Very often eye doctors get asked certain questions repeatedly. Also, many patients or parents of patients look online for answers to common eye questions, or searching for a diagnosis. As an ophthalmologist, I find it very easy to educate patients on their conditions with visual aids. As a huge Disney fan, I decided to recruit a few of my favorite Disney characters to assist me. So, if you like Disney and want to learn a bit about eyes, here we go!

COMMON   EYE    CONDITIONS:

MYOPIA:

Here is Lewis, from the Disney Movie “Meet The Robinsons.” He has a light case case of myopia, or otherwise known as ‘near-sightedness.’ He, like many people can not see far without glasses, but can see at near. Typically, near-sighted patients wear their glasses all day long to help visualization for daily living.

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HYPEROPIA:

Here we have Edna Mode from Disney/Pixar’s “The Incredibles.” She has a severe case of hyperopia, or far-sightedness. Unfortunately, far-sightedness is a misnomer. Most commonly, people think it means that the person can see far, but not near, however that is incorrect. Far-sighted patients needs glasses not only to see far, but also to see near. If Edna were to remove her glasses, she would probably be blind as a bat.

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PRESBYOPIA:

Often occurring with age, Presbyopia usually develops around the age of 40 years old. Due to the increased difficulty at near, patients with presbyopia need glasses to assist in near-vision. Therefore, this is why most people at the ago of 40 years old (or so) start to need reading glasses. As you can see, Geppetto does not need glasses for distance, but he does need it for near-vision and reading.

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EPIPHORA (Tearing):

Epiphora, or unexplained tearing, is a very common condition. There are many causes, including allergies, dry eyes, foreign bodies, and block tear-drainage systems. In this photo, Alice is obviously over-acting, but this is to teach people about how severe it can become. Most cases are not this bad.

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CONJUNCTIVITIS:

There are many causes of red eyes. Often, conjunctivitis is assumed to be infectious, however, it can also be allergic, seasonal, due to chemicals and other causes. The most common causes are Viral (aka PINK EYE) which is contagious and easily treated, Bacterial which is more rare and often contact lens related, and allergic.

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CONTACT LENSES

Here we have one of the seven dwarfs, Dopey, showing off his new contact lenses. These old-school contact lenses are never recommended, because you can end up looking like Cruella in the above photo.

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DRY EYES:

Hades is also over-acting when portraying the condition of dry eyes, however, it does paint a common picture. Patients with dry eyes often exhibit red eyes that burn and often feel like they are on fire. This can be quite irritating and often severely painful.

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PTOSIS: (pronounced ‘toe-sis’)

Crush unfortunately has a more severe case of ptosis, which is “drooping eyelids.” Usually it affects one eye, therefore making patients think they have a smaller eyeball, when in reality they have one eyelid that droops. In Crush’s case, he has it in both eyelids, which is much more common in the elderly, due to muscle eyelid weakness. Of course, we would expect that with Crush because he is 150 years old (and still young, dude).

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CONGENITAL PTOSIS:

Congenital Ptosis is a drooping eyelid in a child that occurs either from birth or develops at a very young age. Although thought to be a cosmetic problem, it can sometimes be sight-threatening in some cases and should be evaluated immediately once detected to prevent permanent visual loss. Big Baby needs an ophthalmologist, STAT!

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OCULAR TRAUMA:

Although Nick Fury is a character from Marvel, Marvel was bought by Disney, therefore after Mr. Fury begged me to put him in this post, now I can. Ocular trauma unfortunately is a common problem. Remember when your parents said “don’t to that, you can poke someone’s eye out?” Well, I’ve seen it. Ask Mr. Fury!

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EYELID HEMATOMA:

A hematoma is the medical term for a ‘black & Blue mark.’ Of course it can occur on any part of the body, but Yao happened to get one on his eyelid. Sometimes, they can become so large, that they close the eyelids shut, until the black & blue mark disappears. The most common cause is obviously trauma, but can occur with valsalvas, blood thinners, ocular surgery, Botox injections, and some blood clotting disorders.

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PROSTHETIC EYE:

In this picture, Olaf is showing of his new, magical prosthetic eye. Although it does help him see, in humans, they don’t.

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LESS COMMON EYE CONDITIONS:

THYROID EYE DISEASE:

Gurgle, unfortunately has a condition called Graves Disease. This disease is when a person has an overactive thyroid. One of the signs of this disease is eyelid retraction. When the upper eyelid retracts upward, it makes the eyes look larger than they really are and have a “bulging” appearance.

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SEVERE THYROID OPHTHALMICUS:

Although Roger does not really have thyroid eye disease, he is able to make his eyes bulge as if he really did. Roger is just showing off right now, but in severe thyroid eye disease, the eyes truly do bulge out of the socket and are often frozen and can not move. Sometimes the eyes are pushed so far out, that the eyelids can not close and the eyes can dry out. This is an ocular emergency and can require surgery to fix.

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ESOTROPIA (aka ‘inward-turned eye’)

Darla, unfortunately has a condition that is pretty common in children and should be referred to an ophthalmologist right away. It can often be cured with either glasses, patching or surgery, but must be detected early in life to have a good chance of success from treatment.

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ACCOMMODATIVE ESOTROPIA:

Genie is exhibiting a condition where a person displays inturning eye(s), or esotropia, only when looking at near objects. This is often treated with glasses.

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EXOTROPIA (Out-turning eye(s)):

Here, Genie is showing us a severe example where both eyes are turned out at the same time. This is usually not the case. Most likely, a patient will only have one eye that turns out, or they will have either eye turn out, but not at the same time. Once again, this must be detected early in age to have success to treat.

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HYPERTROPIA (up-turned eye):

I asked Doc to help out a little. He said he can show us one eye turning up, while the other looks straight. This is a very rare condition. Thanks Doc!

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ECTROPION (out-turned eyelids):

Mr. Bones has very irritated eyes, because of his ectropion of both lower eyelids. If you look at his eyelids, you will see they are drooping outwards, away from his eyeballs. This causes a space where the eyelids do not touch the eyeballs causing severe dryness and irritation. This is usually treated with surgery.

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HYPERTELORISM:

Anchor was born with a rare congenital ocular disorder called HYPERTELORISM. It is a condition where the eyes are spaced very far apart from each other. This is usually associated with other facial and skull deformities, just like Anchor has.

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BLEPHAROSPASM:

In this photo, Beast is suffering from Blepharospasm. This is an uncontrolled forceful blink that can be short or last a few seconds. Often associated with allergies or tics, it can can also occur for other reasons. In adults this can be treated with Botox, which is why Beast looks like a handsome prince at the end of the movie (spoiler-alert).

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7th CRANIAL NERVE PALSY / BELLS PALSY:

Although no one acts like Gaston or spits like Gaston, he is suffering from a common problem. In this condition, the Facial Nerve, which is the nerve that controls movement of half of your face, can stop working. This will cause one eye not to be able to close (aka Bells Palsy), and sometimes occur with a down-turned lips on one side (aka Complete 7th Nerve Palsy). This is often treated with ocular lubricants and resolves on it own within 6 weeks-4 months.

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ANOPHTHALMOUS:

The Horned King was born with no eyeballs. Anophthalmous is a congenital birth defect where a baby is born without an eyeball, or rarely no eyeballs at all. Luckily this is rare and has no cure to date.

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CYCLOPIA:

Mr. Wazowski is the worlds most popular cyclops. Born with one central eye. In humans, though, the one central eye usually does not see and this condition is usually associated with multiple facial abnormalities. Babies born with Cyclopia, usually have so many congenital abnormalities that they usually do not survive. Luckily for us, Mr. Wazowski did survive, despite not being born with a nose or second eye, and has been making us all laugh since 2001. Mr. Wazowski now works in Tomorrowland, DisneyWorld, where he works on the Laugh Floor Comedy Factory.

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JAUNDICE:

Cheshire Cat, unfortunately has a case of jaundice, which is a yellowing of the skin and eyeballs. Although it is hard to see on Cheshire’s skin, his eyes are exhibiting the classic yellow appearance seen in jaundice. This is usually a sign of liver disease and once detected, a liver workup should be ordered immediately. This can also occur in babies, after birth. This occurs when bilirubin builds up in the blood. Babies with jaundice should be sent to the pediatrician immediately.

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NEVUS OF OTA:

Patch was born with this birth defect called Nevus of Ota. A Nevus is a medical term for a freckle. In this case, it is a large darkening of the skin of the eyelids and periorbital area on one side of the face. Although a cosmetic defect, it is sometimes associated with Glaucoma in the eye surrounded by the nevus, therefore requiring close follow-up with an ophthalmologist.

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WILSON’S DISEASE:

Although this condition is usually considered hematologic, due to excess copper build-up in the blood, it does have classic eye findings. Despite the copper-like skin, a small ring of copper develops on the cornea (called a Kayser-Fleischer Ring) and slowly gets larger with time. Once treated, the copper-corneal ring disappears.

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TRICLOPIA:

Not yet seen in humans!

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I hope you enjoyed our demonstration, and if you have any Disney Characters that have other ocular conditions that need diagnosis, please post it here or ask away and I will be sure to come up with a diagnosis. Just make sure your Disney character has insurance. ENJOY!