5 famous cartoon characters who actually existed

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The dreamlike atmosphere of the drawn animated worlds always seems fictional. However, there are some cartoons that are based on real events. Most often these are heroic stories, and the filmmakers in them are roughly trying to retell real events, but sometimes fantasy takes the animators very far from reality.

Pocahontas

The daughter of the leader of the Indian tribe, who saved the English captain from death and was then presented to the court, really lived at the beginning of the 17th century. The name, strange in the eyes of Europeans, is a nickname given to the girl by her father, it translates as "little spoiled girl, naughty girl." Pocahontas was only 12 years old when she covered the "white alien from overseas" with her body and managed to save him from angry fellow tribesmen. The story of the miraculous deliverance from death is known from the story of John Smith himself. Historians, however, do not exclude that in this way the girl, at the behest of her father, performed the ancient ritual of "execution and rescue" - this is how the Indians tried to instill respect for themselves in the white settlers.

Then another man, the settler John Ralph, became the chosen one of the Indian princess, and since the details of this love triangle are not really known, in numerous novels, movies and cartoons, the fact of the presence of two gentlemen, each of which is important for the narrative, is explained in different ways. Together with her husband, Pocahontas really visited England, was introduced to the court, but on the way back, the young woman contracted smallpox and died at the age of 22.

In culture, this girl left a bright mark. Most likely, she really was an extraordinary person. Her fate has repeatedly inspired writers and filmmakers to create touching and sad stories about the conquest of America. One of the most famous creations was the Disney cartoon released in 1994.

Mulan

Historians are not one hundred percent sure whether such a girl existed or not, but the likelihood of this is high, because in the poem "Song of Mulan" there are quite a lot of reliable facts about her - the approximate years of her life and the place of the events that took place. The poem was written in the 6th century, but the original version has not survived, so we know about it from a later version, which dates back to the 12th century.

The story of a girl who pretended to be a man and went to war instead of her old father is so interesting and touching that, in principle, it does not require any "revision", although, of course, the talking dragon and the tame cricket really revived the story. Disney's work has helped Mulan win the hearts of audiences all over the world. In total, this story has been filmed more than ten times.

Anastasia

This cartoon was well received by foreign audiences in 1997, and more coolly - by historians, some figures of Orthodox culture and the descendants of the Romanovs themselves. The story is based on the famous musical of the 1950s, which tells the story of the miraculous rescue of one of the children of the royal family.

Numerous false Romanovs did appear for several decades after the tragic events. According to various estimates, there were about 230 such impostors all over the world. They gained popularity for some time, attracted a certain number of fans who believed in a miraculous salvation, but then quickly enough they were exposed or disappeared themselves. Therefore, the story told in the cartoon is undoubtedly the fantasy of the authors.

Balto

But the heroism of this dog is beyond doubt. A dog with that name really became the hero of the Great Race of Mercy. In 1925, a diphtheria epidemic broke out in the settlement of Nome in Alaska. It was required to bring the serum, but the nearest city that could provide assistance was a thousand kilometers away. Due to the weather, the planes could not complete this task, and then it was decided to go all the way on dog sleds.

In total, 150 dogs participated in the incredible race. On the last leg of the 52 km journey to Nome, the serum was carried by Gunnar Kaasen's team led by Balto. Both the man and the dog after that became the national heroes of America. The bronze husky now adorns Central Park in New York, and every American schoolchild knows the story of saving a small northern town from a terrible disease.

Aristocratic cats

This cartoon is difficult to suspect of authenticity, because the cats in it sing jazz and resist the machinations of the evil butler, but the film is based on the story of Tom McGowan. It tells a story that really happened in 1910 in Paris. The family of cats then received a huge inheritance from a loving mistress, which caused numerous rumors. The collective image of a servant, who is offended by such a decision, was probably also created for a reason, because the feelings of people who have worked in a rich house all their lives, but who feel lower in status and importance than pets, are very understandable.

In addition to real heroes, sometimes real stars become "actors" in cartoons: 5 Hollywood actors who became the prototypes of Disney cartoon characters