Snow White, (in German, Schneewittchen) is the title character of a well known fairy tale known from many places in Europe, the most known version being the one collected by the Brothers Grimm. The German version features elements such as the mirror and the seven dwarfs. In non-German versions the dwarfs are generally robbers, while the talking mirror is a dialog with the sun or moon. In a version from Albania, collected by Johann Georg von Hahn and published in Griechische und albanesische Märchen. Gesammelt, übersetzt und erläutert (1864), the main character lives with 40 dragons. The sleep is caused by a ring. The start of the story also has an interesting twist in that a teacher urges the heroine to kill her own mother so that the teacher can take her place. The origin of the tale is debated; it is likely no older than the Middle Ages. Many scholars think it originated somewhere in Asia.
The movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. Although it was not the first full-length animated feature to be produced, it was the first animated feature to be filmed in Technicolor.
Snow White was produced by Walt Disney Productions, premiered on December 21, 1937, and was released generally to theatres on February 8, 1938.
The plot of the film involves a jealous and wicked queen's attempt to have her stepdaughter murdered, but she escapes and is given shelter by seven dwarfs who live deep in a forest.
Snow White was the most successful motion picture released in 1938, and is the tenth highest-grossing film of all time within the United States when adjusted for inflation.
Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. Both his brother Roy Disney and his wife Lillian attempted to talk him out of it, and the Hollywood movie industry mockingly referred to the film as "Disney's Folly" while it was in production. He even had to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which eventually ran up a total cost of just over $1.5 million, a whopping sum for a feature film in 1937.
Snow White, which spent three years in production, was the end result of Walt Disney's plan to improve the production quality of his studio's output, and also to find a source of income other than short subjects. Many animation techniques which later became standards were developed or improved for the film, including the animation of realistic humans, effective character animation, elaborate effects animation to depict rain, lightning, water, reflections, sparkles, magic, and other objects and phenomena, and the use of the multiplane camera. Snow White is also looked upon as a triumph of storytelling skill in animation.
The voice cast includes Adriana Caselotti as Snow White, Lucille La Verne as The Queen, Otis Harlan as Happy and Pinto Colvig as Grumpy and Sleepy.
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