Maybe you watched a Disney movie and a character reminded you of an actor or actress? It could very well be that they were inspired by that person. Disney often uses real-life references to make the characters look and act more realistic. They observe the body motion, expressions, even clothes. They also often include personality traits that the reference model has into the character or habits they have.
Animators use not only people as references. Disney has a lot of characters that are animals so they have to study their behavior and how they move as well. So it seems that animators have to be a little bit of a Jack of all trades as they delve into human psychology and animal behavior so that they could convey it realistically on screen.
But what are the specific people that were the inspiration for some of Disney's characters? Bored Panda went to all the corners of the internet to find out which people’s appearance or personalities were lent to some of the most lovable Disney characters. Here's the list, enjoy!
#21 Ariel In The Little Mermaid Was Based On Alyssa Milano
The protagonist of the animated movie The Little Mermaid (1989), Ariel, was designed to resemble actress Alyssa Milano. Strangely enough, the actress didn’t know what the movie creators were doing. She only found out about it when the producers released a documentary of the behind the scenes of making the film.
The producers used her teen photos as reference and recreated her face structure and petite frame, although they chose a different hair color.
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30points
#22 Snow White In Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs Was Based On Marge Champion
Snow White and the Seven dwarfs is the first Disney animated feature film released in 1937 and Snow White is the first Disney Princess. The movie creator were searching for a girl that would act out scenes so that would help them to make the animation more realistic and that role was given to a well-known dancer at the time Marge Champion who was only 14 years old.
She was supposed to maintain her dancer’s elegance and also, she was brought up in a royal-like family, so it was all that the creators wanted reflected in the first Disney Princess.
27points
#23 Pocahontas In The Homonymous Movie Was Based On Irene Bedard
Disney’s animated film Pocahontas (1995) is actually based on a real story of the real-life Powhatan woman Pocahontas when the English colonial settlers came to North America. The inspiration for the female protagonist’s appearance was her voice actress Irene Bedard who has played mostly lead Native American roles in several movies.
There was another live-action model for the character, a Filipina college student, Dyna Taylor. She was not credited and in fact she considered suing Disney for it, but didn’t go through with it as her lawyer advised not to. Animator Glen Keane told The New York Times that Taylor didn’t have that much influence on how the character looked and didn’t think her contribution was worthy of a screen credit.
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26points
#24 Mortimer Mouse In Mickey Mouse Is Thought To Be Based On Walt Disney
Mortimer Mouse first appeared in Disney’s comic strips as a rival for Mickey, both striving for Minnie’s affections. In 1936 he appeared in a short film called Mickey’s Rival.
There is no official confirmation, just a legend that says that it was Walt Disney himself who was the base for the character’s design. It is said that one of the animators drew a caricature of Disney and he liked it so much that introduced him as a new character. The clues that lead people to believe the legend are Mortimer’s slim and tall figure, thin moustache and the fact that Disney originally wanted Mickey Mouse to have Mortimer’s name.
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24points
#25 Aladdin In The Eponymous Movie Was Based On Tom Cruise
Disney’s animated movie Aladdin was released in 1992 and originally the main character was supposed to be designed taking actor Michael J. Fox as a reference. Aladdin was mean to be thirteen but later in the production the creators wanted a more mature character and then Michael J. Fox was decided to be too boyish.
Then Tom Cruise was chosen. And specifically his character from Top Gun, as suggested by the then-chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg.
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22points
