🚨Obviously, MASSIVE spoilers ahead!🚨
1. One of the reasons the early movies, like Bambi, included a parent's death was because Disney films were all about "growing up," so it forced the main characters to do exactly that.
2. When writing Mufasa's tragic death in The Lion King, the entire idea was built upon making "Mufasa the greatest father that ever lived, and then [having] to kill him" — the writing team searched for the perfect "sweet spot of emotion."
3. In Frozen 2, the song "The Next Right Thing" is based on a mantra that Kristen Bell uses in her everyday life and it has helped her deal with her own anxiety and depression.
4. In fact, writer/director Jennifer Lee and Kristen recorded an emotional discussion they had about this mantra and sent it to songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez as inspiration for the song.
5. In Toy Story 3, the scene when Andy looks back at Woody, Buzz, and the rest of his toys before leaving was inspired by director Lee Unkrich sharing a similar moment with his dying grandmother.
6. A major part of the initial pitch for Big Hero 6 involved Tadashi's heartbreaking death, so all of the other storylines and moments were actually built around that "emotional core."
7. In Up, during Ellie and Carl's married life montage, the studio originally asked the creators to cut the moment where Ellie learns she can't have children, saying it was going "too far" for a children's movie.
8. Also, while the montage is silent in the final version, the original script included dialogue — it had Ellie and Carl finishing each other's sentences and other pieces of dialogue to show how in sync they were.
9. It took Disney effects animators nearly a year to create the moment in The Little Mermaid when Prince Eric almost dies in the storm — after all of that work, the scene only lasted two minutes in the completed film.
10. Lilo & Stitch was considered a "gutsy" movie because it included tough storylines and wasn't based on a fairy tale, so Disney gave the creators a smaller budget, smaller crew, and less time to make it — basically, if the movie failed, there wasn't a lot invested in it.
11. Originally, Bing Bong's final scene in Inside Out was much longer and included more dialogue as Bing Bong realizes he has to stay behind so Joy can survive.
12. Also, Kaitlyn Dias, who voices Riley, would picture her cat dying in order to get herself to cry during Riley's saddest moments — in fact, the crying wasn't added in later, Kaitlyn was able to cry on command in the recording booth.
13. One of the inspirations behind "Remember Me" in Coco was "Yesterday" by the Beatles — songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez tried to give "Remember Me" the same feeling.
14. Also, the line in "Remember Me" about singing a "secret song" was inspired by the songs Kristen and Robert sing to their children that only they know.
15. Originally, we were going to learn about Marlin and Nemo's tragic backstory in Finding Nemo with a series of flashbacks throughout the film.
16. In Onward, when Ian plays a cassette tape featuring his dad, it's based on creator Dan Scanlon being gifted a tape of his own dad saying "Hi!" and "Goodbye."
17. Also, Dan based Onward on his own relationship with his brother, and he always knew that he wanted it to end with Ian not reuniting with Wilden, but realizing that Barley was a perfect father figure.
18. Tarzan originally only showed the treehouse in ruin and not the leopard stalking Tarzan's parents — early audiences were confused by what happened, so the creators added in all of the gruesome details.
19. And finally, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen wept together when they watched the scene in Toy Story 2 when Jessie is loved, forgotten, and ultimately donated by her owner.
