Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Happy 2018! For the New Year, I am starting a new series about Animated Film Profiles which will feature a page dedicated to a single Disney animated film. The profile will include information about the creative team behind the film, the storyline, and some trivia. This new series will be posted every Monday and will be featuring the Walt Disney Animation Studios film canon in chronological order.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney’s very first full length animated feature. The world had never seen anything like it before and many had a hard time believing that it would be a success. Known as “Walt’s Folly” before the premiere date, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was made over three years with production starting in early 1934. Walt acted out the entire story for his studios team and the first outline draft for the film was dated August 9, 1934. Walt thought that the story of Snow White contained the perfect plot for fairy tale storytelling. There was an iconic villain, a beautiful and vulnerable princess, a handsome prince, and an amusing group of loveable dwarfs. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs proved to not be a folly, but an enormous success and is still celebrated as one of Disney’s most beloved films over 80 years later.

Premiered: December 21, 1937 at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles

Directed by:

David Hand (supervising)
Sequences:
Wilfred Jackson
Larry Morey
Perce Pearce
Ben Sharpsteen

Produced by: Walt Disney

Based on: Schneewittchen by the Brothers Grimm

Sequels: None

Cast:

Adriana Caselotti – Snow White
Lucille La Verne – Evil Queen
Harry Stockwell – The Prince
Roy Atwell – Doc
Pinto Colvig – Grumpy / Sleepy
Otis Harlan – Happy
Scotty Mattraw – Bashful
Billy Gilbert – Sneezy
Moroni Olsen – Slave in the Magic Mirror
Stuart Buchanan – The Huntsman

Supervising Animators:

Hamilton Luske
Vladimir Tytla
Fred Moore
Norman Ferguson

Music by:

Frank Churchill
Paul Smith
Leigh Harline
Larry Morey

Songs:

“I’m Wishing”
“One Song”
“With a Smile and a Song”
“Whistle While You Work”
“Heigh-Ho”
“Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum”
“The Dwarfs’ Yodel Song / The Silly Song”
“Someday My Prince Will Come”

Academy Awards:

Honorary Award for Innovation
Best Musical Score (nomination)

The Story:

The film begins with opening credits to an orchestral version of “One Song” and also features a dedication message from Walt which reads “My sincere appreciation to the members of my staff whose loyalty and creative endeavour made possible this production.” Snow White is the first of many animated films to feature a classic storybook opening and this particular book was an actual prop and was shot as a live action sequence. The writing in the book tells the background of Snow White’s life of being a scullery maid in her own castle and of the Evil Queen constantly asking the Magic Mirror who is the fairest of them all. The first animated shot is of Snow’s castle and inside is the Evil Queen consulting the Slave in the Magic Mirror. He describes the fairest one as having lips as red as rose, hair as black as ebony, and skin as white as snow.

Snow White is outside, washing the castle steps, when she starts singing “I’m Wishing” to the doves around the well. The Prince overhears and joins in the song. Snow is frightened and runs into the castle but the Prince just starts to sing “One Song” in hopes of her reappearing, as the Evil Queen looks down in envy. Snow sends a kiss down with a dove and just smiles shyly at the Prince.

The Evil Queen then commands her huntsman to kill the little princess and gives him a box to bring her heart back in. The huntsman brings Snow White to the glade for her to pick flowers. Snow, who is extremely caring, helps a little bird find his parents just as the huntsman tries to kill her. He is unable to go through with it and warns the princess to run and hide from the queen. Snow is so frightened as she escapes that her imagination makes it seem like the woods are attacking her. She collapses in fright of all the eyeballs peeping out throw the trees but they turn out to be very cute woodland creatures. She then sings “With a Smile and a Song” to the critters which shows her enduring optimism. The critters then bring Snow to a little cottage in the woods where she assumes seven untidy children live there based on the small size of the furniture.  Snow decides to clean their home in hopes of them letting her stay. She then sings “Whistle While you Work” as she and the woodland creatures clean the cottage.

The next scene introduces the audience to the seven dwarfs. They are working in their diamond mine and we already get a sense of their distinct personalities. Doc, the leader, is making the final inspections of the diamonds while Dopey is playing with the jewels and Sleepy is yawning about. The dwarfs are singing “Heigh-Ho” and they are down work at exactly 5:00. They throw the diamonds into their vault, lock the door, and then hang the key on a hook right beside the door. This entire scene has some of the most beautiful animation of the entire movie with the diamonds sparkling, the sunset in the background, and the stunning waterfalls they pass on the way home.

The film cuts back to Snow exploring the upstairs of the cottage. She notices that each bed has a named carved into it and then she falls asleep on top of Dopey, Happy, and Sneezy’s beds. As the dwarfs approach their home, they notice that the lights are on, the door is open, and the chimney is smoking. They are scared that there is a ghost or a witch or a dragon in there. They sneak around inside and notice that everything is clean. Dopey is then voluntold to check out the upstairs and he sees Snow stretching her arms under the sheets. Poor Dopey thinks that it is a ghost and goes running back downstairs and outside where the other dwarfs are hiding. All seven decide to brave the upstairs together only to see that the ghost is a beautiful girl. Snow wakes up and immediately guesses all their names correctly. She tells them her said tale and asks that if she keeps house for them, will the let her stay. The winning deal is that she will make gooseberry pie for them. The dwarfs display that they have terrible table manners and Snow tells them to go wash up first, despite the dwarfs trying to convince her that they washed “recently”. Doc helps them build up the courage to wash with the song “Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum.” Since Grumpy refuses to wash, the rest of the dwarfs gang up on him and clean him up, complete with little bows in his beard.

The next scene brings us back to the castle where the Evil Queen is once again asking her Magic Mirror who the fairest of them all is. The Mirror informs her that Snow White is still alive and is living in the dwarfs’ cottage and the heart she has is in fact a pig’s heart. The Evil Queen is then outrages and descends down into the depths of the castle into her witchcraft chamber. She wants to make a disguise for herself to get close to Snow and chooses the peddler’s disguise. The spell includes: mummy’s dust to make her old, the black of night to shroud her cloak, an old hag’s cackle to age her voice, a scream of fright to whiten her hair, a blast of wind to fan her hate, and a thunderbolt to mix it well. The Evil Queen then turns in to the Old Hag and decides on a poison apple as her weapon of choice. The poison apple will put Snow White in a sleeping death.

The story then brings us back to the cottage where the dwarfs are singing (“The Dwarfs’ Yodel Song / The Silly Song”). Afterwards they ask Snow White for a story and she sings “Someday My Prince Will Come.” When it is time for bed, Doc offers the upstairs beds for Snow while the dwarfs sleep downstairs. They all fight over the one pillow, which ends up exploding in a mess of feathers. Dopey’s simple outlook on life is shown here with how content he is to get a single feather to sleep on, despite him having the whole pillow first. Snow prays for blessings for the dwarfs, her dreams to come true, and for Grumpy to like her before going to sleep.

Back at the castle, the Old Hag is making the poison apple and reads that the victim of sleeping death will be awaken by Love’s First Kiss. She does not believe that there is a chance this might happen to Snow and thinks that she will be buried alive because the dwarf’s will think that she is dead.

The next morning at the cottage, Doc warns Snow White that the queen is very crafty but Snow is not scared and gives each of the dwarfs a kiss on the forehead, though Dopey runs around for more! Here is when we see Grumpy start to soften up towards Snow as he also warns her about the queen and even seems to appreciate her kiss.

The Hag then sneaks up to the cottage where Snow White is making a gooseberry pie for Grumpy and singing “Someday My Prince Will Come.” The Hag appears in the open window and tries to convince Snow to make apple pies instead. The little birds suspect something and attacks the Hag. Snow shoos them off lets the Hag into the cottage. The birds and other critters know that something is wrong so they race off to get the dwarfs. Snow is then tricked into thinking that the apple is a wishing apple and wishes for a happily ever after with her prince before biting into it. She feels strange and the collapses into the sleeping death. The dwarfs ride the deer back home as fast as they can and they chase the Hag in the rain up to a cliff top. She tries to push a boulder down onto them but ends up falling off the other side of the cliff with the boulder falling presumably on top of her.

Snow is then seen laying in the dwarfs’ home with them all crying around her and the sad woodland creatures looking on from outside. There is then a storybook page that tells the audience that since she was too beautiful to bury, the dwarfs made Snow White a glass and gold coffin and kept eternal vigil by her side. The Prince then appears after searching everywhere for Snow and kisses her. His kiss wakes her up and he carries Snow to his horse. The Prince then lifts each one of the dwarfs up so Snow White can kiss them goodbye before riding off to his castle. The storybook then closes after a “They lived happily ever after” page.

Trivia:

• Adriana Caselotti was contracted to never act again so she wouldn’t “spoil the illusion of Snow White.”
• Lucille La Verne provided the raspy voice of the Old Hag by taking her false teeth out.
• Once Walt had seen animation of Dopey with a hitch step, he wanted all scenes to include this feature, even if the animation had already been completed.
• Snow White was originally drawn as a blonde.
• Walt wanted the best gags in his films so animators were given $5 as an initiate if their gags were chosen for the final film.
• Walt’s dream studio was built using the financial success of the film in Burbank, California. This lot was bought in August of 1938 and is still home to the Walt Disney Studios today.
• Snow White’s rosy cheeks were coloured by using actual rouge make-up put on by the ladies in the Ink and Paint Department.
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs started out with a budget of $250 000, which quickly turned into $500 000, with the final budget being an enormous $1.5 million
• There were many rejected dwarf names such as: Jumpy, Sappy, Nifty, Shifty, Crabby, Daffy, Scrappy, Sneezy-Wheezy, Awful, Snoopy, Dippy, Graceful, Gloomy, Flabby, Woeful, Lazy, Hungry, and Doleful.

Representation in the Disney Parks:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is heavily represented in Disney Parks around the world!

Snow White’s Scary Adventures (or just Snow White’s Adventures in some cases) is a dark ride that was an opening day attraction at four different parks. It is still operating to this day at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris (known as Blanche Neige et les Sept Nains) in Fantasyland. However, it closed down in May 2012 at the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom then opened Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in May 2014. Miniatures of the dwarfs cottage and diamond mine can be found on Storybook Land Canal Boats at Disneyland, Le Pays des Contes de Fées at Disneyland Paris, and Fairy Tale Forest at Hong Kong Disneyland. Snow White is the name of the one of the boats at both Anaheim and Paris.

Artist Point at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge offers Storybook Dining with Snow White, a character dining experience with Snow White, Grumpy, Dopey, and the Evil Queen.

Snow White’s Grotto, a little garden with statues of Snow White and the dwarfs, can be found at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland. At Shanghai Disneyland, Snow White is also the star of Once Upon a Time Adventure which is a walkthrough attraction showcasing the storyline of the film. 

Guests can meet Snow White at any Disney resort. She is one of the rotating princesses to be found at the Royal Hall in Disneyland. Snow White is sometimes at the Fairytale Hall at Magic Kingdom, but can also be found in the Germany Pavilion at Epcot. She can be found walking around in Fantasyland and World Bazaar with her Prince in Tokyo Disneyland. At Disneyland Paris, she can be found at the Princess Pavilion. In Hong Kong Disneyland there is currently a special event where guests can meet Snow White and other princesses in the Royal Princess Garden. Snow White can be found at the Storybook Court inside the castle at Shanghai Disneyland.

The Evil Queen can sometimes be found roaming Fantasyland at Disneyland and other characters, such as the Hag and the dwarfs, appear during special events like the Halloween parties at different parks.

In Fantasmic! at Disneyland, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Tokyo DisneySea, characters from the film are part of the show. The characters have also been in numerous parades such as the Main Street Electrical Parade. Snow White: An Enchanted Musical was a stage show that ran at the Fantasyland Theatre in Disneyland from 2004 to 2006. There is also a shop in Disney Springs called Candy Cauldron and is themed around the Hag.

I hope I covered everything but let me know if there is another location to find Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs represented!

Check out the other films of Disney’s Golden Age:

Pinocchio (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Dumbo (1941)
Bambi (1942)