STAGE awards the Palm
'Motion Pictures'
To Walt Disney, for achieving with Snow and the Seven Dwarfs what every right-thinking showman spends his life trying to attain – the glory of a succés d’estine plus the inestimable satisfaction of breaking every box-office record that exists in the country. For maintaining a studio in Hollywood that refutes the reputation of the town for temperament, selfishness, and front-office jitters. For breaking down the last barrier to one hundred per cent respect for the Disney product – the higher musical circles who thought for a long time that the animated cartoon was the cinematic counterpart of the newspaper comic strip. For producing two Silly Symphonies, The Old Mill and Lonesome Ghosts – films whose popularity and conversational command were vastly affected by the concentration on Snow White but whose artistry and craftsmanship were not. For constantly experimenting with the mechanical possibilities of his medium (third dimension) and the imaginative creation of new characters (Wynken, Blynken, and Nod) even though the public gives every indication of being satisfied with the old ones. For having as his favorite characters those two great rival creations – Munro Leaf’s Ferdinand the Bull and Edgar Bergen’s Charlie McCarthy. For liking Ferdinand so well he’s making him the hero of a Silly- Symphony. For liking Charlie so well he keeps a chip of the old block on his desk. For making everybody feel mighty good.
