The Magic Kingdom Project: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937

The First & Fairest One of All

It all started in 1928, when “Steamboat Willie” first graced American theatres as the first cartoon with synchronised sound. A gentleman named Walter Elias Disney, from Chicago, Illinois, spent the next four years making black & white short cartoons featuring characters we all know and love: Mickey Mouse (who he, himself, gave voice to), his love interest Minnie, Donald Duck, Pete, (Mickey’s main adversary), Goofy and Pluto. In 1932, Disney progressed to coloured shorts with “Flowers & Trees”. Three years after this, he started to think and dream, “Can I make a full -length film like this?”

Dreamer though he was, Walt also recognised that these shorts were costing more and more money to produce but were returning less and less; if there was any future for his industry, he had to move away from shorts to full-length feature animation. So, he decided to make the jump. Choosing for his first full length film an incredibly ambitious adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy story - “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

Over the next three years Walt gathered an extraordinary team of talented people who had been left high & dry by the Great Depression, including the animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Norm Ferguson, Grim Natwick, Arthur Babbitt and Vladimir Tytla, art director Ken Anderson, and artists Gustav Tenggren and Albert Hurter. Those who know any Disney history will recognise several of those names, including seven of Disney's famous Nine Old Men, though at that point, they were more like Disney’s Nine Young Whippersnappers. Together, these men created a groundbreaking masterpiece the likes of which the world had never seen before, scoring Walt an honorary Oscar and seven little Oscars. Presented by Shirley Temple, no less.

THE STORY

In 1500s Germany, there lives a beautiful princess named Snow White (voiced by professional opera singer Adriana Caselotti). Her vain stepmother, Queen Grimhilde (voiced by theatrical & cinematic titan Lucille La Verne), fears that one day Snow White would become the fairest one of all instead of her, so she turns her stepdaughter into a scullery maid. Unfortunately for Grimhilde, it only takes until the age of 14 for Snow White to unwittingly make that fear a reality after being serenaded at her balcony by a handsome young prince, so Grimhilde sends SW into the forest with her faithful huntsman Humbert, under the pretext of treating her to a day of picking wildflowers, and there he's supposed to kill her. But the man finds he can’t do it, so he kills a pig in her place while she runs for it into the woods. And thus the adventure begins.

MY VERDICT

In some ways, this film is undoubtedly dated. The movement of the characters are very indicative of the cartoon styles of the 30s. And I have heard Adriana Caselotti’s singing voice compared to Betty Boop, though I consider this to be an insult as an avid listener of opera and classical music. Her voice, to me, has all the purity and light of the greatest coloratura sopranos.

The fact that the animation is indicative of the times just makes in a more essential piece of cinematic history. I mean, the multi-plane camera was made especially for this film.  The music written by Leigh Harline and Paul Smith, is above any and all reproach; and the songs, written by Frank Churchill & Larry Morey are all classics; from Snow White and the Prince’s duet of I’m Wishing/One Song, to the dwarves’  Heigh - Ho, which may be the best in the film, to the classic that everyone remembers: Someday My Prince Will Come. Lucille La Verne plays arguably the greatest villain in Disney history, having only to take her false teeth in and out to effortlessly float between cold and beautiful queen and deranged and tired old hag. Plus, fun fact, the Spirit of the Magic Mirror’s voice was created by having actor Moroni Olsen speak its lines while wearing a box frame covered with old drum heads over his head. God, that must have sucked…

Snow White was a miracle, it defied nigh insurmountable odds and became one of the most beloved and successful films ever made. Its legacy within the Disney canon is unrivalled. It opened the door to a new genre of cinema all now know and love, it set the standard for everything that followed. And it changed the world of cinema forever.

Is Snow White A Disney Classic?: Not only is it a Disney Classic, it is THE Disney Classic.