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Once upon a time, Walt Disney had an idea to create a feature-length animated film that wouldn’t just be for kids. It was a visionary dream that would help turn Walt Disney, and his fledgling studio, into a worldwide phenomenon, and dancer Marge Champion was there when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was being made.

Champion was just 14-years-old when she danced for Disney animators, who would draw her movements to create the life-like sequences of Snow White. At the time, however, no one knew how Champion contributed to the film because Walt Disney feared some might think they had just copied the film frames, which was not the case. It would be a few years before Disney would reveal how the animators came to create such beautiful animated dancing scenes.

Speaking to Champion recently, I had the chance to ask her about the process, and what it meant to her. The Walt Disney Signature Collection edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is available now on Digital HD and Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Andrew Powell: I just loved watching the video that they used of you dancing to do the animation for Snow White. What do you remember of those days of filming those segments?

Marge Champion: “Well I was fourteen when I did most of Snow White, although I also did the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio, and the hippopotamus in Fantasia. So I was there for about three and half years on and off.”

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