The Walt Disney Company studios are 100 years old. On this day Walt (1901) and his older brother Roy Oliver (1893) founded Disney Brothers Studio to produce animated films. It is currently the largest conglomerate dedicated to leisure and entertainment in the world, where apart from everything that bears the Disney seal, it is the majority owner of another 300 brands such as Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, 20th Century, Buena Vista or National Geographic.
Much can be written about the company that has a big-eared mouse as its emblem. Initially, Oswald, the lucky rabbit, was created, the protagonist of 26 shorts. Charles Mintz, one of the Disney brothers' first partners, sold the rights to the character behind their backs, to Universal Pictures. This is how the rabbit was replaced by the mouse Mortimer, who was later called Mickey.
It was in 1934, 11 years after the company was founded, when Disney decided to create its first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937. It became the highest-grossing film in the history of cinema until then and It is part of the United States Library of Congress and the National Film Registry as it is considered “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant.”
The plot of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was not original, but was based on a story by the Brothers Grimm. This film inaugurated the so-called Disney Classics, which are the basis of the company. According to Wikipedia, to date there are 61 films that bear the Classics seal. All based on stories or legends written by Grimm, Perraut, Andersen... even by Jules Verne, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll or Gabriel García Márquez.
But if the stories of Disney's most emblematic films are not original, neither are the features of the main characters, inspired by real people. Marge Champion, a teenage dancer, inspired Snow White's face and movements.
In The Little Mermaid (1989), Ariel, the only Disney princess who is not human, has the facial features and small figure of Alyssa Milano, very popular at that time for the sitcom Who's the Boss? and the movie Commando. The actress learned that she was the Little Mermaid from a documentary about the film. Ursula, the witch, was initially not going to be the octopus that we know today. She was thought to be like Alexis Carrington, from Dynasty, played by Joan Collins. But one of the animators proposed that she adopt the features of the drag queen Harris Glenn Milstead, known as Divine, who died of a heart attack before the film's release.
Tallulah Bankhead, a bisexual actress and cocaine addict, inspired Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians, 1961). Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty, 1959), another villain, had the features of Eleanor Audley, while for the protagonist, Aurora (the Disney princess with the least dialogue) there were two models: Audrey Hepburn for the body and Helene Stanley for the face.
Although Belle (Beauty and the Beast, 1991) may have a physical resemblance to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, she is actually inspired by Jo March, the more independent and passionate sister of the Little Women books (1933) played by Katharine Hepburn. .
For Aladdin (1992), the producers wanted the protagonist to physically resemble Michael J. Fox, although they ultimately opted for Tom Cruise, because they wanted the character to resemble Maverick from Top Gun.
In The Lion King (1994), the next film, the studio convinced Jeremy Irons to voice Scar, the bad guy. For this reason, they gave the character the elegant features and gestures of the actor from his previous film The von Bulow Mystery. And in Hercules (1997), the satyr Phil had the voice and also the physique of Vito's Danny.
The Jungle Book (1967) was the first film released after Walt Disney's death. It was the decade of Beatlemania and the British group inspired the four singing vultures. Paul, John, George and Ringo couldn't provide their voices because they were too busy, but the voice actors chosen had Liverpool accents. In the following film The Aristocats (1970), Scat Cat plays the trumpet like Louis Armstrong, although the musician could not provide the voice either as he was already very ill.
