Just some incredibly interesting facts about Disney that we learned today

By Rachel paige

November 16, 2015

By Rachel paige

November 16, 2015

The YouTube Channel 101Facts has a brand new video out, and this time it’s all about Disney. The video doesn’t just touch on the Disney Company, but also on Walt Disney, along with the theme parks, the movies and their history, and what’s in store for the company later on down the road. So if you’re looking for a quick little Disney history lesson, look no further. It’s all right here.

There’s a whole lot of information in the 25-minute video, and for all you Disney enthusiasts out there, this is definitely information you’re going to want to commit to memory. I totally understand that not everyone has a solid 25 minutes of their Monday to sit back, relax, and check out some Disney trivia. So if you’d like a quick rundown, here are some of the best facts we took away from the vid.

Disney is huge. But it had very humble beginnings.

The Walt Disney Company is the second largest media conglomerate in the world, second only behind Comcast, which owns NBC and Universal. It wasn’t always like that, though. In the beginning, Walt had little to no money and struggled to get by with his animation. He used to live above the animation studio, and took baths at the local train station.

There’s a reason Mickey only has four fingers.

There happened to be a mouse living in this studio, and Walt would sometimes sketch him. Yes, it’s thought that this tiny little mouse would later be the basis for Mickey Mouse. If you look closely at Mickey, he only has four fingers. That’s because it saves the company a TON of money. Animating four fingers is much easier than animating five.

Mickey’s first words were all about food.

Mickey’s first spoken on-screen words? “Hot dogs.”

Disneyland’s first day was a scorcher.

When Disneyland first opened in 1955, it was a hot mess. It was a ridiculously hot summer day and apparently there was no money in the Disneyland budget to add water fountains to the park. The pavement on Main Street U.S.A. was also melting in the sun, and many guests had gotten in on counterfeit tickets. But hey, there were 18 rides! During that first year, a ticket was roughly $10 (now tickets are somewhere in the $100 range).

Walt Disney wrote a mysterious last note before he died.

Walt sadly passed away in 1966 from lung cancer, and no, he was not cryogenically frozen. That’s an urban myth. Something that is true about his death though is that one of the last notes he wrote simply said, “KURT RUSSELL,” as in the actor. No one knows what this means, because Russell was not working with the company at the time. It’ll remain a mystery forever.

These are just the tip of the iceberg for Disney facts. There’s still so much more to touch on! Like the fact that Anna and Elsa aren’t true Disney Princesses yet (don’t freak out, it’ll happen eventually), and that there are over 16 hours of unused Genie material from Robin Williams’ Aladdin recording sessions. Oh, and Disney purchased Marvel for $4.24 billion dollars back in 2009. That’s a far cry from Walt having to bathe at a train station.

Check out the whole video below, and prepare for an overload of amazing Disney facts.