Urban Legend: The Liberty Bell in Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom is from a series of 50 replicas made of the Liberty Bell for the Bi-Centennial.

According to the story, in 1976, 50 replicas of the Liberty Bell were cast and molded in honor of our country’s 200th birthday, one for each state. However, the state of Pennsylvania had a problem. They already had the original Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Why would they want a replica? Years later, Walt Disney World realized Pennsylvania had the replica and asked if they could have it for Liberty Square. Pennsylvania agreed and on July 4th, 1989 the replica Liberty Bell was hoisted and lowered into its permanent spot inside Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom where it still sits today. Florida remains the only state with two of the 50 replica Liberty Bells.

Status: False. :(

The Real Story: If you google “Liberty Bell Walt Disney World”, this story pops up EVERYWHERE! While the bell in Liberty Square is an exact replica of the original, the above story gets everything wrong.

The state replicas of the Liberty Bell were actually cast in 1950, as a huge publicity stunt for the Liberty Bell Savings Bond Drive (see link at end of post). 55 replicas were made, one for each of the 48 states, Washington D.C., and the nation’s territories.

Pennsylvania still has their replica. It is held at the Liberty Bell Museum, located at the historic Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ in Allentown, PA.

But the biggest hole in this urban legend? The plaque in front of the Bell at Liberty Square actually says “It was cast for Walt Disney World Resort in 1989”. According to the Disney Parks official blog, “The bell was cast for Walt Disney World in Annecy-le Vieux, France by the Paccard Fonderie, using the exact same mold as the original Liberty Bell. […] It was hoisted into its present location by a crane, just in time for the 1989 Independence Day Celebration.”

LINKS:

“Mammoth Savings Bond Drive to Start in May” - St. Petersburg Times, April 6, 1950.

“Let Freedom Ring on Independence Day” -  Disney Parks Blog, July 4th, 2010.

http://libertybellmuseum.org/

Images: http://legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/2012/01/05/amusement-park-urban-legends-revealed-2/

The voice actors of the animated characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit would perform their lines off camera, giving “real time performances” for the benefit of the actors who had to interact with their characters. Charles Fleischer, the voice of Roger, insisted on wearing a Roger Rabbit costume while on the set, in order to get into character. During breaks, other staff at the studios would see him in costume and make comments about the poor caliber of the effects in the “rabbit movie”.   

Dick Van Dyke had his heart set on playing Mr. Dawes, Sr. in Mary Poppins, and said they didn’t have to pay him anything extra, he just really wanted to do it for the fun. Although Walt Disney had offered him the part of Bert right out, he made him audition for the part of Mr. Dawes, Sr.   

While viewing a make-up test for Van Dyke in the projection room, Disney saw him entertaining crew members on the test film between takes with some comic routines, among them the “stepping down” routine of an old man trying to step off a curb without hurting himself. The test film not only convinced Disney to cast Dick Van Dyke as Mr. Dawes, Sr., but Walt specifically requested that crew members “build a six-inch riser on the board room set so Dick can do that stepping-down routine” in the film.   

Julie Andrews was left hanging in her wire harness in mid-air during one particularly long camera setup for Mary Poppins. When finally told to lower her, the stagehands unwittingly lowered her rather rapidly.

“Is she down yet?” called a grip.

“You bloody well better believe she is!” fumed Andrews.   

In addition to several ten-minute 16mm educational films about subjects like school bus safety and getting along with others, Welcome to Pooh Corner also produced ”Too Smart for Strangers”, a 1985 TV special (which was also released to home video) where Pooh and his friends explain to children about strangers and molestation and what to do if should the situation arise.

Part 2

Thank you :)

Hmm… interesting observation. Let’s go through them villain by villain. This list comes from the Disney Archives’ list of villains (presumably based on what villains have been included in the “Disney Villains” franchise.

• Amos Slade (The Fox and the Hound) - Widdow Tweed nurses him back to health.
• Aunt Sarah & Si and Am (Lady and the Tramp) – As far as I know, nothing happens to either of them.
• Big Bad Wolf (Three Little Pigs) – Falls into a pot of boiling water and runs away.
• Captain Hook (Peter Pan) – Gets chased away by the crocodile, but isn’t eaten, as he appears in the sequel.
• Chernabog (Fantasia) – It seems like he returns to Hell when the forces of good appear.
• Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians) – Crashes her car, but survives unharmed.
• Doctor Facilier (The Princess and the Frog) – Gets dragged away by his “friends on the other side” (so, presumably dies)
• Edgar (The Aristocats) – Gets shipped to Timbuktu
• Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) – Falls off of Notre Dame into a river of boiling lead
• Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) – Falls off of the castle
• Hades (Hercules) – Gets attacked by the spirits in the river of souls
• Hopper (A Bug’s Life) – Gets picked up by the bird and fed to her chicks
• The Horned King (The Black Cauldron) – Is consumed by the cauldron
• Jafar (Aladdin) – Is turned into a genie and gets trapped in his own lamp. In the sequel, Iago kicks Jafar’s lamp into the lava, killing Jafar.
• Kaa & Shere Khan (The Jungle Book) – Nothing happens to Kaa, and Shere Kahn runs away, afraid of the flaming branch that Mowgi ties to his tale
• Lady Tremaine & Stepsisters (Cinderella) - the only punishment that the step mother and step sisters get for the first movie and first sequel it that Cinderella marries the prince and they don’t. At the end of the second sequel, Lady Tremaine and Drizella appear in scullery maid clothes almost identical to those Cinderella used to wear, implying that they will be working in the palace as servants as their punishment. Anastasia becomes a sympathetic character in the two sequels.
• Madame Medusa (The Rescuers) – Her swamp boat crashes and she is left clinging to the river boat’s smoke stacks with Brutus and Nero nipping at her below and Snoops is seen rafting away.
• Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) – Is stabbed by Prince Philip as a dragon and falls off the cliff
• Percival C. McLeach (The Rescuers Down Under) – Falls down a waterfall.
• Prince John & Sir Hiss (Robin Hood) – After King Richard’s return, they get sent to work on a chain gang, along with the Sheriff.
• Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) - Falls from the cliff
• Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) – Alice wakes up before anything happens to her
• Governor Ratcliffe (Pocahontas) – At the end of the first movie is arrested and sent back to England. In the sequel, he has convinced King James that John Smith was the traitor, but in the end he is arrested by the King for deceiving him.
• Professor Ratigan (The Great Mouse Detective) – Falls off of Big Ben
• Scar (The Lion King) – Is eaten by the hyenas
• Shan Yu (Mulan) – gets blown up by fireworks
• Sid Phillips (Toy Story) – Gets the crap scared out of him by the toys.
• Stromboli (Pinocchio) – we never know what happens to him
• Sykes (Oliver & Company) – his car gets hit by a train
• Ursula (The Little Mermaid) – Gets stabbed by the ship Prince Eric is piloting
• Yzma (The Emperor’s New Groove) – gets stuck as a kitten and ends up in Kronk’s scout troop

Let’s add to that list, because there are definitely more villains:

• Clayton (Tarzan) – Ends up hanging himself
• Rourke (Atlantis) – Turns into a strange crystal like creature and gets hit by the propeller and seems to explode.
• Mother Gothel (Tangled) – Rapidly ages to the point where she turns into dust.
• Syndrome (The Incredibles) – Gets sucked into the plane’s jet turbine
• Charles Muntz (Up) - Snags his foot on some balloon lines and fall to his death.
• Mr. Waternoose (Monster’s Inc) – Is arrested by the CDA.

So on the first list, between punishment and death, it’s dead even, if we count the sequels. Out of 33 villains, 14 die, 14 receive some type of punishment or “just deserts”, and nothing happens or we don’t know what happens to 5 villains. With the addition of the other villains, we have 5 more deaths and 1 more punishment

I heard Part of Your World, Jodi Benson singing that, and it just captivated me. I went and told those guys, “I really want to do Ariel.” They said, “Well i don’t know Glen it’s supposed to be a pretty girl, can you do that?”. I said, “Look I have to do Ariel, I can feel it in my heart.”

Glen Keane on animating Airel for The Little Mermaid

Despite all of the negative criticism for Pocahontas’ historical inacuracies and insensitivities, actor and Native American activist Russell Means (who voices Powhatan in the film) has referred to the film, in particular the opening, as being the “single best representation of American Indians that Hollywood has ever done”.   

The name Mulan (木蘭), literally translates to ”wood-orchid”, or magnolia. Mulan has been given different family names in different versions of the legend throuought the centuries. The family name 花 has become the most popular in recent years in part because of its more poetic meaning.

The “Fa” pronunciation of Mulan’s family name used in the film is the Cantonese pronunciation. “Hua” is the more commonly used Mandarin pronunciation, and means “flower”. “Hua Ping” (Mulan’s fake name) means “flower vase”.  

At a recording session for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lucille La Verne, the voice of the Wicked Queen, was told by Walt Disney’s animators that they needed an older, raspier version of the Queen’s voice for the Old Witch. Ms. La Verne stepped out of the recording booth, returned a few minutes later, and gave a perfect “Old Hag’s voice” that stunned the animators. When asked how she did it, she replied, “Oh, I just took my teeth out.”