They called it "Disney's Folly" and predicted it would sink him in bankruptcy.
But the project, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," pioneered the feature-length animated film.
Second of five parts
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WALT DISNEY realized that the creative energies of his young artists could not be satisfied by grinding out 8-minute, gag-packed cartoons, nor was he content with the repetition of well-worn formulas for familiar characters.
Besides, cartoon shorts were becoming less economical, despite the continuing popularity of Mickey Mouse and the emergence of new Disney stars: Pluto, the ingenuous hound, who first appeared in a Mickey Mouse cartoon, the "Chain Gang," in 1930; the affable, dim-witted Goofy, who started in Mickey's "Revue" in 1933; and the explosive Donald Duck, who made his debut in a 1934 Silly Symphony. "The Wise Little Hen."
The Depression had forced theaters to offer more entertainment to lure customers, and exhibitors had adopted the double feature - two full-length films on one bill.
That meant there was little left in theaters' budgets or running time for short subjects. Although Walt Disney cartoons drew more people to the movies than many features, bookings for them became more difficult.
Walt had long recognized the inevitability of the cartoon feature. All his planning had been aimed in that direction: developing greater drawing skill, experimenting with color and photographic innovations, using the Silly Symphonies as a proving ground for new techniques and themes.
IN 1934 IT WAS WAS time to move ahead on the feature, and his decision was unilateral. His brother Roy was acutely aware of the narrowing gap between the cost of cartoons and the fiscal returns, and he was alarmed by Walt's plan to spend perhaps $500.000 on a feature. But Walt could not be dissuaded.
Disney animators learned of the project one evening when several of them returned from dinner. They found Walt waiting for them, and he said. "C'mon in the sound stage; I've got something to tell you." They followed him onto the bare stage, lighted by a single naked bulb, and they took chairs in a semicircle before him.
He began to tell them the story of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" as it might be animated on the screen. He acted out each part, his eyebrows ascending as be mixed dread potions as the evil queen, his face beaming when he depicted the merry dwarfs. The performance took two hours, and at the end, when the prince's kiss awakened the sleeping Snow White, there were tears in the eyes of his listeners.
"That's going to be our first feature," Walt announced.
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