[INTRO Sound Effects]
>>NARRATOR: In February of 1938, Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first
feature length animated film in the U.S., began it’s national release into theaters.
and became an unprecedented hit that changed the film industry forever.
[Clip: “Hollywood naysayers convinced no audience could ever sit through a feature
length cartoon had dubbed the film Disney’s folly.”]
However, in the years leading up to it’s release, many believe the film would be a
failure, but in reality, this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
[Intro]
In early 1934, after a long day of work at the Hyperion Studios, Walt Disney gave 50
cents to a group of his key animators to buy themselves dinner across the street, asking
that they come back and meet him in the Disney Soundstage.
And upon their return, Walt Disney proceeded to act out the entire story of Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs, and revealed his plans to create their first feature length animated
film.
[Clip: “Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?”]
By this point in Walt Disney’s career, he had already achieved success with his animated
shorts, and had received two Academy Awards and four nominations, including an honorary
Oscar for the creation of Mickey Mouse.
And for quite some time he’d been toying with the idea of a feature length animation,
despite the belief of many that no one would want to sit through a cartoon for that length
of time,
using the box office flop of “The Adventures of Prince Achmed”, the first color feature
length animated film, as an example when it released in Germany in 1926.
With some even suggesting that long exposure to color cartoons could damage the eyes.
[Clip: “In the world’s film capitol is the studio that stands as a monument that
stands to the great genius of Walt Disney, master of a new form of popular art, that
has captivated millions of movie goers.”]
Regardless, Walt Disney had a vision, and was determined to bring it to a reality, so
production began that summer,
and over the next 3 and a half years, the studio would grow from less than 100 employees
to over 600, and at various points at production, had 300 to 500 devoted solely to Snow White.
And Being the perfectionist he was, several times portions of work on the film had to
be essentially started from scratch,
such when a new version of the multiplane camera was invented to give scenes an even
greater illusion of depth, which was first tested in The short film “the Old Mill”.
[Music playing]
Due to the sheer scale and ambitiousness of Snow White and the seven dwarfs, it’s production
was closely followed by news outlets all over the country,
and while initially reported as having a budget of 350 thousand dollars, as the film neared
completion, the cost had grown to 1.5 million dollars,
forcing Walt Disney to mortgage his house, even despite skepticism from his brother Roy
and wife Lillian over whether the film would succeed.
With even some of those working on the ambitious project having concerns,
And it wasn’t just those close to him that had their doubts, as many in Hollywood referring
to the film as Disney’s folly, even in the days leading up to Snow White’s premiere.
[Clip: “All of Hollywood turned up last night for the world premiere of Walt Disney’s
1 in a half million dollar feature length animated fairytale Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs.”]
On December 21st, 1937, snow white and the seven dwarfs had it’s premiere at the Carthay
Circle Theater in a star studded event like none other.
But the true highlight of the evening would be the standing ovation at the end of the
screening, with many having been moved to tears, and the film became an overnight sensation
within Hollywood.
[Clip: “After last night’s premiere, Disney’s folly turned into Disney’s triumph.
As the audience laughed and cheered and wept in sympathy with the film’s memorable characters.”]
And While Snow White had some critics of it’s animation style, praise of the film only grew
during it’s run at the radio city music hall in New York city, and the Sheridan in
Miami, Florida
However the real test would be when Snow White was released nationally to the general public
in February of 1938,
and while February 4th is often cited as the first day of it’s wide release, the Sparks
Florida Theater in St Petersburg had the film as early as February 2nd.
[Clip: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is more than a great picture.
It’s a thrilling experience and happiness.”]
For the rest of the month, word continued to spread about this innovative film, with
movie theaters across the country, and even those outside the U.S.,
eager to have it play at their location, which quickly broke attendance records in multiple
cities over the following months.
And drew such a large audience, that it was brought back to theaters multiple times throughout
the year,
something at the time was practically unheard of, and would become the highest grossing
film of 1938
[Clip: “More than 250,000 paintings like these, were created by Walt Disney and his
staff of artists to make the most daring adventure in the history of motion pictures.”]
The film rose to such high critical acclaim, that snow white and the seven dwarfs was considered
as a potential best picture nominee,
But perhaps due to those who argued a cartoon should not be nominated alongside films with
real actors, it would only receive a nomination for best music, though Walt Disney would take
home his 7th Oscar for The Old Mill
However, The following year, Walt Disney was awarded a specially made Oscar statue, recognizing
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as an on screen innovation pioneering a new field of entertainment.
And over the academy’s 90 year history, only one other specially made Oscar statue
has ever been awarded.
[Shirley Temple: “Isn’t it bright and shiny?”
[Walt Disney: “Oh, it’s beautiful.”]
[“Aren’t you proud of it Mr. Disney?”
[“Well I’m so proud, I think I’ll bust.”]
The rest is history, as it’s monumental success allowed Walt Disney to build his new
studio and Disney headquarters in Burbank, California, and would eventually play a major
role in the creation of Disneyland.
And today, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, even when adjusted for inflation, is still
in the top 10 highest grossing films of all time, both worldwide and domestically.
Making what was once nicknamed Disneys Folly, a true example of if you can dream it, you
can do it.
Thank you all so much for watching, and I hope you enjoyed this episode of This Month
in February History.
And if you’d like to help support Yesterworld, check out the links on-screen and in the description,
and I’ll see you next time.
Yesterworld Entertainment
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