Snow White, 1937: An Appreciation

One of my friends said to me last week, “Let’s go see ‘Snow White’; I want to see how bad it is!” With that, he bought us tickets to go see the trainwreck. But before I tell that story of what I (and three other people) viewed in a dark theatre, let’s go back to the classic animated version that Walt Disney himself released in 1937. This post is full of scene-spoilers, so if you’re new to this film that’s more than eighty years young, you might want to skip this one!

When I rewatched it the other night, I was reminded of what an expert storyteller Walt Disney was. At a very tight 83 minute length, one does not squirm from boredom as Walt knew exactly what was key to his story and what could be left behind.



With two simple written pages and a brief sequence that introduces the Evil Queen in all her menacing glory…



Walt gives the audience all the backstory and plot motivation they need to know before seeing Snow White, our young heroine.



While obviously very young and naive, she is old enough to have romantic longings and also shows signs of being weary from the manual labor that has been cruelly forced upon her by the Evil Queen, her vain stepmother. At the age of 19, Adriana Caselotti recorded the role of Snow White, imbuing the part with just the mixture of innocence and strength. Her vocal talents served her well and made her solo, “Someday My Prince Will Come,” the 19th greatest film of all time according to the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Songs. Lucille La Verne brought more than enough menace and fright to the roles of the Evil Queen and the Old Witch.

Besides the glorious Technicolor, the innovative camera angles, and the high quality hand-drawn animation, I was impressed with how seamless the musical numbers were woven into the story, with each one carefully moving the story along. Snow White sings a song of longing and her Prince happens to be riding by. Overcome by the surprise and excitement of this unexpected romantic encounter (and one can safely assume it is her first), the Princess runs off to her room in the castle. 



The camera pans between the Evil Queen witnessing the scene in horror and Snow White obviously returning the affection of the Prince singing to her from down below.



The rest of the story moves along at a brisk pace, with a good mix of song, romance, comedy, and high drama. The editing is impeccable; the intercutting between the Evil Queen’s transformation into an old witch and Snow White’s bonding with the Seven Dwarfs keeps the tension building while showing how all the dwarfs (including Grumpy) fall for her kindness and charms.



The tension stays high with another perfectly edited sequence, as the audience roots for the dwarfs to get back to the cottage in time to save Snow White from the Old Witch and the poisoned apple. Will they make it or won’t they? I had forgotten just how tightly the film was constructed and how perfectly the musical score heightened tensions and yielded tears. The cutting back and forth between the two scenes keeps you on the edge of your seat. Storytelling at its finest!



The Old Witch escapes, and it looks like she might be completely victorious as she is about to roll a deadly boulder on top of the dwarfs:



While scary, it was sequences like these that made this feature film so endearing to both girls and boys. Walt had no qualms about frightening kids; as he once wisely said:

Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows.

Was there a happy ending? If you haven’t seen the film, do yourself a favor and watch it.



It is TIMELESS!! See more classic Walt Disney movie photos at my main website.

Herb Ryman and Family Memories

Awhile back, inspired by my 2000th Post Extravaganza Series, Daveland reader Mike Joyce was kind enough to send me a number of great family photos and memories. Here they are in his own words:

My parents have had several times crossed paths with Disney and Disneyland. Way back in the 20’s, my mother and grandparents lived on Evans Street in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles (see first photo). Just down the street were the Hyperion Studios and two blocks from the two homes built by Walt and Roy Disney. My mother used to tell how she and other kids in the neighborhood were periodically rounded up to watch samples of the cartoons being made at the Hyperion Studio. My French grandmother, Madeleine Baker, was an opera singer and an Assisting Teacher for Guido Caselotti (see photo below).



Grandmother used to tell me that she was involved with coaching Caselotti’s daughter, Adriana, who did the voice and singing for "Snow White."







In the Forties my mother, Vivian went to work at Twentieth Century-Fox as the executive secretary for the head of the Art Department – Richard Day at that time, and then later for Lyle Wheeler. The Fox Art Department is where she became life long friends with Herb Ryman, Marvin Davis, and John DeCuir. It was also during this time that she married my father Robert Joyce (he being of Irish descent, their marriage was much approved by director John Ford!). Both Vivian and Bob are pictured on the cover of this April 1950 Magazine:



Dad’s own family had a varied and interesting history with Los Angeles, being in part with the Department of Water and Power, Boulder Dam, and William Mulholland (a lot of “Chinatown” realities there).

I was born in the early 50’s and grew up in an atmosphere where my parents had many gatherings with the old Art Department crowd. There is a story that Marvin Davis was trying to explain just what he was working on for Disney.  Our family legend states that my mother gave him an old grocery bag, on which he drew a plan of what Disneyland was going to be. My Dad thought he was crazy – especially a Trip to the Moon. The sketch on the bag remained in a drawer (so I was told) but I believe it was in reality placed in the old circular file. It has never seen the light of day since. I had to be about 4 or 5 years old - too young to realize what my folks were throwing away. Boy do I wish I had that bag now.

Another interesting side note is that when my Father was the Director of the Community Analysis Bureau for the City of Los Angeles, he hired Buzz Price of the Stanford Research Institute to help design the early community models for my Dad and his City Staff who were developing techniques to use main frame computers for City Planning.

NOTE: Harrison "Buzz" Price was the man who scouted the location for Disneyland in Anaheim and WDW in Orlando.

Herbie Ryman was a great friend of the family and enthusiastic about everything. I can remember going to his home studio and he would show off his Emmett Kelly paintings and work, like the illustrations for a book, "The Tontine."   My mother even talked him out of a watercolor he had done of the old Fox back lot, where he and my mother would picnic. Herbie also discussed at length about someone or some company that was hiring him to create the Tivoli Gardens here. Sometime in the early 60's WED Enterprises moved into a larger facility (I want to say it was previously owned by Max Factor) and that the former tenant had made cosmetics and perfume - or that is what I remember, since Herbie liked to relate how pleasant the halls smelled.

Going to Disneyland was always a big yearly event for my sister and me. Around 1965, Herb Ryman invited my family to meet him at Disneyland. Over the years the events of that day have become a bit blurred, but I remember Herbie picking us up and driving us into the backstage areas. We visited the stable areas and went into a big building filled with Stagecoaches and Conestoga wagons. I remember Herb saying they never threw anything out. We toured the wardrobe areas and then entered the back of the Opera House, through the auditorium for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I seem to remember that Lincoln was not operating yet. I vaguely remember the stage was set, but the show had not been opened.  I also remember that the last time I had been in that building was when the sets for Babes in Toyland were on display. Finally, we arrived on Main Street. Herb showed us the Flower Mart on Center Street, which he really liked.



Then we went up to the Castle to pose for a picture.



I have another shot of us in Adventureland.



Herb talked about the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean and he picked up a copy of the Tenth Anniversary of Disneyland book, where he autographed the painting he did for the Blue Bayou Lagoon.



The book Herbie signed showed only a painting of Mr. Lincoln since it was printed for the 10th year anniversary (Mr. Lincoln didn't open until July 1965). Bits and pieces of Tea Cups and other rides that day float through the grey matter of my brain.



From about 1959 to 1962, my best friend and I compiled a book detailing the attractions. Basically it was a cross between an outline and a story breakdown. It showed the length of the attraction, its ticket value, and was also a list of every sight and experience of each ride. Together with pictures and paper souvenir items, it became a way of reliving a trip to Disneyland. Well, sometime in 1963, my mother showed my copy of the book to Marvin Davis, who was taken by it and asked if he could show Walt what we had done. A few weeks later the book was returned to me with a letter and autographed picture. I never got to have a face to face meeting with Walt Disney, but I can't help but think how my interest in Disneyland propelled me into the film industry.



Much of my life has been influenced by that visit with Herb Ryman and the other old Fox Art Department guys. In 1974, I managed to get a job at Fox as a clerk and by 1989 I had rose to the position of Senior VP of Worldwide Production for Twentieth Century Fox’s feature division. From there I branched out into independent Feature and TV producing. In reflection I really believe that the history and influences of my family and their friends  ultimately lead me into the career that I have had. 

Thanks a million, Mike! I know the readers will appreciate your great contribution here.

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland web pages.

June 25, 1966: Pt. 3

Anyone up for a day at The Sleeping Beauty Castle? Today we see three images of the Castle area in genuine FauxD©, with 2 showing the Snow White Wishing Well portion. You don’t normally see photos of this area because most guests focus intently on Adriana Caselotti’s voice rising magically from the depths of the well. Would somebody please get a paint brush for the lady on the left in this photo? She needs to finish painting her glow-in-the-dark orange pants on...wow! The times they are a-changin’!





Per Chris Jepsen’s request, I am posting a few shots from the Diorama that I took last weekend while we made “The Grand Circle Tour.” It’s true corn, but I love seeing the Grand Canyon/Primeval World show every time I visit the park.

















See more vintage and current Disneyland Diorama photos at my regular website.