29/10/2021
Bergen is the perfect jumping off point for Disney's runaway hit, Frozen. As Norway's second largest city, Bergen is known as the "heart of the fjords" and the "city between seven mountains," similar to the fictional Arendelle. It combines breath-taking vistas and Norwegian architecture—including its Fish Market and colorful wooden houses—familiar to Frozen lovers.
29/10/2021
Based on the Chinese legend of female warrior Hua Mulan, the 1998 Disney movie Mulan took visual cues from Beijing's Forbidden City, formerly home to the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The UNESCO World Heritage Site was closed to commoners from 1420 to 1912, with only the emperor and those he deemed worthy of permission allowed to enter (hence the name). Now, guests are allowed—more than 19 million people visited in 2019 alone—and it's a museum for nearly two million priceless artifacts and treasures.
29/10/2021
King Francis I built this so-called hunting lodge between 1519 and 1547. It also served as a royal apartment for the "Sun King," Louis XIV. The Château de Chambord—now a UNESCO World Heritage site—is the largest estate in the Loire Valley and the inspiration behind the castle in Beauty and the Beast (both the 1991 animated film and the 2017 live-action movie). If you want to experience it in full glory, go during Christmas, when the property hosts a 16th-century ball, complete with live music, traditional attire, and Renaissance dance lessons.
29/10/2021
Walt Disney loved Switzerland so much that he visited every year and was captivated by its beauty, tranquility, and traditions, as well as the awe-inspiring sight of the 14,000-foot-tall Matterhorn. This admiration led to Disneyland's very first roller coaster, the Matterhorn Bobsleds. (It's also the world's first tubular steel coaster and the only Matterhorn mountain of any Disney park.) The ride opened in 1959, the same year the Disney movie Third Man on the Mountain was released.
29/10/2021
Overlooking Loch Duich in the Scottish Highlands, the 13th-century Eilean Donan Castle was one of the inspirations for the Pixar animated film Brave. (Other locations reportedly included Urquhart Castle in Loch Ness, Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire, and Dun Carloway broch at the Isle of Lewis.) The castle previously served as a Viking defense, a monastery, and the site of a Jacobite rebellion, which ultimately led to its ruin. The current version is a reconstruction that was lovingly finished in 1932 by Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap, who bought the island in 1911.
29/10/2021
While making Pixar's tearjerker, Up, filmmakers traveled to Venezuela and Brazil, looking for dreamy landscapes to capture Carl and Ellie's mystical Paradise Falls. The final location was Angel Falls in Venezuela, the world's tallest waterfall in a table-top mountain called Auyantepui.
29/10/2021
This 19th-century Bavarian castle was completed in 1892 as a retreat for dethroned (and reportedly "mad") King Ludwig II. Neuschwanstein—which means "New Swan Stone"—was named after the swan knight character from one of Richard Wagner's operas. In fact, Ludwig himself was known as the Swan King. Years later, Disney visited the fortress with his wife and was instantly transfixed, sketching it while working on Sleeping Beauty. It then became the spitting image of the iconic castle at Disneyland.
29/10/2021
Machu Picchu is a bucket-list destination that has enchanted visitors for more than a century after it was rediscovered in 1911. As Peru's most popular tourist attraction—not to mention one of the seven wonders of the world—the ancient civilization was visited by Disney animators while making The Emperor's New Groove. This explains why the Incan ruins look so similar to Kuzco's kingdom and Pacha's village in the comedic flick.
29/10/2021
It's easy to compare the Taj Mahal with Agrabah palace, where Jasmine and the sultan lived in Aladdin. Few places around the world are as breathtaking. Built in 1632, the jaw-dropping white marble tomb was commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and remains an exquisite example of Mughal architecture.