One of my favorite sites that I go to when I want to waste some time yet get a little something out of it is this Urban Legend debunking website named Snopes.com. I'm somewhat fascinated with their section on Disney since I used to go there often as a child and is an indelible fixture of my memory during the years I grew up in southern California. On the site, they detail all sorts of other things and often times do confirm the folklore. (I'll get into some of those things momentarily.) Were you aware that Disneyland used to deny admission to long-haired guests? Or that several deaths inside Disneyland took place on the monorail, the people mover, and Big Thunder, among other attractions. I guess you would expect to hear of deaths considering the millions of people that have gone since they've opened, but there's some crazy juxtaposition when I combine the fantasy of Disneyland with death. Eh. That's not supposed to happen in Disneyland. It's a happy place in my bubble of child-like innocence where hate doesn't exist and everybody is in a perpetual, orgiastic state of enchantment, dammit.
Regarding Disney movies, did you know that you can see boobies in "The Rescuers" (look closely at the picture), or that the movie "Song of the South" has never been released on video in the U.S., mostly due in part to glamourizing slavery. Snopes mentions that the lead actor, James Baskett, did not even attend the premiere as he was unable to get a hotel room as nobody would let him stay.
Snopes.com does cover the S-E-X spelled out on the infamous scene in "The Lion King" but Snopes labels it as 'undetermined.' I can determine that it does, in fact, spell out 'sex' but I think since they cannot prove that it was deliberate then they really can't say for sure that it wasn't just a fluke. Judging from the past track record of most Disney films, I will just say that it was intentional.
Disney aside, there is a slew of information on there. Time to put some of those old wives tales to rest. Now that you found the information on here, perhaps you can put an end to this madness and stop the spread of misinformation:
- It does not take seven years for you to digest bubble gum.
- Hair does not grow back thicker after it is shaved.
- Jumping in a pool less than an hour after eating does not increase your chances of getting a cramp.
- Coffee doesn't stunt your growth, going outside with wet hair doesn't cause you to catch a cold (viruses cause colds), your eyes wont be permanantly crossed if you cross them often, cracking knuckles doesn't cause arthritis, sitting too close to the T.V. won't damage your eyes, neither will watching T.V. in the dark. [link]
- We don't only use ten percent of our brains. (I know it's hard to believe. I'm surprised certain people use that much. Take, for instance, this mother worried about the effect on her unborn child that the sound of jackhammers will cause--but---while she is smoking a cigarette!)
Uh?:
The Mississippi state legislature removed fractions and decimal points from the mathematics curriculum of public secondary schools. Why the fuck is this true?
Cool:
Student mistakes examples of unsolvable math problems for homework assignment and solves them. Even Einstein could not solve it. (This legend is used as the setup of the plot in the movie, "Good Will Hunting.")
Just in time for the Holidays:
- Eating turkey does not make you more sleepy.
- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was created for a Montgomery Ward sales catalogue.
- Pointsettas are not poisonous.
- XMAS is not a modern, disrespectful version of the word 'Christmas.'
I'm sure there's more interesting shit out there but I'm at work so I don't have time to figure out all of the misinformation out there that there is. Maybe you can find me some good stuff. Of course you shouldn't only have one source for anything. Research, research, research. ("I read it on the internet, so it MUST be true!" <---not true) Knowledge really is power. Feel free to go watch Rescuers in the dark with your eyes crossed now. Mom was so wrong.
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