Animation Facts

The original South Park prototype was made with construction paper cutouts. The 1995 'Spirit of Christmas' short took creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone about 3 months to animate by hand.

Before making Finding Nemo, the animation gurus at Pixar Studios had to take a graduate class in fish biology and oceanography.

Robin Williams voiced the Genie in Aladdin for just $75,000 - on one condition: no ads. Disney broke the deal at once, using his voice to sell Burger King meals. To smooth it over, an exec sent a Picasso worth $1 million. Williams refused the gift. He only returned after a new Disney chief simply apologized - for a $1 million sequel deal.

The horse behind DreamWorks' 2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was a real Kiger mustang named Donner. Animators brought him to the studio and spent months watching how his muscles moved and his face changed with his mood. After the film, DreamWorks donated him to a wild horse sanctuary in California, where he was renamed Spirit. He turned 31 on May 8, 2026 - and fans still visit him.

Walt Disney mortgaged his house to finish Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs after costs ballooned from $250,000 to $1.49 million. Hollywood called it "Disney's Folly." He screened the unfinished film for a banker, who said it would "make a hatful of money." Snow White opened in December 1937 and became the highest-grossing sound film ever made.

Scooby-Doo first aired in 1969. A 23-year-old named Frank Welker got the part of Fred. In 2002 the studio handed him the dog as well. Fred and Scooby have been arguing in one man's voice ever since. He is the only one of the 1969 cast still working on Scooby-Doo. He is 80. He still does both voices.