Top 10 Kids' Movie Facts That Will Ruin Your Childhood
#10: The Chocolate River Wasn’t Chocolate “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971)
For every kid that watched “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” back in 1971, the dream of swimming in a chocolate river immediately made it onto their CHARLIE bucket lists. And while swimming in a real river of chocolate might be awesome, swimming in the chocolate river from the movie most definitely was not. And another thing it wasn’t, was chocolate. According to Augustus Gloop actor Michael Bollner, not only was it not chocolate, but it was also “cold” and “stinky.” Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt, added that people on set were also “emptying their coffee cup dregs into it.” Definitely not the sweet swimming we all pictured.
#9: “Sex” Dust “The Lion King” (1994)
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It’s a pretty innocuous scene - Simba flops down on the edge of a cliff sending a cloud of dust into the night sky. Of all the moments from “The Lion King” it’s probably one of the scene’s you’ve thought about the least since your childhood viewings of the movie. Until now that is. Because, if you look closely at that aforementioned cloud of dust you’ll see that it spells out the word “SEX.” Animator Tom Sito has stated that the dust spells out ”SFX” (as a shout out to the special effects department). But, if that’s true, they should have paid a little more attention to the bottom of the “F” because as far as we’re concerned - that’s an “E.”
#8: Margaret Hamilton’s Injury “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)
Remember the scene in “The Wizard of Oz” when the Wicked Witch of the West exits Munchkinland after learning of her sister’s death? After threatening Dorothy and her dog she disappears in a cloud of red smoke and fiery flames. Pretty cool right? Well, not for actress Margaret Hamilton who received 3rd degree burns when the flames were set off too soon and the green copper-based paint on her hands and face caught fire. The injuries were enough to keep her off the set for 3 months before returning to work. As if the toxic paint she wore throughout filming wasn’t bad enough!
#7: It Was a Real Adult Entertainment Hotline “The Santa Clause” (1994)
There are a lot of jokes in “The Santa Clause” movie, but only one cost a family $400! There’s a scene in the film where Scott’s ex-wife gives him a card with the number where she and her new husband will be, in case he has to reach her. Scott makes a joke that the number on the card is “1-800-SPANK-ME.” You know the expression “it’s funny cause it’s true?” Well, that was the case here, because there was actually a working phone sex line with that number in operation at the time. Which one family found out the expensive way when their kid called the number and racked up a $400 phone bill.
#6: “Pinocchio” Is More Violent Than You Remember “Pinocchio” (1940)
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As it turns out “Pinocchio” wasn’t all expanding noses, cute crickets and the sweet and comforting melodies of “When You Wish Upon a Star.” “Pinocchio” was actually a pretty violent film with some scenes more disturbing than one might expect for a Disney movie - especially one from 1940. Honest John would happily kill someone for money, the “Rough House” on Pleasure Island is basically a fight club and once turned into donkeys the boys suffer abuse and imprisonment. Looking at the numbers, the film features 43 moments of violence, 3 against animals, and there are even 2 shots portraying male nudity.
#5: Disney’s Mother Issues Various Movies
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We all cried when Bambi’s mother died and hated how mean Cinderella’s stepmother was to her. But as kids we probably weren’t looking at all our favorite Disney movies and noticing how absent mothers were, and still are, in many of the films. One theory as to why this was the case dates back to the tragic 1938 death of Walt Disney’s mother from a gas leak in the house that he had bought for her. However, while this definitely sounds like valid trope-inducing trauma, not everyone is buying it. There are those that will point to the source material for the films and the fact that the mother characters were already absent prior to Walt getting his hands on them.
#4: NIMH Was a Real Place “The Secret of NIMH” (1982)
“The Secret of NIMH” was definitely one of the darker and more mature animated films of the 80’s. There were no doubt many of us who saw the caged animals of NIMH in our dreams for weeks after watching the movie. And while we might have tried to find comfort in telling ourselves it was just a movie, the truth is, it wasn’t. The movie is based on the 1971 novel, “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,” and according to its author Robert C. O’Brien, NIMH was a real place. O’Brien’s story was inspired by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and some of the experiments that were being done on rodents at the time.
#3: The Bambi Complex “Bambi” (1942)
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For many kids, the murder of Bambi’s mother is one of the first instances in which they have to deal with the idea and concept of death. It can be very emotional, even for adults watching the film, but for kids who haven’t experienced those feelings before it can have a lasting impact on them. In fact, the movie and the mother’s death are such an ingrained part of our popular culture that people with great sympathy towards wild animals and strong anti-hunting beliefs are often said to have a “Bambi complex.” Which honestly doesn't sound like such a bad thing, does it?
#2: “WALL-E”’s Chernobyl Inspiration “WALL-E” (2008)
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As “WALL-E” begins we are introduced to a desolate world of destruction. A world that has become overrun with garbage - so much so that humanity had to be evacuated onto ships in order for life to continue. While the film takes place generations in the future, what you might not have realized is that the film took visual inspiration for this future earth from the present day planet. Pixar animators studied the city of Chernobyl in Ukraine, which in 1986, had to be evacuated after suffering the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. A city that, even decades later, is still almost completely deserted.
#1: “An American Tail” Was About Anti-Semitism “An American Tail” (1986)
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Most children will probably be more focused on cute Fievel and his journey to America and not pick up on the dark societal injustices that make up said journey. But looking at the film with adult eyes, the anti-semetic struggles are pretty front and center. The movie starts with the Russian-Jewish Moskowitz family - and their mouse counterparts, the Mousekewitzes - having their Hanukkah celebrations broken up by anti-Jewish Cossacks and their cats. The mice escape and make their way across the ocean, but it turns out America isn’t the cat-free utopia they had heard it was. The movie might be, as Roger Ebert called it, “gloomy” and “depressing.” But so is anti-semitism!
