35+ Real Stories Behind Disney Characters

We all grew up watching Disney movies. Ever wondered whether those magical stories are real? Well, keep reading to find out the real stories behind the Disney characters you’ve adored for years.

Moana is a young princess who sets out on a quest to retrieve the goddess Te Fitti’s heart from Maui, a demigod. It’s a fictional story, but the authors’ original plan was to make a film solely based on Maui. After visiting Polynesia, they were inspired by the gorgeous and powerful women they encountered. This is how the character of Moana was born.

When princess Snow White was exiled by her stepmother, she was saved by seven dwarfs. However, she couldn’t get away from her stepmother’s tricks. She eventually fell asleep after eating a poisoned fruit.

However, the story of Snow White is based on a true story about countess Margarete and her purported lover, Philip II of Spain. The countess was allegedly poisoned at an early age since politics trumped true love at the time. Margarete, like our princess Snow White, had a tumultuous relationship with her stepmother.

Rapunzel is a modern-day heroine who escapes her tower to explore the outside world, only to get herself into a lot of trouble. The story, however, is based on a young woman in Italy named Barbara.

She was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. So, her father used to lock her up in a tower to keep her out of men’s sight. Many asked for her hand in marriage. Yet, Barbara refused them all. She dedicated herself to God and to her newly discovered Christian beliefs.

Mulan is based on the short poem “The Ballad of Mulan.” The original version follows a simpler version of the well-known story. In that story, Mulan’s father is called to battle. However, she volunteers to go in his place. Her father is not described as old or sick in the original poem.

Later versions, on the other hand, did. According to the story, there were no adult sons in the household to take his position. Mulan and her soldiers return to Mulan’s homeland after 12 years of war, and they were surprised to learn that she’s actually a woman.

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen was the inspiration for Frozen. This wildly popular animation is about sisterly love and learning not to be afraid of your own power. The Snow Queen, on the other hand, has a much darker beginning but a similar happy ending.

In this version, Elsa abducts Kay, a little boy, and enchants him with a kiss. Kay is presumed to have drowned in the river when he vanishes. His friend, Gerda, saves him from the Queen’s palace several years later.

Sleeping Beauty is a classic Disney story about a princess named Aurora who’s in peril, and a brave prince who comes to her rescue. This Disney tale is very similar to the version written by Charles Perrault, a French author. Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty is mainly a remake of Basile’s.

However, the inclusion of the spinning wheel and the removal of the princess’s tragedy were the most noticeable changes. He does, however, include the story’s second half. This centers on the princess’s children and the fear of ogres.

Cinderella is a Disney animated classic with singing mice, a lovely fairy godmother, and a flashy gown. The earliest recognized story about a Cinderella-like character appeared in Greece, in the sixth century BCE. In that story, a Greek courtesan, named Rhodopis, has one of her shoes stolen by an eagle.

It then flies across the Mediterranean and drops the shoe in the lap of an Egyptian monarch. The king embarks on a quest to identify the shoe’s owner. When he comes upon Rhodopis, he marries her.

Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve wrote the story of Beauty and the Beast, which was first published in 1740. She wrote this story after getting inspired by a real couple, Pedro and Catherine Gonsalves. Pedro had an unusual genetic disease that caused him to have thick hair all over his body.

Catherine was said to have never seen her groom before the wedding day. Although her spouse didn’t turn into a stunning prince, they did share a beautiful marriage, plus seven children.

Pocahontas is based on the life of Matoaka, a Native American woman who became known as Pocahontas, although with significant variations. Pocahontas allegedly covered the body of John Smith to protect him from the Powhatan people, but there is no verification of this.

Colonists kidnapped Matoaka to ransom English prisoners held by her father. John Rolfe conditioned her release by securing her promise to marry him while she was imprisoned. She passed away at the age of 21.

In Disney’s adaptation of The Little Mermaid, Ariel eventually wins Prince Eric’s heart. However, in the original story, which is a Danish fairytale that was created by Hans Christian Andersen, things don’t turn out so well. Ariel’s transition into a human causes her endless agony.

Her heart is also shattered in that version when her prince marries someone else. The Sea Witch tells her that if she takes the life of the prince, she will revert to a mermaid and live. Despite this, Ariel chooses to sacrifice herself.

The tale of Aladdin was first found in The Arabian Nights. In that version, Aladdin is a poor young boy who lives in a Chinese city. A sorcerer approaches him and asks him to assist him in retrieving an oil lamp from a magical cave.

The sorcerer double-crosses Aladdin, but he touches the latter’s magic ring and summons a genie. The genie assists him in escaping the cave and becoming wealthy. Later, he marries Princess Badroulbadour, whose name is later changed in the animated version into Jasmine.

This animation is based on The Frog Prince, a novel written by the Brothers Grimm. However, Tatiana differs a lot from the original princess that’s featured in the Brothers Grimm version.

That anonymous princess is phony, pretentious, and spoiled. As the story develops, she throws the frog against the wall for some unexplained reason. He transforms into a handsome prince after splatting against the wall and falling to the floor.

In the animated film Hercules, Megara is a pessimistic young princess who Hades enslaves. Hades forces Meg to expose Hercules’ inadequacies in exchange for her freedom.

Directors Ron Clements and John Musker adapted Meg into a morally conflicted con artist, based on Megara and Deianira — Hercules’ first and second wives in Greek mythology. Megara is also inspired by actress Barbara Stanwyck’s portrayal in The Lady Eve, both in terms of character and personality. However, in the original version, Megara falls in love with Hades.

Princess Merida features in the animated film Brave. She’s a strong archer who works on her own. However, while Castle Dunbroch in Disney’s movie is a fictional castle, Princess Merida’s castle is based on Eilean Donan Castle, which is located in Scotland.

The Scottish Highlands are featured prominently in the film. The daughter of the co-director also influences Princess Merida. Because it was based on Brenda Chapman’s real-life experiences with her own teenage daughter, the mother-daughter bond in the film looks particularly authentic.

Vanellope from Wreck-It Ralph has always been a Disney princess. However, Vanellope’s design was influenced by the Japanese Super Deformed (SD) caricature style.

It’s generally acknowledged in anime circles as Chibi. Smaller limbs and big heads are common in this style, giving the character a childlike aspect. Vanellope, too, had smaller limbs and a big head. Additionally, Vanellope’s hair and facial characteristics were also developed to make her look like a younger version of her voice actress, Sarah Silverman.

Maleficent is a wicked yet good villain who, as a young girl, falls in love with a Scottish peasant boy named Stefan. The movie is based on the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty, but recounted from the point of view of Maleficent. Maleficent is also based on the malevolent fairy godmother from Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty.

In the Brothers Grimm’s rendition of the story, Stefan burns off Maleficient’s wings in order to ascend the throne of the human kingdom. The villainess responds to this betrayal by casting the sleeping curse on his daughter.

The story of The Lion King and Simba, a young lion who wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, absolutely enthralled us all. However, the true story of Hamlet, upon which it’s based, is even more sinister.

Prince Hamlet embarks on a quest for vengeance against his uncle Claudius who took the life of his father to take the throne — much like Simba, our favorite lion cub. However, the insanity Hamlet portrays while preparing his ruthless vengeance begins to wreak havoc on both the guilty and the innocent.

This film is considered one of the darkest animated Disney films. However, the story is based on Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, a tragic story of compassion and cruelty.

That novel has a very sad ending. Quasimodo’s guardian, Archdeacon Frollo, betrays Esmeralda and takes her life. As Esmeralda passes away, Quasimodo takes the life of Frollo and goes to the cemetery to grieve Esmeralda. Finally, he starves until he passes away next to her grave.

We all grew up watching Pinocchio. With blue fairies, boys transforming into donkeys, and Gepetto dwelling in the belly of a whale — Disney’s version is surreal enough. Pinocchio is a fictional character that originated from the protagonist of the children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.

In that original, a woodcarver named Geppetto carved Pinocchio. He was designed to be a wooden puppet, but he wishes to grow up to be a real boy. He’s notable for his lying, which causes his nose to grow longer.

The film Luca follows the development of a young sea monster who wants to explore the human village of Portorosso. The lovely Italian town of Portorosso may appear to be something out of a dream, but it was inspired by a real village of the same name.

The setting is modeled on the real-life Italian Riviera, where Luca’s director Enrico Casarosa grew up. His real-life best friend Alberto also influenced it, whom he met while growing up in Genoa.

The new Disney-Pixar animated movie Soul has captured the world’s hearts, minds, and, well, souls. Joe Gardner, a middle school band instructor by day and jazz pianist by night, is the main protagonist in that movie.

However, the role was inspired by Dr. Peter Archer, a real-life middle school teacher who shaped the character in many ways. The 58-year-old instructor from New York City has dedicated his life to music and helping young people to pursue the arts.

Lilo and Stitch is about an extraterrestrial disguised as a dog taught to love by a little girl. On the other hand, the original story was entirely about an alien living in a jungle who was attempting to overcome his solitude and discover where he came from.

Lilo didn’t appear in the picture until considerably later. Aside from that, the scenery in this film is based on the real Kauai, which is the oldest of Hawaii’s islands in terms of geology.

Up is about Carl, who loses his wife to a terminal disease and stays confined to his house. The character Ellie, Carl’s wife, was based on a real woman named Edith who confined herself to her home in Oregon after coming back from World War II and finding out that her mom had passed away.

She eventually became friends with Barry Martin, who took care of her while she was ill with cancer. In 2008, she passed away and left her house to the same Barry!

The Emperor’s New Groove features Emperor Kuzco, the protagonist of the story, who is reincarnated as a llama. He will need the assistance of Pacha, a llama herder, to find his way back to the royal palace to reclaim his throne.

Disney animators found inspiration for Kuzco’s realm in the ruins of Machu Picchu, which the Incans built in the 1400s. Kuzco’s name sounds similar to the Peruvian city Cusco while Pacha’s name is similar to the Incan ruler Pachacutec. What’s more, the name of the film comes from a Danish fairy tale.

Finding Nemo was a fun movie to watch as it told the story of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin. He seeks his missing offspring Nemo with the help of a regal blue tang named Dory. In Finding Nemo, however, Marlin and Dory travel to Sydney Harbor — based on the real Sydney Harbor in Australia.

Other ideas claim that Nemo is a mental embodiment of the creator’s worries and concerns about becoming a father. The writer portrays his fear of losing his son through this story.

In Winnie the Pooh, Pooh and his companions go on a journey to retrieve Eeyore’s missing tail and save Christopher Robin from a mysterious creature known as The Backson while seeking honey. The Hundred-Acre Wood is based on an actual forest in England called Ashdown Forest.

The Ashdown Forest was close to where A.A. Milne, the author, spent much of his life. After the war, the author was suffering from PTSD and found refuge in the tranquil forest.

Remy, the rat in Ratatouille, aspires to be a famous French chef. However, he’s unaware that people loathe rodents. The real story that inspired Gusteau’s is a three-star restaurant named La Cote d’Or, owned by Bernard Loiseau. Loiseau was one of the most famous French chefs before his passing in 2003.

The chef was well known amongst critics as well as customers until the Michelin Guide said they would remove stars from his restaurant. That’s what caused the famous chef to lose it.

When Lightning McQueen, a racing car, wrecks many properties in Radiator Springs, he learns a hard life lesson. The design aspects of Disney’s Cars were heavily influenced by Route 66. However, one structure, particularly Ramone’s Body Art Shop, was inspired by a real location along Route 66 near Shamrock, Texas.

The U-Drop Inn, an art deco-style petrol station and restaurant, is that place. The U-Drop Inn was refurbished in the late 1990s and is now a national historic property open to the public.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 American animated science-fiction action-adventure film that follows Milo Thatch, a young linguist who discovers a sacred book that he believes will lead him and a group of mercenaries to the underwater city of Atlantis.

The fabled city of Atlantis was based on a real temple complex above ground at Siem Reap, Cambodia. Many of the elements in Atlantis are based on the Angkor Wat temple complex. The concept of Atlantis is, however, based on stories told by Plato in 360 BC.

Ian and Barley, two brothers, aged 11, embark on an epic adventure to bring their deceased father back to life for a day. This is a fantasy world where technological advancements have taken over. The plot is based on writer Scanlon’s own life — when the filmmaker was a baby, his father passed away in a car accident.

Rather than being handed a spellbook and a wizard’s staff like Ian, he was given a cassette tape recording of his father’s voice by his aunt and uncle when he was 16.

When a tiger named Sher Khan threatens to take the abandoned Mowgli’s life, a panther and a bear come to the rescue. Many people believe that Rudyard Kipling’s classic masterpiece, The Jungle Book, was inspired by Dina Sanichar, an Indian boy who lived in the 19th century.

Dina, like Mowgli, was raised by animals. However, his life was very different from that of his fictional counterpart. Dina had a tough time reintegrating into human society after he was rescued.

In this movie, Mr. Incredible hopes to get back into action after being forced to take a civilian identity and locked in a white-collar job. Although it may not appear so, the story of The Incredibles was inspired by true events. That doesn’t mean that the film’s director, Brad Bird, has a superhero family.

When creating the movie, Bird drew inspiration from his own experiences. He, too, was stuck in a desk job when the only thing he wanted to do was to animate.

Riley Anderson, an 11-year-old girl, is the protagonist of this film. Riley is from Minnesota, but she moves to a different state one day, and her life is forever changed. However, this incredible movie was inspired by the true story of Pete Docter’s daughter.

Once she turns 11, Docter notices that the girl has started to change. Inspired by her daughter’s upbringing, Docter created Inside Out in late 2009. The emotions were based on Docter and Ronnie del Carmen’s recollections.

Zootopia is an animated buddy cop film released in 2016. The plot revolves around a cop and a con artist. They come across a criminal ring that is involved in predatory disappearances. However, Nick’s Zootopia might have been inspired by early dystopian movies.

A dystopia is a fictional state or society in which tremendous suffering or injustice exists, usually in a totalitarian or post-apocalyptic setting. Zootopia appeared to be more of a dystopia because it features a world that is too unjust to save and characters too unlikable to root for.

The movie Raya and the Last Dragon depicts a warrior princess who sets out to find the fabled last dragon in the hopes of reuniting with her father and banishing the evil spirits known as the Druun from the Kumandra kingdom. This is a fantasy film set in the mythical realm of Kumandra.

However, the whole setting was inspired by the Southeast Asian civilization, according to the writer Adele Lim. Raya is also a representation of the Southeastern Asian women she grew up with.

Bambi is an exceptional film that depicts innocence and beauty. Bambi is a fawn whose father is known as the Great Prince of the Forest, and the story follows his adventures. The inspiration for Bambi, a Life in the Woods came from a 1923 novel that was written by Austrian author Felix Salten.

In addition to taking the life of Bambi’s mother, the more graphic novel has Bambi’s father walking him to the body of a fatally injured man to demonstrate that humans aren’t immortal.

In the movie The Legend of Tarzan, Tarzan is a feral child who’s raised by great apes in an African jungle. He later learns about human civilization when he gets to meet humans visiting the jungle, but he rejects human society and returns to the wild.

Believe it or not, Tarzan’s character is based on an 11-year-old boy named William Mildin, who ended up on an African coast in 1868 after a shipwreck. The boy was also adopted by monkeys like Tarzan.

The story revolves around 19-year-old Alice’s journey into a magical world from her childhood adventure. In contrast to other fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland depicts a child’s realistic path through life. The true story behind Alice in Wonderland is disturbing.

The movie is based on Lewis Carroll’s story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice was modeled according to a real little girl named Alice Liddell — who was stubborn, precocious, and imaginative.

This film is about a young girl who has many wonderful memories of her mother. She sets out to build a rocket and embark on a perilous journey to meet a legendary moon goddess.

According to a report by Travel China, Over the Moon is based on a classic Chinese folk tale in which “there are 10 suns in the sky, and it is always hot.” Houyi, a talented archer, takes the life of nine of the ten suns and earns the elixir of immortality as a reward.

This film’s story is about an aging Chinese mother who feels alone when her child moves out and gets a second chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings comes to life. The short film is partially based on Domee Shi’s childhood and experiences growing up in Canada after immigrating from China.

The writer said that she always felt like she was overprotected, like a little dumpling, by her Chinese mom. That’s how the idea for this film came to her.

This film is about Jiro Horikoshi, a Japanese aircraft engineer with a lifetime passion for flying. He designed the A6M World War II fighter plane during his illustrious career. However, the film is based on the historical story of the warplane designer during WWII and Tatsuo Hori’s writings. The Wind Rises brings Japan’s history to life and sheds light on the country’s part in WWII.

Although the protagonist falls in love with a woman who passes away, following a terminal illness, in the movie, the real-life Horikoshi never experienced that.

Peter Pan is the story of a boy who wouldn’t grow up. Wendy and her brothers are carried away to the enchanting Neverland by Peter Pan in this story. He is the protagonist in this tale. Like many other Disney adaptations, Peter Pan has a tragic origin.

J.M. Barrie, the author of the original story, lost his 13-year-old brother in an ice-skating accident when he was six years old. Since then, he and his mother thought of him as being 13 forever.

Did you know that Shrek’s character was based on a real person? A man known as “The French Angel” was the real-life inspiration for the animated character Shrek. In the 1930s and 1940s, a Russian-born Frenchman named Maurice Tillet rose to prominence as a professional wrestler.

Tillet was diagnosed with acromegaly when he was 17 years old. This increased bone growth in his hands, feet, and face due to hormonal imbalance. However, he too got to marry a beautiful woman named Olga.

The story centers on Oliver’s adventure after getting lost in New York City. The film is based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The period and setting were two of the most noticeable alterations made in the adaptation.

The book, for example, is set in 19th-century London, whereas the film is set in modern-day New York. The characters are also tweaked a little. Oliver is a poor orphan in the tale. However, Oliver is a homeless kitten who befriends a pack of street dogs in the film.

Cruella de Vil was first featured in the film 101 Dalmatians in 1961, in which she was animated by Marc Davis.

CruellaMarc Davis, the animator behind the well-known Disney characters such as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, discussed how he based Cruella on a woman he met in real life. The woman is actress Tallulah Bankhead — who was tall, slim, and constantly talked incoherently.