Here at AllEars, we’ve been watching a lot of Disney+. Like, a lot.

During that time, we’ve been watching quite a few Disney movies. And while we are totally on board with the magic and pixie dust of Disney, we’ve still got some questions. For starters…

Here Are the BURNING Questions We Have From Our Many Hours of Watching Disney+

1. Is Scar His Real Name?

So, Scar from The Lion King is one of the most iconic Disney villains of all time — but we’ve got some questions. In a movie where everyone has Swahili names, why is Scar’s name “Scar”?

If we look at the core cast of the movie, everyone’s name is pretty descriptive. Simba means “Lion” because… duh. Nala means “gift”, and Mufasa means “king”. So presumably Scar’s real name must mean “Scar”, right? Well, there is a character named “Scar” in Swahili: Kovu, from the Lion King II, who essentially grows up to be Nice Scar.  The actual Scar, however, has a much less flattering name: “Taka”. It means Trash.

Knowing the answer to this now, it kind of paints a horrific picture of Mufasa and Scar’s childhood. Like, they named their firstborn son “King” and then their second born son (who, as The Lion Guard animated series shows, still has a pretty important role in the kingdom) was named actual garbage. You’re surprised he turns evil?! Now we kind of want to see a Wicked style reimagining of the Lion King, because this information changes everything.

2. Are ALL the Tea Cups Mrs. Potts’ Children?

In Beauty and the Beast, there’s an entire tea set made from the Potts family, even though we only really see Mrs. Potts and Chip.

So… are those tea cups all the Potts children? Our sources say yes, as Mrs. Potts is shown treating every tea cup like her own children, even tucking them in to sleep at one point. Though this also has some horrifying implications… For one… why curse an entire castle full of people, including children?!

3. Where Did All the Food Come From?

During “Be Our Guest”, Belle is treated to a lavish feast featuring all manner of culinary delights. But… where did it come from? The only source of food is the village, which is unaware the castle even exists. Even in works where the Beast is explicitly prince of Belle’s province, the curse wiped everyone’s memory of their ruler. No one is making deliveries, and while it’s possible there are some gardens and livestock on the property tended to by farmhands transformed into tools… why didn’t the livestock get transformed too? The dog did!

Hilariously… we also have an answer for this. Sort of. In the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along at Epcot, Le Fou, Gaston’s long-suffering sidekick, is revealed to be the secret benefactor behind Belle and the Beast’s romance.

He’s shown delivering supplies and personally cooking the entire meal. While his involvement is meant to be a joke, it’s… honestly the only explanation that makes sense.

4. Why did the Enchantress Curse EVERYONE in the Castle?

Seriously, isn’t that a bit much? Even the kids? Well, the movie doesn’t really answer it too much. Even the live-action version, which expands her role, doesn’t explain why she’d spread the curse (which is even more horrific in this version, as it implies the servants will become inanimate objects eventually) to everyone. It’s a bit much for karmic justice, yeah?

Well, some official novels, while not canon to the films, offer alternate explanations. Serena Valentino’s Villains novels focus on a quartet of witches (Lucinda, Ruby, Martha, and Circe) who are largely responsible for the despair and misfortune of the various Disney realms. Circe, the youngest, is the enchantress from the film, and cursed the Beast as revenge for blowing off a marriage proposal… though she does have a change of heart in the end.

In the Twisted Tale novel, Tale as Old as Time, The Enchantress is Belle’s mother Rosalind, who cursed the Beast out of fear he would oppress the magical creatures of the kingdom as his parents did. However, she was captured by the villain Monsieur D’Arque (a minor antagonist from the film) before she could have a change of heart and lift it. When she’s finally freed, she’s too weak to lift the entire curse, so Beast elects to remain a monster so his servants could be saved.

5. Why Does Buzz Lightyear Think He’s a Space Ranger?

Buzz Lightyear, in the original Toy Story, famously does not realize he’s a toy. He thinks, down to the AAA Batteries in his heart, that he’s actually a space ranger. The question is… why? Is this a common thing?

The way things seem to work is that all toys seem to have some instinctual knowledge of toydom. Buzz goes limp when Andy is present like everyone else (which, as the scene with Sid shows, is a voluntary reaction), and doesn’t seem to object to being played with. Yet he also firmly believes he’s actually a space ranger. Is this a common thing? Do all toys think they’re the real thing? Is Buzz just crazy? Why aren’t the other toys prepared to orient him? We’ve got an idea.

In Toy Story That Time Forgot, the toys meet the Battlesaurs, a huge play set full of toys that don’t realize they’re action figures. Except this time, there’s actually a reason the Battlesaurs don’t know; it’s been actively kept a secret from them. These toys live in a huge playset that they’ve never left, and one of their number (The Cleric) is actively concealing the truth from the others, so he can maintain control of the playroom. It’s kind of horrifying, but it also shows us that toys are apparently socialized to be toys by being played with, or being informed of their status by other toys. Buzz, kept in a spaceship like box, was presumably not socialized well as a toy, and his unpacking fit in with his “Space Ranger” narrative, so he didn’t realize until he was faced with undeniable proof. Fortunately, the Battlesaurs take the news a lot better. But… still, it’s kind of horrifying. Why are the toys alive? Why can they be psychologically manipulated?!

6. Why Doesn’t Anyone Else Have Cinderella’s Shoe Size?

The glass slipper is the crux of Cinderella. The thing that allows our heroine to be reunited with her princely beau. The thing that, definitively, more than anything else, allows Prince Charming to identify her. But… why the shoe, though? Of all the women in the kingdom, it only fits Cindy’s foot. Does no one else have her shoe size?

Well… people probably do have her shoe size. There are several things here that the Prince is looking for. First, this was before mass-produced shoes existed. Even if Lady Tremaine was rocking some Gucci heels, Cindy’s shoes were magically made to fit her feet perfectly. The fact the slippers are glass means that any minor imperfection in the fit would be immediately obvious.

There’s also a second, more practical reason. Cinderella has the other shoe. Charming just needs to go through several layers of confirmation, of which the shoe is just one. Does the shoe fit? Does this person look like the woman at the ball? Can she remember what happened? Does she have the other shoe?

It’s possible that the Fairy Godmother designed this part of the enchantment as a Happily Ever After clause. As she points out, her magic ends at midnight… but by leaving the shoes, it provides Cinderella a way to reconnect with her prince. If that’s the case, you could even see the shoe not fitting anyone else as being an insurance policy to ensure only Cinderella could wear it. Pretty clever.

7. Why Didn’t Ariel Write Eric a Note?

When Ariel signs her contract with Ursula, she signs her name. Clear as day. Yet at no point during her romance with Prince Eric does she think to write him a note. This has to be far and away one of the most questioned parts of the animated classic.

Well, to figure out an answer, we looked to the original source. And in the original story, a point was made that she couldn’t write. Ursula’s contracts were introduced to give her a more devilish aspect compared to the original Sea Witch, who merely gave out potions and magical artifacts. Hans Christian Anderson’s Sea Witch couldn’t prey upon poor, unfortunate souls… because mermaids didn’t have souls. They lived for 300 years and then turned into sea foam. There’s a reason why both feature length adaptations of Anderson stories that Disney produced (Frozen being the other), deviate heavily from the source material. Guy was morbid.

The Mermaid’s goal wasn’t just love, but to obtain a soul by becoming human. To facilitate this, the Sea Witch took her voice and gave her a potion that would give her legs. The clause that she had to marry the prince was based on her getting an immortal soul through holy matrimony, rather than any malevolence on the Sea Witch’s part.

In fact, unlike Ursula, the Sea Witch makes no attempt to interfere. The prince falls in love with another woman purely due to coincidence, mistaking a girl who worked at the local temple for the one who saved him from drowning… a girl who happened to be in an arranged marriage with him anyway. 

Without going too far into it, the original Hans Christian Anderson tale did not have a particularly happy ending. So, note or no note, it would seem that our girl Ariel got off pretty lucky in the end of Disney’s take on the beloved tale!

8. Why didn’t anyone report Russell as missing in UP!?

…We don’t have an answer for this one. The kid was missing for at least three days. Maybe longer. We understand his dad was busy, but both of his parents are alive. Even in the short showing what happened while Carl and Russell were away focuses more on Carl’s disappearance more than Russell’s. Maybe it’s just the curse of Disney kids going unsupervised…

Poor Russell. We’re glad he found his BFF Carl, and dependable Dug on his journey.

This is just a sample of the questions running through our heads this week as we continue our two-week-long binge fest, and you know they won’t be the last. Do you have some burning questions too? Let us know in the comments!

 

 

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