Fleischer Studios - Gulliver's Travels

The development of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was first disclosed to the world by Walt himself via the New York Times in June of 1934. This was also the year that Max and Dave Fleischer had wanted to counter Walt Disney's announcement and begin work on their own animated feature at their New York-based Fleischer Studios. Their aspirations were thwarted, however, by the Paramount suits who refused to support and distribute anything other than the Fleischer short cartoons.

Yet, with the massive success of Disney's Snow White premiere in 1937, the Fleischers finally got the green light in the spring of 1938. Grim Natwick, the main animator on Disney's Snow White character, returned to the Fleischer Studios to be a part of this feature. Working for the Fleischers was nothing new for Natwick as he was the original animator of their Betty Boop series back in the early thirties.

On December 22, 1939, Paramount Pictures released Fleischer Studios' Gulliver's Travels, and like Snow White, it turned out to be a box-office success. The film is now in public domain.

Watch the entire film below.

Video courtesy of the Internet Archive

Snow White Costumes and Cast Members

Today marks the beginning of a new set of posts on Snow White costumes. The series will feature images from the Disney parks, commissioned advertisements, celebrities, Halloween gatherings and anywhere else one might find people adorned in the attire of the princess who started it all. Costumes will run the gamut between the professional garbs worn by Disney cast members to those uniquely one-of-a-kind looks created by fans and fanatics. Kicking off the set are a few images illustrating the range of the costumed Snow White.

A Disney Princess Snow White Deluxe Halloween Costume for girls age 7-9. Retails on the Toys R Us website for $39.99.

An officially Disney-licensed Women’s Snow White Costume sold (but no longer available) at Target stores (catalog #: 10302480)

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is a rather unique salon located inside Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, at Walt Disney World's Cinderella Castle and in the World Of Disney store at Orlando's Downtown Disney area. Girls get a royal makeover into their favorite princess, for a price.







Disneyland cast members Snow White and the Evil Queen shot by photographer Britt Dietz. Images are from his May 20, 2008 Gallery on the Disneyland Cast Magic site.

Here's a few links to videos from earlier Filmic Light posts featuring cast members in costume: Happily Ever After Performance at Disneyland Paris, Snow White walking in park, Hollywood Snow, and the Evil Queen endures a few autographs.


And finally, Halloween in Hollywood brings out the stars. Here Michelle Trachtenberg is Snow White (with Lydia Hearst as a sort of vampire-ish fairy).

Image via marie claire. Photo credit: Bennett Raglin.

Walt Film and Pixar Story Complete the Set

In the previous post, I mentioned that the new documentary, Waking Sleeping Beauty is coming to theaters tomorrow, March 26th, for a limited run release. The film's focal point of discussion is the ten year period between 1984 to 1994--the ten years in which the Disney Animation Studio experienced a renaissance and a return to its creative prowess.

With this in mind, there are two other films out there that make for perfect bookends to Walking Sleeping Beauty and together, the three almost complete the story of Disney animation up to present day.

The first is the 2001 documentary, Walt: The Man Behind the Myth. Narrated by Dick Van Dyke and featuring interviews with nearly 50 people who knew the man, it is the story of Walt Disney.

The documentary exhibits a tremendous sense of warmth and intimacy. From his 1901 birth in Chicago to his tragic death from lung cancer in 1966, Walt's life story...unfolds as a rich tapestry of photos, stories, and home movies. One can't help being moved by the impact this man has had on the world.  DVD Verdict

Read a review of the film at UltimateDisney.com, and a bonus interview with Walt's daughter Diane Disney Miller at Animated Views.

The second "bookend" is the 2007 film, The Pixar Story. Produced by Leslie Iwerks, the granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, it reveals the alluring tale of how John Lasseter, Steve Jobs and Ed Catmull came together to form what would become the eminently successful Pixar Studios. From the early days of computer animation to the string of blockbuster hits that began with 1995's Toy Story, Iwerks' film is heartwarming, inspiring, and even a bit euphoric. It makes me personally want to run out and buy the latest animation software every time I see it.

Here's the trailer:

And read a 2007 review of the film in Variety.

Both Walt: The Man Behind the Myth and The Pixar Story are on disc although the latter is not readily available as a stand-alone DVD. It was released as an "extra" on the 2008 3-Disc Special Edition of Wall-E and also the 2-Disc Blu-ray. In addition, it can be downloaded from i-Tunes.

Waking Sleeping Beauty

Waking Sleeping Beauty is in theaters March 26th for a limited theatrical release in NY, LA, SF, Chicago! Between 1984-1994, an amazing thing happened at Walt Disney Animations--they learned (or remembered) how to make great films again. This documentary, directed by Don Hahn, tells how it happened.

By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. These conditions produced a series of box-office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn't care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending. Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale. It's the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits - "Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," and more - over a 10-year period.  From Walking Sleeping Beauty website

Read an early review of the film at Michael Sporn Animation and see the trailer below.

Old Witch Caged at the Villain's Lair

Video posted by TwilightZoneAnaheim

This question about the caged Witch was asked of Disney Chief Archivist Dave Smith and comes from the Disney Archives and Mysteries blog...

Q: I've seen over the years at Disneyland a cage that held the Hag from Snow White. When the cage was rattled, she would come to life and try to bribe folks to let her out by promising to show how to "turn water to gasoline." Who made this and what was the reason? Reid, Ben Lomond, California

A [Dave Smith]: The Witch in the cage was originally made by the former WED Display and Design Department at Walt Disney World, under Jim McNalis, for use in 1975 Emporium windows in the Magic Kingdom park promoting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. When the Disneyana Shop opened on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland in 1976, the Witch, animated and with added audio, moved west to become a major display piece in that shop. Later on it was used in the Villain's Lair shop in Fantasyland and Le Bat en Rouge in New Orleans Square.

From Snow White/Witch collector Kurt Raymond...

That Old Witch was in the cage at Disneyland's Main Street's Emporuim when I was 11 in 1977.  My dad, being that he was not shy, asked a cashier if she was for sale after I BEGGED him to see. The woman brought a manager out who quoted him $5000.00. We passed, obviously. 

PS: Rumor has it, that Michael Jackson paid a small fortune for an exact replica in HIS house

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A Witch mural, based on Gustaf Tenggren's original inspiration art, also graced the Villain's Lair shop in Fatasyland...from approximately 1998-2004.

DISNEY VILLAIN'S SHOP WITCH MURAL ABOVE THE ENTRANCE, 1999
 Image courtesy of The Raymond Collection. Used with permission.

The Goddess of Spring

Image copyright Disney via The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts

What could be better than the Silly Symphony return of Persephone here on the Spring Equinox? It is well known that in 1934, three years before the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney's The Goddess of Spring served as a testing ground for his animators. Since they'd had only limited experience with drawing believable human characters, practice on Persephone would eventually lead to perfection--but not at first.

The characters were designed by Albert Hurter [the studio's first inspirational sketch artist], who suggested certain poses and gestures that the animators were not yet skilled enough to emulate. After realizing that a greater knowledge of anatomy was required in order to produce believable human animation, [Walt] hired Don Graham, who held anatomy classes in order to prepare the animators for their first feature.
Source: The Disney Wiki

Artist Model Sheet. Copyright Disney.

The artistic advancements made in those three years of course proved prodigious when Snow White finally hit the big screen.

Video copyright Disney provided by Pokellan

From Stephanie Stewart :

I just wanted to let you know that for the record, my Grandmother, Diana Gaylen, was the one who did the singing for this particular Disney short...It seems that they didn't give those kind of credits back then. Diana Gaylen was widely known in the 30's and 40's, for both her stage performances and her behind the scenes work in many movies singing for the stars. Anthony Adverse is one you might have heard of, she did the singing for Olivia DeHavilland.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts

Snow Nouveau - Goddess Pin

The Vernal Equinox is fast approaching here in the northern hemisphere and with it comes images of the Goddess of Spring, Persephone. Let's revisit a couple of the "goddess-themed" works of Alphonse Mucha, one of the main visionaries responsible for the birth of the Art Nouveau movement during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Image of Mucha in his Rue du Val-de-Grace studio, Paris 1903

Model posing in his studio, 1898


Many of his works evoke a certain female deity appreciation. Two in particular, Ivy and Laurel, could have been patterned after subjects right out of the Greek Pantheon.

 A. Mucha, Ivy, color lithograph 1901

A. Mucha, Laurel, color lithograph 1901

Just over a century after Mucha created these two lithographs, it appears that the Disney artist who designed the 2004 Snow White pin (below) chose to cast it in the likeness of the original pieces.

"Halo of Hearts" Princess Profile, limited edition 1,000 gold-finished pins, Disney Auctions, 2004. 

View details on Pin Pics. Pin #30247

I've certainly become a fan of depictions of Snow White in goddess form. See another princess deity design from 2004, Snow White Woodland Goddess pin #32220.

Snow White in Sand

Holland has some lovely sandy shores along the English Channel. So much so that every September, the town of Noordwijk aan Zee with its 12 km long beach hosts the European Sand Sculptures Festival. The event attracts some of the best sand artists from around the world as well as over 200,000 visitors. The international carving teams create beautiful, grand, yet fleeting works of art. The results are stunning. The sculptures evoke something reminiscent of Tibetan or Navajo sand paintings, not in style, but in the impermanence and almost spiritual nature of the artwork.

In 2008, eight carving teams had the task of creating sculptures with a Disney motif, a number of which were princess-themed including one of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--sculpted by Jiri Kaspar, Jakub Zimacek and Olga Kolot. 

Dwarfs...

Image courtesy of der_wigger. Used with permission. 

 

 Image courtesy of der_wigger. Used with permission. 

The Witch...

Image copyright ♥siebe ©

Snow White and the Prince... 

Image copyright Harm Frielink

 Image copyright ♥siebe ©

Snow Boop?...or Maybe Betty White?

If Snow White and Betty Boop were morphed into one embodiment by the evil witch, this could very well be their doppelganger. Illustration by cinematic artist Adam Koford of Hobotopia.

Creative Commons image courtesy of Ape Lad

Fleischer Studios - Betty Boop as Snow White

Around 1915, Max Fleischer invented the rotoscope technique where live-action film movement is traced frame by frame to create lifelike animations. Max and his brother Dave developed their first character, Koko the Clown using this method, and in 1921, founded Out of the Inkwell Films (later Fleischer Studios). The studio became well known for its human characters (as opposed to the anthropomorphized mice, cats, dogs, ducks and pigs of the other animation rivals). In its prime, the Fleischers--with characters like Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman--were the only serious competition for Walt Disney.

In 1933, the Fleischers produced their own version of Snow White featuring Ms. Boop as the, um, "princess" and a song, Saint James Infirmary Blues, sung by Cab Calloway. The real artistic talent behind this film was not, however, Natwick or the Fleischer brothers, but rather animator Roland Crandall.

Dave Fleischer was credited as director, although virtually all the animation was done by Roland Crandall. Crandall received the opportunity to make Snow White on his own as a reward for his several years of devotion to the Fleischer studio, and the resulting film is considered both his masterwork and an important milestone of The Golden Age of American animation. "Snow White" took Crandall 6 months to do.

The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1994 it was voted #19 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. The film is now in public domain. Source: Wikipedia

Watch the film below.


Video courtesy of the Internet Archive

It's interesting to note that it was 1934 when Grim Natwick went to work for Walt Disney as the primary animator of his Snow White character. But four years earlier, Natwick was actually employed by the Fleischer's as the original top animator of Betty Boop.

Snow White Washing Steps Mural

Snow White washes the stairs near the wishing well from one of the beginning scenes of the film. This mural is located behind one of the cashier check-out counters (which is designed to look like the wishing well) at the World of Disney store, Downtown Disney in Orlando.

 

Images from personal collection. Updated February 2011.

Happily Ever After Performance - Disneyland Paris

From Christmas season 2009...

 

Video courtesy of filipv 

Walt Disney's Snow White Oscar

Oscar night February 23, 1939. On hand at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles was Walt Disney. At age 38, he'd already been the recipient of seven Academy Awards from previous years (the first of which he garnered back in '32 for his ground-breaking color Silly Symphony, Flowers and Trees--first Oscar ever awarded to an animated film).

But his award this night was different. As anyone who is a fan of Disney already knows, Walt was presented an Honorary Academy Award for Snow White's

significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon.

The Oscar consisted of one full size statue and seven miniatures. Shirley Temple, after presenting the award, said, "Aren’t you proud of it Mr. Disney?"  Walt replied “I’m so proud I think I’ll bust.”
 

See a colorized image of Walt receiving the award from Shirley at Daveland.

Walt Disney holds the record for winning the most Academy Awards with 22 wins in the competitive categories. He was also the recipient of 3 Honorary Awards and an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Walt holds the record for most nominations as well with a total of 59.

His Oscars including the Snow White set are on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco as seen in the video below.



See also Walt Disney Oscar page

Princess Tiana Revisited

When The Princess and the Frog hit the theaters last December, I wasn't able to make it to a screening. By the time my scheduled freed up to allow for a movie, the film had already moved on. I'd hoped to see it on the big screen before coming out on disc, and luckily my local cheap theater came through. I got my chance last week.

I've seen a number of comments and reviews of the film--some favorable, others more tepid. Most dig the 2D hand-drawn animation as top-notch and Tiana lights up the screen as a princess. Many have liked the songs although Roger Ebert thought the absence of a couple of terrific musical numbers [was] noticeable. Yet a few have complained at the lack of screen time that Tiana actually gets as a princess.* Others called the story formulaic (which I don't get), and that something was missing or not quite up to par.

Does Tiana light up the screen? Absolutely! Do I wish there was more screen time of her as a princess and maybe less as a frog? Yes. What about the story? It may not be legendary, but it's a good one albeit divergent from the classic Disney princess narrative.

Ariel's dream was to be part of Prince Eric's world. Jasmine wanted to marry for love. Snow White was waiting for her prince. No matter the time or place, it's hard to top True Love when it comes to an emotionally-charged motivation.

Tiana's dream was different, one that would have made her father proud. She set off to follow her bliss, to achieve financial success as a restaurant owner in a time when such a thing was anything but the norm. Along the way she just happens to find love. A good story, just different from the normal princess tale and thus feeling a little less magical.

Yet, when The Princess and the Frog comes out on disc March 16th, it'll certainly find its way into my personal library of films.

 All images copyright Disney 2009

*Footnote: Since we're talking about not enough princess screen time, let's talk Cinderella. I think Cinderella is the bee's knees. When she's on screen, the film soars. But aren't there too many mice scenes? They're cute, but if more story would have been devoted to the Cinderella character, I would have been hooked.

Those darn mice!

Disney Film Project on Snow White

Ryan from the Disney Film Project just completed his Snow White Week with a review of the movie.

That’s the thing that I really took away from viewing this film. It is iconic. I told my wife while watching that Snow White’s yellow, red and blue dress is as much of an icon as Batman or Spider-Man’s costume, if not more so. 
Disney Film Project

He gets Snow White!

Image via Disney Film Project. Copyright Walt Disney Pictures.

Getty and Disney ARL to Study Snow White Cels

Last week the Getty Conservation Institute (Brentwood , CA) released a press release announcing their collaboration with the Disney Animation Research Library (Glendale, CA) in a new long-term study on the preservation of plastics used in modern artworks. Their focus--animation cel art.

The materials used in the original cels during the Golden Age of Disney animation were made from cellulose nitrate and acetate, both of which are susceptible to deterioration. “Knowledge of how best to treat and stabilize artwork containing plastic is relatively new territory for the conservation profession,” said Tom Learner, GCI senior scientist.

"The initial phase of research will involve an assessment of the best methods for the identification of the actual plastics used in the cels, and for monitoring the condition of cels made with cellulose nitrate and acetate." The two teams will then be examining both the physical and thermal properties of these cels in an effort to better understand the deterioration process.

Included in the study are cels of Snow White and the seven dwarfs as well as other classic Disney characters such as Chernobog from the Bald Mountain sequence in Fantasia.

Image via Los Angeles Times. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Image via Art Knowledge News. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Learn more about the preservation of artwork plastics at Getty.

Snow White Milk Bottles

According to authors Carol and Gene Markowski in their 1990 Tomart's Price Guide to Character and Promotional Glasses, the milk bottles delivered to your doorstep in the 1930s and early 40s were a major reason why Disney was so successful with its dairy glass campaigns (see earlier post).

1938 Grumpy dairy glass. Image via Jeep444.

The characters from the films decorated the bottles to tie-in with the character glasses being offered as premiums.

There was a deposit paid on these bottles and most were redeemed by dairies or taken out of service due to chipping, excess wear, or breakage. Hense, character milk bottles are very rare. The biggest source [for collectors today] has been dairies going out of business. Source: Tomart's Price Guide...p.148.

The 1938 series of Snow White milk bottles included "action scenes with rhymes which promoted milk consumption." Pictured below, the first bottle shows Dopey, Sneezy and Snow White. The text reads, "SNOW WHITE AND THE DWARFS SO GRAND--DRINK THEIR MILK TO BEAT THE BAND!"

The second, Happy raises a glass to "HAPPY KNOWS WHAT'S GOOD FOR HIM--GOOD FRESH MILK FOR VIGOR AND VIM!"

Milk Bottle images via Tomart's Price Guide to Character and Promotional Glasses, 1990, p.50.

There were at least three additional bottles known to have existed, each with its own unique character scene: Snow White and all Seven Dwarfs (just their heads) Doc with an Owl; and Snow White with Doc. Who could have known back in 1938 that these simple and utilitarian milk containers would today be such prized possessions for the serious Snow White collector?

Vintage Snow White Dairy Glasses

With the general release and subsequent success of Disney's Snow White, demand was high for all manner of merchandise featuring characters from the film including drinking glasses.

1938 Snow White glass from personal collection.

Milk glasses had already proven themselves to be a highly successful marketing premium. The first Disney tumblers were produced in 1931 and featured images of an early Mickey Mouse. In 1936, a dairy series appeared which included Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck and several other characters from the Disney shorts.

Then in 1938, the first of the Snow White dairy series was issued featuring the princess and each of the dwarfs. A four-line verse referencing the individual character was printed on backside.

1938 Glass set 4 3/4" tall.

Dairy companies would purchase the glass sets, and then offer their dairy product with the glass as a premium give-away. They came in a wide variety of sizes including 3 1/2", 4 3/8", 4 1/2", 4 5/8", 4 3/4" and 6". Colors varied too from red, light blue, dark blue, green, black, orange, light orange, red brown, yellow and white.

1938 set 4 5/8" tall. Note: Snow White glass is all white. Images via Hake's Americana and Collectibles.

1938 Doc glass. Images via Audrey's Antiques and Collectibles.

A rare "white graphics" Snow White glass, 4 5/8" tall. Probably would have shown up best when used with chocolate milk...

Images courtesy of Disneyana Collectibles 4U. Used with permission.

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And an orange-colored metal serving tray was released to accompany the set of glasses. It featured Snow White and Doc in the center with the forest animals along the border...

Black and White tray image via Tomart's Price Guide to Character and Promotional Glasses, 1990, p.45.
Color image from back cover

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This set also came in two-color glasses (see boxed set by Libby)...

1938 two-color Happy glass. Image via treasuredrunk.

Two-color glass set. Image via The Glass Junkie.

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And in a full-color set that was probably sold in department stores...

 Black and White image via Tomart's Price Guide to Character and Promotional Glasses, 1990, p.46.

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Bosco, a brand name for a type of hot chocolate drink, issued a set of 3" inch premium glasses in 1938. They used the same character graphics as the first dairy series above, just smaller.

Snow White Bosco glass. Image via Call Me Cami.

1938 Bosco 3" glasses (missing Sleepy and Sneezy). Image via The Glass Junkie.

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Other sets of glasses were also issued in 1938 including a much rarer second dairy series depicting the characters as they appeared in the "Silly Song" scene from the film. Additionally, individual Snow White glasses were produced in 1939-41 as part of larger sets featuring other Disney characters. More on these in future posts.

Also see post on Snow White milk bottles.