Snow White and Seven Dwarfs

The first feature-length animated film in history, "Snow White" is a testimony to Walt's deep commitment to taking whatever existed and making it better. When he first proposed creating a cartoon that would run for more than just a few minutes, critics and nay-sayers abounded. "It'll blind the audience," said some. "Nobody will watch a cartoon that's so long," said others. They dubbed it Disney's Folly. But Walt persisted, risking the financial future of his studio on the project. And of course the success was complete. "Snow White" premiered on December 21, 1937, and provided a financial bonanza for the Disney organization. It was originally budgeted for $250,000, wound up costing $1.75 million, and brought in about $4.2 million in its first release. Perhaps more important, it proved that animation could be used not just to amuse but to provoke a far wider range of emotions. Viewers witnessing the "death" scene of Snow White were moved to tears.

This exhilarating triumph was not easily earned. Walt didn't hesitate to cut scenes that had already consumed hundreds of hours of animators' work. Animator Ward Kimball has commented that when Walt cut a particular long, funny sequence of his -- because it got in the way of the story -- "that was one of the early tragedies of my life." Of course, every sequence that made it into the final version was painstakingly scrutinized to make sure that it was artistically superior, well animated, and advanced the story. The scene in which the menacing Huntsman -- seen approaching in dramatic shadow -- threatens to kill Snow White with his dagger is exemplary. Over the course of months, scores of pages of transcripts from story meetings attest to the amount of time and thought that went into its creation. How should the knife look? When should the bird fly away? When should Snow White first become aware of the Huntsman? The result, writes Leonard Maltin in his authoritative book "The Disney Films": "Few people will ever forget the menacing gleam of the Huntsman's knife just before he raises it to kill Snow White. . . ."