Sara Franks-Allen

If 'The Little Mermaid' put Disney back in the animated fairy tale game, 'Beauty and the Beast' proved that they were back to stay. The film was a huge hit for Disney, earning both box office success and critical acclaim. It was even the first animated movie ever to be nominated for the top Oscar prize of Best Picture.

For over 40 years, The Muppets of 'Sesame Street' have been teaching children in the U.S. to read, count, recognize shapes and play well with others. Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and the rest are nationally known superstars...

Disney has long been synonymous with G-rated fun and family entertainment. But lurking in between the cheerful songs and happy endings are some of the scariest scenes ever to terrify young audiences.

A Disney animated feature goes through several edits and re-writes before it ever makes it to the big screen. Sometimes for the better -- without cuts, we would've seen a comical turkey voiced by John Candy in 'Pocahontas.' Here are 10 Disney characters who join Redfeather in the league of those who didn't quite make the cut.

Sunflower appeared in the “Pastoral Symphony” segment of 'Fantasia.' She is a young, black, female centaur (Centauride according to legend, "centaurette" according to Disney) who helps the other centaurettes shine their hooves and adorn their tails in preparation to meet the centaurs...

A predecessor to both Thumper and his never seen but often referenced father, Mr. Hare was inspired by Friend Hare from Felix Salten's original book 'Bambi: A Life in the Woods.' Mr. Hare was well respected in the woods as the head of a large family and a gifted philosopher and storyteller, traits which may have inspired Thumper's father's frequent moralizing...

The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle are among the bizarre characters Alice encounters in Lewis Carroll's original book. One is a traditional fantasy creature, a stately lion-eagle hybrid. The other is a beast from Carroll and illustrator John Tenniel's imaginations combining a turtle with the parts of a calf commonly found in mock turtle soup...

Walt Disney was interested in making an animated film based on Margery Sharp's 'Rescuers' novels about heroic mice helping people in distress. But he wasn't too keen on the plot of the first novel, in which Bernard and Bianca come to the aid of an imprisoned poet...

The music box was an enchanted object featured in early drafts of the 'Beauty and the Beast' script. He communicates only through music and was originally the character who stowed away with Belle when she leaves the castle to find her ailing father...

'Aladdin' is absolutely littered with abandoned characters. At one time, Aladdin had a mother (you can listen to her deleted song, 'Proud of Your Boy,' here), a second genie who lived in a ring and three layabout buddies named Babkak, Omar and Kassim...

Before Meeko the raccoon and Flit the hummingbird came along, Pocahontas told her troubles to a talking turkey named Redfeather. Redfeather was voiced by John Candy and was to have provided much of the film's comic relief. John Candy's death in 1994 may not have helped matters, but much of Redfeather's dialogue had already been recorded prior to the comedian's untimely demise...

At one point in the development of 'The Lion King,' Nala had a younger brother named Mheetu or Mee-Too, a faux-African play on the phrase "me too." His name suggests a desire to tag along with the two older cubs and their other friend, a bat-eared fox...

Music Box, 'Beauty and the Beast' The music box was an enchanted object featured in early drafts of the 'Beauty and the Beast' script. He communicates only through music and was originally the character who stowed away with Belle when she leaves the castle to find her ailing father...