In movies like Moana and Frozen, artists travels to certain locations to get an impression of flora and fauna, speaks to botanists, meet locals, study local myths and traditions and so on. But what about historical facts about how certain eras affect the landscape?
Found this video on Youtube, and from that I learned that in the old days the trees around villages would often be exposed to what is called coppicing, something that is much more rarely used today, and not something I have seen in an animated Disney movie yet (as far as I can remember): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVPUFMwm73Y
Real life inspirations for movies
- Rumpelstiltskin
- Anniversary Edition
- Posts: 1306
- Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:05 pm
- Gender: Male
Re: Real life inspirations for movies
I just stumbled upon this article:
Disney reveals list of secret European locations that have inspired films
While most are fairly obvious and I wouldn't really call them secret locations, the rest are pretty much news to me, Dubrovnik for The Little Mermaid in particular.
Disney reveals list of secret European locations that have inspired films
While most are fairly obvious and I wouldn't really call them secret locations, the rest are pretty much news to me, Dubrovnik for The Little Mermaid in particular.
-
- Special Edition
- Posts: 748
- Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 3:00 pm
Re: Real life inspirations for movies
While not animated, The forest in this video reminds me of the forest used in the first Avatar, Prince Caspian an even once upon a timeRumpelstiltskin wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:26 pm In movies like Moana and Frozen, artists travels to certain locations to get an impression of flora and fauna, speaks to botanists, meet locals, study local myths and traditions and so on. But what about historical facts about how certain eras affect the landscape?
Found this video on Youtube, and from that I learned that in the old days the trees around villages would often be exposed to what is called coppicing, something that is much more rarely used today, and not something I have seen in an animated Disney movie yet (as far as I can remember): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVPUFMwm73Y

Last edited by Patricier21 on Mon Sep 18, 2023 4:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Real life inspirations for movies
I knew their inspiration was Southern Europe/ Mediterranean. Croatia makes much more sense to me than Italy or Greece.
Re: Real life inspirations for movies
I can see the Dubrovnik influence in parts of the castle design, but the rest of the town doesn't really give off Croatian/Adriatic vibes. It's arguably the most difficult Disney movie to place geographically, so I just assume a generic fairytale setting.
I also found the link below in my bookmarks, it's from five years ago and could have been something somebody posted on this forum. The author of the blog wrote reviews for Disney movies but also attempted to map out the locations and time periods for each Disney movie up until Ralph Breaks the Internet. The blog is still active, so maybe the author will update the list eventually. In any case, it seems like it was a fun, speculative exercise:
A Disney Timeline
I also found the link below in my bookmarks, it's from five years ago and could have been something somebody posted on this forum. The author of the blog wrote reviews for Disney movies but also attempted to map out the locations and time periods for each Disney movie up until Ralph Breaks the Internet. The blog is still active, so maybe the author will update the list eventually. In any case, it seems like it was a fun, speculative exercise:
A Disney Timeline
- PatchofBlue
- Special Edition
- Posts: 776
- Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2023 3:30 pm
- Gender: Male
Re: Real life inspirations for movies

This is slightly off-center from what I think the topic's focus is supposed to be, but I actually came across this book recently and have found it a fascinating read. It explores the artistic influences for Walt's films including contemporary cinema, literature, painting, sculpture, etc. I've loved how it situates Walt's films in an artistic context that exists outside of the commercial demands of "and color dress should the next princess have?" that modern discussion seems to want to peg the Disney library in. Highly recommended.