What was the first Disney animated movie?
Quick answer
Disney’s first feature-length animated film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released on December 21, 1937. Critics had nicknamed it “Disney’s Folly,” expecting it to fail, but it became the highest-grossing film of its time and proved that full-length animated movies could succeed.
Key facts
- Released
- December 21, 1937
- Studio
- Walt Disney Productions
- Based on
- The Brothers Grimm fairy tale
- Honorary Oscar
- 1939, one full-size statuette and seven miniatures
Was it the first animated feature ever?
Not quite. Earlier animated features were made in Argentina (El Apóstol, 1917, now lost) and Germany (The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926, the oldest surviving one). But Snow White was the first full-color, sound, cel-animated feature from Hollywood, and the first to become a global hit.
How it was made
- Production took about three years and cost around $1.5 million, a huge sum during the Great Depression; Walt Disney even mortgaged his house.
- Hundreds of artists created more than 250,000 drawings.
- Disney used a multiplane camera to give scenes a sense of depth.
- Songs such as “Heigh-Ho” and “Some Day My Prince Will Come” became classics.
The seven dwarfs
Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey. In the original fairy tale, the dwarfs had no names; Disney gave them personalities.
Disney’s early feature films
| Year | Film |
|---|---|
| 1937 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs |
| 1940 | Pinocchio |
| 1940 | Fantasia |
| 1941 | Dumbo |
| 1942 | Bambi |
| 1950 | Cinderella |
A unique Oscar
In 1939, Walt Disney received an honorary Academy Award for Snow White: one regular Oscar statuette and seven miniature ones, presented by child star Shirley Temple.
Animated films got their own Oscar category much later; see which film won the first Best Animated Feature Oscar. For a classic based on fairy tales, see Cindy Lou Who.
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