11 Historical Inaccuracies in Disney Movies That Were Made Deliberately
But we can't really hold this against them because it made the movies awesome.
Did you know that, according to the real Chinese legend, Mulan had the full support of her family when she pretended to be a man and went off to fight in the war? That’s not what Disney told us.
Well, there is a reason for that. The Disney company is a master at creating fairy tales and deep emotional movies that convey important messages.
Although many of their movies are based on real events, folk tales, and legends, they sometimes intentionally sacrifice historical accuracy to create more fairy tale-like stories or to align them more closely with today’s views on society.
1. Pocahontas and John Smith were not in love.
© Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World / Walt Disney PicturesPocahontas was only 11 years old when John Smith arrived with the English colonists. He was 27 years old.
Native Americans apprehended John Smith, but they didn’t keep him captive for long. Nevertheless, while in captivity, he spent some time with a little girl named Pocahontas, and they gave each other language lessons.
© Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World / Walt Disney PicturesIt is true that she later married an Englishman, but his name was John Rolfe, and it was the very first documented marriage between a European and a Native American.
Pocahontas (real name Matoaka) later converted to Christianity and was called Rebecca.
2. Mulan had her parents' support, and no one in the army uncovered that she was female.
© Mulan / Walt Disney Pictures
The animated film is based on the tale of a real woman named Mulan. Just like in the film, she joined the army because her father was old and sick, and her brother was too young.
However, she was a skilled fighter even before she entered the army, as she had been trained to be a warrior since childhood. She didn’t have to run away from home because her family knew about her plan and supported her.
© Mulan / Walt Disney Pictures
Mulan remained in the army for 12 years and earned many medals, and no one noticed she was female until she returned home with a group of people and wore women’s clothing in front of them.
© Mulan / Walt Disney Pictures
Do you remember how we mentioned earlier that she had a little brother? He was featured in the movie as Mulan’s dog named Little Brother.
3. In Frozen, considering the era in which the story takes place, the characters should have guns.
© Frozen / Walt Disney Pictures
The story of Frozen takes place in 1839, and by that time, people rarely used swords except for parades and possibly duels, as guns had already replaced them. Therefore, the characters should have carried guns instead of swords.
However, if they had made this part historically accurate, Elsa would probably have been killed. So we believe swords are acceptable.
4. The extinct animals in Atlantis: The Lost Empire are displayed for a reason.
© Atlantis: The Lost Empire / Walt Disney Pictures
The storyline in Atlantis: The Lost Empire takes place in 1914. In the aquarium, you can see a Coelacanth, an animal that was believed to be extinct at the time because it wasn’t rediscovered until 1938.
This situation relates to the lost city of Atlantis itself, an animal that doesn’t exist in a town that doesn’t exist…
5. In the real world, Tiana couldn’t marry Naveen or open a restaurant.
© The Princess and the Frog / Walt Disney Pictures
The story takes place in the early 1900s in New Orleans, during a time when Jim Crow racial segregation was prevalent. A black girl starting her own restaurant would have been inconceivable, as would her marriage to Naveen, since interracial marriages were illegal.
6. Dancing between Aurora and Felipe would be inappropriate.
© Sleeping Beauty / Walt Disney Productions
Maybe you remember the scene in Sleeping Beauty when Felipe gently puts his arm around Princess Aurora’s waist? In the 14th century, when the story takes place, touching each other’s hands while dancing was the only appropriate way to dance.
Anything more would have been considered offensive and rude.
7. Jasmine’s apparel doesn’t fit the period.
© Aladdin / Walt Disney Pictures
Although Disney typically tries to be accurate regarding the clothing people wore in specific eras, they didn’t follow that policy with Aladdin. The storyline of the film takes place around the 4th to 7th century, and Arabian girls wore much more conservative dresses then—possibly even veils that obscured everything but their eyes.
8. Aladdin’s dreams are totally unrealistic. Any kind of dreams were unrealistic in that period.
At the beginning of the movie, Aladdin is convinced that things are going to change and that he will someday live in a castle. In that historical period, poor people didn’t have dreams of moving up in society.
It’s a modern-day view, which began to emerge around the 19th century when it became feasible to improve one’s social status through knowledge, business skills, etc. Before that, it was almost impossible. Those who were born poor had no other alternatives but to die in deprivation.
9. In Dinosaur, lemurs couldn’t raise the dinosaur.
© Dinosaur / Walt Disney Pictures
It was millions of years after the dinosaur era that lemurs and all other primates first emerged. Therefore, they did not coexist in the same period—not even close. But it’s cute and makes for a great story.
10. Hercules’ origin is not exactly as it was shown.
© Hercules / Walt Disney Pictures
In the movie, Hercules is the son of Zeus and Hera, who are depicted as living in a perfect relationship. However, according to the myths, Hercules was born to a mortal mother who had an affair with Zeus.
This, of course, made Hera very jealous. She despised Hercules, and it was she, not Hades, who wanted him dead.
Megara also had a different, less interesting story. She was the daughter of King Creon of Thebes, who offered Hercules the opportunity to marry his first-born daughter after he defeated their rivals.
11. Hercules murdered Megara and their children.
© Hercules / Walt Disney Pictures
The myth states that Hercules went on a quest to the underworld, but when he returned, he learned that a usurper named Lycus had taken the throne and was planning to kill his family. Hercules slays him and rescues his wife and children, but Hera persuades him that Lycus is the real father of his sons.
In a fit of madness, Hercules slaughters his children and Megara.
