The INSIDER Summary:
- Many of your favorite classic Disney films started out much differently from the final product.
- Movies like "Moana" and "Frozen" made some drastic character changes.
- Some movies like "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Monsters University" started out as completely different films.
It’s pretty hard to imagine a world in which Disney films didn’t exist, but it might be harder to imagine a world in which these movies didn’t exist with the stories we know. As with all movies, regardless of quality, every Disney film begins with a pitch or a series of storyboards. The development process requires an intricate balance of back and forth between writers, animators, supervisors, and executives. This process is far from a quick and easy one. For example, the development process of a single movie made by Pixar, a Disney subsidiary, can take anywhere between 4-7 years of hard work and costly investment.
Since the development process takes so long, it’s only natural that there are story elements that are left on the cutting room floor. Some original scripts are even required to be entirely rewritten. As intimidating as all of these intensive edits might sound, the results of this process are more than worth the creative struggle.
After all, if some of the following changes hadn’t been made, these movies might not have gone on to become the classics we all know and love.
15. "Frozen"— Elsa was the villain
It’s no small secret that "Frozen" is Disney’s greatest success story. The 2013 film is the highest grossing animated film of all time, bringing in well over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. What might come as a surprise to some viewers, however, is that the hit story about sisters Elsa and Anna originally had a far more wicked twist.
Elsa, the ice queen of Arendelle who learns how to “Let It Go,” was originally the story’s villain who preyed upon a heartbroken Anna. In fact, it was “Let It Go” that convinced Jennifer Lee, the director and screenwriter, to change Elsa from Anna’s nemesis to her beloved but troubled older sister. Thanks to this change, "Frozen" offered its audience a dynamic absent from most Disney princess stories that had come before: the film’s central love story was that of the love shared between sisters.
14. "Zootopia"— Judy Hopps wasn't always the main character
"Zootopia," winner of the 2017 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, tells the story of a city populated by talking animals. The film’s main character, Judy Hopps, is a rabbit whose dreams of becoming a police officer are consistently dashed because rabbits have never been police officers before. Her character presents the perfect Disney narrative of a young character overcoming obstacles in order to make their dreams a reality.
Yet even though this seems to be an obvious narrative choice, Judy wasn’t originally the film’s protagonist. Nick Wilde, the crafty conman fox who teams up with Judy in the film, was meant to be the story’s focal point. In this original concept, Judy was Nick’s sidekick, until an impulse decision to reverse these characters’ roles came with only a year left before the film’s release. The change allowed for the film to tell a more organically hopeful and emotional story; and as a result, Disney had yet another smash hit on their hands.
13. "The Lion King"— Scar snaps Mufasa's neck
The wildebeest stampede scene in "The Lion King" has become infamous over the years for providing an early source of emotional trauma for young viewers. Simba, still a cub only just beginning his royal training, witnesses his father, Mufasa, trampled to death by a stampede he believes he has caused. In reality, the stampede is orchestrated by Mufasa’s nefarious brother, Scar, in an attempt to seize the power he feels is rightfully his own.
In earlier drafts of the script, Mufasa’s murder was far more graphic and unsettling. Although early drafts lacked the "Hamlet" parallels of brother killing brother, Scar was initially a much larger, more bloodthirsty, and entirely unrelated lion who brutally murdered Mufasa by snapping his neck with the strength of his own jaw. This, however, would have made Simba’s feelings of guilt and his self-imposed exile impossible to execute. And without his exile, there would be no “Hakuna Matata.” So really, this was all for the best.
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