14 Imaginative Disney Theories That Range From Super Disturbing To Actually Kind Of Believable

I'm 100% here for Boo being an interdimensional door-traveller dropping Easter eggs throughout the Disney universe.

We all love a Disney movie, and the various worlds and universes are packed full of easter eggs and internal references that allow our imaginations to go wild. So, whether it's for a bit of fun or we may actually be on to something, fans will continue to conjure Disney movie theories.

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Some of the theories can make the movies far more disturbing than they were probably intended, and others could actually be kind of believable.

Whether it's a bit of a reach or not, it's always fun to get imaginative, so check out these wild fan theories about Disney movies:

1. Finding Nemo

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

We all know the story of Nemo, a little clownfish who gets taken away and whose father must venture across the ocean to get him back. Well, what if this story isn't really about Nemo at all? 

If you cast your mind back to the beginning of the movie, when, in classic Disney style, Nemo's mother dies, one theory about what happens there changes the entire film. 

The fan theory suggests that there are no survivors of the Baricuda attack on his family and that Marlin's vision of Nemo (which means "nobody" in Latin) is just a manifestation of his grief.

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Some fans even managed to tie Marlin's journey across the ocean to the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, despair and acceptance. There were even those who believed that the fish tank scene in Sydney was actually just Marlin projecting these images to counteract his grief. 

While the whole Fight Club-style idea is an interesting, if not very depressing thought – I think we're sticking with the original interpretation, thanks. 

2. Peter Pan

RKO Radio Pictures

As we get a bit older, we come to realise that Peter Pan was a pretty questionable character. Even in the original stories, Peter has been written as a cold-blooded murderer. In fact, many see Peter, as we know him, to be the villain, which in turn completely changed the way we look at our supposed villain Captain Hook. 

One theory actually paints Hook to be the true hero, suggesting that he is on a mission to prevent Peter from kidnapping innocent children. 

This idea is actually somewhat believable. In fact, you'll notice that throughout the movie, Hook never goes after the children. It's always just Peter. The theory suggests that Hook's pirates are actually children who Hook has saved from Peter. 

This one is more believable TBH, and I'd for one be very much interested in seeing an alternative captain Hook origin story. 

3. The Little Mermaid x Peter Pan

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

It seems as though Peter Pan lends itself to further discussion. There are many theories about how many different Disney movies exist within the same universe, and this one particularly links Peter Pan with The Little Mermaid. 

It's safe to say that the whole "Hook is good" idea doesn't translate to this hypothesis. Instead, Hook is very much a baddie and his villainous exploits exist not only in Peter Pan but also in The Little Mermaid. The theory states that he, in fact, is the one who killed Ariel's mother. 

RKO Radio Pictures

Not only do we see the mermaids in Peter Pan visibly scared of Hook – suggesting that he has a bad reputation amongst the mermaids, but one of them definitely resembles Ariel. 

In the prequel to The Little Mermaid, we find out that Ariel's mother was indeed killed by pirates, which led many to believe that the Peter Pan and Little Mermaid universes are the same, and Hook was responsible for Ariel's mother's death. This theory could kind of make sense, but it would probably counteract the idea that Hook is actually good. 

4. Frozen

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

This particularly grim theory is one that concerns, and kind of ruins, the wonderful friendship between Kristoff and Sven. The disturbing idea came from a Reddit post which read: 

"I'm probably slow but have only just noticed that in Frozen, Kristoff's coat is made from fur. And if you look closer at the pics the fur part seems to be reindeer. I don't think it can be wolf cos the pelt is too big."

They continued, highlighting how awkward this would be – Kristoff's best friend being a reindeer but while he's wearing a reindeer pelt. But if you think about it, it could make sense. The ice harvesters would have killed Sven's mother and left baby Sven for Kristoff to care for, giving Kristoff a pelt to wear too. The Redditor also suggested that the smell of Kristoff and his pelt reminded Sven of his mother...

Yup, that is a pretty grim theory...

5. Encanto

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Mirabel's story is one of the most loved recent Disney movies, but one imaginative Redditor, u/Hexdoctor, thought up a far more creepy theory about the film. They theorised that Mirabel did, indeed, get a power, but it was a far more nuanced and powerful one than the rest of her family – the power to alter reality around her. 

They suggested that as Mirabel was walking up to the door, she feared not having a power so much that she, with her newfound reality-bending powers, made a world where she had no power, and everyone around he was trapped in the roles that she'd imagined. 

They go on, saying: "The movie is not a musical, Mirabel just imagines she is in one and thus everyone is forced to sing. All the crazy visuals during songs aren't just artistic representations of the themes of the song. They are what actually happens as Mirabel's interpretations of the songs literally bend reality around her to look like that.

Encanto is straight out of WandaVision and by the end of the movie, everyone is still enslaved by Mirabel's reality-bending powers."

This one certainly puts a dark spin on an otherwise beautiful film.

6. Monsters, Inc. x Brave

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Boo's Monsters, Inc. fan theory is perhaps the most storied Disney theory of all. It brings in the idea that many of the Disney movies are connected by none other than Boo. 

The theory goes that after Sulley leaves Boo back in her real bed, she grows up with the memory of her adventures through doors, travelling across different worlds with Sulley and Mike. Determined to find them again, she eventually finds a way to travel through the doors just as the monsters had, and endeavours on an adventure to find her friend.

This is where Brave comes in.

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Eagle-eyed Disney fans noticed some familiar and out-of-place details in Brave that show there's some sort of connection between the Disney worlds. Firstly, there's the carving of Sulley that the witch has – which has led Disney fans to wonder whether the witch is actually Boo, who's travelled through doors to the Brave space and time. 

There's also a carving of the Pizza Planet truck.

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

With there obviously being no trucks yet when Brave is set – could these famous Disney Easter eggs show that Boo’s travelling around the Disney universe in search of the right door?

7. Moana

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

We all love the story of Moana, but this kinda wild theory suggests that, for most of the movie, Moana is actually dead. 

If you cast your mind back to the beginning of the film when Moana initially set sail on her journey to Te Fiti, she sails into a huge storm. When she awakes, she (and we) realise that she's drifted to the very island that Maui’s been stranded on. 

Here's where the theory comes in, and credit Redditor u/davemidrock for conjuring up the hottest of takes. They hypothesise, that Moana actually died during the storm.

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Whaaaat? Well, here's their reasoning:

They suggest that Moana is transported to the magical world where Te Fiti, the land of the monsters, and her grandmother's spirit all lie. From this moment on, the only things that Moana interacts with are a demi-god and monsters... 

They posit that Moana was restored back to the human world upon helping save Te Fiti by restoring the heart, as the Redditor said:

"My theory is that the storm killed Moana so she could go to the place where all the weird magic stuff exists, and at the very end, Te Fiti not only fixes Moana’s boat (which had been wrecked to bits) but also brings her back to life so that she can go back to the human world." 

It's a bit of a reach, but top marks for imagination!

8. Snow White

RKO Radio Pictures

Snow White is a story known to most of us, but there's one understanding of the prince that changes the entire movie. The idea is that the prince is not actually real, and is, instead, a representation of death. 

That's right, the theory goes that, at the start of the movie, death appears at the wall when Snow White gets too close to the edge of the well. Her fleeing back to the castle is actually her escaping death. 

RKO Radio Pictures

The various appearances of the prince at specific moments seem to back up these claims, and it means that, while a poisoned Snow White lies in her coffin, she is waiting for her soul to be released.

When the prince (or death) kisses Snow White, he takes her soul to heaven, which is represented by the kingdom in the sky that we see them standing under at the end of the film. 

9. The Emperor's New Groove

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

The theory about The Emperor's New Groove that u/lish_94 thought up is a fairly insignificant one, but no less dark. They noticed one detail concerning the fly that screams out to Kuzco for help before being eaten by the spider.

They note that the only animals that are able to speak are those that were originally human – Kuzco and Yzma (as a cat). When the two are in their animal states, neither is shown to communicate with other animals, which suggests that the fly was once a human.

Yes, that means that what Kuzco is witnessing is a human, who'd been turned into a fly, being eaten by that spider...

Here's the poor fly:

youtube.com

10. Cars

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Jason Torchinsky's theory about Cars is rather disturbing but does explain a few things. It gets to the bottom of why the cars appear to be made for humans, but no humans exist there. 

He suggests that humans once did live there, and still do. This would explain why the cars still have door handles (despite no apparent humans to get in them), the different cultural clothing, and the human political references. He suggests that the reason we don't see them is that, at this point, humans evolved to live inside these cars, controlling them like some sort of bizarre external suit.

That's right, humans have developed a car-like exoskeleton around our bodies, and that's why these cars are so human-like, with their eyes (projectors) on the windscreen. 

The theory doesn't really change the story that much, just makes it all the more odder. 

11. Wreck-It Ralph

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The detail in Wreck it Ralph, which was noticed by ItsGotToMakeSense on Reddit, makes one character's backstory even more harrowing than we first thought. You'll remember the character Calhoun from the Hero's Duty game, well, the tragic story she retells about her husband being eaten by a Cy-Bug is actually even darker than we first thought. 

Throughout the movie, we learn that Cy-Bugs morph into whatever they eat – this happens with Ralph's laser gun, and it happens with King Candy.

Calhoun herself even tells us that during the movie – she clearly knows from experience.

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures / BuzzFeed

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

So, the story of her husband-to-be's demise becomes even sadder. A poor Calhoun must have had to immediately shoot the Cy-Bug that has just eaten her husband as the creature is morphing into the image of him. 

12. Toy Story

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

This theory came from the writer Jon Negroni, and it's a pretty interesting one about the origins of Jesse in Toy Story. Jon believes that Jesse's former owner, Emily, who we learn about in the sad sequence of When She Loved Me, is actually Andy's mother. 

He points to the fact that when we see a young Andy, he is wearing a hat that resembles Jesse's, not Woody's, and that this hat is missing a ribbon, thus could have belonged to his mother. 

Here's what Jon wrote about it: 

"We don’t know the first name of Andy’s mom. We don’t know Emily’s last name. We know that Andy’s hat and Emily’s hat are the same. We know that Emily is old enough to be Andy’s mom. We definitely know that Pixar is perfectly capable of sneaking this in without being overt about it."

Could they be the same person?

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

13. Monsters, Inc.

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

This kind of grim theory came from rantingrandall (apt name) on Tumblr, and it regards the fate of one of our favourite Disney characters, Sulley. We know that in the Monsters, Inc. world, the monsters are terrified of humans, and Randall himself professes what he thinks humans do to monsters, saying, "I heard humans skin monsters and make toilet covers out of their fur."

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Sulley fully ignores Randall, replying to his statement by calling it "nonsense." 

Well, here's an image from Partysaurus Rex, a Toy Story short:

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Perhaps Sulley should have heeded Randall's warning, and what we're seeing is a result of a door that shouldn't have been opened. I mean, humans have a long history of hunting animals that are far more powerful than them... A very dark theory indeed. 

14. Up

Wald Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Whoever came up with this theory clearly saw one of the saddest Pixar movies and thought, "wait, hold on, maybe this movie is even sadder." It was posted by u/3ll3ira, and follows a similar trajectory as the Moana one. 

They suggested that the night after he gets the offer for his house, Carl dies. From then on we see him rising up to the afterworld, shown by the whole balloon house flight, and Rusell acts as his guardian angel – with it being Russell's last step to becoming a true guardian angel. Here's what they theorised about Russel: 

"Russell's other badges were preparing him in various ways for the final test, which is to help a senior citizen into the afterlife. Once Russell earns that badge his 'training' is complete and he becomes a true guardian angel."

They went on to say that the house represents Carl's attachment to the real world and reaching Paradise Falls is Carl's perceived crossing over to reunite with Ellie in heaven.   

They go into a fair amount of detail about all of the other main characters, and there's definitely some pushback from other fans, so take a look at the original post for more! 

What kind of believable, or pretty dark Disney theories have you heard? Let us know in the comments below!