The Prince

The Prince is a character in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Originally planned to play a prominent role, it was ultimately decided that he appear only twice in the film.

=Film and Television Appearances=

Meeting Snow White
The Queen, jealous of her stepdaughter Snow White's beauty, forces her to work as a servant in her castle. As Snow White works, she sings I'm Wishing, attracting the attention of the Prince, who is passing by. As she sings into the well, performing a duet with her echo, she is startled as the Prince suddenly joins in. She runs indoors, and watches from a balcony as he sings One Song. The two are infatuated with each other. Watching from above is the Queen, who angrily closes the curtains of her window in jealousy.

Breaking the Spell
When the Queen arrives, disguised as the Witch, to poison Snow White, she, knowing of the romance between the girl and the Prince, folls her into believing that the Poisoned Apple is a magic wishing apple, capable of making her greatest desire a reality. Snow White wishes to live with the Prince and, taking a bite, falls to the floor, taken by the Sleeping Death. Though the seven dwarfs succeed in chasing the Witch to her doom, Snow White remains uncured; the dwarfs place her in a glass coffin and take her to a clearing in the forest. The Prince hears of this and comes to the clearing. After singing One Song again, he kisses her on the lips, reviving her. He takes her in his arms and puts her on his horse; after saying farewell to the dwarfs, the two ride into the sunset, to his castle, the image of which is shown in the clouds above.

=Behind the Scenes=

Animation
The Prince was the first 'realistic' human male that the Disney animators attempted to bring to life. It was found that the Prince was the hardest of all characters to animate. For this reason, his role in the film was minor; he only makes two appearances in the film. The character was mostly rotoscoped from Lewis Hightower's live-action performance. The Prince was partly animated by Milt Kahl, who would later be given similarly difficult tasks in the animation of Prince Charming in Cinderella and Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty.

Imprisoned by the Queen
It was originally planned that, jealous of the Prince's affections for Snow White, the Queen would have him brought to her, and she would have him locked in her dungeon. As the Witch, she would have made the skeletons in the dungeon get up and dance. She would have left the Prince in the dungeon, and he was to escape in the manner of Errol Flynn, enabling him to reach Snow White and break the spell. After escaping, the forest animals were to tell him where to go; however, only the horse was to understand, however, causing the Prince to take the long route and arrive too late to save Snow White. The idea was abandoned when it was realised how difficult it was to animate the Prince convincingly, and the character only appeared when he needed to to further the story, which centred primarily around the relationship between Snow White and the Queen. However, comics released to promote the film include such scenes; the Witch locks up the Prince and tells him what her plans are for Snow White, telling him that she will win his affections, while the Prince is defiant. Later, as the animators became more experienced at animating human characters, a similar concept was used in Sleeping Beauty, in which Maleficent has Prince Phillip captured and taken to the Forbidden Mountains, where she shows him visions of the future she has planned for him.

Alternate Version of "Someday My Prince Will Come"
Sketches were made for the sequence in which Snow White sings Some Day My Prince Will Come depicting Snow White and the Prince dancing in the clouds, while small, starlike creatures cavort around them. Walt Disney decided instead to show the dwarfs' reactions to Snow White's song. However, the idea was reused, to an extent, in the final moments of Sleeping Beauty, in which Prince Philip and Princess Aurora dance together; their surroundings transform into clouds, presumably to reflect their happiness together. =References=