The opening line of “Circle of Life” isn’t in English, isn’t in a made-up language, and roughly half the people who’ve belted it in their car for thirty years couldn’t tell you what language it is in. That’s the thing about Disney. We absorb it so completely as children that we never go back and check our assumptions. We think we know this stuff the way we know our own names. And then someone asks a simple question and the floor tilts.
I’ve run Disney trivia rounds for rooms full of adults wearing mouse ears, for groups of parents who swore they’d been “forced” to watch these movies hundreds of times, and for teams of self-proclaimed Disney scholars who’d planned their answers before I finished reading. Every single time, the same thing happens: the easy questions get shouted, the medium ones start arguments, and the hard ones create this beautiful silence where everyone suddenly looks at the ceiling like the answer might be written up there.
These 75 disney trivia questions are arranged to do exactly that. Some will feel like gifts. Some will feel like traps. A few of them are traps.
1. What is the name of the toy store in Toy Story 2 where Woody gets stolen to?
Every room shouts this one in unison. It’s the kind of question that exists to build confidence before I take it away.
2. In The Little Mermaid, what does Ariel call a fork?
The speed at which people answer this one tells me more about their age than any ID ever could.
3. What year did Disneyland open in Anaheim, California?
People know the decade. They know the era. But the exact year creates a ten-second negotiation at every table. The park opened on July 17, and by most accounts, opening day was a disaster. Rides broke down, the asphalt was still soft in the heat, and a plumber’s strike meant Walt had to choose between working drinking fountains and working toilets. He chose toilets.
4. What kind of fish is Nemo?
5. In Frozen, what is the name of the kingdom where Anna and Elsa live?
Parents get this instantly. Everyone else second-guesses the spelling in their head and then says it anyway.
6. How many dwarfs does Snow White live with?
This is a gimme. But it’s here because the next question isn’t.
7. Name all seven dwarfs.
I’ve watched rooms of very smart people get to six and then stare at each other in genuine panic. There’s always one dwarf that vanishes from memory. It’s usually Bashful. Sometimes it’s Sneezy. The confidence drains out of a table in real time and it’s one of my favorite things to watch.
8. What is the name of Simba’s mother in The Lion King?
Everyone knows Mufasa. Everyone knows Scar. Simba’s mom? She’s right there in the movie and yet her name evaporates from most people’s brains.
9. What does “Hakuna Matata” mean?
10. In Aladdin, what is the name of Jasmine’s tiger?
11. What was the first Pixar feature film?
Easy, right? But I’ve had people confidently say A Bug’s Life. The timeline of the mid-nineties is muddier than people think.
12. What was Walt Disney’s first full-length animated feature film?
Most people know this. The ones who don’t usually guess Fantasia or Pinocchio, both of which came later.
13. In Beauty and the Beast, what is the Beast’s real name?
This one splits rooms. Some people are absolutely certain it’s never stated in the movie. Others swear they heard it. The truth is it appears in supplementary material but the film itself keeps him nameless for most of its runtime.
14. What is the highest-grossing Disney animated film of all time (not counting Pixar separately)?
The answer shifts depending on when you check the numbers, but one film has held the top spot for a long time and it’s not close.
15. What color is the bow on Minnie Mouse’s head in her most classic design?
Quick: commit before you think too hard.
16. In Monsters, Inc., what is the name of the little girl who calls Sulley “Kitty”?
17. What Disney princess has a pet chameleon named Pascal?
18. How many Disney theme park resorts exist worldwide?
People can usually name three or four. The fifth and sixth are where it gets interesting.
19. In Cinderella, what time does the spell break?
20. In the original 1950 Cinderella, what are the names of the two stepsisters?
One comes easy. The second one is where people stall.
21. What is the opening line of “Circle of Life” sung in?
Here it is. The question I mentioned at the top. I’ve watched people who own the soundtrack on vinyl get this wrong.
22. In The Jungle Book, what kind of animal is Baloo?
23. Which Disney film features the song “When You Wish Upon a Star”?
This is the Disney anthem. It plays before every movie. And a surprising number of people can’t name the film it comes from.
24. What is the name of Captain Hook’s ship in Peter Pan?
25. In Up, what is the name of the boy scout who shows up on Carl’s porch?
26. What was the first Disney animated film to be set in a real, identifiable location rather than a fictional kingdom?
This one requires you to think through the entire filmography in order, which is harder than it sounds. People usually start with Aladdin (Agrabah is fictional) or The Little Mermaid (under the sea doesn’t count).
27. What are the names of Cinderella’s mice friends, the two main ones?
28. In Ratatouille, what is the name of the rat who dreams of becoming a chef?
29. Which Disney villain falls from a cliff during a fight and dies from the fall rather than being directly defeated by the hero?
Multiple answers work here, but the most famous one involves lightning and a cathedral.
30. What is the name of the restaurant that Gusteau owns in Ratatouille?
31. How many Academy Awards has Walt Disney personally won?
People guess high. They don’t guess high enough. Walt Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards won by a single person, and the number is genuinely absurd.
32. In Mulan, what is the name of her dragon companion?
33. What was the last film Walt Disney personally supervised before his death in 1966?
This one trips people up because the film came out after he died. He was deeply involved in its production but didn’t live to see its release.
34. In Lilo & Stitch, what is Stitch’s experiment number?
If you know it, you know it instantly. If you don’t, no amount of thinking will get you there.
35. What is the only Disney Renaissance film (1989-1999) where the title character doesn’t sing?
Think carefully. Run through the list. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King… Ariel sings. Belle sings. Aladdin sings. Simba sings. Keep going.
36. What is Goofy’s son’s name in A Goofy Movie?
37. In Moana, what is the name of the demigod voiced by Dwayne Johnson?
38. What was Disney’s first PG-13 rated film?
People always guess something from the 2000s. It’s older than that.
39. What real-life castle inspired Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland?
40. In The Emperor’s New Groove, what animal does Emperor Kuzco get turned into?
41. What is the name of the pub in Tangled where Rapunzel and Flynn Rider end up?
42. Which Disney character was the first to speak in a Disney animated feature?
The Magic Mirror. Not the Evil Queen. The mirror speaks first, and people always assume the villain initiates the conversation.
43. What is the name of the fictional country in The Princess Diaries?
44. In Coco, what is the name of the Land of the Dead’s most famous musician, the one Miguel idolizes?
45. What does EPCOT stand for?
This is one of those questions where knowing the answer makes you see the park completely differently. Walt Disney had a vision for EPCOT that was nothing like the theme park it became.
46. What is the name of the sea witch’s eel henchmen in The Little Mermaid?
47. In Hercules, how many Muses narrate the story?
48. What is the only Disney animated film with a title character who doesn’t appear until roughly 20 minutes into the movie?
This is a judgment call, and I’ve had to defend my answer more than once. But the pattern holds.
49. What flavor is the grey stuff in Beauty and the Beast?
“Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious.” If you’ve been to the Be Our Guest restaurant at Walt Disney World, you’ve actually tasted it.
50. Who voiced Mufasa in the original 1994 The Lion King?
51. In Toy Story, what is the name of Sid’s dog?
Quick pull from the back of your memory. This one separates the people who watched Toy Story from the people who lived it.
52. What is the only Disney Renaissance film to receive a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards?
53. In Zootopia, what kind of animal is the protagonist Judy Hopps?
54. What is the name of the sword in The Sword in the Stone?
55. Which Pixar film was the first to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature?
The category didn’t exist until 2001. People assume Toy Story won it, but the timeline doesn’t work.
56. In Pocahontas, what is the name of John Smith’s ship?
57. What was the first Disney Channel Original Movie?
If you said High School Musical, you’re off by over a decade.
58. In Inside Out, what are the five core emotions represented?
59. What is the name of the horse in Tangled?
60. Which Disney princess is left-handed?
This is one of those details that animators snuck in and fans caught decades later.
61. What was the original name of Mickey Mouse before Walt Disney changed it?
Walt’s wife Lillian talked him out of the original name, and thank God she did.
62. In Bambi, what is the first word Bambi says?
63. Which Disney park attraction has the most Audio-Animatronic figures?
64. What is the Pizza Planet truck, and what’s special about it in the context of Pixar films?
65. In Fantasia, what piece of classical music plays during the sorcerer’s apprentice sequence?
66. What is the name of the code that all Pixar films allegedly follow, connecting them in a shared universe?
67. In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, what is the name of the villain?
He’s arguably the darkest villain in Disney’s animated canon. His song “Hellfire” still feels like it shouldn’t exist in a children’s movie.
68. How many brothers does Prince Hans have in Frozen?
Anna mentions this number in conversation and most people register it as “a lot” without locking in the actual figure.
69. What was the first animated film to be nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival?
It’s a Disney film, and it got a standing ovation that reportedly lasted for minutes.
70. What does Rapunzel’s lantern scene in Tangled reference in terms of real-world festivals?
71. In the Disney parks, what is the address of the Haunted Mansion in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom?
If you’ve looked closely at the ride queue, you might know this. If you haven’t, this is a pure guess.
72. Which Disney animated film has the shortest runtime?
Among the canonical Walt Disney Animation Studios films, one clocks in at barely over an hour.
73. What is the name of the A113 Easter egg, and why does it appear in so many Pixar and Disney films?
74. In Encanto, what is the name of the miracle that gives the Madrigal family their powers?
75. Walt Disney was famously cryogenically frozen after his death. True or false?
I save this one for the end of every Disney round because it’s the single most believed piece of Disney misinformation in existence. I’ve watched people bet money on it. I’ve seen arguments nearly end friendships. The story has been repeated so many times, in so many places, with such conviction, that it feels true. It has the shape of truth. It fits the narrative of a man obsessed with the future, with innovation, with cheating the ordinary limits of things. And that’s exactly why it persists. The best myths aren’t the ones that sound crazy. They’re the ones that sound like they should be true.
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