They might be considered classics but a web-savvy film buff has found another reason why hit Disney films look so familiar – recycled scenes.

The Swedish teenager, known only as Wetrox, has become a YouTube hit after he spliced together scenes from Disney classics, including Robin Hood and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to show that the movie giant often used the same scenes in different films.

The technique, known as “video referencing”, saves the studio money as a character’s animation can be traced from another film, skipping the phase of painstakingly copying human movement.

Marked similarities can be found between Winnie The Pooh and The Jungle Book and Robin Hood and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

A Disney spokeswoman refused to confirm that the movie giant used the technique today, telling Times Online that “it’s not something that we comment on”, but the company is thought to have used the tracing technique for decades.

Rotoscoping was invented in 1915 and originally used to trace real human movement to the screen, later being employed to trace existing films.

But the technique came as a surprise to most of the 60,000 Disney fans who rushed to view the YouTube clip.

“I feel so ripped off now. All the money I spend on this crap, they could at least come up with some original scenes,” wrote one viewer.

“Our childhoods were based on a lie,” said another.

But others were more understanding. “Considering the extreme amount of work needed to make those movies I'm not surprised if they cut some corners and work with existing templates to speed up the process.”

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• Trailers

• DVD

• London Film Festival

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010