• 101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan (Wendy ) are the only two Disney cartoon features with both parents that are present and don’t die throughout the movie.
• One of the longest English words that can be typed using the top row of a typewriter (allowing multiple uses of letters) is ‘typewriter.’
• The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continually held sports event in the United States (1875); the second oldest is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (1876.)
• AM and PM stand for “Ante-Meridian” and “Post-Meridian,” respectively, and A.D. actually stands for “Anno Domini” rather than “After Death.”
• During conscription for WWII, there were nine documented cases of men with three testicles.
Wow, if 2 cause such pain, how would you feel if someone kicks you and you have 3
The Disney movie fact surprises me, but come to think of it I can remember watching The Little Mermaid with my daughter and wondering where the mom went. That goes for several other Disney classics.
I must admit… the only one that I knew was the AD one.
Great list
The WWII thing is really interesting. But is it coincidence or is it because of the pollution and all chemicals used ?
I don’t think that the Disney cartoon statement is correct. Lady and the Tramp has 2 parents throughout the entire movie and neither of them die. I just thought of that one on the top of my head, so I wonder if there are more as well.
A lot of sequels to classic Disney movies also lack the dead-parents motif. Whether this is for convenience or because someone pointed out that having missing/dead parents in every movie wasn’t the best PR move is unknown.
It’s also interesting to note that usually it’s the mother who is dead or otherwise absent in a Disney movie. Examples include Beauty and the Beast (Belle has no mother), Cinderella (Mom is dead before the movie starts…I don’t remember if her father dies? Either way he’s absent too), and the Hunchback of Notre Dame (granted, Quasimodo doesn’t actually have any parents but we only ever /see/ his mother and she dies.)
A few examples of movies without dead parents, besides the ones listed:
Peter Pan (though you could argue that because the children’s parents have probably all of 20 minutes of screen time, if that, they’re effectively absent)
Mulan (again, they’re not part of the action for much of the movie)
Sleeping Beauty (even though they are magically asleep)
Nearly any classic Disney sequel (Little Mermaid 2, Cinderella 2, etc)