 Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon, James MarsdenDirector: Kevin Lima Year Of Release: 2007 Plot: In the fairytale land of Andalasia, Giselle is waiting from her prince to come, and thinks she may have found him in the form of handsome but slightly dim Edward. However his wicked stepmother wants to keep her throne and cant do so if Edward marries, so she knocks Giselle into an enchanted well, with the wannabe princess ending up in modern day New York. There she befriends and puzzles a lawyer, who cant quite understand her fairytale ways. However when Edward comes after his beloved, the wicked stepmother decides shed better finish Giselle off. |
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When Disney released Enchanted in 2007, they really played up the links – both visual and storywise – to earlier Mouse House fairytale flicks (they even released some images comparing the old and the new, which you can see below). However, Enchanted is certainly not the first Disney movie to include references to earlier films, with the most notable recurring feature being hidden Mickeys.
The idea behind this is that in virtually everything Disney does, they hide images of Mickey Mouse, or at least the iconic two small circles on top of a larger one, which most people would automatically recognise as representing Mickey. The whole thing started off as a bit of an in-joke, with animators adding in references to the famous mouse and other Disney characters in cartoons and animated movies, with films even as early as Pinocchio containing very deliberate but hidden visual references to the likes of Mickey and Pluto. However, initially it was a just done irregularly for fun.
The point where it became a more concerted, deliberate thing across the entire Disney kingdom isnt known, but its believed to have started in the Disney theme parks, where the designer and engineers (or imagineers in Disney parlance) began to compete amongst themselves to hide Mickeys in rides and attraction. Of course in many Disney attractions Mickey is meant to be deliberately and noticeably included, but a hidden Mickey is an image of the mouse included in a way that isnt immediately obvious and out of context of where youd expect to see the character.
This in-joke became more widely known in 1989, when an article about many of the hidden Mickeys at Disney World was published in a magazine for staff members. After this visitors began looking out for them, and people also started to notice them in Disney movies. With the animators now aware of the idea, from the late 80s onward including at least one hidden Mickey in every Disney movie almost became obligatory. While some of the claimed ones are a little dubious, there is always at least one in each film that was obviously deliberately put there.
In Enchanted for example, theres the bus driver, who has two small buns on her head, which seem to be trying to turn her into a hidden Mickey. However perhaps more notable are the ones that spend quite a long time on screen, but youd probably never notice them. On the dress Amy Adams makes out of Patrick Dempseys curtains, the floral pattern actually contains lots of little hidden Mickeys, which initially just look like little flowers or berries. You can see them in the close-up picture below (which isn’t just en excuse to post a picture of Amy Adams’ boobs, I promise).
Its believed there are around 800 hidden Mickeys hidden around the Disney parks and many more in the companys films and TV series, although its not known how many there really are as Disney has never compiled an official list.
As well as the Enchanted ones, here are a few more fun ones to look out for:
In Pinocchio, at one point the bubbles in Cleos goldfish bowl very float up in the shape of Mickey.
In The Little Mermaid, near the beginning as King Triton rides over an audience awaiting a music concert, if you look below him you can see Mickey, Donald and Goofy in the crowd. (see below)
In The Santa Clause, as Santa drives his sleigh in front of a full moon, the crater patterns on the moons surface have been altered to create the shape on Mickey Mouse.
In Nightmare Before Christmas, one of the children attacked by Halloweentown horrific Christmas gifts is wearing a Mickey Mouse nightdress, while her brother has Donald Duck pyjamas. (see below)
In Finding Nemo, you can see a hidden Mickey shaped out of the algae growing on the inside of the fish tank in the dentists office.
See if you can spot them the next time you watch the movies, and you can find a lot more at HiddenMickeysGuide.com.
As I mentioned, Enchanted contains hundreds of references to earlier Disney movies, with director Kevin Lima saying it almost became an obsession between him and the screenwriter to cram in as many visual and story references as they could. When they released the movie, Disney released a series of images comparing Enchanted to everything from Snow White to The Little Mermaid. Take a look at them below…
Incidentally, Disney isnt the only company/people that likes to hide hidden references to other films in its movies, and one day Im sure Ill get round to writing about how R2D2 and C-3PO pop up in Indiana Jones, there are ETs in Star Wars and many more. Ill also have to go into the allegations Disney is trying to corrupt the worlds youth, due to claims both Aladdin and Lion King promote underage sex and that Who Framed Roger Rabbit included a few frames of Jessica Rabbits genitals (which is true in the first cinema release, as it was added in by mischievous animators, although since it was noticed in the initial VHS release, Disney has given her some underwear). But all that will have to wait for another day.
TIM ISAAC
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