1967 Pressbook Ad Pad

This 16-page "Ad Pad" insert was included with the 1967 Snow White pressbook. Before the age of computers and desktop publishing, these camera-ready ads and slugs were intended for use by theater owners in their newspaper and magazine promotions. Each ad slick is printed on just one side for ease of reproduction.

1967 Snow White Pressbook

Front Cover

Pressbooks rock! Not only are they filled with information on the film, but they're usually jam packed with images of posters, publicity materials, and merchandise too. This one for the 1967 re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would have been sent out to theater owners as part of the promotional campaign. And it is indeed loaded with good stuff.

This particular copy actually came from the files of Disney legend Bob Moore. After his passing in 2001, it was sold through Disney Auctions and eventually ended up in my collection.

Page 2: Theatrical trailers, television spots, radio spots...

[CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

Page 3: Articles, images...

Page 4-5: Articles, images...

Page 6-7: Articles, images...

Page 8-9: Disneyland Records...

Page 10-11: Exploitation and Gnome Mobile promo...

Page 12: Comics and books...

Page 13: Banners, badges, bumper stickers and balloons...

Page 14: Personal appearance tour...

Page 15: Ladies Home Journal and needle work kits...

Rear Cover: Posters and lobby cards...

Certificate of Authenticity from Disney Auctions...

Image scans from personal collection.

Also see the accompanying Ad-Pad insert and Merchandising Supplement in next posts.

Walgreens Snow White Magnet

I started hearing about this magnet back in December 2011 when Snow White enthusiast starberryshyne had picked one up at her neighborhood Walgreens for $1.99 (USD). I casually began checking out the local stores near me to have a look for myself. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to be carrying it.

There's a Walgreens about a mile from my house...something that's probably true for the majority of the population in the US. Anyway, I walked up and down every isle and searched every endcap. No magnets.

Several weeks passed. Then the other day, I stopped in just to pick up a few snacks. Walking through the greeting card section, I happened to look up and boom! There they were, not on an endcap but stuck to a support pillar in the middle of the isle.

Snow was on display along with Belle, Ariel, Cinderella and several other Disney characters.

Small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, it measures just 3" (7.62 cm) in height.

It was only $1.50 at my store so...OK...I bought one.

It appears to be a Walgreens exclusive.

Eric Larson - Disney's Nine Old Men

Eric Larson (September 3, 1905 - October 25, 1988) started drawing for Disney in June of 1933. After only a few weeks, he was chosen to be an assistant to Hamilton Luske, from whom Larson would learn much. In less than a year, Eric was promoted to junior animator. When it came time to begin work on Snow White, he was ready for the assignment. Larson, along with Milt Kahl, James Alga, and Louis Schmidt, would be responsible for animating the princess's myriad animal friends found throughout the movie.

Drawing so many critters moving within the shot was a daunting task. Some scenes had up to 23 different animals to coordinate! Throw in those sequences that also included interaction with the princess or the dwarfs, and the result could have been an animation quagmire. But Eric had a plan.

Rather than drawing the animals individually on separate pages, Larson animated them altogether on one. He spoke about this challenge in an interview with Michael Barrier...

I've got to see everything down there. It's the only way to keep things fluid--part of them moving, part of them coming to a stop. [Larson used thumbnail sketches every two feet to] try and feel my composition. For example, when a whole bunch of them are creeping up to Snow White, how are you going to control them unless you take it about every foot and work out your drawings, and then just work straight ahead. With a little inspiration, a little luck, you come into your patterns. But you'd better kind of know where you're going.  Source: John Canemaker's Nine Old Men, p.62-63.

No one's home...

Whistle While You Work scene

Many years later, Eric was critical of his Snow White animals, particularly his deer. He amusingly said, "You could hardly call them deer. They were sacks of wheat." It wasn't until Bambi that "the idea was to be honest with them."

"Sacks of Wheat"

At his drawing board working on the owl from Bambi...

Eric Larson photos and sketches via John Canemaker's book, Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, 2001.

Images and scans copyright Disney

Larson continued to work on feature films contributing to many of the classics. By the 1970s, however, he was being nudged out of the role of animator. Instead, Eric would supervise the Disney training program. In 1986, he'd finally had enough of studio politics, and at the age of 80, retired. Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid is named in his honor.

Further Reading:

• 50 Most Influential Disney Animators: Eric Larson
• Eric Larson remembered at Animator Mag.
• Disney Legends: Bio

Wolfgang Reitherman - Disney's Nine Old Men

Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (June 26, 1909- May 22, 1985) came to the Disney studio on May 21, 1933. His drawing skills increased rapidly, and he soon found himself working on many of the classic Silly Symphonies of the era. And yet, he would be tested.

On the Snow White project, Woolie drew some of the animation for the bed-building scene (which was of course deleted from the final film), but his main contribution would be the slave in the Magic Mirror.

The "slave" is basically a floating mask in the reflection of the mirror. At first glance, the animation doesn't seem as if it would be so difficult a task. Plus, the Magic Mirror only appears in two short sequences. These scenes, however, are critical. They help set the stage and mood of the film and also move the story along with a real sense of the supernatural. Wolfgang had no body parts to animate, not even pupils to show expression. The slave would prove a challenging character to bring to life.

"It was tough because it didn't move," Reitherman said. "It was just there all the time."

From John Canemaker's Nine Old Men, p. 35...

Studying the original animation drawings, one notices how closely spaced the in-between drawings are. For each extreme pose, the paper was folded in half down the middle of the Mirror's face. This allowed Reitherman to animate one side of the face, fold the paper, and (over a light table) trace the other side, so the two halves were perfectly matched in size and movement.

Wolfgang would end up animating the Mirror nine different times before Walt Disney gave it his final OK. In the finished film, special effects of animated flame, smoke and distorted glass veil the face and add an eerie atmosphere to the scene. The result is quiet effective, but Reitherman, after having spent so much time at perfecting the mask, was to say, "All my work was sort of for nothing."

Not nothing. His subtle, emotionless slave in the Magic Mirror was dead on!

Flame and smoke effects...

Wolfgang Reitherman photos via John Canemaker's book, Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, 2001.

Images and scans copyright Disney

Further reading:

• 50 Most Influential Disney Animators: Wolfgang Reitherman
• Brian Sibly remembers Wolfgang Reitherman at Animator Mag.
• Disney Legends: Bio

1995 Bradford Exchange Musical Memories Plate

The Fairest One of All is the first collector plate in the 1995-96 Disney Musical Memories series from the Bradford Exchange. Each piece in the collection features artwork...and music...from one of the animated classics. A small music box is attached to the back with a windup mechanism on the front. Plates were limited to a maximum of 95 firing days. Measure 7.5" across.

The Snow White plate plays "Heigh Ho."

[CLICK IMAGES FOR A BETTER LOOK]

Detail of the wind-up key...

COA...

Plate series flyer...

Images courtesy of TokyoMagic! at Meet the World. Used with permission.