I Found 13 Film Urban Legends That Are Actually Totally Fake
Over the years, some very weird urban legends have developed around popular movies. From secret messages to on-set incidents, these very bizarre and sometimes dark rumors have only been amplified in the age of the internet.
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So, I compiled a list of urban legends from movies that are as wild as they are false:
1.No, you can't pause and see Jessica Rabbit's vagina in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
One of the more perverse entries on this list has to go to Jessica Rabbit's spinning fall after a car wreck in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. A rumor swirled that there is a frame in this scene where you can see up Jessica's dress and get a "graphic" view.
This is not true. Although you can see up her dress for a frame, the animators did not — and I can't believe I have to say this — draw her genitalia. That didn't stop a lot of pervs from trying to freeze their VHS tapes at this exact moment.
2.No, you can't see a munchkin hanging in the background of The Wizard of Oz.
Maybe the darkest film rumor was that you can see a munchkin dangling in the background during a scene in The Wizard of Oz.
This is the most infamous fake movie fact that is also the darkest. It has all the elements: darkness, intrigue, mystery...but most importantly: fiction. There are no records of anyone dying on set, never mind an actor taking their own life. It's a beloved movie, and like most beloved movies, people try to generate new fun facts and "you missed this" moments.
It's time to officially retire this one and accept that conspiracy theorists got their way by making this fake story stay alive for this long.
3.No, the munchkin actors didn't have wild orgies during the filming of The Wizard of Oz.
Staying in Oz, there's a very crude urban legend that the actors that portrayed the munchkins were having wild parties and orgies in their hotel every day after filming.
This urban legend all started from Judy Garland, who made an appearance on a late-night show, claiming munchkin actors threw wild orgies and would swing off the hotel chandeliers. There is no fact around this story other than a probably nervous celebrity on a late night show trying to make little people the butt of the joke.
4.No, you don't see the words "SEX" during a scene in The Lion King.
In a scene in The Lion King, Simba plops down on the grass and kicks up a cloud of dust. People were quick to claim that, if you pause the scene, the dust spells out the word "SEX" in the night sky. (Also, my new band name is going to be "Sex in the Night Sky.")
What we really see animated in this moment are the letters "SFX" as a little Easter egg for the special effects department. Like many of the entries on this list, the believers will deny that and say it's just a cover. Keep having fun drawing your weirdly-shaped "E," ya conspiracy theorists.
5.No, Leonardo DiCaprio doesn't rub his real blood on Kerry Washington's face in Django Unchained.
People are going to throw a fit about this one in the comments, but here we go:
In Django Unchained, people claim and share the wild story that Leonardo DiCaprio smears his own blood all over Kerry Washington's face because they were so in the moment of the scene.
This one is a classic example of trying to make a real movie fun fact even more extreme. Yes, DiCaprio sliced his hand on a glass. BUT, the blood he wipes on Kerry Washington's face was done with fake blood they poured on DiCaprio's hand between takes after wrapping the wound up. There are clearly cuts within the scene and disproportionate amounts of blood on DiCaprio's hand from shot to shot. Just because people, and even actors, try to pump up a behind-the-scenes moment, doesn't make it true (see, again: Judy Garland claiming the munchkin actors had orgies).
I'll say this, if I were DiCaprio, I would come out and confirm this, because otherwise, he rubbed his own blood on his Black co-star's face while in character as a slave owner. I certainly wouldn't want that for my public image.
6.No, The Crow didn't use Brandon Lee's real death in the final cut of the film.
One of the worst offenders when it comes to dark movie "facts": that the take in which Brandon Lee was shot on set was actually used in the film.
Not only is it wildly disrespectful, but do you really think filmmakers would edit and add this into the final cut?
7.No, Robert Shaw wasn't really drunk for his Indianapolis speech in Jaws.
During his speech below deck in Jaws, some people spread the false story that Shaw performed this brilliant scene while extremely drunk.
While there are recorded statements about Shaw's drinking habits on set, the truth of the story is that he couldn't properly film the scene the initial day because he was so drunk. The final product you see on screen is him sobered up the following day.
8.No, Stanley Kubrick didn't spike actors' drinks in The Shining.
One rumor about horror classic The Shining is that director Stanley Kubrick spiked some of his actors' drinks to amplify their emotions and paranoia.
This is not true. Kubrick's treatment of actor Shelley Duvall is well-documented and criticized, but there is no actual proof of Kubrick spiking her or any of the actors' drinks. The internet strikes again.
9.No, you can't see a ghost in the background during a scene in Three Men and a Baby.
People actually believe a ghost can be seen in a shot from Three Men and a Baby.
It's a cardboard cutout, people.
And ghosts aren't real. (Yeah, I said it.)
Next.
10.No, Viggo Mortensen didn't have a real knife thrown at him by accident in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
LOTR fans are filled to the brim with fun facts. Google the words "Aragorn" and "toe," and I promise you won't regret it. But one untrue fun fact is that Viggo Mortensen, during the final fight in Fellowship of the Ring, blocked a real knife with his sword after it was accidentally thrown at his face.
While a knife is thrown at Mortensen, according to director Peter Jackson, it was a planned and controlled stunt. Seriously, do you think an actor would "accidentally" throw a real knife at another person's head?
11.No, Braveheart wasn't filmed in three weeks.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and Braveheart wasn't shot in three weeks.
One of the weirdest fake stories, which can only be described as people misinterpreting a real fun fact, is that the entire movie only took three weeks to film.
Peddlers of this fake fact are most likely mistaking how the production had spent six weeks filming on location in Scotland...before filming in other nearby locations.
12.No, milk wasn't the substitute for the rain in Singin' in the Rain.
One very weird fun myth is that, during Gene Kelly's famous number when he sings in the rain in that one movie, the droplets are actually milk.
Now, using milk to mix into rainwater was a strategy for some filmmakers to make rain more prominent on-screen, but there is no confirmed report that the rain in the famous dance scene is, in fact, even partially milk. Plus, the urban legend has literally evolved into it being straight-up milk, not just a mix.
Whether believers of this fake fact think the milk is 2% or soy, I just don't know.
13.No, a stunt person didn't die during the chariot race in Ben-Hur.
Another old school myth that older generations still believe to this day is that during the chariot race in Ben-Hur, one of the falling chariot riders is trampled to death by the horses.
There is no record of anyone dying on the set of Ben-Hur. Interestingly enough, the same fake actor name used as the victim is used for other fake movie urban legends, too. And, again, like the Brandon Lee death, it is pretty disrespectful to think filmmakers would leave something like that in the final product.
