Dark Side #2

Here I am again with another Top 10 Dark Disney Secrets. *Disclaimer: Brush and Palette do not guarantee the reliability of the information provided below, nor does it claim the information as 100% factual.

• Parasites

Located on Bay Lake in the grounds of Disney World, River Country was Disney’s first ever water park. In 1980, a young boy of 11 was killed by a brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, which lived in the semi-fresh waters of River Country that kids used to swim in. The park closed down in 2001 and remains eerily abandoned to this day. Basically, used the water from the lake.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/

• Gross Adults

Disney World is the most popular, child-friendly amusement park in the world – so of course sex predators will gravitate towards it. The shocking evidence for this came to light in 2014 when CNN found that 35 Disney employees in the Florida area had been brought into custody for sex crimes with children since 2006.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/2/

• Daycare Being Sued

In 1989 Disney threatened to take legal action against three daycare centers in Florida that had lovingly painted life-sized versions of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy on their walls. Because… “trademarks.” The nurseries had to remove the paintings, but it all ended happily for them as rival animation studio Hanna-Barbera let them use its characters for free.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/3/

• Nazi in the Studio

Considering Walt Disney’s history of racist cartoons, the fact that he toured Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl around his studio in 1938 has raised even more eyebrows. Especially since it was just one month after the anti-Semitic violence of Kristallnacht. However, Disney did go on to make some anti-Nazi propaganda films during the war, so maybe we’ll forgive him… this time.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/4/

• Not Donalds Family!

Disneyland is beloved for its pyrotechnics. However, during one of its shows – which involved setting fire to water – a whole paddling of ducks quacked their last quack when they got burned to death. In fairness to Disney, it has now inserted a bubble machine to scare the ducks away during shows.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/8/

• I Got a Bone to Pick With You

Most of the skeletons on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland are fake – surprise, surprise. But the skull-and-crossbones on the headboard above the skeleton sitting in the bed looks a bit… different – because it’s real. Who knows who it once belonged to? Plus, when Walt Disney was making the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, he felt that the fake skeletons didn’t look real enough. So, he went to some science place and got REAL LIFE BONES. But after a while, he thought that fake ones looked more real than the real ones. They got rid of the real ones and put in the fakes. But that one real skull is on the headboard of the bed in both Disneyland and World.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/9/

• Monorail Gone Wrong

The monorail at Disney World Florida may look like a relatively mundane way to get around the park, but for one driver it proved to be the last ride that he’d ever take. Two monorail trains collided head-on when a fault prevented the tracks from switching over, subsequently causing a number of minor injuries as well as the tragic death of a 21-year-old monorail driver.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/12/

• Nazi Duck

While he wasn’t an out-and-out goose-stepping xenophobe, Walt Disney’s associations with the Nazis were a bit too common for comfort. So perhaps it’s unsurprising that you don’t hear too much about Der Fuehrer’s Face these days, seeing as it’s an animated short starring Donald Duck as a Nazi soldier toiling in a warehouse. After all, having one of your most iconic characters wear a swastika on their sleeve just isn’t great P.R…

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/13/

• Time is a Lie

Is the forced perspective slowly degrading your sanity, or is the passage of time out of whack at Disney? In reality, there’s no need to worry, because the slowly-moving clocks and exaggerated line timers are real and just another one of Disney’s mind games. Reportedly, the line timers are intentionally overestimated so as to make rides seem more in demand. And that’s not to mention this also making you feel grateful when it doesn’t take as long as you’d think to hop aboard: apparently, the slow clocks make lines feel quicker-moving.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/14/

• Get Rid of the Evidence

One of Disneyland’s less savory chapters took place in 1999 when a weighty metal chunk of the Sailing Ship Columbia ride broke loose and flew into the guests in line – killing one of them. Disneyland employees, however, cleaned up the mess from the accident before the police arrived on the scene, and their actions could arguably have jeopardized the investigation.

Source: http://scribol.com/pop-culture/film/dark-secrets-disney-hoped-never-see-light-of-day/16/