Family Fun
The kids are Disney's primary focus when it comes to their animated films. However, they do enjoy throwing in some fun jokes and references that only the adults in the audience will understand. These are the moments that go over the kids' heads and right into the happy, knowing faces of the grownups in the audience.
Frozen 2: "I Prefer You In Leather Anyway"
Is Anna admitting her leather-loving proclivities here?
Frozen 2: Does Foot Size Matter?
When Kristoff asks Anna about Prince Hans' foot size, she responds: "Foot size doesn't matter".
Hercules: 9-1-1
While kids probably know 9-1-1, how many children now Roman numerals well enough to get the IX-I-I joke in Hercules.
Moana: What Is Tweeting?
Maui grabs a real bird and says, "When you use a bird to write, it's called Tweeting"
Aladdin: Those Ladies?
During the "One Jump Ahead" song, Aladdin runs through the city and into a woman's bedroom. Or at least that's what the children think. Us grownups know that it isn't just any bedroom, but a bawdy house. Also, why are the "employees" so familiar with our little street urchin?
A Bug's Life: Seven Samurai
Not just any grownup will spot this one. It's fans of director Akira Kurosawa who will notice that the basic story of A Bug's Life is very much a remake of the great director's masterpiece, Seven Samurai.
Walt Disney, A Bug's Life (1998)
Toy Story 2: Excited Buzz
When Buzz Lightyear meets Jessie, we see his wings rise up—an obvious grownup reference to his physical attraction.
Walt Disney, Toy Story 2 (1999)
Hercules: Oedipus
Hercules quips, "That Oedipus thing – man! I thought I had problems". Some of us didn't even know what the Oedipus thing was until we looked it up.
Encanto: Can You Say Miércoles
In Spanish Miércoles means, "Wednesday". However, Spanish-speakers probably also know that it sounds very close to another, not so PG word.
The Little Mermaid: VHS Cover
What even is a VHS is what most kids would say. But were they to see the cover of The Little Mermaid VHS from back in the day, they probably wouldn't notice that some of the columns of Triton’s castle look like, um, well let's just call them "manly".
Lilo & Stitch: Picasso Period
At one point when Stitch is destroying Lilo's art she declares that those paintings were from her "blue period". A reference to a famous stage of Picasso's career?
Walt Disney, Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Toy Story: Mr. Picasso Head
Mr. Potato Head puts his face pieces in random places on his head. "Look, I'm Picasso", he says.
Zootopia: Rabbit Joke
Judy (the rabbit) mentioned to Nick (the fox) that bunnies are "good at multiplying". A double entendre for the adults.
Aladdin and the King of Thieves: Shakin’
At one point, the ground starts to shake during Aladdin and Jasmine’s wedding. The Genie joes, "I thought the Earth wasn’t supposed to move until the honeymoon".
Walt Disney, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (Video 1996)
The Three Little Pigs: Family
In The Three Little Pigs cartoon, the piggies have sausage links in a frame on the wall and below those sausages it says "Father". Ouch!
Walt Disney, Three Little Pigs (1933)
Beauty and the Beast: Hairy Gaston
Gaston sings "Every last inch of me’s covered in hair", to which he opens his shirt revealing his hairy chest. But that "every last inch" line, probably has many of the grownups thinking beyond, or should we say below, his chest.
Walt Disney, Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Frozen: Deep S....
Anna tells Elsa that the town is in "deep, deep, deep, deep snow". It's a family-friendly way to use an expression that generally ends with a different, non-PG "S" word.
The Rescuers: The Lady In The Window
There was a scene in the original The Rescuers in which a lady appeared at a window in the background wearing nothing on top. The scene was removed from VHS copied going forward.
Walt Disney, The Rescuers (1977)
The Little Mermaid: What's In The Pipe?
In an attempt to explain human things to Arial, Scuttle the seagull grabs a pipe, blows into it, and reveals a green plant. Hmm, what could that be?
Walt Disney, The Little Mermaid (1989)
Cars: Lit
Similar to the pipe joke, there's a scene in Cars where they talk about not needing headlights because the tracks are lit. Dusty Rust-eze says that his brother is lit, "but he still needs headlights".
Monsters University: A High Spud
Not to be left out, Monsters University got in on the joke too, with a "baked" potato in a frat house! Get it???
Walt Disney, Monsters University (2013)
Dinosaur: Monkey Games
When Zini the lemur finds himself surrounded by a group of female monkeys, he asks them who wants to play Monkey in the Middle. An innocent game or creepy double entendre? You be the judge.
Home on the Range: Astrological Humor
"Let me guess. You’re a Taurus", says a cow to a bull
Walt Disney, Home on the Range (2004)
Wreck-It Ralph: "Dot Muncher"
An angry Ralph calls Pac-Man a "cherry-chasing dot muncher". 'Nuff said.
Walt Disney, Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Wash Up
When Snow White tells her little friends to wash up for dinner, Bashful asks, "Do we have to wash where it doesn’t show?"
Walt Disney, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Aladdin: Two Rear Ends
As yet another mean suitor of Jasmine leaves the castle, Aladdin jokes, "Look at that, Abu. It’s not every day you see a horse with two rear ends".
Mulan: "We Can't All Be Acupuncturists"
"Well, we can't all be acupuncturists," says one ancestor. To which the other responds, talking about Mulan, "No! Your great-granddaughter had to be a cross-dresser!"
Inside Out: Any Bears
Disgust and Anger talk about the existence of bears in San Francisco.
Cars: Flashing
You don't have to have ever been to Mardi Gras to get the cheeky reference when Mia and Tia "flash" their headlights at Lightning McQueen.
Finding Nemo: Fish Bathroom
In Finding Nemo, Gurgle exclaims. "Don't you people realize we are swimming in our own sh—", only to be cut off before he can finish that last word.
Walt Disney, Finding Nemo (2003)
Toy Story 3: Nice Tie
When Barbie meets Ken in Toy Story 3, she seems to add another "S" to Ascot when complimenting Ken's, um, tie.
Walt Disney, Toy Story 3 (2010)
Toy Story: On The Hook
When Sid dismembered the toys one horrifying creation had doll legs on a hook? Something many have seen as representing a word that ends with “er” and begins with "Hook".
The Emperor's New Groove: Kronk's Pitched Tent
Kronk tent is too small for him. While this gag of a big man in a small tent is funny for kids and grownups, the fact that the placement of the ent is right above Kronk's middle region makes for an adult visual representation of the expression, "pitching a tent".
Walt Disney, The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
Zootopia: Breaking Bad
The ram cooking up something blue while wearing a yellow suit and gas mask. Breaking Bad much?
The Lion King: Scar Is Bad
to hammer home the point that Scar was the bad guy, there are a number of references to a particular German leader in the way the lion is presented—especially during the "Be Prepared" song.
Walt Disney, The Lion King (1994)
