1. After seeing Finding Nemo — in which Nemo plots to escape the dentist's office through the toilet — many children started flushing their fish down toilets to "free" them, leading to frantic calls from parents to plumbers. But there was nothing they could do, as the fish usually quickly died after being flushed.
4. Trusty was also originally supposed to be killed in Lady in the Tramp, according to James Gavin's biographer of Lady and the Tramp voice actor Peggy Lee. Lee allegedly convinced Disney to change it.
5. The Princess and the Frog reportedly caused so many young girls to kiss actual frogs that 50 kids ended up in the hospital with salmonella.
8. A scene in The Lion King pretty infamously shows dust in the sky spelling out the word "Sex." While it's been debunked, the animators likely were trying to sneak in hidden messages (and had done so in the past) — but it was probably "SFX."
9. Another popular urban legend concerned phallic imagery on The Little Mermaid poster and a scene in which the priest apparently had an erection. These were debunked, but not before a woman literally sued Disney over sexual messages in the film despite its G rating.
10. However, there are times Disney animators actually have stuck in hidden messages. Perhaps the most famous example is this segment Disney created for the 1991 Oscars, which poked fun at Christian groups claiming there were sexual or inappropriate messages in their films with a scroll that, upside down, read, "Looking for Satanic messages?"
11. In another hidden message that Disney actually admitted to, you can see a topless woman for a split second during The Rescuers. The image was removed from later releases.
12. Not exactly subliminal, but similarly, the early Pixar short Knick Knack was edited to be more appropriate after initially featuring a toy character with large breasts.
14. Lilo & Stitch originally featured a storyline about hijacking a plane, then crashing it into buildings. This was changed post–Sept. 11, even though most of the animation was complete.
17. In another horror movie–related fact, the girl who voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch also played Samara in The Ring.
20. In one more inappropriate joke, after Buzz is impressed when Jessie opens the door for the dog at the end of Toy Story 2, his wings pop up in an obvious erection reference.
23. Adriana Caselotti, who voiced Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was only paid $970 and wasn't even told she was working on a film. Afterward, Walt Disney allegedly made it difficult for her to work again in the industry because he didn't "want to spoil the illusion of Snow White" and so didn't want her voice used for anything else.
24. And finally, you may have noticed how many parents — usually the mom — die or are dead in Disney films. This was likely influenced by Walt Disney's own experience with the death of his mother.
