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.

Damjan

• Published in Disney
• April 3, 2020

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 in creating fairytales and deep emotional movies that convey an important message.

Although many of their movies are based on real events, folk tales, and legends, they sometimes intentionally sacrifice historical accuracy so they could create more fairytale-like stories or make them more in touch with today’s views on society.

1. Pocahontas and John Smith were not in love.

Pocahontas 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 the little girl named Pocahontas, and they were giving each other language lessons.

It is true that she later married an English man, but he was called John Rolfe, and it was the very first documented marriage between a European and a Native American.

Pocahontas (real name Matoaka), then converted to Christianity and was called Rebecca.

2. Mulan had her parent’s support and no one in the army uncovered that she is a female.

The animated film is based on the tale of a real woman called Mulan. Just like in the film, she joined the army for the reason that her father was old and sick, and her brother was too young.

But she was a skilled fighter even before she got into the army because she was trained to be a warrior since she was a child. She didn’t have to run away from her home because her family knew about her idea and backed her up.

Mulan remained in the army for 12 years and got a lot of medals, and no one noticed she was a female until she came back home with a group of people and she wore women’s clothes in front of them.

Do you remember how we mentioned earlier that she had a little brother? He was featured in the movie, as a Mulan’s dog named Little Brother.

3. In Frozen, considering the era the story is taking place, the characters should have guns.

The Frozen story took place in 1839, and by that time, people rarely used swords except for parades and maybe duels, since guns had already substituted them. So, the characters should have carried guns instead of swords.

Though, if they’ve made this part historically correct, Elsa would probably have been killed. So we believe swords are all right.

4. The extinct animals in Atlantis: The Lost Empire are displayed for a reason.

The storyline in Atlantis: The Lost Empire took place in 1914. In the aquarium, you can see Coelacanth, an animal that was assumed to be extinct at the time because it wasn’t rediscovered until 1938.

The 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 story takes place in the early 1900s in New Orleans, and at that time, Jim Crow racial segregation was taking place. A black girl starting her own restaurant would be inconceivable, and also her marriage to Naveen because interracial marriages were illegal.

6. Dancing between Aurora and Felipe would be inappropriate.

Maybe you remember the scene of Sleeping Beauty when Felipe gently puts his arm around Princess Aurora’s waist? In the 14th century, when the story is taking place, touching each other’s hands while dancing was the only appropriate way to dance.

Anything more would be offensive and rude.

7. Jasmine’s apparel doesn’t fit into the period.

Although Disney typically tries to be accurate when it comes to clothes people wore in the specific era, with Aladdin they didn’t follow that policy. The storyline of the film takes place around the 4th −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 that they could move up in society.

It’s a modern-day view, which started to revolve around the 19th century when it became feasible to improve your social status through knowledge, or business skills, etc. Before that, it was almost impossible. Those who were born poor had no other alternatives other than to die in deprivation. 

9. In Dinosaur, lemurs couldn’t raise the dinosaur.

It was millions of years after the dinosaur era that Lemurs and all other primates initially emerged. So they did not co-exist in the same period - not even close. But its cute and makes a great story.

10. Hercules’ origin is not exactly as it was shown.

In the movie, Hercules is Zeus and Hera’s son, who was living in a perfect relationship. But, according to the myths, Hercules is brought into the world by a mortal mother, who had an affair with Zeus.

That, of course, made Hera very jealous. She despised Hercules, and it was her, not Hades, who wanted Hercules 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.

The myth says that Hercules went on a quest to the underworld, but when he came back, he learned that a usurper named Lycus has 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 the act of madness, Hercules slaughters his children and Megara.

Damjan