Tennessee in Disney Films and Shows

In 1923, Walt Disney signed a contract with M. J. Winkler to produce a series of Alice Comedies. This would officially mark the beginning of the Walt Disney Company!

As the Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2023, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some times Tennessee was in Disney films and shows!

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The Simpsons

This one’s a stretch, because The Simpsons weren’t owned by Disney at the time, but they are now, and this episode’s on Disney+ so I’m counting it!

In the episode, Bart on the Road, Bart, Milhouse, Martin, and Nelson are excited to learn about the World’s Fair in Knoxville, TN. Bart forges a fake driver’s license and the kids head off to East Tennessee. Only, one problem… it’s 1996 and the World’s Fair was in 1982! When they arrive to World’s Fair Park, the area is in ruins and the Sunsphere is now being used by the Knoxville Wig Outlet to store wigs.

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Cars

While the 2006 Pixar film, Cars, never outright mentions Tennessee, the opening race takes place at Motor Speedway of the South. Any NASCAR fan will be able to notice that the speedway was inspired by Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN.

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Ernest

Several of the Ernest films, including Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Scared Stupid, and Ernest Goes to Jail, were shot in and around Nashville, TN. Some standout locations include Montgomery Bell State Park and Camp Marymount (Ernest Goes to Camp) and the Tennessee State Penitentiary (Ernest Goes to Jail).

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Hannah Montana

Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), has the Cyrus family return to their fictional hometown of Crowley Corners, TN. While the town in the movie isn’t real, the filming location wasn’t too far from Miley Cyrus’ real hometown, Franklin, TN.

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Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett was a five part serial that ran from 1954-1955. The episodes were later combined to make two movies, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. Some of the filming locations took place in the Great Smoky Mountains, however, they were on the North Carolina side. The Tennessee connection is, of course, that the real Davy Crockett is from Limestone, TN and the theme song, The Ballad of Davy Crockett, starts with the lyrics, “Born on a mountain top in Tennessee. Greenest state in the land of the free.”

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The Country Bears

This 2002 film is based on the Disney park attraction, The Country Bear Jamboree. The movie follows a bear country rock group that splits up, but almost a decade later they learn that Country Bear Hall is threatened with destruction from a greedy banker. The bears set out to get the band back together and hold a benefit concert to save the hall. Sounds terrible? It was.

Oh, and the movie was mostly filmed in Franklin, TN. Now, let’s all go back to forgetting this movie existed.

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The Jungle Book

When I say Disney’s The Jungle Book, you probably think of either the 1967 animated film or the 2016 live-action adaptation. What I’m talking about here, however, is the 1994 live-action film. The movie was filmed in several locations including Jodhpur, Bombay, and South Carolina.

Scenes featuring Baloo and the wolf pack, were filmed in the Ozone Falls State Natural Area and Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee.

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This was so much fun for me! It’s also a big reason why I started Tenn-I-See in the first place. It’s not just to share things that maybe you didn’t know about Tennessee with you, but also, to learn new things myself. Example, I didn’t know The Jungle Book was partially filmed in Tennessee!

It was also fun because I’m a big Disney fan and, like so many others, grew up watching Disney films and shows!

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Walt Disney Company and, who knows, maybe we’ll see more Tennessee in future Disney films!

Happy 100 years of magic, here’s to 100 more!