Disney animated films may be aimed at children, but it is not uncommon for winks to older adults to be hidden within them. This is also why adults continue to enjoy watching it as they get older: they discover references that are impossible to spot when you are little! Between allusions to weed smokers, sex, the gay community and depressionwe can say that the big-eared mouse is not afraid to tackle difficult themes.
The Little Mermaid – 1989
One of the best comedic twists in this late ’80s Disney classic, adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, is Eureka’s absolute ignorance of human culture. Convinced of knowing everything about the habits and customs of men, this gull gives false information to Ariel on the objects that it discovers at the bottom of the seas. When she gets her hands on a wooden pipe, she asks the bird what its use is, and the latter, as usual, is wrong! According to him, it is a musical instrument. To illustrate his point, he breathes inside: the plant coming out of it refers to smoking weed…
Lilo & Stitch – 2002
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
“No! It’s from my blue period”
The reference to Pablo Picasso and his blue period. pic.twitter.com/rUFt315vpT— Jose Shōta (@ElJosePromedio) https://twitter.com/ElJosePromedio/status/1287539906915512323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Soon returning to the cinema in the form of a live-action, Lilo and Stitch is one of the first Disney of the 2000s. The story follows the meeting between a little blue monster created at the edge of the universe by a mad scientist and a little Hawaiian girl with a big heart. Both orphans, they will soon be build unbreakable bonds : the alien authorities who are pursuing the creature do not expect to have to face such a united duo when they land on Earth! These touching characters are all the more so when we realize a reference to Pablo Picasso from Lilo. Stitch goes to his room and discovers his paintings there, which the little girl describes as coming from her “blue period”, a nod to a moment in the Spanish artist’s life when he was depressed.
The Snow Queen – 2013
The third part of The Snow Queen is one of the Disney films scheduled for release this year, to the delight of Anna and Elsa fans. Will the studios slide there? such a saucy wink that in the first opus of the franchise, ten years ago? At the time, the younger of the two sisters made a naughty reference to the size of Prince Hans’ penis (but fortunately incomprehensible for children): while she and Kristoff are looking for the princess, the mountain man asks Anna what is the size of feet of her lover. A fun reference to the popular belief that these two parts of the men’s body are linked!
Vice-versa – 2015
Last year, the continuation of Vice Versa broke several box office records, confirming the public’s love for Riley and the range of emotions sheltered by his brain. In the first film, just after the heroine moves to San Francisco, Fear makes a reference to his “Bear Community”. In fact, she asks if there are bears in the city, which Disgust denies. But Anger claims to have seen one, or rather a tall, hairy man who looked like one. A nod to this subdivision of the gay community, composed of generally fat and tall men with full hairin opposition to the trend of gay beauty standards (hairless, thin, muscular).
