Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
This adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale was, in its time, a trailblazer. When released, it was the first full-length cel animated feature film in the history of the motion picture industry, and was the first feature length animated production undertaken by Disney. Prior to Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, children’s films were either live-action adventures or short animations. Flying in the face of scepticism and derision, however, Walt Disney and his team created a film that would pave the way for, not only the expansion of the Disney empire, but also every animated movie that would follow.
Every time we celebrate the success of a feature length animated movie, we should remember that it is all owed to the team behind this now much-parodied movie. The tale of an oppressed but cheerful princess, her evil stepmother, her ineffectual father and her powerful friendship with a group of dwarves stands as an historic moment in the evolution of filmmaking, and was one of the first children’s films to break the mould.
