FILM · 1937 · USA
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
323 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
323 Interesting Facts About Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Interesting Facts (18)
- #001
During a recording session, Walt Disney's animators told Lucille La Verne, the voice of the Evil Queen, that they needed an older, harsher version of the Queen's voice for the Old Hag. La Verne left the recording booth, returned a few minutes later, and delivered a perfect "Old Hag's voice" that astonished the animators. Asked how she had done it, she replied: "Oh, I just took my teeth out."
- #002
Walt Disney wanted Snow White's voice to remain a one-of-a-kind specialty, so he bound Adriana Caselotti to a very strict contract. Apart from a small role in The Wizard of Oz (1939), she never again took a genuine singing role in any film, despite being a classically trained singer.
- #003
Some animators objected to the name Dopey, arguing it was too modern a word to use in a timeless fairy tale. Walt Disney claimed that William Shakespeare had used the word in one of his plays, which succeeded in convincing everyone, though no reference to the term "dopey" has yet been found in any work of Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare did use "foolish" as well as "zed" in Twelfth Night (zed meaning the most foolish of fools), since these are found in Shakespeare they could all have been alternative names for Dopey. "Half-wit", "Dunce" and "Jester" were similar terms in common use at the time and could also have been Dopey's name. Before Disney renamed them, the Dwarfs' original names were Snick, Glick, Blick, Flick, Plick, Whick and Quee.
- #004
Adjusted for inflation, it is the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
- #005
It was one of the first films for which tie-in merchandise was available at the time of its premiere.
- #006
All the dwarfs were modeled on real people.
- #007
Roy O. Disney created the creaking sound of the floor beneath Dopey's slow steps by slowly bending an empty leather wallet back and forth.
- #008
Animator Shamus Culhane recalled that drawing the Dwarfs' walk home in the "Heigh Ho" scene was one of the most difficult tasks of his career. Although six of the Dwarfs walk at the same tempo, he had to give each one its own body language suited to its character, and because of the unusual angles and perspectives used in the sequence he had to map out each walk with a blue pencil and a ruler. Then there was Dopey, trailing behind and out of step with the others yet still needing to integrate smoothly into the action. According to Culhane, "I worked six months on that goddamned thing, and it doesn't last a minute onscreen," which shows how painstaking and hand-drawn the work was.
- #009
The Prince was originally a much more prominent character, but the difficulty of animating him convincingly forced the animators to reduce his role significantly.
- #010
It was the first of many Walt Disney films to have its premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. After the film's first showing there, all of the velvet seat upholstery had to be replaced. It appears that small children were so frightened by the scene in which Snow White gets lost in the forest that at every showing of the film they wet their pants, and therefore their seats.
- #011
Snow White's original design was made by the artists behind Betty Boop, with a glimpse of her ankles that gave her pouty red lips, long eyelashes and a look more like a "floozy" than a demure princess. Walt Disney discarded it because he wanted Snow White to be healthy and innocent and to wear a peasant-style dress rather than be sexy. The original 12-inch by 10-inch artwork was kept by one of the animators and held by his family until it went to auction in August 2014, where it was expected to fetch £15,000 but sold for £2,793.
- #012
Snow White is the youngest Disney Princess, at 14 years old.
- #013
The film was also to include three of the Queen's assassination attempts (the poisoned comb, the strangling bodice and the poisoned apple), but in the end it was simplified to just the apple. Until late in production only the bodice was cut and the comb remained.
- #014
The Hollywood film industry, believing it would fail, labeled the film "Walt Disney's Folly."
- #015
It held the title of highest-grossing film of all time for a full year, then was knocked off the top spot by Gone with the Wind (1939).
- #016
For the scene in which the Dwarfs are sent to wash up, animator Frank Thomas had Dopey take a stumbling step to catch up with the others, as suggested in the story reel. Walt Disney liked it so much that he added the step to other scenes, which upset the other animators, who blamed Thomas for the extra work they had to do.
- #017
On December 26, 1938, "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the film, with many Disney voice artists reprising their roles from the film.
- #018
When comedian Billy Gilbert learned that one of the dwarfs was named Sneezy, he called Walt Disney and performed his famous sneezing routine for him, and got the part.
Production Story (193)
- #019
The film's initial budget of $250,000 was 10 times the average budget of one of the studio's Silly Symphonies shorts. As it turned out, the final budget exceeded $1.4 million, an enormous sum for any film of the time.
- #020
Walt Disney used the profits from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to build his studios in Burbank, California. As Disney's first feature-length animation, the film shaped the studio's future. The revenue it generated became the facility that laid the foundations of modern animation.
- #021
Some animators objected to the name Dopey; they found it too modern for a timeless fairy tale. Walt Disney convinced the team by claiming that Shakespeare used the word in his plays. In fact, the word 'dopey' does not appear in Shakespeare's works; Disney's creative defense secured acceptance of the name.
- #022
The Special Academy Award given to the film consisted of a standard Oscar statuette and seven miniature statuettes on a stepped base. This special design symbolized the film's groundbreaking nature and the seven dwarfs. It was the first time in cinema history that an animated film was deemed worthy of such an honor.
- #023
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first feature-length cel animated film in cinema history. Adapted from the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the production is the first animated film made in America, the first full-color animation, and Walt Disney Productions' first feature-length work.
- #024
Adjusted for inflation, it is the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Its box office figures showed the power of animation to the entire world.
- #025
The film was finally released on video in 1994; the studio had resisted the idea for years. According to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, the risk of it entering the public domain in Italy and the threat of piracy triggered this decision. Disney managed to extend the copyright and protected the film.
- #026
The film's initial budget was $250,000; this was ten times the average budget of the studio's Silly Symphonies shorts. In the end, the budget exceeded $1.4 million, a colossal figure for any film of the period.
- #027
Snow White was one of the first films to have related merchandise at the time of its premiere. This marketing strategy laid the foundations of the modern film industry. With toys, books and various products, the cinematic experience extended beyond the theater.
- #028
The Prince was actually a much more prominent character, but the difficulty of portraying him convincingly forced the animators to reduce his role significantly. The limitations of animating human figures shifted the story's focus to the dwarfs and Snow White.
- #029
The film was the first Disney film to premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York. After the first screenings, all the velvet seat upholstery had to be replaced. Small children were so frightened by the scene of Snow White getting lost in the forest that they wet themselves at every showing.
- #030
While the dwarfs bathe, Dopey swallows a bar of soap. A scene showing how the soap is removed from him was shot as a pencil test but was not included in the film. This scene was later shown on the program The Plausible Impossible, along with a test of the deleted song 'The Music In Your Soup'.
- #031
This film was the first film to have a soundtrack album released. Because Walt Disney Productions did not have its own music publishing company, the publishing rights to this film's music and songs still belong to Bourne Co. Although the studio later reclaimed the music rights to other films, this film remained an exception.
- #032
When Ward Kimball learned that two of his main scenes (the dwarfs eating soup and making a bed for Snow White) had been cut, he considered leaving the studio. Walt Disney kept him by giving him the character of Jiminy Cricket for the next film, Pinocchio. Disney showed the 'Music In Your Soup' scene on a television program in the 1950s.
- #033
The film had planned to include all three of the Queen's assassination attempts (the poisoned comb, strangulation with a corset, and the poisoned apple), but in the end it was reduced to only the apple scene. Until a very late stage of production, the corset scene had been removed while the comb scene remained.
- #034
The Hollywood film industry nicknamed this film 'Walt Disney's Folly', believing it would fail. This mocking label was buried in history by the film's revolutionary success. Disney's courage to take risks changed animation history forever.
- #035
Among the scenes that were planned but never fully animated were: the Queen keeping the Prince in a dungeon and making skeletons dance by magic; a fantasy sequence for 'Someday My Prince Will Come' in which Snow White dances with the Prince in a sea of stars; the dwarfs making a bed for Snow White with the forest creatures; 'Music in Your Soup', in which the dwarfs sing about soup; and 'You're Never Too Old to Be Young', which was recorded in advance but never animated.
- #036
The film proposal listed fifty ideas for the dwarfs' names and personalities; all the final names except Dopey and Doc were on this list. Dopey was the last dwarf to be developed. Sneezy was a last-minute replacement for Deafy. Charles M. Schulz wrote that he had heard the name 'Snoopy' was also considered and that he was relieved it was not chosen.
- #037
The film held the title of highest-grossing film for a full year, until it was surpassed by Gone with the Wind. The rivalry between the two films symbolizes the golden age of Hollywood.
- #038
In 1938 it earned four times as much money as all other films. This extraordinary commercial success gave the film industry hope in the midst of the Great Depression. Snow White proved that animation was a profitable genre.
- #039
Lux Radio Theater broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the film on December 26, 1938; many Disney voice actors reprised their roles. This radio program brought the film's popularity into homes and was a major media event of the period.
- #040
It is the first animated film selected for the National Film Registry. This honor confirms the film's cultural, historical and aesthetic significance. Snow White is regarded as one of the cornerstones of American cinematic heritage.
- #041
Queen Grimhilde was the first major character to die in a Disney film, and the screenwriters struggled with how to show her death. They rejected the torturous death scene from the original story because it would have damaged Snow White's image as a good girl. In the end, an indirect death, such as a lightning strike, was chosen.
- #042
It is the first feature-length animated film to come out of the United States. The world's first feature-length animations were made in Argentina in 1917 and 1918, but they are lost. The oldest surviving feature-length animation is the 1926 production The Adventures of Prince Achmed.
- #043
The opening credits include a thank-you that is almost unique in 1930s Hollywood films: 'My sincere thanks to my staff for their loyalty and creative efforts that made this production possible. - Walt Disney'.
- #044
Twenty-five songs were written for the film, but only eight were used. This selectivity made it possible to focus on storytelling and maintain the pace. The unused songs show the richness of Disney's creative process.
- #045
When Walt Disney received his honorary Oscars for Snow White, he talked to the Academy Awards audience about Pinocchio, still in production, for 25 minutes.
- #046
In the film's original outline, Queen Grimhilde wants to marry the young prince herself. Her murderous rage stems from the rejection of her marriage proposal, and there were scenes in which she killed other princes who got in her way. These dark plotlines were ultimately rejected.
- #047
It is one of two feature-length animations that Walt Disney personally produced and that do not carry the words 'Walt Disney Presents'. Instead, it reads 'A Walt Disney Feature Production'. The other is Fantasia, which had no written credits at all during its roadshow release.
- #048
The British Board of Film Censors gave the film an A certificate at its original release. This sparked a nationwide debate over whether the enchanted forest and the witch were too frightening for young viewers. Most local authorities overruled the censorship decision and showed the film with a U certificate.
- #049
Storyboards for a sequel titled 'Snow White Returns' were discovered in the Disney Company's vault. Their length indicated that it was designed as a short film rather than a feature. It is not known why this sequel never got past pre-production.
- #050
Walt Disney got the idea for the film when he was just 15, working as a newspaper delivery boy in Kansas City. He saw a major screening of the 1916 silent Snow White film starring Marguerite Clark. Projected onto a four-sided screen with four projectors, the film left a deep impression on the young Disney.
- #051
It was Adolf Hitler's favorite film, along with King Kong and Sun Valley Serenade. This surprising choice shows the film's universal appeal and its influence beyond the political boundaries of the era.
- #052
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first release in Disney's new Platinum Edition DVD series and hit shelves on October 5, 2001. It sold more than 1 million copies on its first day. This is proof of the film's popularity across generations.
- #053
Sergei Eisenstein, director of Battleship Potemkin, described the film as 'the greatest film ever made'.
- #054
To avoid showing the Seven Dwarfs killing Queen Grimhilde, the film depicts her death with a random lightning strike.
- #055
The film was to begin with scenes involving Snow White's mother, but these scenes were cut to avoid a censorship backlash. This change shows the need to comply with the strict moral standards of the time.
- #056
It is considered one of fifteen films that changed American cinema. Its place on this list stems from bringing animation's artistic and commercial potential into the mainstream.
- #057
The gag in which Sleepy is bothered by a fly was actually going to end with him catching the fly in Snow White's empty coffin. This ending would have offered an ironic closure in keeping with the character's laziness.
- #058
The film ranked third on the UK's Ultimate Film list, based on the number of cinema tickets sold.
- #059
In the original tale written in German by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, the seven characters represented in the film by the dwarfs were actually monks. This change is thought to have been made so as not to offend German-speaking or non-Christian audiences.
- #060
The Seven Dwarfs later appeared in an educational short film, The Winged Scourge (1943). This public service announcement used the dwarfs' popularity for a social message such as fighting malaria.
- #061
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote about the film: 'I have never seen anything as charming as the animals, the colors are beautiful, and so is the music. But I can understand why small children find the old witch and Snow White's flight through the forest quite frightening.'
- #062
[June 2008] It ranked number 1 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 10 films in the 'Animation' genre. This honor confirms the film's lasting impact on the genre and its artistic excellence.
- #063
After this film, Walt Disney did not hold a major Hollywood premiere for one of his films for 27 years. The next premiere was for Mary Poppins in 1964, another groundbreaking technical achievement that combined live action and animation.
- #064
It was included on the American Film Institute's 2004 list of the '100 Best American Movie Songs' with the song 'Some Day My Prince Will Come'.
- #065
In the original 1915 film, the Queen and the Witch were actually two separate characters. The Disney adaptation merged these two figures into a single villain, simplifying the story and heightening the dramatic impact.
- #066
There was a planned Disney sequel about Snow White's sister, Rose Red. Announced in 2016, the project was cancelled in 2021, and Disney chose instead to make a live-action adaptation of Snow White. Brie Larson was being considered for the lead role in the cancelled project.
- #067
The dwarfs' frequently quoted 'original' names (Snick, Glick, Blick, Flick, Plick, Whick and Quee) actually come from a 1912 stage play. The Brothers Grimm's story never gave the dwarfs any names.
- #068
It remained the highest-grossing animated film for over 50 years, until it was surpassed by Disney's own Aladdin.
- #069
When the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act was signed, the remaining copyright term of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was extended from 14 years to 34 years. This extension took place before the film was even released on DVD.
- #070
It is Walt Disney Animation Studios' first feature-length film and its only film of the 1930s. This film laid the foundation for all of the studio's subsequent animated classics.
- #071
According to one source, while passing a cinema, Walt Disney saw an audience happily watching 80-minute Mickey Mouse cartoons. He reasoned that if they could sit through films that short, they could also watch a feature of similar length. The silent Snow White film he had seen as a child influenced his choice of this fairy tale.
- #072
The musical elements that make up the film became the dominant tradition in nearly all of Walt Disney Animation Studios' films from 1937 to 1998. Only six films fell outside this pattern: Bambi, 101 Dalmatians, The Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective and The Rescuers Down Under.
- #073
Filmation produced two animated sequels: A Snow White Christmas (1980) and Happily Ever After (1989). In the first, Snow White is blonde and encounters seven friendly giants; in the second, the Evil Queen's brother kidnaps the Prince, and this time Snow White must become a hero alongside seven female dwarfs.
- #074
In 1934, Walt and his team began discussing storylines; production started in 1935 and continued until shortly before the premiere.
- #075
The film's initial budget was half a million dollars, but by the time it was completed it was said to have cost 1.5 million dollars. Many people in Hollywood expected the film to be a flop; during production it was called 'Disney's Folly'. Despite this, it grossed over 8.5 million dollars in its first release, and an estimated 20 million people saw it in the first three months.
- #076
Until The Black Cauldron (1985), it was the only feature-length Disney animated film to have completed scenes cut before release.
- #077
On 31 October 2016, Disney announced that a live-action adaptation was in development. The announcement signalled that the classic fairy tale would be reinterpreted for new generations.
- #078
Until The Sword in the Stone (1963), it was the only Disney animated film to be released in December.
- #079
The film's 1992 UK re-release was distributed by Warner Bros. However, from the mid-90s onward, future films would be distributed entirely through Disney or its subsidiary Buena Vista.
- #080
In the Brothers Grimm's original story the dwarfs have no names, but among the names considered for the film were Scrappy, Hoppy, Weepy, Dirty, Crawley, Hungry, Lazy, Gabby, Jumpy, Snippy, Stubby, Weezy, Puffy, Shorty, Helpful, Awful, Silly and Daffy. This list shows the richness of the creative process and the care taken in character development.
- #081
During production, a number of scenes were cut, whether during story discussions or after sketch work. These scenes included the Queen chaining up the Prince, the huntsman being dragged away by torturers, dancing skeletons, a fight between Dozy and Grumpy, and the dwarfs building a bed for Snow White.
- #082
The dwarfs' names were chosen by public vote. Among those rejected were Snoopy, Sniffy, Shirty and Shorty. This democratic process helped the audience connect with the characters.
- #083
The film was not released in Japan until 1950.
- #084
The Disney studio was on the verge of bankruptcy. Walt Disney managed to secure a bank loan by showing a rough cut of the film, and the studio was saved as a result. This moment is one of the most critical turning points in Disney's history.
- #085
The film's success encouraged MGM to bring another expensive children's film, The Wizard of Oz (1939), to life. Snow White's box office triumph increased the courage of the major studios to invest in fantasy genres.
- #086
When Lucille La Verne voiced the Evil Queen, the animators wanted an older, more cracked voice for the Old Witch. La Verne left the recording booth and returned a few minutes later, took out her false teeth, and delivered such an impressive "old hag voice" that she astonished everyone.
- #087
Rotoscoping was not used in the drawing of Queen Grimhilde; because the animators found her more realistic, complex and erotic than Snow White, they gave special attention to the mirror scenes. They worked with particular care on her "beautiful, cruel mouth and eyes" and her graceful movements.
- #088
Animator Shamus Culhane said that drawing the dwarfs' walk in the "Heigh Ho" scene was the hardest job of his career. While six dwarfs walked at the same tempo, he had to give each one body language suited to their character; moreover, because of the unusual angles, he planned every step with a blue pencil and a ruler. Dopey, at the very back, bounced at a different tempo from the others but still blended into the scene smoothly. Culhane summed up the effort: "I worked six months on that damn thing, and it isn't even a minute on screen."
- #089
Walt Disney started a "Five Dollars a Gag" policy to encourage the animators' creativity. One of the best-known examples of this policy was Ward Kimball's idea of the dwarfs' noses appearing one by one above the foot of the bed as they watch over Snow White.
- #090
In the scene where the dwarfs are sent to wash up, Frank Thomas, following a suggestion in the storyboard, had Dopey take a hopping step to catch up with the others. Walt Disney liked the movement so much that he had it added to other scenes as well; this angered the other animators, who blamed Thomas for the extra workload.
- #091
The trees that grab at Snow White's dress were drawn inspired by the Garry oaks found in the south of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, notable for their eerie, twisted shapes. Walt Disney had traveled through the region and noted the strange forms of the trees.
- #092
Animator Wolfgang Reitherman only got the animation of the Slave in the Magic Mirror right on his ninth attempt. He would fold the paper in half and draw one half of the face, then turn the paper over and copy the other half. But he was frustrated that his work was hidden in the film by the flame, smoke and distorting glass effects.
- #093
According to promotional materials, the production employed 32 animators, 102 assistants, 167 in-betweeners, 20 layout artists, 25 watercolor background artists, 65 effects animators and 158 women ink-and-paint artists. A total of 2 million drawings were made using 1,500 different paint shades.
- #094
Marge Champion served as the movement model for Snow White; some of these animations were later reused for Lady Marian in Robin Hood and the Duchess in The Aristocats.
- #095
When the film played at Radio City Music Hall during its first release, the music in the scene where Snow White flees into the forest was changed, because the executives worried that children would be too frightened when they heard it.
- #096
It took two months for the studio chemists to mix more than 1,500 paint colors to determine the final shades.
- #097
The Queen's Castle was designed inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. The same castle was later used in Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty as well.
- #098
In designing Queen Grimhilde's castle, the animators drew inspiration from the Alcázar of Segovia in Spain.
- #099
As the Witch flees from the dwarfs, she climbs a mountain and tries to roll a boulder down on them from the summit. When the cliff edge collapses, she falls with a long scream, the boulder rolls down after her, and a rumble is heard. The censorship board asked for most of the scream and the rumble to be cut.
- #100
Live models were used to give Snow White a more realistic look. This worked so well that live models were brought in for later animated films as well; many were even dressed in costumes and had scenes acted out to help with the drawing process.
- #101
That the bedroom fight scene was cut can be seen from the fact that the scene is cut just before Grumpy says, "Wait a minute. Are you going to lose your head over a gooseberry pie?"
- #102
This is Disney's first feature-length animated film, and the first whose music was written by composers who would return. Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Paul J. Smith became regular composers starting with this film; they were followed by Oliver Wallace with Dumbo and Edward H. Plumb with Bambi.
- #103
It was mandatory for the animators to take art classes outside working hours; this improved their techniques. In fact, as their skills advanced during production, many scenes had to be reworked.
- #104
Snow White's dress was originally entirely yellow. Blue and red were added to show off the new Technicolor process.
- #105
Walt Disney wanted to preserve Snow White's voice as a special, one-time recording and bound Adriana Caselotti to a very strict contract. Despite being a classically trained singer, she never landed a real singing role in any film again, apart from a small bit part in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
- #106
Snow White's original design was created by the artists behind Betty Boop; with pursed red lips, long eyelashes and visible ankles, she resembled a 'flapper' more than a demure princess. Walt Disney rejected this design because he wanted Snow White to be pure, innocent and far from sexy, wearing a peasant-style dress. The original 12x10-inch drawing was kept in the family of one of the animators and, when it went up for auction in August 2014, sold for £2,793 against an expected £15,000.
- #107
Dopey was initially to speak with the voice of Mel Blanc, but was made mute. The same applied to Gideon in Pinocchio (1940), though there Blanc provided the sound effects.
- #108
During production, Grim Natwick and Norman Ferguson were tasked with refining the design and overall look of Queen Grimhilde and Snow White. For the Queen they studied the faces of the beauties of the era; various sources cite Gale Sondergaard, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo as visual inspirations. For the Queen's costumes they drew largely on a preserved medieval statue of the German aristocrat Uta von Ballenstedt (c. 1000-1046), famous for her striking depiction in Naumburg Cathedral.
- #109
The film features only 11 human characters: Snow White, the dwarfs, the Queen, the Prince and the Huntsman. Of these, only the Prince's name is never spoken.
- #110
For Queen Grimhilde's old hag form, the animators had to create a new body language and facial expression. Designer Joe Grant used Lucille La Verne's body language as a visual reference and claimed he also drew inspiration for the design from one of his female neighbors.
- #111
Frieda van Hessen, Snow White's Dutch singing voice, had to go into hiding during World War II and survived the Holocaust. She wrote a book about her life titled 'A Life in the Shadow of the Swastika'.
- #112
Dancer Marge Champion's movements were recorded with rotoscope to guide Snow White; she married and divorced Disney animator Art Babbitt, who worked on the film. She later married the famous choreographer and director Gower Champion, danced and appeared with him in films and on stage.
- #113
While trying to settle the character of Queen Grimhilde, Walt Disney began to imagine her as a mixture of Lady Macbeth and the Big Bad Wolf. He wanted her to be beautiful, but in his words, 'her beauty is sinister, mature, plenty of curves – she becomes ugly and menacing when she's scheming.'
- #114
Whenever Doc speaks, he misuses words or swaps letters around. This was one of the reasons comedian Roy Atwell (1878-1962) was cast in the role; his comedy acts featured characters who mispronounced lines or stuttered. Atwell had begun his career as a dramatic actor; when a line he once mispronounced made the whole audience laugh, he realized he could succeed in comedy by deliberately using the wrong words.
- #115
Adriana Caselotti (Snow White) was not invited to the film's premiere. When she tried to get in, security was not convinced she was Snow White.
- #116
Happy is the only dwarf who does not address Snow White by name.
- #117
The design of Queen Grimhilde is attributed to Walt Disney and Joe Grant, while the person responsible for her animation was Art Babbitt.
- #118
Despite his name, Sneezy sneezes only four times over the course of the film (not counting two suppressed sneezes).
- #119
Dopey was initially considered as the apprentice in the 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' segment of Fantasia (1940). When Snow White wants to check her hands, her hands are invisible because her arms are so long; this visual detail was used for Mickey Mouse in Fantasia. Another clue is that when Dopey shows his hands, the woodwinds quickly play eight notes; these notes are almost identical to a passage in the music of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'.
- #120
Before transforming herself into the old peddler woman, the evil queen never once interacts with Snow White in her true form.
- #121
Sleepy and Dopey are the only dwarfs who are left-handed. This is most obvious when the dwarfs arrive at the mine to work; they are the only ones holding their picks in their left hands.
- #122
Sterling Holloway, who later appeared in many Walt Disney films, was considered for the role of Sleepy.
- #123
Snow White never interacts with the Prince even once. This makes her the only Disney Princess who does not speak with her love.
- #124
When the Queen interacts with her servants, she displays dominant traits and a commanding voice. Her stepdaughter Snow White, in her interactions with the seven dwarfs, behaves like an authoritarian disciplinarian. Both royal women tend to dominate others and resemble each other in manner.
- #125
In the film, Doc is the unofficial leader of the dwarfs. Grumpy constantly challenges his authority and at one point tells Doc to be quiet. When the dwarfs grow tired of Grumpy's behavior and pile on top of him, the idea of washing a reluctant Grumpy comes from Doc; this appears to be Doc's way of retaliating against the one who challenged him.
- #126
The Evil Queen is the first character both to appear and to speak in the Disney Animation Canon.
- #127
Although Snow White is the youngest Disney Princess, she is in fact the oldest princess in the Disney series, because she is the original Disney Princess and Cinderella and Aurora did not appear until the 1950s.
- #128
Dopey is the only dwarf without a beard. He is also the youngest of the seven dwarfs and the only one who is mute and bald.
- #129
Snow White is the first Disney Princess to be raised by a Disney villain. The others are Cinderella, raised by Lady Tremaine, and Rapunzel, raised by Mother Gothel.
- #130
Walt Disney built his studios in Burbank, California, with the profit he made from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As Disney's first feature-length animation, the film shaped the studio's future. The revenue it generated turned into the facility that laid the foundations of modern animation.
- #131
Some animators objected to the name Dopey; they found it too modern for a timeless fairy tale. Walt Disney convinced the team by claiming that Shakespeare used the word in his plays. Yet the word 'dopey' does not appear in Shakespeare's works; Disney's creative defense secured the name's acceptance.
- #132
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first feature-length cel-animated film in cinema history. Adapted from the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the production is the first animated film made in America, the first fully color animated film and Walt Disney Productions' first feature-length work.
- #133
Adjusted for inflation, it is the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Its box office figures showed the power of animation to the whole world.
- #134
The film's initial budget was $250,000; this was ten times the average budget of the studio's Silly Symphonies shorts. In the end the budget exceeded $1.4 million, a huge figure for any film of the period.
- #135
Snow White was one of the first films to have related merchandise at the time of its premiere. This marketing strategy laid the foundations of the modern film industry. With toys, books and various products, the cinema experience extended beyond the theater.
- #136
The Prince was in fact a much more prominent character, but the difficulty of animating him convincingly forced the animators to reduce his role significantly. The limitations of animating human figures shifted the story's focus to the dwarfs and Snow White.
- #137
The film was the first Disney film to premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York. After the first screenings, all the velvet seat upholstery had to be replaced. Small children were so frightened by the scene in which Snow White gets lost in the forest that they wet themselves at every showing.
- #138
While the dwarfs are washing, Dopey swallows a bar of soap. A scene showing how the soap was removed from him was shot as a pencil test but was not included in the film. This scene was later shown on the program The Plausible Impossible, along with a test of the deleted song 'The Music In Your Soup'.
- #139
This film was the first film to have a soundtrack album released. Because Walt Disney Productions did not have its own music publishing company, the publishing rights to this film's music and songs are still held by Bourne Co. Although the studio later recovered the music rights to its other films, this film remained an exception.
- #140
When Ward Kimball learned that two of his main scenes (the dwarfs eating soup and making a bed for Snow White) had been cut, he considered leaving the studio. Walt Disney kept him on by giving him the character of Jiminy Cricket for the next film, Pinocchio. Disney showed the 'Music In Your Soup' scene on a television program in the 1950s.
- #141
The film had planned to include all three of the Queen's assassination attempts (the poisoned comb, strangulation with a corset and the poisoned apple), but in the end it was reduced to only the apple scene. Until a very late stage of production, the corset scene had been removed while the comb scene remained.
- #142
The Hollywood film industry nicknamed this film 'Walt Disney's Folly', believing it would fail. This mocking label was buried by the film's revolutionary success. Disney's courage to take risks changed the history of animation forever.
- #143
Among the scenes that were planned but never fully animated were: the Queen keeping the prince imprisoned in a dungeon and making skeletons dance by magic; a fantasy sequence for 'Someday My Prince Will Come' in which Snow White dances with the prince in a sea of stars; the dwarfs making a bed for Snow White with the creatures of the forest; 'Music in Your Soup', in which the dwarfs sing about soup; and 'You're Never Too Old to Be Young', which was recorded in advance but never animated.
- #144
Fifty ideas for the dwarfs' names and personalities were listed in the film's proposal; all the final names except Dopey and Doc were on this list. Dopey was the last dwarf to be developed. Sneezy was a last-minute replacement for Deafy. Charles M. Schulz wrote that he had heard 'Snoopy' was also considered as a name and that he was relieved it was not chosen.
- #145
The film held the title of highest-grossing film for a full year, until it was surpassed by Gone with the Wind. The rivalry between the two films symbolizes the golden age of Hollywood.
- #146
In 1938 it earned four times as much money as all other films. This extraordinary commercial success gave the film industry hope in the middle of the Great Depression. Snow White proved that animation was a profitable genre.
- #147
Lux Radio Theater broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the film on 26 December 1938; many Disney voice artists reprised their roles. This radio program brought the film's popularity into homes and was an important media event of the period.
- #148
It is the first animated film selected for the National Film Registry. This honor confirms the film's cultural, historical and aesthetic significance. Snow White is regarded as one of the cornerstones of American cinema heritage.
- #149
Queen Grimhilde was the first major character to die in a Disney film, and the screenwriters struggled with how to show her death. They rejected the torturous death scene in the original story because it would damage Snow White's good-girl image. In the end, an indirect death such as being struck by lightning was preferred.
- #150
It is the first feature-length animated film to come out of the United States. The world's first feature-length animated films were made in Argentina in 1917 and 1918, but they are lost. The oldest surviving feature-length animation is the 1926 production The Adventures of Prince Achmed.
- #151
The opening credits include a thank-you almost unique in 1930s Hollywood films: 'My sincere thanks to my staff for their loyalty and creative efforts, which made this production possible. - Walt Disney'.
- #152
While receiving his honorary Oscars for Snow White, Walt Disney talked to the Academy Awards audience for 25 minutes about Pinocchio, which was still in production.
- #153
It is one of two feature-length animated films personally produced by Walt Disney and not bearing the phrase 'Walt Disney Presents'. Instead it reads 'A Walt Disney Feature Production'. The other is Fantasia, which contained no written credits at all during its roadshow release.
- #154
The British Board of Film Censors gave the film an A certificate at its original release. This sparked a nationwide debate over whether the enchanted forest and the witch were too frightening for young viewers. Most local authorities overrode the censorship decision and showed the film with a U certificate.
- #155
Storyboards for a sequel titled 'Snow White Returns' were discovered in the Disney Company's vault. Their length indicated that it was designed as a short film rather than a feature. It is not known why this sequel never got beyond pre-production.
- #156
Walt Disney first got the idea for the film at just 15 years old, while working as a newspaper delivery boy in Kansas City. He saw a major screening of the 1916 silent Snow White film starring Marguerite Clark. Projected onto a four-sided screen by four projectors, the film left a deep impression on the young Disney.
- #157
It was one of Adolf Hitler's favorite films, along with King Kong and Sun Valley Serenade. This surprising preference shows the film's universal appeal and its influence beyond the political boundaries of the era.
- #158
Sergei Eisenstein, director of Battleship Potemkin, called the film 'the greatest film ever made.' This praise highlights a Soviet filmmaker's admiration for an American animation and the film's artistic universality.
- #159
To avoid showing the Seven Dwarfs killing Queen Grimhilde, the film depicts her death by a random lightning strike.
- #160
The film was to begin with scenes involving Snow White's mother, but these scenes were cut to avoid a backlash from censors. This change shows the need to conform to the strict moral standards of the era.
- #161
It is considered one of the fifteen films that changed American cinema. Its place on this list stems from bringing animation's artistic and commercial potential into the mainstream.
- #162
The gag of Sleepy being bothered by a fly was actually going to end with him catching the fly in Snow White's empty coffin. This ending would have offered an ironic closure in keeping with the character's laziness.
- #163
In the original tale written in German by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, the seven characters represented by the dwarfs in the film were actually monks. This change is thought to have been made so as not to offend German-speaking or non-Christian audiences.
- #164
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote of the film: 'I have never seen anything as enchanting as the animals, the colors are beautiful, and so is the music. But I can understand why small children find the old witch and Snow White's flight through the forest rather terrifying.'
- #165
[June 2008] It ranked No. 1 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 10 films in the 'Animation' genre. This honor confirms the film's lasting impact on the genre and its artistic excellence.
- #166
After this film, Walt Disney did not hold a major Hollywood premiere for one of his films for 27 years. The next premiere was for Mary Poppins in 1964, another groundbreaking technical achievement combining live action and animation.
- #167
It was included on the American Film Institute's 2004 list of the '100 Best American Movie Songs' with the song 'Some Day My Prince Will Come.' This song is a symbol of the film's musical legacy and emotional resonance.
- #168
In the original 1915 film, the Queen and the Witch were actually two separate characters. The Disney adaptation merged these two figures into a single villain, simplifying the story and increasing the dramatic effect.
- #169
There was a planned Disney sequel about Snow White's sister, Rose Red. Announced in 2016, the project was canceled in 2021, and Disney chose instead to make a live-action Snow White adaptation. Brie Larson was considered for the lead role in the canceled project.
- #170
The dwarfs' frequently quoted 'original' names (Snick, Glick, Blick, Flick, Plick, Whick and Quee) actually come from a 1912 stage play. The Brothers Grimm's story had never given the dwarfs any names.
- #171
It remained the highest-grossing animated film for more than 50 years, until it was surpassed by Disney's own Aladdin.
- #172
It is the first feature-length film from Walt Disney Animation Studios and its only film of the 1930s. This film laid the foundation for all of the studio's subsequent animated classics.
- #173
According to one source, while passing a cinema, Walt Disney saw audiences happily watching 80 minutes of Mickey Mouse cartoons. He thought that if they could watch shorts of that length, they could also watch a feature of similar length. The silent Snow White film he had seen as a child influenced his choice of this tale.
- #174
Filmation produced two animated sequels: A Snow White Christmas (1980) and Happily Ever After (1989). In the first, Snow White is blonde and encounters seven friendly giants; in the second, the Evil Queen's brother kidnaps the Prince, and Snow White must this time become a hero alongside seven female dwarfs.
- #175
In 1934, Walt and his team began discussing storylines; production started in 1935 and continued until shortly before the premiere.
- #176
The film's initial budget was half a million dollars, but by the time it was completed it was said to have cost 1.5 million dollars. Many people in Hollywood expected the film to be a fiasco; during production it was called 'Disney's Folly.' Despite this, it grossed more than 8.5 million dollars at its first release, and an estimated 20 million people saw it in the first three months.
- #177
Until The Black Cauldron (1985), it was the only full-length Disney animated film to have completed scenes cut before release.
- #178
On October 31, 2016, Disney announced that a live-action adaptation was in development. The announcement signaled that the classic fairy tale would be reinterpreted for new generations.
- #179
The film's 1992 United Kingdom re-release was distributed by Warner Bros. However, from the mid-90s onward, future films would be distributed entirely through Disney or its subsidiary Buena Vista.
- #180
In the Brothers Grimm's original story, the dwarfs have no names, but among the names considered for the film were Scrappy, Hoppy, Weepy, Dirty, Crawley, Hungry, Lazy, Gabby, Jumpy, Snippy, Stubby, Weezy, Puffy, Shorty, Helpful, Awful, Silly and Daffy. This list shows the richness of the creative process and the care taken in character development.
- #181
During production, a number of scenes were cut, whether in story discussions or after sketch work. These scenes included the Queen chaining up the prince, the huntsman being dragged away by torturers, dancing skeletons, a fight between Dozy and Grumpy, and the dwarfs building a bed for Snow White.
- #182
The dwarfs' names were chosen by public vote. Among the rejected ones were Snoopy, Sniffy, Shirty and Shorty. This democratic process helped the audience connect with the characters.
- #183
The film was not released in Japan until 1950. This delay shows the distribution difficulties of the post-war period and that the film's international spread took time.
- #184
The Disney studio was on the verge of bankruptcy. Walt Disney managed to secure a bank loan by showing a rough cut of the film, and the studio was saved as a result. This moment is one of the most critical turning points in Disney history.
- #185
The film's success encouraged MGM to bring another expensive children's film, The Wizard of Oz (1939), to life. Snow White's box-office triumph increased the courage of the major studios to invest in fantasy genres.
- #186
When the film was released, it was generally accepted that the plural of the word 'dwarf' was 'dwarfs'. J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit', published a year earlier, and the 'Lord of the Rings' that followed popularized the unusual variant 'dwarves'. This is why the dwarfs in the film are often mistakenly referred to today as 'dwarves', and even the title is incorrectly written as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' rather than 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.
- #187
HIDDEN MICKEY: As the Queen descends to the basement to cast her spell, a Mickey Mouse silhouette formed by three stones can be seen on the wall behind her.
- #188
As is known, in every country where the film was dubbed, the seven dwarfs have their own distinctive names, including in Germany, the fairy tale's homeland. Yet in the Brothers Grimm's original tale, the dwarfs have no individual names at all.
- #189
The dwarfs exclaim 'Jiminy crickets' twice. This is an old expression generally used to indicate surprise.
- #190
In the dwarfs' house, almost every wooden surface is carved with an animal. Even the edge of each stair step is an owl's face. Only on the door leading to the bedroom are smiling human-like creatures seen.
- #191
Queen Grimhilde's throne has a peacock motif; this is probably a nod to her vanity.
- #192
The potion that transforms the Queen into an old woman contains mummy powder. In the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, it was common to grind Egyptian mummies into powder and sell it as medicine. This practice fell out of favor in the 19th century.
- #193
The name Grimhilde comes from Norse mythology. In the stories of the Poetic Edda and the Volsung Saga, she was a figure who competed with Brunhilde for Siegfried's love.
- #194
At the beginning of the film, as the evil queen walks toward her mirror, the symbols around the mirror can be seen to actually be all the astrological zodiac symbols.
- #195
Snow White appearing to die at the end but actually being alive was later used in many Disney (and non-Disney) films, so much so that this cliché was named the 'Disney Death'.
- #196
According to the audio commentary on the 2009 Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD, the line Snow White says to the doves, 'Do you want to know a secret? Promise not to tell?', was later used in The Beatles' 1963 song 'Do You Want to Know a Secret'.
- #197
Disney named the Evil Queen Queen Grimhilde, but this name does not appear in the film. As inspiration, they used Princess Kriemhild from the 13th-century 'Nibelungenlied'. In the medieval tale, Kriemhild transforms from a relatively gentle court lady into a relentless and savage avenger for her slain husband.
- #198
Throughout the film, the Queen mostly wears black and other 'negative' dark colors, creating a visual contrast with Snow White's brightly colored wardrobe. Although the Queen hides her hair under a headdress for most of the film, when the headdress is removed her hair appears 'shiny black.' In fact, she has the same hair color as Snow White.
- #199
A promotional brochure prepared for the film in 1938 added a backstory to the Evil Queen. According to it, she gained her magical powers by selling her body and soul to evil spirits living in Germany's Harz mountains. The Harz is a real highland region in northern Germany. From the 10th century to the 20th century, there was a mining industry that flourished in the Harz.
- #200
Among Disney fans, there is a popular theory that the skeleton the Queen mocks is the Prince. Many fans also believe that Snow White technically dies and that her arrival at his castle with the Prince in the final scene is actually their reunion in the afterlife, especially since the peach-colored clouds represent heaven.
- #201
The song 'Someday My Prince Will Come' later surprisingly became a jazz standard. Dave Brubeck was the first to record it, for an album reinterpreting Disney melodies as jazz (1957's 'Dave Digs Disney'). Later, names such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane also covered the piece. Davis even gave an album of his this name in 1961; Wynton Kelly did the same.
- #202
The film was selected for the US National Film Registry in 1989 (the first year of induction into the National Film Archive) because it is 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.'
- #203
When the dwarfs first encounter an intruder in their cottage (that is, Snow White), they hide in the forest and shout 'Jiminy Crickets!' This expression is the name of one of the main characters of Walt Disney's second feature-length animation, Pinocchio (1940).
- #204
The word 'dwarf' was originally a slang term used in Germany for young coal miners working in the Seven Mountains region. These children's growth was usually stunted by malnutrition, and they became hunchbacked from working in the coal mines.
- #205
Folklorists have recorded variations of the Snow White tale in almost every European country, 'from the Balkan peninsula to Iceland, from Russia to Catalonia.' The most variants of the story have been identified in Germany and Italy.
- #206
Queen Grimhilde's primary goal is to remain the most beautiful woman in the land and not to lose her place to a younger beauty. In desperately pursuing this goal, Grimhilde, rather than destroying Snow White's beauty, ruins her own beauty by transforming herself into an old and ugly woman.
- #207
The Queen is expected to be of Germanic origin, but the spell book she reads is written in Italian.
- #208
In the film, Snow White lies in a death-like sleep through autumn (symbolized by falling leaves) and winter (symbolized by snowy weather). In spring, when flowers surround her coffin, she awakens. This part of the film resembles the story of the spring goddess Persephone and other plant deities, who spend half the year in the underworld and are reborn in spring.
- #209
In the film, the young Queen transforms into an old witch using a magic potion prepared at night. A full moon shines outside her castle. In folklore, the full moon is strongly associated with magic, shapeshifting and lycanthropy. The moon goddess Hecate is also traditionally regarded as the patron goddess of witches and witchcraft.
- #210
It has been included in '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die,' edited by Steven Schneider.
- #211
The centuries-old tale is said to be based on the 16th-century noblewoman Margarete von Waldeck, who lived near a mine in Bavaria where child laborers worked and were disparaged as 'dwarfs.' When a prince's family did not find her suitable, Margarete was reportedly poisoned.
Behind the Scenes (25)
- #212
When Lucille La Verne voiced the Evil Queen, the animators wanted an older, more rasping voice for the Old Witch. La Verne left the recording booth and returned a few minutes later, took out her false teeth, and delivered such an impressive 'old hag voice' that everyone was astonished.
- #213
Roy O. Disney created the creaking sound of Dopey's slow footsteps by slowly bending an empty leather wallet back and forth.
- #214
Rotoscoping was not used in the drawing of Queen Grimhilde; because the animators found her more realistic, complex and erotic than Snow White, they gave special attention to the mirror scenes. They worked with particular care on her 'beautiful, cruel mouth and eyes' and her graceful movements.
- #215
Animator Shamus Culhane said that drawing the dwarfs' walk in the 'Heigh Ho' scene was the hardest job of his career. While six dwarfs walked at the same tempo, he had to give each one body language suited to their character; moreover, because of the unusual angles, he planned every step with a blue pencil and a ruler. Dopey, at the very back, bounced at a different tempo from the others but still blended into the scene smoothly. Culhane summed up the effort: 'I worked six months on that damned thing, and it doesn't last even a minute on screen.'
- #216
Walt Disney introduced the 'Five Dollars a Gag' policy to encourage the animators' creativity. One of the best-known examples of this policy was Ward Kimball's idea of the dwarfs' noses appearing one by one above the foot of the bed as they spy on Snow White.
- #217
In the scene where the dwarfs are sent to wash up, Frank Thomas, following a suggestion in the storyboard, had Dopey take a hopping step to catch up with the others. Walt Disney liked this movement so much that he had it added to other scenes as well; this angered the other animators, who blamed Thomas for the extra workload.
- #218
The trees that catch on Snow White's dress were drawn inspired by the Garry oaks found south of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, notable for their eerie, gnarled shapes. Walt Disney had traveled through this region and noted the strange forms of the trees.
- #219
Animator Wolfgang Reitherman only got the animation of the Slave in the Magic Mirror right on his ninth attempt. He would fold the paper in half, draw one half of the face, then turn the paper over and copy the other half. However, he was frustrated that his work was hidden in the film by the flame, smoke and distorting glass effects.
- #220
According to promotional materials, 32 animators, 102 assistants, 167 in-between artists, 20 layout artists, 25 watercolor background artists, 65 effects animators and 158 women ink-and-paint artists worked on the production. A total of 2 million drawings were made using 1,500 different paint tones.
- #221
Marge Champion served as the live-action model for Snow White; some of these animations were later reused for Lady Marian in Robin Hood and the Duchess in The Aristocats.
- #222
While the film was playing at Radio City Music Hall during its first run, the music in the scene of Snow White fleeing through the forest was changed, because executives worried that children would be too frightened when they heard it.
- #223
It took the studio chemists two months to mix more than 1,500 paint colors to determine the final tones.
- #224
The Queen's Castle was designed inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. The same castle was later used in Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
- #225
A total of 750 artists worked on the film, including 32 animators, 102 assistant animators, 65 special effects animators and 25 background artists.
- #226
When designing Queen Grimhilde's castle, the animators drew inspiration from the Alcázar of Segovia in Spain.
- #227
As the Witch flees from the dwarfs, she climbs a mountain and tries to roll a boulder down on them from the summit. When the cliff edge collapses, she falls with a long scream, the boulder rolls down after her, and a rumble is heard. The censorship board demanded that most of the scream and the rumble be cut.
- #228
This film is the first from Walt Disney Animation Studios to use a full opening credits sequence.
- #229
Live models were used to give Snow White a more realistic appearance. This worked so well that live models were brought in for later animated films as well; many were even dressed in costumes and had scenes acted out to help with the drawing process.
- #230
The hand-drawn animation in the film remained the dominant form in nearly all of Walt Disney Animation Studios' films from 1937 to 2004; only The Nightmare Before Christmas and Dinosaur were exceptions.
- #231
That the bedroom fight scene was cut can be seen from the fact that the scene ends just before Grumpy says, 'Wait a minute. Are you going to lose your head over a gooseberry pie?'
- #232
Many actors and actresses were used as models to give the artists an idea of the flow of movement. Marge Belcher, who modeled for Snow White, married animator Art Babbit after the film was finished and later became known as the dancer Marge Champion.
- #233
This was Disney's first feature-length animated film, and the first in which the composers of the music became regulars. Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Paul J. Smith became regular composers starting with this film; they were followed by Oliver Wallace with Dumbo and Edward H. Plumb with Bambi.
- #234
Animators were required to take art classes outside working hours; this improved their techniques. In fact, as their skills advanced during production, many scenes had to be reworked.
- #235
The demands of the film required the Disney studio to expand greatly, and more than 700 artists were hired.
- #236
Snow White's dress was initially entirely yellow. Blue and red were added to showcase the new Technicolor process.
Characters & Cast (48)
- #237
Walt Disney wanted to keep Snow White's voice as a special, one-time recording and bound Adriana Caselotti to a very strict contract. Despite being a classically trained singer, she never again landed a real singing role in any film, apart from a small bit part in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
- #238
All seven dwarfs were modeled on real people.
- #239
Snow White's original design was created by the artists behind Betty Boop; with pursed red lips, long eyelashes and visible ankles, she resembled a 'flapper' more than a demure princess. Walt Disney rejected this design because he wanted Snow White to be pure, innocent and far from sexy, wearing a peasant-style dress. The original 12x10-inch drawing was kept in the family of one of the animators and, when it went up for auction in August 2014, it was expected to fetch £15,000 but sold for £2,793.
- #240
At 14, Snow White is the youngest Disney Princess.
- #241
When comedian Billy Gilbert learned that one of the dwarfs was named Sneezy, he called Walt Disney and performed his famous sneezing routine, winning the role.
- #242
Deanna Durbin auditioned for the voice of Snow White but was not chosen because Walt Disney found her voice too mature. She was 14 at the time.
- #243
Harry Stockwell, who voiced the Prince, was the father of actors Guy Stockwell and Dean Stockwell.
- #244
Dopey was initially going to speak with the voice of Mel Blanc, but he was made mute. The same was true of Gideon in Pinocchio (1940), though Blanc did provide the sound effects there.
- #245
During the film's production, Grim Natwick and Norman Ferguson were tasked with improving the design and overall look of the Queen Grimhilde and Snow White. For the Queen, they studied the faces of the beauties of the era; various sources cite Gale Sondergaard, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo as visual inspirations. For the Queen's costumes, they drew largely on a preserved medieval statue of the German aristocrat Uta von Ballenstedt (c. 1000-1046), famous for her striking depiction in Naumburg Cathedral.
- #246
There are only 11 human characters in the film: Snow White, the dwarfs, the Queen, the Prince and the Huntsman. Of these, only the Prince's name is never spoken.
- #247
For Queen Grimhilde's old witch form, the animators had to create a new body language and facial expression. Designer Joe Grant used Lucille La Verne's body language as a visual reference and claimed he also drew inspiration for the design from one of his female neighbors.
- #248
Snow White's Dutch singing voice, Frieda van Hessen, had to go into hiding during World War II and survived the Holocaust. She wrote a book about her life titled 'A Life in the Shadow of the Swastika'.
- #249
Happy is the only one of the seven dwarfs with white eyebrows. All the others have black eyebrows.
- #250
Dancer Marge Champion's movements were recorded with rotoscope to guide Snow White; she married and divorced Disney animator Art Babbitt, who worked on the film. She later married the famous choreographer and director Gower Champion, danced and appeared in films and on stage.
- #251
While trying to settle the character of Queen Grimhilde, Walt Disney began to imagine her as a mixture of Lady Macbeth and the Big Bad Wolf. He wanted her to be beautiful, but in his words, 'her beauty is ominous, mature, voluptuous – while scheming she becomes ugly and threatening.'
- #252
Whenever Doc speaks, he uses words incorrectly or swaps letters around. This was one of the reasons comedian Roy Atwell (1878-1962) was cast for the role; his comedy acts featured characters who misdelivered lines or stuttered. Atwell had begun his career as a dramatic actor; when a line he once misdelivered made the whole audience laugh, he realized he could succeed in comedy by deliberately using the wrong words.
- #253
Adriana Caselotti (Snow White) was not invited to the film's premiere. When she tried to enter, security was not convinced she was Snow White.
- #254
Apart from Dopey, no dwarf addresses the others by name.
- #255
Happy is the only dwarf Snow White does not address by name.
- #256
While the design of the character Queen Grimhilde is attributed to Walt Disney and Joe Grant, the person responsible for her animation was Art Babbitt.
- #257
All the dwarfs except Dopey have dark eyes; his are light blue.
- #258
Despite his name, Sneezy sneezes only four times throughout the film (not counting two suppressed ones).
- #259
Dopey was initially considered as the apprentice in the 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' segment of Fantasia (1940). When Snow White wants to control her hands, her hands are invisible because her arms are so long; this visual detail was used for Mickey Mouse in Fantasia. Another clue is that when Dopey shows his hands, the woodwinds quickly play eight notes; these notes are almost identical to a passage in the music of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'.
- #260
Pinto Colvig, the voice of Goofy, voiced Sleepy and Grumpy.
- #261
Although no one ever says it, the Prince's name is Florian.
- #262
The evil queen never interacts with Snow White even once in her true form before transforming herself into the old peddler woman.
- #263
According to the DVD extras, comedian Joe Twerp, who had previously mixed up words, was considered for the role of Doc. The role went to Roy Atwell, but Twerp voiced Doc on the radio.
- #264
'The Screen Guild Theater' broadcast a 30-minute radio adaptation of the Walt Disney version on April 24, 1944, with Billy Gilbert reprising his role from the film.
- #265
Sleepy and Dopey are the only dwarfs who are left-handed. This is most evident when the dwarfs arrive at the mine to work; they are the only ones holding their picks in their left hands.
- #266
Sterling Holloway, who would later appear in many Walt Disney films, was considered for the role of Sleepy.
- #267
The voice of the Prince was provided by Harry Stockwell, father of actors Dean and Guy Stockwell.
- #268
In the film, Snow White tells the seven dwarfs that she has fallen in love with a charming prince. The prince's name is never mentioned in her account, because Snow White herself does not know it; she knows nothing about the prince or his past.
- #269
In the film, Snow White wears flesh-colored tights rather than showing her bare legs. In Disney books, however, Snow White does not wear tights.
- #270
Queen Grimhilde wears high-heeled shoes in her young form and gray slippers in her old form.
- #271
Snow White never once interacts with the Prince. This makes her the only Disney Princess who does not speak with her love.
- #272
Allan Jones, Douglas McPhail, Dennis Morgan and Felix Knight auditioned for the role of the Prince.
- #273
When the Queen interacts with her servants, she displays dominant traits and a commanding voice. Her stepdaughter Snow White, in her interactions with the seven dwarfs, behaves like an authoritarian disciplinarian. Both royal women tend to dominate others and are similar to each other in demeanor.
- #274
It is very likely that Dopey is in fact an 'adoptee' in the film. The other dwarfs are noticeably older than him, and he is implied to be much younger than Snow White. Dopey is therefore most likely either from another dwarf clan or a small child who resembles a dwarf. Dopey is even probably the youngest character in the film.
- #275
Susanna Foster and Betty Jaynes auditioned for the voice of Snow White.
- #276
While talking to herself, the Evil Queen describes the dwarfs as 'little men.' She may regard them as human, but this is left ambiguous in the narrative.
- #277
For several years after the film was made, the identity of the girl behind Snow White's voice was kept secret, but as most people now know, that girl was Adriana Caselotti.
- #278
In the film, Doc is the unofficial leader of the dwarfs. Grumpy constantly challenges his authority and at one point tells Doc to be quiet. When the dwarfs grow tired of Grumpy's behavior and pile on top of him, the idea of washing the reluctant Grumpy comes from Doc; this appears to be Doc's way of retaliating against the one who challenged him.
- #279
The Evil Queen is the first character in the Disney Animation Canon to both appear and speak.
- #280
Although Snow White is the youngest Disney Princess, she is in fact the oldest princess in the Disney series, because she is the original Disney Princess, and Cinderella and Aurora did not appear until the 1950s.
- #281
Adriana Caselotti, who voiced Snow White, did not know she was working on a feature-length film. She thought she was making a slightly longer version of Walt Disney's usual short animations.
- #282
In her later years, Adriana Caselotti used 'I'm Wishing' as her answering machine message.
- #283
Dopey is the only dwarf without a beard. He is also the youngest of the seven dwarfs and the only one who is silent and bald.
- #284
Snow White is the first Disney Princess to be raised by a Disney villain. The others are Cinderella, by Lady Tremaine, and Rapunzel, by Mother Gothel.
Easter Eggs & References (1)
- #285
In 1938 it earned four times as much money as other films.
Deeper Meaning (37)
- #286
No rotoscoping was used in the depiction of Queen Grimhilde, because the animators preferred drawing the Queen over Snow White and gave more attention to her portrayal. The animators found her "more real and complex as a woman, more erotic, and driven to desperate acts by her magic mirror." Particular attention was paid to her "cute, cruel mouth and eyes" and her graceful movements.
- #287
When the film was released, it was generally accepted that the plural of 'dwarf' was 'dwarfs'. J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit', published a year earlier, and the 'Lord of the Rings' that followed popularized the unusual variant 'dwarves'. As a result, the dwarfs in the film are often mistakenly referred to today as 'dwarves', and even the title is incorrectly written as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' rather than 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.
- #288
HIDDEN MICKEY: As the Queen descends to the basement to perform magic, a Mickey Mouse silhouette formed by three stones is visible on the wall behind her.
- #289
As is known, the seven dwarfs have their own unique names in every country where the film was released, including Germany, the fairy tale's homeland. Yet in the Brothers Grimm's original tale, the dwarfs have no individual names at all.
- #290
The dwarfs twice shout 'Jiminy crickets'. This is an old expression generally used to indicate surprise.
- #291
In the dwarfs' house, almost every wooden surface is carved with an animal. Even the edge of each stair step is an owl's face. Only the door leading to the bedroom shows smiling human-like creatures.
- #292
Queen Grimhilde's throne features a peacock motif, likely a nod to her vanity.
- #293
The potion that transforms the Queen into an old woman contains mummy powder. In the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, it was common to grind Egyptian mummies into powder and sell it as medicine. The practice fell out of favor in the 19th century.
- #294
In the first version of the Brothers Grimm's 'Snow White', the Evil Queen is Snow White's biological mother. The brothers later turned her into a stepmother to make the folk tale suitable for children.
- #295
The name Grimhilde comes from Norse mythology. In the Poetic Edda and the Volsung Saga, she was a figure who competed with Brunhilde for Siegfried's love.
- #296
At the beginning of the film, as the evil queen walks toward her mirror, the symbols around the mirror can be seen to be all the astrological zodiac signs.
- #297
Snow White appearing to die at the end but actually being alive was later used in many Disney (and non-Disney) films, so much so that this cliché came to be called the 'Disney Death'.
- #298
Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora can communicate with animals. These three classic princesses also wear peasant clothing at the beginning of their films.
- #299
According to the audio commentary on the 2009 Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD, the line Snow White says to the doves, 'Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell?', was later used in The Beatles' 1963 song 'Do You Want to Know a Secret'.
- #300
In the film, the dwarfs are miners and own a diamond mine. In Germanic folklore, dwarfs are generally depicted as craftsmen, blacksmiths and miners.
- #301
According to the film's background information, the face in the Magic Mirror is thought to represent the Queen's 'servant demon'. In European folklore, witches were aided by 'familiars', spirits, demons or fairies that protected them.
- #302
Disney named the Evil Queen Queen Grimhilde, but this name is never mentioned in the film. As inspiration they used Princess Kriemhild from the 13th-century 'Nibelungenlied'. In the medieval tale, Kriemhild transforms from a relatively gentle court lady into a fierce and savage avenger of her dead husband.
- #303
Throughout the film the Queen mostly wears black and other 'negative' dark colors, creating a visual contrast with Snow White's brightly colored wardrobe. Although the Queen hides her hair under a headdress for much of the film, when the headdress is removed her hair appears 'raven black'. In fact, she has the same hair color as Snow White.
- #304
The Brothers Grimm published the first version of 'Snow White' in 1812. The final revised version of the tale was printed in 1854.
- #305
A promotional brochure prepared for the film in 1938 added a backstory for the Evil Queen. According to it, she gained her magical powers by selling her body and soul to evil spirits living in Germany's Harz mountains. The Harz is a real highland region in northern Germany. From the 10th to the 20th century there was a mining industry that flourished in the Harz.
- #306
Among Disney fans there is a popular theory that the skeleton the Queen mocks is the Prince. Many fans also believe that Snow White technically died and that her arrival at his castle with the Prince in the final scene is actually their reunion in the afterlife, especially since the peach-colored clouds represent heaven.
- #307
The song 'Someday My Prince Will Come' later surprisingly became a jazz standard. Dave Brubeck was the first to record it, for an album reinterpreting Disney melodies as jazz (1957's 'Dave Digs Disney'). Later, names such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane also covered the piece. Davis even gave the name to an album in 1961; Wynton Kelly did the same.
- #308
The Evil Queen character appeared on one of ten commemorative postage stamps celebrating 'Disney Villains' on July 15, 2017. Each stamp cost 49 cents on the day it was issued. The other villains in this series: Honest John (Pinocchio), Lady Tremaine (Cinderella), the Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland), Captain Hook (Peter Pan), Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians), Ursula (The Little Mermaid), Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) and Scar (The Lion King).
- #309
The film was selected for the United States National Film Registry in 1989 (the first year of induction into the National Film Archive) for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.
- #310
The film is included in Roger Ebert's 'Great Movies' list.
- #311
When the dwarfs first encounter an intruder in their cottage (that is, Snow White), they hide in the forest and shout 'Jiminy Crickets!' This expression is the name of one of the main characters in Pinocchio (1940), Walt Disney's second feature-length animated film.
- #312
The word 'dwarf' was originally a slang term used in Germany for young coal miners working in the Seven Mountains region. These children's growth would usually stop due to malnutrition, and they became hunchbacked from working in the coal mines.
- #313
Folklorists have recorded variations of the Snow White tale in almost every European country, 'from the Balkan peninsula to Iceland, from Russia to Catalonia.' The greatest number of variants of the story have been identified in Germany and Italy.
- #314
Queen Grimhilde's primary goal is to remain the most beautiful woman in the land and not to lose her place to a younger beauty. In her desperate pursuit of this goal, Grimhilde, rather than destroying Snow White's beauty, ruins her own beauty by transforming herself into an old and ugly woman.
- #315
The Queen is expected to be of Germanic origin, yet the spell book she reads is written in Italian.
- #316
In the film, Snow White lies in a death-like sleep through autumn (symbolized by falling leaves) and winter (symbolized by snowy weather). In spring, when flowers surround her coffin, she awakens. This part of the film resembles the story of Persephone, the goddess of spring who spends half the year in the underworld and is reborn in spring, and other plant deities.
- #317
The film was a particular favorite of the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.
- #318
In the film, the young Queen transforms into an old witch using a magic potion prepared at night. A full moon shines outside her castle. In folklore, the full moon is strongly associated with magic, shapeshifting and lycanthropy. The moon goddess Hekate is also traditionally regarded as the patron goddess of witches and witchcraft.
- #319
It was included in '1001 Films You Must See Before You Die,' edited by Steven Schneider.
- #320
The symbols surrounding the Magic Mirror are the twelve signs of the zodiac.
- #321
It is said that the centuries-old tale is based on Margarete von Waldeck, a 16th-century noblewoman who lived near a mine in Bavaria where child laborers worked and were disparaged as 'dwarfs.' When a prince's family deemed her unsuitable, Margarete was reportedly poisoned.
- #322
While the witch persuades Snow White to eat the poisoned apple, this film passes the Bechdel-Wallace test; moreover, despite having been made before the birth of Alison Bechdel and Liz Wallace.
Career & Awards (1)
- #323
The Special Oscar awarded to the picture consisted of one standard Oscar statuette and seven miniature statuettes set on a stepped base.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work