Movies and TV shows are a huge part of our lives, but there’s always more than meets the eye. From hidden production secrets to fascinating behind-the-scenes moments, the world of entertainment is full of surprises. Get ready to discover 30 unknown facts that will change the way you see your favorite movies and TV shows!

29/30
Hillenburg’s comic evolved into SpongeBob SquarePants.

Marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg created an educational comic, The Intertidal Zone, in the 1980s to teach tide-pool life. He later adapted its characters and concepts into what became SpongeBob SquarePants.

28/30
Augustus Gloop actor discovered fame decades later through fan outreach.

Michael Böllner, who played Augustus Gloop in the 1971 Willy Wonka film, became a tax accountant in Munich. He didn’t know the movie was popular in the U.S. because it wasn’t shown much in Germany. In the 1990s, his old co-stars found him by placing a newspaper ad that said, “Augustus, show a sign.” Since then, he’s joined fan events and reunions, enjoying his surprise fame years later.​

27/30
Shrek 2 actors were paid $10 million for just a few hours of voice acting.

In 2001, after the first Shrek movie did well, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz got a big raise for the sequel. Each was paid $10 million upfront for Shrek 2, much more than the $350,000 they got for the first film. They were expected to work only 15 to 18 hours each. Cameron Diaz, for example, finished her lines in about five hours over two days, making around $1 million per hour.​

26/30
Damon’s Harvard draft kept only his scene with Robin Williams.

Matt Damon wrote the first draft of Good Will Hunting’s first act as a project in a Harvard playwriting class during his fifth year. The only scene that remained unchanged from the original 40-page draft was the first meeting between Damon’s character and Robin Williams’ character.

25/30
WALL-E: Clean energy came too late, atop trash mounds.

In the 2008 film WALL-E, the opening scene depicts wind turbines and cooling towers situated atop massive trash mounds, symbolizing humanity’s delayed shift to cleaner energy sources. This imagery suggests that the adoption of sustainable energy occurred too late to prevent environmental catastrophe.

24/30
Dead maggot used in Shawshank Redemption due to cruelty concerns.

During the filming of The Shawshank Redemption, the American Humane Society objected to a scene where Brooks feeds his crow a live maggot, citing cruelty to the insect. The crew had to delay production until they found a maggot that had died of natural causes to complete the shot.

23/30
Tara Strong’s baby cries caused studio woman’s unexpected lactation.

While recording crying sounds for her character, Dil Pickles, in Rugrats, Tara Strong’s performance was so realistic that it caused a woman in the studio to lactate.

22/30
The Lion King made $2B (film), $3B (merch), $8B (Broadway).

Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King generated massive revenue across multiple platforms. The movie earned over $2 billion globally from box office and home media sales. Its Broadway stage adaptation grossed nearly $8 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing musical of all time. Additionally, merchandising sales contributed an estimated $3 billion to the franchise’s total earnings.

21/30
Lisa Ann Walter’s twin sons share the same birthday as the twins in The Parent Trap.

Lisa Ann Walter, who played Chessy in The Parent Trap (1998), has identical twin sons born on October 11—the same birthday as the film’s twin characters, Annie and Hallie.​