Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937) was produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures. It was the first full-length cell animated feature film and the earliest Disney animated feature film. Walt Disney turned the German fairy tale by the Grimm brothers into a charming family film that is still holding up very well more than 80 years later. EFSP presents vintage postcards made for the film by two different French publishers: E. Séphériades and Editions Superluxe in Paris, plus a vintage German postcard by Erdal-Fabrik in Völklingen. And we added some more recent cards from Belgium and France.
Belgian postcard by Edicorna. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 1. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: From the top of the balcony, Snow White casts a rose, to Prince Charming.
French postcard by E. Séphériades, Paris, no. 2. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Snow White, guided by her friends, explores the house of the dwarfs.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 6. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Oh!!!... Someone has surely come into our house!
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 8. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Singing happily, the dwarfs return home.
Based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937) is simple enough.
Snow White is a beautiful princess who flees her jealous stepmother and finds refuge with seven friendly dwarfs. The Disney studio spent much time and effort into developing the characters of these seven dwarfs and gave each a distinct personality, a feat which was absent in the original fairy tale.
The artwork is stunning, a virtual watercolour painting come to life. The details in the animation are still amazing. The raindrops in the chase sequence really hit the rocks, and slip away.
The film makers toned down the famous German fairy tale considerably to make it more 'family friendly, but the fascinating and scary transformation of the Wicked Queen into a hideous hag at the climax was the subject of much controversy at the time. No Disney villain would ever be so frightening and enchanting at the same time.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was immediately embraced both by critics and audiences, and received a special Academy Award in 1938.
The songs of the film, like the dwarfs song as they bathe 'Whistle While You Work', their 'Heigh Ho' and Snow White's anthem 'Some Day My Prince Will Come', became evergreens. They were composed by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 13. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: To please Snow White, the Dwarves wash themselves vigourously - except Grumpy who is noticeably obstinate.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 14. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: To reward her little friends, Snow White serves them a tasty dinner.
French postcard by E. Séphériades, Paris, no. 15. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Evenings went smoothly, making music.
German collectors card by Erdal-Fabrik, Völklingen, no. 15. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: A happy dance. Even Grumpy participates and plays the organ.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 21. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Before their leaving for the mine, Snow White embraces each of her friends.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 22. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: The dwarves leave happily at work and Snow White gives them a last farewell.
French postcard by Superluxe, Paris, no. 23. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: The dwarves plan to make a bed, for Snow White.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 24. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Feeling that she is in danger, all the friends of Snow White come to her rescue.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 25. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Discovered by Prince Charming, Snow White leaves her friends of the forest and follows him to this marvellous castle. They marry.
Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937), the Disney studio had been primarily involved in the production of animated short subjects in the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies series.
Disney had hoped to expand his studio's prestige and revenues by moving into features. He had to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which eventually ran up a total cost of $1,488,422.74, a massive sum for a feature film in 1937.
Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Bypassing early temptations to transform the heroine Snow White into a plump Betty Boop type or a woebegone ZaSu Pitts lookalike, the Disney staffers wisely made radical differentiations between the 'straight' and 'funny' characters in the story. Thus, Snow White and Prince Charming moved and were drawn realistically, while the Seven Dwarfs were rendered in the rounded, caricatured manner of Disney's short-subject characters. In this way, the serious elements of the story could be propelled forward in a believable enough manner to grab the adult viewers, while the dwarfs provided enough comic and musical hijinks to keep the kids happy."
Only after the enormous success of 'Disney's folly', other film makers attempted their own full-length cartoon features. Snow White's success led to Disney moving ahead with more feature-film productions.
Walt Disney used much of the profits from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to finance a new $4.5 million studio in Burbank – the location on which The Walt Disney Studios is located to this day.
Within two years, the studio completed Pinocchio and Fantasia and had begun production on features such as Dumbo, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.
In 1989, the United States Library of Congress deemed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
French postcard in the series Le Monde merveilleux de Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Casissargues, no. 201-1. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series The Wonderful World of Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Caissargues, no. 202. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series The Wonderful World of Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Caissargues, no. 203. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series Le Monde merveilleux de Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Casissargues, no. 206. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series Le Monde merveilleux de Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Casissargues, no. 207. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series The Wonderful World of Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Caissargues, no. 208. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.
Belgian postcard by Edicorna. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 1. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: From the top of the balcony, Snow White casts a rose, to Prince Charming.
French postcard by E. Séphériades, Paris, no. 2. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Snow White, guided by her friends, explores the house of the dwarfs.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 6. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Oh!!!... Someone has surely come into our house!
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 8. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Singing happily, the dwarfs return home.
Heigh Ho
Based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937) is simple enough.
Snow White is a beautiful princess who flees her jealous stepmother and finds refuge with seven friendly dwarfs. The Disney studio spent much time and effort into developing the characters of these seven dwarfs and gave each a distinct personality, a feat which was absent in the original fairy tale.
The artwork is stunning, a virtual watercolour painting come to life. The details in the animation are still amazing. The raindrops in the chase sequence really hit the rocks, and slip away.
The film makers toned down the famous German fairy tale considerably to make it more 'family friendly, but the fascinating and scary transformation of the Wicked Queen into a hideous hag at the climax was the subject of much controversy at the time. No Disney villain would ever be so frightening and enchanting at the same time.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was immediately embraced both by critics and audiences, and received a special Academy Award in 1938.
The songs of the film, like the dwarfs song as they bathe 'Whistle While You Work', their 'Heigh Ho' and Snow White's anthem 'Some Day My Prince Will Come', became evergreens. They were composed by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 13. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: To please Snow White, the Dwarves wash themselves vigourously - except Grumpy who is noticeably obstinate.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 14. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: To reward her little friends, Snow White serves them a tasty dinner.
French postcard by E. Séphériades, Paris, no. 15. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Evenings went smoothly, making music.
German collectors card by Erdal-Fabrik, Völklingen, no. 15. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: A happy dance. Even Grumpy participates and plays the organ.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 21. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Before their leaving for the mine, Snow White embraces each of her friends.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 22. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: The dwarves leave happily at work and Snow White gives them a last farewell.
French postcard by Superluxe, Paris, no. 23. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: The dwarves plan to make a bed, for Snow White.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 24. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Feeling that she is in danger, all the friends of Snow White come to her rescue.
French postcard by Editions Superluxe, Paris, no. 25. Image: Walt Disney - Micky Mouse S.A.. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937). Caption: Discovered by Prince Charming, Snow White leaves her friends of the forest and follows him to this marvellous castle. They marry.
Disney's folly
Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937), the Disney studio had been primarily involved in the production of animated short subjects in the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies series.
Disney had hoped to expand his studio's prestige and revenues by moving into features. He had to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which eventually ran up a total cost of $1,488,422.74, a massive sum for a feature film in 1937.
Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Bypassing early temptations to transform the heroine Snow White into a plump Betty Boop type or a woebegone ZaSu Pitts lookalike, the Disney staffers wisely made radical differentiations between the 'straight' and 'funny' characters in the story. Thus, Snow White and Prince Charming moved and were drawn realistically, while the Seven Dwarfs were rendered in the rounded, caricatured manner of Disney's short-subject characters. In this way, the serious elements of the story could be propelled forward in a believable enough manner to grab the adult viewers, while the dwarfs provided enough comic and musical hijinks to keep the kids happy."
Only after the enormous success of 'Disney's folly', other film makers attempted their own full-length cartoon features. Snow White's success led to Disney moving ahead with more feature-film productions.
Walt Disney used much of the profits from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to finance a new $4.5 million studio in Burbank – the location on which The Walt Disney Studios is located to this day.
Within two years, the studio completed Pinocchio and Fantasia and had begun production on features such as Dumbo, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.
In 1989, the United States Library of Congress deemed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
French postcard in the series Le Monde merveilleux de Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Casissargues, no. 201-1. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series The Wonderful World of Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Caissargues, no. 202. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series The Wonderful World of Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Caissargues, no. 203. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series Le Monde merveilleux de Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Casissargues, no. 206. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series Le Monde merveilleux de Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Casissargues, no. 207. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
French postcard in the series The Wonderful World of Walt Disney by Editions Kroma, Caissargues, no. 208. Image: Walt Disney Productions. Publicity still for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, 1937).
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.
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