 USPS stamp honoring Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 animated feature by The Walt Disney Company in which a jealous queen tries to have her stepdaughter murdered, but instead the girl is given shelter by seven dwarves who live deep in a forest. The film was distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, premiering on December 21, 1937, and going into general release on February 4, 1938. The film was the first major animated feature made in the United States, the most successful motion picture released in 1938, and, adjusted for inflation, is the tenth highest-grossing film of all time.
The movie was adapted by Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith from the fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm. The names of the dwarves (Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy) were created for this production. The film was supervised by David Hand, and directed by William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen.
Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. Both his brother Roy Disney and his wife Lillian attempted to talk him out of it, and the Hollywood movie industry mockingly referred to the film as "Disney's Folly" when it was in production. He even had to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which eventually ran up a total negative cost of just over $1.5 million, a whopping sum for a feature film in 1937.
Snow White, which spent three years in production, was the end result of Walt Disney's plan to improve the production quality of his studio's output, and also to find another source of income than short subjects. Many animation techniques which later became standards were developed or improved for the film, including the animation of realistic humans (with and without the help of the rotoscope), effective character animation (taking characters that look similar-the dwarfs, in this case--and making them distinguished characters through their body acting and movement), elaborate effects animation to depict rain, lightning, water, reflections, sparkles, magic, and other objects and phenomena, and the use of the multiplane camera. Snow White is also looked upon as a triumph of storytelling skill in animation.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater on December 21, 1937 to a widely receptive audience (many of whom were the same naysayers who dubbed the film "Disney's Folly"), who gave the film a standing ovation at its completion. RKO Radio Pictures put the film into general release on February 4 1938, and it went on to become a major box-office success, making more money than any other motion picture in 1938. In fact, for a short time, Snow White was the highest grossing film in American cinema history; it was removed from that spot by Gone With the Wind in 1940.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated feature made in English and Technicolor, and won an honorary Academy Award for Walt Disney "as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field." Disney received a full-size Oscar statuette and seven miniature ones, presented to him by Shirley Temple.
The movie was also nominated for Best Music, Score. Well-known songs from the film include: "Heigh-Ho," "Some Day My Prince Will Come," and "Whistle While You Work."
Trivia
- There is an easy way to remember the names of the dwarves. There are three emotions (Happy, Grumpy, Bashful), two D's (Dopey, Doc), and two S's (Sleepy, Sneezy).
A version with live actors based on the film, titled Snow White: The Fairest of Them All and starring Kristin Kreuk, was made in 2002.
Voice cast
- Adriana Caselotti (Snow White)
- Harry Stockwell (Prince)
- Lucille La Verne, (The Queen/Witch)
- Moroni Olsen, (Magic Mirror)
- Billy Gilbert (Sneezy)
- Pinto Colvig (Sleepy/Grumpy)
- Otis Harlan (Happy)
- Scotty Mattraw (Bashful)
- Roy Atwell (Doc)
- Stuart Buchanan (Humbert, The Queen's Huntsman)
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