Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, premiered on December 21, 1937, and was originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on February 8, 1938. The film is an adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairytale; an evil queen attempts to have her stepdaughter Snow White murdered, but the girl escapes and is given shelter by seven in their cottage in a forest. It is generally considered to be Walt Disney's most significant achievement. Snow White 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. It was the first full-length animated feature made in English and Technicolor. It was not the first animated feature, as has sometimes been claimed (the first animated film was The Apostle, made in 1917 by Quirino Cristiani in Argentina), though it is arguably the most influential, against which all other animated features are judged. The movie was adapted by Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith and was supervised by David Hand, and directed by William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen. Snow White is particularly memorable for songs like Heigh Ho and Some Day My Prince Will Come, several frightening and intense sequences, and a style influenced by European storybook illustration.

Prologue
An ornately decorated book, filmed in live-action, sets the scene: the Queen, who cares only for being the fairest one of all, is jealous of the beauty of her stepdaughter Snow White. She dresses the princess in rags and forces her to become a maid in her castle. Every morning, she consults her Magic Mirror, asking the spirit within who is the fairest of all. The Magic Mirror tells her that she is the fairest, and for a while she is content.

The Wishing Well
One morning, the Mirror tells the Queen that there is a maiden fairer than she: Snow White. Meanwhile, Snow White is in the courtyard, singing I'm Wishing to herself as she works. The Prince, riding by the castle, hears her voice ad is enchanted by it. He climbs over the castle wall, unseen by Snow White, who is singing to her reflection at the bottom of the wishing well, which is in the middle of the courtyard. The Prince joins in the singing, taking Snow White by surprise; she runs indoors, but when he pleads for her to return she comes to the balcony and listens as he sings One Song to her. Unseen by both, the Queen watches from her window high above. Infuriated at Snow White's beauty (and perhaps jealous for the Prince's affections), she closes the curtains. The Prince blows Snow White a kiss before leaving.

The Flight through the Forest
The Queen summons Humbert the Huntsman, whom she orders to take Snow White to a secluded glade in the forest and, there, kill her; she demands the girl's heart as proof. The Huntsman is reluctant to do so, but is bound by his orders; he takes Snow White deep into the forest, where he lets her gather wild flowers. As Snow White helps a baby bird find its parents, the Huntsman unsheaths his dagger and advances on the princess. When Snow White sees him approaching, she screams; however, Humbert is unable to fulfil his orders and, shaking, drops his dagger. Taking pity on Snow White, he begs her for forgiveness and, warning her of the Queen's intentions, pleads that she run far away. As Snow White flees through the forest, her fear manifests itself in what she sees around her; eventually she falls to the ground in fright. She is befriended by the animals of the forest; she sings With A Smile And A Song and asks them if they know of a place she can stay.

The Cottage of the Seven Dwarfs
The aimals lead her to the Cottage of the Seven Dwarfs, which she finds empty and dirty. Thinking that cleaning the house may persuade the cottage's owners to let her stay, Snow White and the animals clean the cottage and its contents while singing Whistle While You Work. The seven dwarfs, meanwhile, are working in their mine, digging for diamonds. When it is time for them to go home for the day, they march through the forest, singing Heigh Ho.

After cleaning the house, Snow White falls asleep on several of the dwarfs' beds. When the dwarfs see light coming from the cottage, they approach cautiously, thinking that a monster has taken up residence in their home. They search the ground floor of the house, but are afraid to go upstairs. After an unsuccessful attempt by Dopey to chase the 'monster' down, all seven dwarfs venture upstairs to discover Snow White asleep. She wakes up and guesses the name of each dwarf. They allow her to stay (though Grumpy is reluctant). Snow White remembers that she has left soup downstairs and rushes downstairs to prepare it, ordering the dwarfs to wash while they wait. The dwarfs proceed outside to a trough, where all but Grumpy wash themselves; the six other dwarfs later wash Grumpy, dumping him into the trough when supper is ready.



The Heart of a Pig
That evening, the Queen once again consults the Magic Mirror, who tells her that Snow White still lives; the Huntsman has given her a pig's heart. Furious, the Queen descends a spiral staircase, entering her dungeon, where she resolves to do away with the princess herself. She uses potions to transform herself into a witch-like peddler - a disguise to deceive Snow White. She then decides to use a Poisoned Apple to send Snow White into the Sleeping Death. At the cottage, the dwarfs perform The Silly Song to entertain Snow White. She then sings Some Day My Prince Will Come (referring to her romance with the Prince) before sending them up to bed; however, Doc orders the dwarfs to sleep downstairs, allowing Snow White to sleep in their beds upstairs. Meanwhile, the Witch prepares the poisoned apple and, dismissing the possibility that Snow White may be revived by 'love's first kiss' (the only cure for the Sleeping Death), leaves the castle and makes her way to the dwarfs' cottage.



The Poisoned Apple
As the dwarfs leave for the mine the next morning, Snow White kisses each dwarf on the forehead; though Grumpy initially resists, Snow White's kiss sends him into a love-struck stupor. He warns her not to let any strangers into the house. After the dwarfs have left the cottage, the Witch takes Snow White by surprise and offers her the poisoned apple, which Snow White is about to bite until the forest animals, sensing danger, try to attack the Witch. This causes Snow White to take pity on the old woman and take her into the cottage for a glass of water. The animals rush to the mine, and tell the dwarfs of the danger. The dwarfs eventually realize what is happening and, led by Grumpy, hurry back to the cottage. The Witch persuades Snow White to take a bite from the apple by telling her that it is a 'wishing apple'; after biting the fruit, the princess falls into the Sleeping Death and the Witch cackles in triumph, The dwarfs arrive and chase the Witch, eventually cornering her on a cliff, where she attempts to crush them with a boulder but is sent over the cliff by a bolt of lightning. She is devoured (offscreen) by vultures.

Snow White is Revived
The dwarfs and animals mourn Snow White, but find her to be so beautiful, even in death, that they place her in a glass coffin in a peaceful glade in the forest. The Prince arrives and, after singing a reprise of One Song, kisses Snow White; resurrected, she bids farewell to the dwarfs and rides into the sunset with the Prince, to live happily ever after.

Beginnings
Walt Disney had been contemplating venturing into the feature-film format since the early 1930s, toying with the idea of a feature, considering Babes in Toyland (Disney was unable to do this because is was earmarked for Laurel and Hardy by RKO), Rip Van Winkle, or a combination animation/live-action adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. It is thought that Walt Disney first felt that an audience could sit through a feature-length cartoon when he and Roy Disney went to receive an award from the League of Nations (for the creation of Mickey Mouse) in Paris in 1935, where a theatre featured a program of six consecutive Disney shorts. Disney later wrote that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an inevitable and necessary step forward in order for the studio to advance; short subjects, even successes like Three Little Pigs, did not provide the studio with a significant profit. Disney may also have realised the potential of an animated adaptation with new characters after the success of Three Little Pigs. It is thought that Disney was influenced in his decision by his favourite comic actors, including Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin, who had already moved from short subjects to features for similar reasons. Disney revealed, in a magazine article for Photoplay Studies, that, as a boy, he saved some of the money from his newspaper round to see a play of Snow White. In fact, Disney was referring not to a play but a film, starring Marguerite Clark, which he saw in a free showing in the theatre Kansas City Convention Centre in 1916; Disney was sitting in one of the top galleries of the theatre. It is unknown whether the film was available for reference during the production of Disney's feature. Disney first revealed his plans for Snow White to his key animators after dinner one evening in 1934, when he gave each of his key animators fifty cents, took them out to dinner, after which he took them to the studio's sound stage, where he told them the story, acting out every part. Despite being reportedly impressed with Disney's telling of the story, the animators were at first nervous that the animeted medium would not sustain the audience's full attention for the length of a feature. Many in Hollywood were even more skeptical, christening the project 'Walt's Folly'. Even Roy O. Disney and Lillian Disney attempted to discourage Walt Disney from continuing with the film. In 1934 Disney estimated the film's budget at $250,000; he was forced to mortgage his house when this eventually ballooned into an impressive $1.5 million. An article of 3 June 1934 reported (presumably jokingly) that, "if, after it is made, he thinks it will disappoint the public, he will destroy it." Later in 1934, it appears Disney planned to have the film completed by early 1936. However, existing evidence suggests that serious preliminary work on the film did not begin until 9 August 1934.

Early Ideas
On 9 August 1934, twenty-one pages of notes - entitled "Snowwhite suggestions" - were compiled by staff writer Richard Creedon, suggesting the principal characters, as well as situations and 'gags' for the story. As Disney had stated at the very beginning of the project, the main attraction of the story for him was the Seven Dwarfs, and their possibilities for 'screwiness' and 'gags'; the three story meetings held in October and attended by Disney, Creedon, Larry Morey, Albert Hurter, Ted Sears and Pinto Colvig were dominated by such subjects. At this point, Disney felt that the story should begin with Snow White's discovery of the Cottage of the Seven Dwarfs. Walt Disney had suggested from the beginning that each of the dwarfs, whose names and personalities are not stated in the original fairy tale, could have individual personalities. The dwarfs names were chosen from a from a pool of about fifty potentials, including Jumpy, Deafy, Dizzey, Hickey, Wheezy, Baldy, Gabby, Nifty, Sniffy, Swift, Lazy, Puffy, Stuffy, Tubby, Shorty and Burpy. The seven finalists were chosen through a process of elimination. . The leader of the dwarfs, required to be pompous, self important and bumbling, was named Doc; others were named for their distinguishing character traits. At the end of the October story meetings, however, only Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Sleepy and Happy of the final seven were named; at this point, Sneezy and Dopey were replaced by 'Jumpy' and an unnamed seventh dwarf. Along with a focus on the characterisations and comedic possibilities of the dwarfs, Creedon’s eighteen-page outline of the story written from the October meetings, featured a continuous flow of gags as well as the Queen's attempt to kill Snow White with a poisoned comb, an element taken from the Grimms’ original story. After persuading Snow White to use the comb, the disguised Queen would have escaped alive, but the dwarfs would have arrived in time to remove it. After the failure of the comb, the Queen was to have the Prince captured and taken to her dungeon, where she would have come to him (story sketches show this event both with the Queen and the Witch) and used magic to bring the dungeon's skeletons to life, making them dance for him and identifying one skeleton as 'Prince Oswald' (an example of the more humourous atmosphere of this original story treatment ). It is written in story notes that the Queen has such magical power only in her own domain, the castle. With the Prince refusing to marry her, the Queen leaves him to his death (one sketch shows the Prince trapped in a subterranean chamber filling with water ) as she makes her way to the dwarfs' cottage with the poisoned apple. The forest animals were to help the Prince escape the Queen's minions and find his horse. The Prince was to ride to the cottage to save Snow White, but took the wrong road (despite warnings from the forest animals and his horse, whom he, unlike Snow White, could not understand). He therefore would not have arrived in time to save her from the Queen, but would have been able to save her with love's first kiss. This plot would not be used in the final film, though many sketches of the scene in the dungeon were made by Ferdinand Hovarth. Other examples of the more comical nature of the story at this point include suggestions for gags with the Witch’s warts and a ‘fat, batty, cartoon type, self-satisfied’ Queen. The Prince was also more of a clown, and was to serenade Snow White in a more comical fashion. Walt Disney encouraged all staff at the studio to contribute to the story, offering five dollars for every 'gag'; such gags included the dwarfs' noses popping over the foot of the bed when they first meet Snow White. .

Reworking
However, Disney was concerned that such a comical approach would lessen the plausibility of the characters and, sensing that more time was needed for the development of the Queen, advised in an outline circulated on 6 November that attention be paid exclusively to “scenes in which only Snow White, the Dwarfs, and their bird and animal friends appear.” The names and personalities of the dwarfs, however, were still “open to change.” A meeting of 16 November resulted in another outline entitled ‘Dwarfs Discover Snowwhite’, which introduced the character of Dopey, who would ultimately prove to be the most successful and popular of the dwarf characterisations. For the rest of 1934 Disney further developed the story by himself, finding a dilemma in the characterisation of the Queen, who he felt could no longer be ‘fat’ and ‘batty’, but a ‘stately beautiful type’ (a possibility already brought up in previous story meetings). Disney did not focus on the project again until the autumn of 1935; it is thought that he may have doubted his, and his studio’s, ability, and that his trip to Europe that summer restored his confidence. At this point Disney and his writers focused on the scenes in which Snow White and the dwarfs are introduced to the audience and each other. He laid out the likely assignments for everyone working on the film in a memorandum of 25 November 1935, and had decided on the personalities of the individual dwarfs. Though it had first been thought that the dwarfs would be the main focus of the story, and many sequences were written for the seven characters; however, at a certain point, it was decided that the main thrust of the story was provided by the relationship between the Queen and Snow White. For this reason, several sequences featuring the dwarfs were cut from the film. The first, which was animated in its entirety before being cut, showed Doc and Grumpy arguing about whether Snow White should stay with them. Another, also completely animated, would have shown the dwarfs eating soup noisily and messily; Snow White (unsuccessfully) attempts to teach them how to eat 'like gentlemen'. A partially animated sequence involved the dwarfs holding a 'lodge meeting' in which they try to think of a gift for Snow White; this was to be followed by the elaborate 'bed building sequence', in which the dwarfs and the forest animals construct and carve a bed for the princess, but was cut, as it was thought to slow down the movement of the story. The soup-eating and bed-building sequences were animated by Ward Kimball, who was sufficiently discouraged by their removal to consider leaving the studio, though he ultimately decided to remain

Inspirational Sketch Artists
The primary authority on the design of the film was inspirational sketch artist Albert Hurter. All designs used in the film, from character's appearances to the look of the rocks in the background, had to meet Hurter's approval before being finalised. Two other inspirational sketch artists contributed to the visual style of Snow White: Ferdinand Hovarth (whose designs were often thought not to be as easily translated into animation as Hurter's, but who produced a number of dark concepts for the film) and Gustaf Tenggren, whose style borrowed from the likes of Arthur Rackham and John Bauer, and thus possessed the European illustration quality that Walt Disney was interested in. Tenggren was used primarily as a colour stylist and to determine the staging and atmosphere of many of the scenes in the film. He also designed the poster for the film and illustrated the press book. However, only Hurter receives a credit for the film, as a character designer. Other artists to work on the film included Joe Grant, whose most significant contribution was the design for the Queen's Witch form.

Design and Animation of Human Characters
Art Babbit, an animator who joined the Disney studio in 1932, invited seven of his colleagues (who worked in the same room as him) to come with him to an art class that he himself had set up at his home in the Hollywood Hills. Though there was no teacher, Babbit had recruited a model to pose for him and his fellow animators as they drew. These ‘classes’ were held weekly; each week, more animators would come. After three weeks, Walt Disney called Babbit to his office and offered to provide the supplies, working space and models required if the sessions were moved to the studio. Babbit ran the sessions for a month until animator Hardie Gramatky suggested that they recruit Don Graham; the art teacher from the Chouinard Institute taught his first class at the studio on 15 November 1932, and was joined by Phil Dike a few weeks later. These classes were principally concerned with human anatomy and movement, though instruction later included action analysis, animal anatomy and acting.

Though the classes were originally described as a ‘brutal battle’, with neither instructor nor students well learned in the other’s craft, the enthusiasm and energy of both parties made the classes stimulating and beneficial for all involved. Graham would often screen Disney shorts and, along with the animators, pick out both strengths and weaknesses. For example, Graham criticised Babbit’s animation of Abner the mouse in The Country Cousin as “taking a few of the obvious actions of a drunk without coordinating the rest of the body”, while praising it for maintaining its humour without getting “dirty or mean or vulgar. The country mouse is always having a good time.” Very few of the animators at the Disney studio had had artistic training (most had been newspaper cartoonists); among these few was Grim Natwick, who had trained in Europe. The animator’s success in designing and animating Betty Boop for the Fleischer cartoons showed an understanding of human female anatomy, and when Walt Disney hired Natwick he was given female characters to animate almost exclusively. Attempts to animate Persephone, the female lead of The Goddess of Spring, had proved largely unsuccessful; Natwick’s animation of the heroine in Cookie Carnival showed greater promise, and the animator was eventually given the task of animating Snow White herself. Though live action footage of Snow White, the Prince and the Queen was shot as reference for the animators, the artists animators disapproved of rotoscoping, considering it to hinder the production of effective caricature. None of Babbit’s animation of the Queen was rotoscoped; despite Graham and Natwick’s objections, however, some scenes of Snow White and the Prince were directly traced from the live-action footage.

The Disney Studio Library
In the spring and early summer of 1935, Walt Disney, along with Roy O. Disney, their wives Lillian and Edna, and draftsman Bill Cottrell, spent eleven weeks in Europe, vacationing in England, France, Italy, Holland and Switzerland. The trip was intended as a relaxing holiday, and for Disney to receive a special medal from the League of Nations; on the way, however, Disney bought nearly three hundred and fifty books; illustrators included, among others, Arthur Rackham, Gustave Dore, Honore Daumier, Grandville, Benjamin Rabier, Ludwig Richter, Wilhelm Busch, Heinrich Kley, Attilio Mussino, Sir John Tenniel and Charles Folkard (many of these illustrators had been recommended by Hurter and Joe Grant). Disney added all these books to the studio library, and a further 90 from France, 81 from England, 149 from Germany and 15 from Italy, were added to the library in July of the same year. The Disney artists and animators frequently borrowed and referred to the books of the studio library, which could frequently be seen on drawing boards. Rackham’s influence on the style of the film is perhaps the most obvious; his illustrations of gnarled trees coming to life inspired the faces Snow White sees in her flight through the forest, his depictions of dwarfs, gnomes and goblins played a part in the design of the seven dwarfs, and similarities have been noted between Joe Grant’s design for the Witch and the old woman in Rackham’s illustration for ‘’Hansel and Gretel’’. However, the other illustrations influenced various different elements of the film. Dore’s etchings for Dante’s Divine Comedy, in particular, inspired the caverns below the Queen’s castle, as did Piranesi’s ‘’Carceri’’ series. It is rumoured that Disney intended to recruit Rackham for visual development of ‘’Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’’, but that the illustrator was too frail to move to America.

Cinematic Influences
At this time, Disney also encouraged his staff to see a variety of films. These ranged from the mainstream, such as MGM's Romeo and Juliet (to which Disney made direct reference in a story meeting pertaining to the scene in which Snow White lies in her glass coffin), to the more obscure, including European silent cinema. The influence of german expressionism (examples of which exist in Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari, both of which were recommended by Disney to his staff) can be found in Snow White (as well as the two films to follow it), particularly in the scenes of Snow White fleeing through the forest and the Queen's transformation into the Witch. The latter was also inspired by 1931's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to which Disney made specific reference in story meetings.

Reception and success
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. It is estimated that more people saw the film on it's general release than Star Wars. 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. A subject of particular criticism was the film's depiction of Snow White, the Queen and the Prince as realistic human figures, which caused some (including successful New York caricaturist Al Hirschfeld) to believe that Disney was too closely following live-action and realism, thus rejecting the qualities that made cartoons such as the Silly Symphonies unique.

Certain scenes in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, particularly those featuring the Witch, are regarded as some of Disney's most frightening moments; British censors considered the film frightening enough for young viewers to have to be accompanied by an adult. Animators such as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, felt that Walt Disney restrained his animators from creating such a terrifying villain again. Later films such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi would receive similar accusations for their frightening and intense sequences. For his achievement in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney received a full-size Oscar statuette and seven miniature ones, presented to him by Shirley Temple; the film was deemed "as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field." The movie was also nominated for Best Music, Score.

Re-release schedule and home video
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was first re-released in 1944, in order to raise revenue for the Disney studio during the World War II period. This re-release set a tradition of re-releasing Disney animated features every seven years, and Snow White was re-released to theatres in 1952, 1958, 1967, 1975, 1983, 1987, and 1993. The film was restored for its 1987 fiftieth anniversary re-release; a more comprehensive digital restoration was done for the 1993 re-release. Snow White was first released on home video in 1994, and was released on Disney DVD in 2001. The Snow White DVD was the first in Disney's Platinum Series line of releases, and featured, across two discs, the digitally restored film, a making-of documentary, an audio commentary by John Canemaker and (via archived audio clips) Walt Disney, and many more special features. The DVD went to the Disney Vault on January 2002. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has confirmed that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will be released on Blu-Ray Disc on October 6, 2009 and on a new DVD Edition on November 24, 2009. The Blu-Ray will include a high-definition version of the movie, a DVD copy of the film, and several bonus features not included on the 2001 DVD, details on the new DVD have yet to be announced. This release will also mark the introduction of a "Diamond Collection" series of movies.

Trivia

 * There are numerous popular ideas as to the presence of occult significance or symbolism within the movie, mostly centered around the Dwarves themselves. For example, one theory holds that the seven dwarves correspond to the seven chakras (or cakras), and that Snow White represents consciousness moving through them.  Other ideas are less philosophically complex, such as correspondences to the altered states of consciousness inherent in the use of certain drugs. In one theory, Snow White is cocaine, which causes exhaustion (Sleepy), mood swings (Happy, Grumpy), allergies (Sneezy) and alteration of personality (Bashful, Dopey) eventually resullting in a trip to the doctor (Doc)). More on this


 * The movie's title uses the word "dwarfs" which was the traditional plural of "dwarf". The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, published in three volumes from 29 July, 1954 to 20 October, 1955, instead popularised the spelling "dwarves". Both plural forms have been used interchangeably since then.


 * 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.


 * Upon seeing the film, Russian director Sergei Eisenstein called it the greatest ever made.


 * The song, "Someday My Prince Will Come" has become a jazz standard that has been performed by numerous artists, including Buddy Rich, Oscar Peterson, and Miles Davis.


 * The movie was chosen by the American Film Institute as the number one animated film of all-time.

Attractions
Snow White has a ride in 4 of the 5 resorts. These are:

Disneyland

 * Grand opening: July 17, 1955
 * Re-dedication: May 23, 1983
 * Name: Snow White's Scary Adventures
 * Designers: WED Enterprises
 * Maximum seating capacity: 4 per mine car
 * Show length: roughly 2 minutes
 * Required ticket: "C"
 * Ride system: Dark ride

The Magic Kingdom

 * Grand opening: October 1, 1971
 * Re-dedication: December 1994
 * Name: Snow White's Scary Adventures
 * Designers: WED Enterprises
 * Maximum seating capacity: 4 per mine car (1971 version); 6 per mine car (1994 version)
 * Show length: roughly 2:50

Tokyo Disneyland

 * Grand opening: April 15, 1983
 * Name: Snow White's Adventures
 * Designers: WED Enterprises
 * Maximum seating capacity: 4 per mine car
 * Show length: 2:30
 * Ride system: Dark ride

Disneyland Paris

 * Grand opening: April 12, 1992
 * Name: Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains
 * Designers: Walt Disney Imagineering
 * Maximum seating capacity: 6 per mine car
 * Show length: roughly 2 minutes
 * Ride system: Dark ride