Emoji Movie Challenge: Can You Decode These 10 Films?

The Lion King (1994)

Fun fact: The opening chant in "Circle of Life" is actual Zulu. The words translate to "Here comes a lion, father / Oh yes, it's a lion." The film earned $968 million worldwide and became the highest-grossing animated film of its time.

Titanic (1997)

Fun fact: The movie cost $200 million to make — more than the actual Titanic ship cost to build in 1912 (approximately $7.5 million, or about $200 million in today's money). James Cameron actually made the budgets match almost exactly by accident.

The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003)

Fun fact: Viggo Mortensen broke two toes kicking the Orc helmet in The Two Towers. The scream of anguish you hear in that scene was completely real. Peter Jackson kept the take because the performance was so genuine.

Jaws (1975)

Fun fact: The mechanical shark was so unreliable during filming that Steven Spielberg had to suggest the shark's presence without showing it, which accidentally made the film far more terrifying. The shark was nicknamed "Bruce" after Spielberg's lawyer.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Fun fact: The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing jelly in a wet T-shirt. Harrison Ford filmed a cameo as Elliott's school principal, but Spielberg cut it because he felt it distracted from the story.

The Matrix (1999)

Fun fact: Will Smith was originally offered the role of Neo but turned it down. He later said it was a good decision because he believes the Wachowskis would not have made the same movie with him — and he's probably right. Keanu Reeves trained for four months in kung fu before filming began.

It (2017)

Fun fact: Bill Skarsgård's creepy smile as Pennywise is real — he can actually move his eyes independently and contort his face in unsettling ways without CGI. The child actors were kept away from him on set to preserve their genuine fear reactions.

Up (2009)

Fun fact: Pixar calculated that it would take 26.5 million balloons to actually lift Carl's house. In the film, they used 10,297 balloons in the "liftoff" sequence. The opening montage of Carl and Ellie's life together is frequently voted one of the most emotional sequences in cinema history.

Frozen (2013)

Fun fact: "Let It Go" was almost cut from the film. After writing the song, the creators realized it was so powerful that they rewrote the entire movie to make Elsa a more sympathetic character instead of a villain, which was the original plan.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Fun fact: Johnny Depp based Captain Jack Sparrow on Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Disney executives were reportedly horrified by Depp's performance during filming and considered firing him, but director Gore Verbinski defended the choice. The film went on to earn $654 million worldwide.