by Lillias White, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan and Vaneese Thomas, singing numbers like 'Zero to Hero' in a gospel style.

Pocahontas held its June 1995 premiere at which New York location?

Central Park's Great Lawn hosted the premiere on June 10, 1995, with an estimated 100,000 people watching on four giant screens at a free event billed as the biggest premiere in film history.

Disney's unfinished Belle musical, 70 percent animated, screened at which September 1991 event?

New York Film Festival audiences saw the work-in-progress on September 29, 1991, with finished footage cut together with pencil tests and storyboards; the completed film opened wide that November.

Which R&B singer voiced pop star Powerline's songs in A Goofy Movie (1995)?

Tevin Campbell performed 'Stand Out' and 'I 2 I' as Powerline, the fictional pop idol Max Goof worships; the film's finale puts Max and Goofy on stage at Powerline's Los Angeles concert.

In Toy Story 2 (1999), who voices Stinky Pete the Prospector?

Kelsey Grammer, then starring as Frasier Crane, voiced the mint-in-box Prospector who turns villain; Joan Cusack joined as Jessie and Wayne Knight as toy collector Al McWhiggin in a film first planned for direct-to-video.

Which British cartoonist served as production designer on Hercules (1997)?

Gerald Scarfe, famous for his Pink Floyd The Wall animation, produced over 700 character designs whose spiky caricature style shaped the film; James Woods's fast-talking Hades drew particular praise.

Who provided the singing voice of Pocahontas in the 1995 film?

Judy Kuhn, a Broadway veteran of Les Misérables and Chess, sang for Pocahontas while Irene Bedard spoke the role; her 'Colors of the Wind' won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Who directed Disney's stop-motion James and the Giant Peach (1996)?

Henry Selick, fresh from The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed the mix of live action and stop-motion, with Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi producing; Randy Newman wrote the songs.

The Rocketeer (1991) was based on a comic character created by which artist in 1982?

Dave Stevens introduced the jetpack hero in 1982 as a backup feature in Pacific Comics' Starslayer, drawing on 1930s pulps; Joe Johnston, a fan of the comic, directed the Disney film.

Which British comedian voiced Zazu, the hornbill majordomo, in the 1994 Simba film?

Rowan Atkinson, then known for Blackadder and Mr. Bean, voiced the fussy hornbill Zazu; Jeremy Irons voiced the scheming uncle Scar in a plot that draws on Shakespeare's Hamlet.

In Aladdin (1992), the Cave of Wonders will only admit whom?

The diamond in the rough, 'one whose worth lies far within,' is the only person the tiger-headed cave will admit, so Jafar, Agrabah's vizier, sends the street urchin Aladdin in to fetch the lamp.

Which Law & Order actor voiced Lumière, the candelabra who sings 'Be Our Guest'?

Jerry Orbach, Law & Order's Detective Lennie Briscoe, gave Lumière a Maurice Chevalier-style French accent and sang 'Be Our Guest'; David Ogden Stiers played Cogsworth and Angela Lansbury was Mrs. Potts.