Murtaza
I didn’t see that coming.
We all have our fair share of favourite movie characters. We have all our favourite characters embedded in our memories as if we personally know these characters and truth be told, with animation and storytelling evolving all the time, It’s tough to not think of these characters as real-life beings from our implanted in our memories. Feeling really close to these characters because of their humanistic features has made us remember them in various ways. But characters go over a wide range of changes and mood boards before they are portrayed on the big screen. There are a lot of iterations of these characters that happen behind the scenes so a refined version of the said character can be displayed to the masses and placed into their own stories.
So with that said, let’s look at a couple of prominent big screen figures and their pre-alternative selves in the list below.
Scar from Lion King was originally a baboon.
© The Lion King / Walt Disney Pictures and co-producers
In the original script scar was a baboon and there was a competition between lions and monkeys although this monkey version of Scar was as equally as manipulative as the one we got in the Lion King movie. In this version, Simba would succumb to laziness and horrible character traits because of Scar’s manipulation.
Belle was inspired by a character on Little Women.
© Beauty and the Beast / Walt Disney Pictures and co-producers, © Little Women / Columbia Pictures and co-producers
This sister was inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women hence why she is smarter than the rest of the sisters.
Rapunzel’s hair was inspired by this art piece.
© Jean-Honoré Fragonard / Les hasards heureux de l’escarpolette / Wallace Collection / Wikimedia Commons, © Public Domain, © Tangled / Walt Disney Animation Studios and co-producers
Jean-Honore Fragonard’s paintings were used as inspiration for Rapunzel’s hair, Although they stylised this concept. The hair-physics looks very pretty in the final release.
Shrek
The original version of Shrek was nothing like his amazing big-screen portrayal. The early version had no teeth and swamp. This version of Shrek had a red nose, wore sandals and he could breathe fire
Elsa was inspired by Amy Winehouse.
© Frozen / Walt Disney Animation Studios and co-producers, © East News
Elsa’s prototype was based on Amy Winehouse (RIP). This version of Elsa had big eyes and black hair. She had frequent mood swings and a beautiful voice just like Amy’s (RIP).
Jackie Chan voiced the Beast
© Beauty and the Beast / Walt Disney Pictures and co-producers, © Invision / Invision / East News
Can we give Jackie Chan enough credit for his amazing film skills and dedication? He voiced the beast from The Beauty And The Beast in the Chinese version of the film and took music education (mainly in opera) to perform this role. What a legend!
The beast loses or wins in the original arc
© Beauty and the Beast / Walt Disney Pictures and co-producers, © Beauty and the Beast / Walt Disney Pictures and co-producers
In the original Beauty And The Beast, the beast’s father gets killed, his mother is the new queen and he is looked after by an evil fairy who by the end of the story, he doesn’t fall in love with and becomes one with the beast. This story is somewhat better as it signifies self-love over unrealistic standards.
Diego had no future.
© Ice Age / 20th Century Studios and co-producers, © Ice Age / 20th Century Studios and co-producers
Diego an all-time fan favourite character from Ice Age (spoiler) was supposed to die at the ending of the first film. There was no continuation for poor Diego but the guy’s or the cat has made it.
All three of these fairies were based on elderly women.
© Sleeping Beauty / Walt Disney Productions
The fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty were inspired by the creators by looking at and observing old women at weddings and grocery shopping. Mimicking the style in which they shopped around, walked or just be themselves.
This iconic kiss scene almost didn’t happen
© Lady and the Tramp / Walt Disney Productions
Walt Disney was about to throw this scene in the bin because he thought animals should be more human-like in order to play this scene but Franklin Thomas saved the day when he came up with drafts for this scene.
And with that, we end this list. Let us know which one of these shocked you the most in the comment section below.