Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an animated film made in 1937 by Walt Disney Studios. It was directed by David Hand, and was the first full-length animated feature film, and it also included color and sound. The main star of the film was Adriana Caselotti, who was the voice of Snow White. The film’s inspiration came from a popular fairy tale written by the Brothers Grimm.
The story is commonly known, pertaining to a jealous Queen and her beautiful step-daughter. The Queen requests that Snow White be killed so that she may be the fairest in all the land once more. Snow White survives and takes refuge with the dwarfs until she is tricked into eating a poison apple, causing her to fall into a deep sleep. A prince finds her and wakens her with true love’s kiss, and they all end up living happily ever after.
The film was created with cel animation, which was a new technique during the time it was used in this film. They would use sheets of celluloid that contained the drawings and paintings of the background or the characters. Altogether, more than 1,500,000 hand drawn pictures and water color paintings were used to create the film. They put these cells under a camera, which stood at eleven feet and resembled a printing press. If they needed to zoom into an object, the cell would be moved closer to the camera, which remained stationary.
The creators were meticulous about each detail that went into the film, laboring over drawings, specifying animations, testing out sound effects, listing to character voices until the right ones were found, and even choosing the colors that might be characteristic of the characters. The sound was recorded before the film, and the sequences were made to match up with the soundtrack. The timing was carefully adjusted as there were twenty-four frames per second. To create accurate sounds, the team actually broke glass and dishes and washed up to determine what the sounds should imitate in the film. This film declared Disney to be innovative in their new technology, and it is still considered one of their best films. It set the groundwork for all of Disney’s animated films with its advanced techniques. It changed the way that people went about with animation and held heavy influence over the genre.
In the scene where the dwarfs are at work in the mines and singing as they come home, one can see the great amount of worth that went into the film. They show lively characters who move around in coordination with the music and the sound effects. The colors also add to the dynamic of the characters, giving the viewer a feel for their personalities. When put together, it creates a masterpiece that was truly a gem upon its release, and is still a classic today. In modern times, Disney continues to pursue perfection of animation. It is done quite differently today than it once was although. Today, computers are used heavily to generate animated figures. We no longer rely on hand drawn pictures that must be threaded together. It has become easier and more efficient, but the basics used from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are still present.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an animated film made in 1937 by Walt Disney Studios. It was directed by David Hand, and was the first full-length animated feature film, and it also included color and sound. The main star of the film was Adriana Caselotti, who was the voice of Snow White. The film’s inspiration came from a popular fairy tale written by the Brothers Grimm.The story is commonly known, pertaining to a jealous Queen and her beautiful step-daughter. The Queen requests that Snow White be killed so that she may be the fairest in all the land once more. Snow White survives and takes refuge with the dwarfs until she is tricked into eating a poison apple, causing her to fall into a deep sleep. A prince finds her and wakens her with true love’s kiss, and they all end up living happily ever after.
The film was created with cel animation, which was a new technique during the time it was used in this film. They would use sheets of celluloid that contained the drawings and paintings of the background or the characters. Altogether, more than 1,500,000 hand drawn pictures and water color paintings were used to create the film. They put these cells under a camera, which stood at eleven feet and resembled a printing press. If they needed to zoom into an object, the cell would be moved closer to the camera, which remained stationary.
The creators were meticulous about each detail that went into the film, laboring over drawings, specifying animations, testing out sound effects, listing to character voices until the right ones were found, and even choosing the colors that might be characteristic of the characters. The sound was recorded before the film, and the sequences were made to match up with the soundtrack. The timing was carefully adjusted as there were twenty-four frames per second. To create accurate sounds, the team actually broke glass and dishes and washed up to determine what the sounds should imitate in the film.
This film declared Disney to be innovative in their new technology, and it is still considered one of their best films. It set the groundwork for all of Disney’s animated films with its advanced techniques. It changed the way that people went about with animation and held heavy influence over the genre.
In the scene where the dwarfs are at work in the mines and singing as they come home, one can see the great amount of worth that went into the film. They show lively characters who move around in coordination with the music and the sound effects. The colors also add to the dynamic of the characters, giving the viewer a feel for their personalities. When put together, it creates a masterpiece that was truly a gem upon its release, and is still a classic today.
In modern times, Disney continues to pursue perfection of animation. It is done quite differently today than it once was although. Today, computers are used heavily to generate animated figures. We no longer rely on hand drawn pictures that must be threaded together. It has become easier and more efficient, but the basics used from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are still present.