Oftentimes some of these very successful childhood movies have stories behind them that are not always good ones.
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THE AUTHOR OF THE MARY POPPINS BOOKS HATED THE FILMS - RUIN IT
Many may classify Mary Poppins as one of their favorite childhood films, but for the author of the original book series, P.L. Travers, the movie was a disaster. Despite having script approval, Travers’ edits were largely disregarded, meaning the author was left stunned by the finished production. It’s said that Travers loathed the movie’s animated sequences and was annoyed that Mary Poppins’ strict side was downplayed. In the end, Travers’ agreed to the finished scrip, but reluctantly. It’s believed that the author almost didn’t even receive an invite to the movie premiere, only she shamed a Disney exec into inviting her. Travers spent most of the movie crying, and in the end, she refused to let Disney touch the rest of the series. This story later became a movie called Saving Mr. Banks, which starred Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.
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MAJOR BAMBI SERVED THREE TOURS IN VIETNAM - MAKE IT BETTER
Donnie Dunagan was an incredible marine. He dedicated 25 years to the service and was a decorated Vietnam War veteran who rose up the ranks quickly—13 promotions in 21 years, to be precise. In fact, Dunagan was the youngest drill instructor ever. When he retired at the age of 77, Major Dunagan finally revealed a secret he’d been holding on to for a long time—he was the voice of Bambi. Dunagan was a fairly successful child actor in the late 1930’s and early 40’s and was just six years old when he played the part of Bambi. It’s clear that Dunagan was a very talented child star and went on to be an even more talented marine.
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DISNEY CAMEOS - MAKE IT BETTER
For any huge Disney fans out there, these are nice facts about childhood movies that will certainly excite you. There’s nothing more exciting than cross-overs between different movies and this is just what Disney did. However, you will only have spotted it if you are an extremely eagle-eyed fan. If you look closely enough, though, Rapunzel and Flynn can be seen in the background of a scene. Not only this but Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck can all be seen making a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in The Little Mermaid.
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THE VOICE ACTRESS BEHIND LILO IN LILO & STITCH ALSO PLAYED SAMARA IN THE RING - RUIN IT
Okay, this one is truly shocking. Not only did the year 2002 release the adorable Lilo and Stitch but it also released a movie that still haunts our nightmares, The Ring. Amazingly, the same actress who voiced Lilo, Daveigh Chase, also played the part of Samara in The Ring. That’s right, we couldn’t believe it either. What makes this fact even more fascinating is that both movies came out that same year. Therefore, Chase was literally portraying a seriously cute animated character and a girl we still can’t think of without shuddering... at the same time. Apart from shocking us all, this also proves just how talented an actress Chase is. The year before these two movies were released, Chase played two other prominent roles in Donnie Darko and Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. In more recent times, the actress has been praised for her role on the HBO series Big Love.
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CREATOR OF PETER PAN GAVE THE STORY RIGHTS TO A CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL TO FUND OPERATIONS - MAKE IT BETTER
In 1929, author J.M. Barrie gave the rights of Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in London. Barrie, who was the original author of the story, did this so any royalties made would go to the children’s hospital. The Peter Pan play had been a success, so at the time, people thought the gift would be worth a few thousand pounds. Once the film took off, though, the rights became increasingly more valuable. In the years that followed, over 10 feature films were made from the book before the copyright expired in 2007. This meant that between 1929 and 2007, countless children’s lives were changed by Barrie’s generous donation.