Part 4: Disney Tidbits, Magic Kingdom, The Castle

Let's move to the Castle before we transition to Fantasyland.  Here a few things you might not have known or noticed about the Castle!

• Behind the castle is a fountain with Cinderella.  If you bend down and look at the fountain, the crown on the back wall appears to crown Cinderella.
• When you take a walk down Main Street, take a good close look at the castle.  You will notice that the "bricks" get smaller the higher up the castle goes.  The Imagineers called it the "forced perspective" technique.  The castle looks a little taller than it would if all the "bricks" were the same size.  
• Inside the walls of the walk-through of the castle are several mosaics.  On the mosaic wall farthest from the entrance are the two stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella.  The mosaic shows one of them with a red face and the other with a green face.  Red with Rage and Green with envy!!!  
• Approximately 1,000,000 mosaics to make up the scenes.  
• If you sit on the stone ledge on the side of the castle, you will hear Stitch giggle and tell you to be quiet because he's hiding.
• At Cinderella's Royal Table, in the room where you get your picture taken with Cinderella, there is a flag on the wall that is actually the Disney Family Crest. It is the flag with the Three Lions on it. 
• There are approximately 3.37 million gallons of water in the moat that surrounds the Castle. 
• 13 intricately carved, winged gargoyles appear on the outside of the castle. 
• Reportedly the most photographed building in the world, Cinderella Castle, standing at the entrance to Fantasyland, stands as one of the tallest structures in the Magic Kingdom, at 189 feet tall. Inside the Castle, a series of five incredible, mosaic murals tells the story of Cinderella.
  Designed by Imagineer Dorothea Redmond and crafted and set in place by a team of six artists led by mosaicist Hanns-Joachim Scharff, the 15 x 10 foot, ornate panels are shaped in a Gothic arch. The murals took more than two years to complete, and contain hundreds of thousands of pieces of Italian glass and rough smalti (glass made specifically for mosaics traditionally used by Italian craftsmen) in over 500 colors. Many of the hand-cut tiles are fused with sterling silver and 14-carat gold, and some are as small as the head of a tack.   
• The restaurant in Cinderella Castle was originally know as King Stefan's Banquet Hall, and was renamed Cinderella's Royal Table on April 28, 1997. Oddly enough, King Stefan was actually Sleeping Beauty's father, and not Cinderella's. 
• From the MK's central hub, Cinderella Castle acts as the main entrance to Fantasyland, located in the parks' northernmost area. The Castle is closely themed with Fantasyland, acting as a gateway to the medieval village. If you look carefully, you will notice that many of the entrances to the attractions look like tents from a medieval fair!  
• The lower walls of the castle are more like a fortress, designed to protect the village beyond. Note the moat surrounding the structure and the battlements and arrow slits for defense. The upper reaches of the castle are more refined and detailed, befitting the elegance of the Princess who lives here. The gargoyles on the towers may seem imposing, but are actually typical of French gothic architecture. They serve as water spouts, helping with drainage and protecting the castle from a buildup of rainwater.
• The family crest cast in stone above each entrance to the castle is actually the Disney family coat of arms. Whether this is the crest historically associated with the Disney name or just one that Walt Disney picked out is a matter for debate. In any case, this bit of Hidden Disney is appropriate here, since lions as charges on coats of arms were common among ruling families of several European states.
• The clock on the castle is an important symbol from the Cinderella story, but it's also full of details representative of the period. The Roman numeral for "4" is shown as IIII (the use of IV is more modern in nature), and the arms of the clock include astronomical symbols used to indicate such things as the relative position of the sun, moon and zodiacal constellations.
• Of course, while there are elements here that come from the story of Cinderella, you might notice that this castle looks nothing like the one seen in Disney's 1950 animated classic Cinderella. That's because that was the King's castle. The castle in the Magic Kingdom is truly Cinderella's castle, the home built by the King as a wedding present for his son, Prince Charming, and his new daughter-in-law.
• Out back is the beautiful La Fontaine de Cendrillon, depicting our Lady's humble beginnings as a scullery maid in the Tremaine household. (Remember, her actual name is Ella Tremaine. "Cinder Ella" is a nickname given her by those wicked stepsisters.)   
• Behind the castle is Sir Mickey's, a shop with two distinct identities, two "wings" of sorts. The southern wing of the shop continues the French Gothic look of Cinderella Castle and is home to the Armory, outfitting the brave Knights whose task it is to defend the Kingdom.  Some of those Knights can be seen just outside, in the form of Donald Duck and his mischievous nephews. They're leaving their own armor at the door, as instructed. On the wall hangs a banner, warning of a giant at large. Huey has irreverently scribbled a mustache on the face of the giant, but we should take heed. The big guy may just "pop up" later on in the Sir Mickey's story.  Inside the Knights' keep, the decor is decidedly masculine, quite different from nearby Castle Couture. Heavy beams and candle-filled iron chandeliers dominate the room. Scattered about are a selection of shields, armor and weaponry awaiting use.  A door at one end of the room bears a crest featuring a two-headed eagle, an ancient heraldic image symbolizing strength and courage. The Knights will need plenty of both if they plan to defend against that giant. Of course, I understand that he who vanquishes said giant will earn fifty golden pazoozahs and the hand of the fair Princess Minnie!  
• Moving away from the castle, we start into the Kingdom of Fantasyland itself, where we come upon the second half of Sir Mickey's. This is the village tailor's shop, taking its inspiration from the Mickey Mouse short cartoons "The Brave Little Tailor" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk."  From the outside, we see that the beanstalk which grew that night when Mickey dropped the magic beans on the ground is alive and well, pushing up through the cottage and reaching skyward. The monster vine has even ripped the Sir Mickey's sign off the front of the building and is starting to carry it along.  Above the door is a painting of Happy Valley, where Mickey and the gang live in "Mickey and the Beanstalk." As the story goes, once the giant was vanquished all the residents of Happy Valley were "valley" happy. The keys found in the shop also reference this story and Mickey, Donald and Goofy's attempt to rescue the singing harp.  From "The Brave Little Tailor" come the props that help set the scene of the village tailor's shop: scissors, needle, thread, ribbon. Even the hands of the clock are blades from a pair of scissors.  The front window gives us a peek into Mickey's tailoring workshop. Of course, if we need something mended, we're out of luck. It seems Mickey is out giant hunting. He no doubt got roped into the job. Probably shouldn't have bragged so much about killing seven with one blow (especially since he meant flies and not giants).  Ducking back inside, we might just be lucky enough to catch Mickey before he heads up the beanstalk. If he's paying attention, though, he'll realize he doesn't have to go far. The giant has come down to pay him a visit.  Lifting up the roof and peeking into the cottage is Willie the giant himself. Willie made his first appearance in the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of Fun & Fancy Free (1947). Later, he took on a much friendlier role as the Ghost of Christmas Present in the animated featurette "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983), where he walked through the village lifting up rooftops just as he's seen doing here.