HOLLYWOOD, Tuesday. With "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" being revived all over the world and commanding bigger audiences than when first released years ago by reason of the new younger generation which has sprung up and all the elders seeing it again, we decided to call Walt Disney at his New York office and put a few pointers to him concerning the phenomenal success which has made "Snow White" the greatest of all entertainments for young and old alike, and, incidentally, one of the biggest box office attractions of all time. Below, we reprint the questions exactly as they were put to Walt Disney, and the answers as supplied by him:
QUESTION: Tell me, just how old a story is SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS?
DISNEY: So old that no one knows when or where it was first told.
QUESTION: Is it true that it wasn't published until the Grimm Brothers came along?
DISNEY: Yes, just about 100 years ago. Jacob Grimm was a very learned man – a scientist. You'd hardly think he'd go in for fairy tales, but just as a hobby he and his brother collected a lot of old folk stories and legends – put them into a book – and called the book GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES.
QUESTION: In their written form, Walt, fairy tales are supposedly only for children. But when YOU bring one to the screen it captivates everyone. Age, language, race – make no difference. What's the secret?
DISNEY: Well, here's half the answer. Here at our place, we're sure of just one thing. Everybody in the world was once a child. We grow up. Our personalities change. But in every one of us, something remains of our childhood.
QUESTION: You mean that's common denominator?
DISNEY: That just about sums it up. This same level you speak of knows nothing of sophistication and distinction. It's where all of us are still simple and naive, without prejudice and bias. We're friendly and trusting. And it just seems to me that if your picture hits that spot in one person, it's going to hit that same spot in almost everybody. So, in planning a new picture, we don't think of grown-ups and we don't think of children... but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in everyone of us that maybe the world has made us forget, and that maybe our pictures can help recall.
QUESTION: Will the picture be again released all over the world?
DISNEY: Yes, we have made new reprints to replace the worn out copies. In most countries of the world people want to see SNOW WHITE again. Then there is the new generation of children who have come along since we first released the picture in 1937, and perhaps a lot of grown-ups who will enjoy the picture for the first time. We have made new copies in ten different languages to satisfy re-quests from all parts of the world.
QUESTION: What's new at the Studio, Walt?
Disney: There's a lot going on – but say – I'm not a publicity man; we at the studio make pictures and leave the publicity to Joe Reddy and the rest of the boys, who are currently busy telling the world through its Press, all about MAKE MINE MUSIC, UNCLE REMUS, and other pictures in work.
