Have you ever been to Snow White’s Grotto?
Most Disneyland visitors never get a chance to, on their busy and rushed day, they pass
up an opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful corners of the park.
A little jewel, hidden away in plain sight.
Many Disneyland fans already know the story of the statues of Snow White’s Grotto, but
there is a twist to this old tale, and perhaps today, I can teach you something…you never
knew.
Imagineer John Hench recalled the story:
John Hench and his team carved out a little corner next to Sleeping Beauty Castle, where
they would install the statues on a natural-looking waterfall feature, inspired by a fountain
he had seen in the town of Brie, in northern France.
And adjacent to the new fountain, they would widen part of the walkway in order to build
the famed wishing well from the movie.
The idea was that since the public likes to toss coins in fountains, wells, and other
water features, they can collect the coins to donate to charity, continuing the act of
giving which started with the arrival of the statues.
It would have been strange for Snow White to appear at the same height as the dwarfs,
so John Hench employed the use of forced perspective and placed Snow White at the top of the waterfall.
The waterfall gets narrower towards the top anyway, giving the illusion of distance.
The studio hands also sculpted small animals to place around the dwarfs, taking care to
make sure the critters around Snow White matched her scale, furthering the illusion that she
is taller in comparison to the others.
At the base of the waterfall, Hench installed a fountain of dancing fish, which squirt water
from their mouths.
The fish and the rest of the grotto’s water features come to life every so often when
you can hear Snow White’s rendition of the song “I’m Wishing” coming from the well.
Snow White: "I'm wishing..." Echo: "I'm wishing..."
Snow White: "For the one I love to find me..." Echo: "To find me..."
Snow White: "...today."
It’s really a neat little feature.
At first, the song was cut directly from a copy of the original film and pieced together
into an audio recording for the Grotto at Disneyland.
In 1983, for the opening of New Fantasyland, Producer and Disney Historian Les Perkins
teamed up with Disney artist Stacia Martin to refurbish the Grotto and Wishing Well.
Stacia and Les wanted a clearer and more precise audio recording of the song.
So, they contacted Disney Legend Adrianna Caselotti, the original actress who voiced
Snow White in the 1937 film.
According to a story told on Davelandweb.com, Caselotti could still do the voice of Snow
White, but had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song.
She was well aware that if she didn’t succeed, Imagineers would have found another sound-alike
actress.
They say that she asked for one more take, but before speaking, had turned away from
the microphone and said a little prayer.
Her prayer was addressed to Walt Disney, she said:
Then she turned back to the microphone and gave a flawless performance of the song.
…The website says they can’t confirm whether the story is true or not, but I found this
to be an enchanting anecdote nonetheless.
Snow White’s Grotto was dedicated at Disneyland on April 9th, 1961, and has been touching
the hearts of visitors and beneficiaries ever since.
In the past, coins collected from the well were sent to Variety Clubs International which
was an organization made up of the heads of show business, they would divide the money
up and use it for their charity work.
Nowadays, any coins tossed in the well, are donated to the Make a Wish foundation, there’s
even a little inscription on the well that reads: “Your wishes will help children everywhere”.
Now this is the point you’re probably wondering, “What’s the twist?”
Well, one day I stumbled upon a blog on a website, and I’ll have the link to the article
in the description below.
But essentially, the author had talked about their tour of the maquette room at Walt Disney
Imagineering in Glendale.
In the maquette room were the original statues of Snow White’s Grotto on display.
The ones at Disneyland currently, are replicas made of fiberglass, and the originals were
sent back to Imagineering probably in 1983 in order to preserve them from the elements.
An Imagineer told the author that after John Hench died, his secretary had found a file
in his office labeled “Snow White”.
When she read through it, she found many documents and correspondence relating to the statues.
Apparently, the statues didn’t arrive as an anonymous gift, the Disney Company commissioned
them from Italian artist Leonida Parma.
And to explain the reason why Snow White is the same height as the dwarfs, through my
research over the years, I heard a story, though I can’t recall anymore where I heard
it.
According to the story, John Hench sent artwork of the characters to the artist, and the characters
were labeled with the height of the statues.
The Dwarfs were labeled as 33 inches tall, and Snow White was labeled as 53 inches tall,
but the artist mistook John’s handwritten number 5 for a number 3 and assumed all the
statues were the same height.
The author of the blog went on to say that John Hench had discovered the height issue
and contacted the artist to see if a replacement Snow White of the proper size could be made.
Unfortunately, the price would have been $2000, and John Hench responded by saying that “they’ll
just work with what they have”.
So now there are probably all kinds of questions buzzing around in your head.
After all, in the beginning of this video, we read a direct quote from John Hench describing
how the statues had arrived as an anonymous gift, so, why would he lie?
Well, the answer will never be known for sure…but there is a little theory.
You see, John Hench was a master storyteller for the Walt Disney Company.
He was the kind of guy who loved to tell the stories of how things were built, animated,
or dreamed up at Disney.
He would frequently joke or prank other Imagineers.
And often, people found his stories to be wildly fantastic…and I guess, the real reason
why Snow White is the same height as the dwarfs…just didn’t make for a very good story told at
a cocktail party.
As for the fountain and statues, they still remain in place at the park today.
The area is now often home to meet and greets with characters, but between those hectic
moments, are remarkable periods of calm and serenity.
You can always take a minute from your busy day to admire Snow White’s Grotto, the castle,
or the wishing well, which continues to collect your contributions to benefit the children
in need.
A virtue that Snow White herself would appreciate.