Layout Drawing for Deleted Soup-Eating Scene

Currently up for sale at Heritage Auctions is a rare layout drawing from the deleted "soup-eating" scene. Snow White covers her ears as the dwarfs slurp their soup. Graphite on 12 field 5-peghole animation paper. Dates from circa 1936-37.

Most of the work completed by animator Ward Kimball was cut from the final Snow White film--including the soup-eating sequence. This was not because it wasn't good, it was. The scenes just didn't fit with the overall timing of the movie. Walt Disney made the difficult decision to axe them well into the project. After working for months on the animation, Kimball was crestfallen. So much so that he planned to quit the studio. Walt, however, talked him into staying by offering Ward the Jiminy Cricket character in Pinocchio.

Deleted Dopey Soap Sequence Drawings

In July 2017, Heritage Auctions offered this group of 29 rough drawings from a deleted sequence in the Dopey soap scene. From the auction description:

When Snow White tells the dwarfs to wash up for dinner, they proceed to head off to clean up. Dopey is told to get the soap as the others forcibly wash an uncooperative Grumpy. Dopey grabs the soap which slips out of his hands, hits Doc, and bounces back into his mouth. We see the bubbles, but we never see the soap come out. Here is that deleted sequence where he coughs up the bar.

Albert Hurter's Discarded Seven Dwarfs

British auction house, Bonhams, will be hosting an animation art sale June 13, 2016. A variety of original pieces are up for auction including many from Snow White. One item in particular is a mounted collection of early concept drawings by artist Albert Hurter. The artwork dates from 1935 when Walt Disney was still very much in the developmental stage of the film. Note that Baldy and Deafy--two dwarfs that never made the final film--were included here instead of Sneezy and Bashful. Also Snow White has long light hair, plus blue eyes rather than brown. Colored pencil on paper.

The artwork was found in the auction catalog (p. 54).

Images copyright Disney/Bonhams

Special thanks to William Stillman for the heads-up on this auction.

"Heigh Ho" Deleted Segment from Original 'Snow White' Soundtrack

We continue with our look into the Snow White songs released on the 1938 soundtrack record as they compare with those found in the movie. In addition to The Silly Song (previous post), the other track worth noting is Heigh Ho.

Record image courtesy of the Rick Payne Collection via dadric's attic.

Heigh Ho follows Dig-a-Dig-Dig on Side B of the first disc of the three-record set. Of course, we know they also run back-to-back in the film; the dividing point between the two occurs when we see the clock strike five and Doc calls out "heigh-ho!"

Both record and theatrical-release of Heigh Ho are identical up until 44 seconds into the song. In the movie, Dopey has just put the vault key on the nail, and he runs to catch up with the others on their homeward journey.

The record version then continues on with about 18 to 20 seconds of a whistling melody which is not included in the movie sequence. Animation for this segment was planned, but due to time considerations, it was cut.

The remainder of the "Heigh-Ho" song is the same as what we hear in the film when the Dwarfs march home to the cottage for the first time.

This whistling melody, however, was not left out completely. It was brought to my attention by Snow White enthusiast, Nunziante Valoroso from Italy, that it did indeed make it into the final movie. It was simply moved to the last reel of the film and occurs in the scene right before the animals arrive at the mine to warn the Dwarfs about the Witch. They whistle the tune while they're pulling a mine cart.

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After comparing the other songs from the 1938 record set with what is in the movie, I happened to notice another minor anomaly. At the conclusion to One Song, when the Prince is singing to Snow White from below her balcony, she sends a dove down to him to deliver a kiss.

The dove blushes while sitting on his hand. In the picture, a dove "cooing" sound effect was inserted at this point. On the record album, it was not. All of the other dove intonations, though, do seem to be in place on the soundtrack disc.

Screen captures and audio excerpt copyright Disney. Included here for historical documentation purposes.

"Silly Song" Deleted Lyrics from Original 'Snow White' Soundtrack

If you were to do a side-by-side comparison of the original 1938 Snow White soundtrack record (RCA/Victor three-disc set) with the songs heard in the actual movie, you'd find that the two recordings are generally the same...but not identical. There are some really interesting differences. Of course, the audio we have in the film today has all been digitally remastered, but the variance we're about to explore is not related to sound quality.

I first became aware of these discrepancies after reading a 2011 article on the subject by Cartoon Brew contributor Eric Graf. Eric discovered that a set of lyrics included on the record and sung by Sneezy in the Dwarfs' Yodel Song (aka The Silly Song) are not in fact in the movie. There was discussion as to whether or not this deletion of content occurred because of censorship. The thought was that the lines in question might have been slightly too racy for a 1938 audience. However, Snow White author/historian JB Kaufman commented on the post and said the scene 'wasn’t censored, just cut for time considerations. It never made it in the Technicolor cutting continuity, dated January 1938.'


The disc label from the first 78 rpm record of the Dwarfs' Yodel Song. Note that it is not referred to as The Silly Song.

Record image courtesy of the Rick Payne Collection via dadric's attic.

The Yodel Song from the original soundtrack recording (OS) runs a little over three minutes (3:15). The version used in the theatrical-release (TR), although missing the deleted lyrics, still calculates out to be more than a minute longer (4:25). The exact lengths actually depend on where you mark the endings to the songs. For consistency, let's agree that both tracks conclude right after Snow White laughs and says, "That was fun." Now we're ready for the side-by-side comparison.

As we know, the sequence in the film begins with an exterior shot of the Dwarfs' cottage before pushing in on the party inside. Good music and lots of cheer welcome us in as Happy (dancing with Dopey) steals the initial few seconds of the show with his fancy moves. The Dwarfs are singing the yodeling refrain.

Ho-la-la-ee-ay
Ho-la-la-ee-ay
Ho-la-la-ee-ay-ee-la-ee-ay-ee-lee-ay
Ho-la-la-ee-ay
Ho-la-la-ee-ay
Ho-la-la-ee-ay-ee-la-lee-ay-lee-o-lee-ay

Happy is then the first to sing a verse.

I like to dance and tap my feet

But they won't keep in rhythm.

You see, I washed them both today

And I can't do nothing with 'em.

Up until this point, 51 seconds into the song, both versions are the same. Now the two begin to diverge.

Immediately following Happy's lyrics, he does a kind of a soft-shoe while Snow White watches from the foreground and Bashful and Doc play instruments in the corner.  In the OS, we hear the princess laughing during Happy's funny moves. Strangely, this laughter track is not included in the TR even though we can clearly see her laughing on screen.

This scene is also the first time we hear the "Silly Song" chorus...or do we? Certainly in the film, the following lines are sung with both Bashful and Doc moving their mouths to the words.

Ho hum the tune is dumb
The words don't mean a thing.
Isn't this a silly song
For anyone to sing?

I was really surprised, however, to learn that the OS does not include this chorus. The melody is there, but it's performed by a banjo and clarinet rather than vocals. This would explain why on the original record label, The Silly Song title is absent. The "Silly Song" lines were not included anywhere in this version.


At about 59 seconds, we come to Sneezy's deleted scene. In the OS, his lyrics go as follows.

A minute after I was born
I didn't have a nighty.
So I tied my whiskers around my legs
And I used them for a didee.

The last word, didee, is delivered in conjunction with a classic sneeze from Billy Gilbert who was the voice of Sneezy. This entire section was cut and not included in the final film and thus is not found in the TR.


Both versions now go into Dopey's drumstick segment (the sticks pass through his sleeves), the OS at the 1:25 mark and TR still at 59 seconds. It's followed by Bashful's lines.

I chased a polecat up a tree
Way out upon a limb,
And when he got the best of me
I got the worst of him.

We run through a couple more yodeling refrains including a Happy solo; Snow White hits her operatic soprano note and dances with Doc, Bashful and Sneezy; Dopey and Sleepy go through their "house fly" gags.

The Dwarf's Yodel Song comes to an end in the OS with the tweeting of the wooden bird whistle on Grumpy's organ. It's followed by laughter and Snow White's "That was fun" line. The total running time is 3:15.

In the film, the song keeps right on going. Instrumental music, hand clapping, and shouts of "Hey!" fill the room, all while we watch the dancing sequence with Dopey on Sneezy's shoulders.

After Sneezy explodes with another sneeze that shoots Dopey to the rafters, everyone enjoys a laugh for about 12 seconds at the conclusion of the song. Snow then gets to say "That was fun." The running time of the TR version totals 4:42.

Screen captures and audio excerpts copyright Disney. Included here for historical documentation purposes.

On January 9, 1938, Billy Gilbert performed his Sneezy role during the Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air radio program. We hear the deleted lyrics again, but in a slightly different form.

When I was born so long ago
I felt so high and mighty.
I tied my whiskers around my legs
And I used them for a ...di, a...dee, a...doo [sneeze!]
...for a nightie.

During the Lux Radio Theater performance of Walt Disney's Snow White, December 26, 1938, Billy Gilbert's back as Sneezy. This time he sings the original deleted lines except he ends with "nightie" again rather than "didee".

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A few of the informative comments on the 2011 Cartoon Brew post...


Eric Graf on October 31, 2011 at 9:34 am said:
Most early Disney songs have verses that are in the sheet music and/or popular recordings of the songs, but weren’t used, or even intended, for the movie. For instance, this scary looking record, released in 1955
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-45-RPM-Record-Walt-Disneys-Magic-Kingdom-songs-/120493888218
contains the...Yodel Song verse, as well as [another] verse that never made it into the movie in the first place:

“I used to have a billy goat/ we had him disinfected./ He could have slept in Grumpy’s bed/ but the billy goat objected.”

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Greg Ehrbar on October 31, 2011 at 10:26 am said:
The “billy goat” lyric was sung by Jimmie Dodd, who performed the song, along with Tommy Cole and Kevin “Moochie” Corcoran, on a Mickey Mouse Club LP called A WALT DISNEY SONG FEST that was reissued as WALT DISNEY’S MOST BELOVED SONGS.

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Jeff Kurtti on October 31, 2011 at 4:57 pm said: 
When I was doing the Platinum DVD of “Snow White,” we had all manner of trims, outs, and camera tests that had been found over many years by Scott MacQueen. I’m not sure the additional lyric was ever actually animated, but may have been cut prior to that.

There is evidence that the film was tweaked several times after the premiere at the Carthay Circle and well into its initial release, I believe it was “locked” in its currently-known form only on its first reissue in 1944.

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Eric Graf on October 31, 2011 at 6:50 pm said:
This link: http://78records.cdbpdx.com/SWSR/ has the film-to-record transfers being completed between November 26 and December 17, 1937. The Murray reference book on Disney records says the contract between Disney and RCA was signed on December 7th, so presumably it would’ve been near the end of that range. Would they still be making changes to the soundtrack that close to the December 21 premiere?

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JB Kaufman on October 31, 2011 at 8:35 pm said:
Sneezy’s verse was animated (by Les Clark), but Steve Segal is right: it wasn’t censored, just cut for time considerations. (It doesn’t appear in the Technicolor cutting continuity, which is dated January 1938.) For what it’s worth, Sneezy did sing his verse in two radio broadcasts after the film was released: “The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air” in January 1938, and the “Lux Radio Theatre” the following Christmas. In both instances, the word “didee” was interrupted by a sneeze.

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JB Kaufman on November 1, 2011 at 5:58 pm said: 
I don’t think the scene is lost, exactly, but to my knowledge it exists only as pencil animation. It was in the picture as late as October 1937 — sweatbox notes reveal that Clark was still revising it at that date — but I believe it was cut before reaching the ink-and-paint phase. As far as I can tell it’s not possible to watch it.

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David Gerstein on November 2, 2011 at 10:27 am said:

When the British MICKEY MOUSE WEEKLY comic book published the lyrics to “The Silly Song” (in issue 126, 1938), they included [another] version of Sneezy’s lost verse:

The minute after I was born

I didn’t have a nightie;

I used my beard to keep me warm,

And tied it round me tightly!

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Mac on November 2, 2011 at 1:45 pm said:
It could be that the lyric wasn’t changed in the comic for reasons of censorship, but simply because British audiences wouldn’t know what a didee was. I can’t speak for Brits who were around in the the late 30′s, but I’ve never heard anyone use the word didee over here and we call ‘diapers’ ‘nappies’.

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Jeff Kurtti on November 2, 2011 at 8:48 pm said:
We were not able to find any other test or pencil footage while doing the DVD edition (pretty much everything we could find was put on the disc, even though some of it is very short, or the context takes more time than the actual footage!). And BELIEVE me, the Home Video Marketing folks would have loved nothing more than to tout more “lost” footage ;-)



Tune into the next post as we examine the original Heigh-Ho track.

Deleted Scenes - Witch at Cauldron

During the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney and his directors divided the film into 16 separate sequences, so as to make the monumental task of animating it more manageable. In actuality, there are many more than this since most of the sequences are further divided into sub-categories (e.g., Sequence 3A, 3B, 3C, etc.).

Sequence 9A takes place in the Queen's laboratory where the "Old Hag" stands over her cauldron. In the film, when all the Dwarfs finally doze off to sleep after their merry-making at the cottage, the story cuts back to this scene. It was directed by Bill Cottrell. In the version we all know, the steam clears and she's seen dunking the apple into her poisonous brew...

Screen images copyright Disney. Used here for historical documentation purposes.

Sequence 9A was not originally meant to start with the apple-dunking. The scene actually began with a long shot that slowly moves in on the cackling Witch. Her Raven is seen stage-right perched atop the skull upon the table...

With a poison-filled vial grasped tightly in her right hand, she stirs the boiling cauldron counter-clockwise with her left...

In a manner reminiscent of the Witches' Spell from Macbeth, voice-actor Lucille La Verne smashingly delivers the following lines:

Boil cauldron, boil.

Boil cauldron, boil.

Death within your depths I see

For one who dares to rival me.

During this incantation, we see vapor rise from the bubbling stew to briefly take the shape of one, two, three skulls...

She then tips the vial to add the last deadly ingredient...

The yellow mixture turns a sickish green, and the incantation concludes with:

Brew the magical recipe.
Boil cauldron, boil!

A huge blast of steam fills the room. When the air begins to clear, the sequence continues with the dunking of the apple...

These scenes were fully inked, painted, animated and photographed by September 1937. Then in November, just one month before the premiere, the scene of the Witch dunking the apple was re-shot and became the new beginning for Sequence 9A. Like the other deleted scenes throughout the film, these of the Witch stirring her cauldron were probably cut simply to tighten the story.

Altogether, the cauldron deleted scenes last approximately 34 seconds. The Witch and Raven were animated by Norm Ferguson. Special effect animation was completed by George Rowley (cauldron bubbles and steam), Paul Satterfield (steam and liquid in vial), and Reuben Timmons (steam). Page 292, The Fairest One of All, J.B. Kaufman.

To the dismay of many a Snow White fan, the cauldron piece was not included among the deleted scenes on the 2009 Blu-ray home video release. However, for those who own the earlier 2001 DVD, you can enjoy this short but powerful bit of animation history.


2001 Snow White DVD, North American NTSC version, Disc 2...

On Disc 2, navigate from the Magic Mirror menu to The Dwarfs' Mine, then to Deleted Scenes...

And for those lucky enough to own the 1994 Deluxe LaserDisc (and a player to view it with), the cauldron pencil test is included as an extra.

Deleted Scene - Grumpy and Doc Argument

One of the many and varied elements that makes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs so timeless is the tightness of its story. Walt Disney made sure of it. No matter how painful it might have been for artist or animator, in the end, if a scene was not needed, it had to go. The bedroom fight between Grumpy and Doc was one such example.

Fred Moore animation...

Animation clean-up by Fred Moore. Images and info via Treasures of Disney Animation Art, p.91-93.

After the dwarfs discover Snow White asleep upstairs. Grumpy wants her gone, but Doc says she can stay. A skirmish ensues. In the end, the sequence was dropped from the film because it "was thought to make too much of the dwarfs' argumentativeness." 

I tend to agree. You can view the pencil test video and see it was a bit too much for the story, though the animation is superb.

Life Magazine (50th Anniversary - 1987)

The April 1987 "special issue" of LIFE Magazine was dedicated to Hollywood and the movies. The bottom front cover read...

"James Bond at 25, Snow White at 50, Hollywood at 100"

The 4-page Snow White article highlights some anecdotes from the making of the film and supplies some nice images of the deleted scene drawings.







The Table of Contents shows a preliminary Snow White sketch of the soup-eating scene...

Table of Contents

Featured article...

Later in the magazine was this advertisement for the re-release of the film...in 15 Languages and 60 Countries.

WDCC Sketches Magazine, 2006

Sketches Magazine was the official periodical of the Walt Disney Collectors Society. It featured a variety of articles on or relating to the WDCC figurines and the artist who created them. Members received 4 installments a year.

The first issue for 2006 spotlighted Kent Melton's Snow White and Prince sculpt, A Dance Among the Stars.

Front Cover

Table of Contents

The excellent feature article tells from where the inspiration arose for Melton's figurine. The dancing couple in their wedding garb is taken from the abandoned "Dance in the Clouds" sequence. This scene of Snow White and the Prince up amongst the stars was one that Walt Disney showed quite a bit of enthusiasm for. Unfortunately, it was set during the "Some Day My Prince Will Come" song, and Walt felt it just wasn't essential to moving the story along.

Feature Article

[CLICK INDIVIDUAL IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW]

Another interesting article highlights the Walt Disney Feature Animation Research Library and how it's played an integral part in the development of the individual WDCC figures...including the one above.

Walt Disney Feature Animation Research Library

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Also accompanying the Sketches Magazine was the WDCC 2006 Winter Catalog supplement with all the latest figurines. Again Snow and the Prince made the cover photo.

WDCC 2006 Winter Catalog Supplement

Special thanks to Sandie of savvy for supplying the free copy of the magazine for this post.