Snow White Paint Book

 

Here is another book from my collection.  The Snow White and Seven Dwarfs paint book, to color with paints, was published by Whitman.  The over-sized paint book was published in 1938 with 40 pages.  The happy original owner did leave his/her mark on the book but it's still a great addition.  Kay Kamen was the merchandising go-getter behind the push for merchandise that started before the film even came out.  (As I mentioned on Jan 1 - the first merchandise push with a movies release that is so common place now.)

I began making a digital catalog of my collection this August.  It turned into quite the daunting challenge.

Snow White Theater History

Snow White was released in US theaters nine times: 1937, 1944, 1952, 195, 1967, 1975, 1983, 1987, and 1993.  The re-release in 1944 was the first time the studios released a feature film for a second time as there was no feature film scheduled.  Thus began a history of re-releasing films for next generations to enjoy.  For the golden anniversary in 1987 it was released in 2000 theaters, 60 countries, 10 languages, and Disneyland featured a parade, and Snow White got a star in Hollywood. The 1993 release was the first film to be restored with digital techniques and brought in 80 million.  In 1994 Snow White was released on video for the first time bringing this tradition to an end.  According to USA today as of 1989 Snow Whites theatrical earnings was more than 6 billion if prices were adjusted for inflation and changing box office prices.  That's not bad for Walt Disney's Folly!

1937 Theater Posters

 

1944 Theater Poster

1958 Theater Poster

1967 Theater Poster

1975 Theater Poster

1983 Theater Poster

1987 Theater Poster

1993 Theater Poster

Dopey He Don't Talk None!

Over the years I have collected Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs memoriablia.  Recently I was tasked with catoloing and organizing the collection.  While this process is still in progress I would like to share items from the collection.
The first item is a linen like book from 1938.  The book is 12 pages and printed by Whitman.  This great book is one of my favorite pieces.

Some Day My Prince Will Come

Enjoy these celebrities versious of song number 19 on AFI's list of top 100 songs.

MouseStation Podcast

December 31st Podcast from MouseStation (374) features and "interview" (more like Marge reminiscing) from the D23 expo. I was lucky enough to be at the Snow White panel that day and saw her in person. In this interview, done shortly after the panel, she talks about how she was involved with Snow White as well as other Disney features. She discusses how a writer for Life magazine convinced Disney to tell the public about how they used a live action model. She relates lots of interesting facts and information. MousePlanet website also included a video from the DVD of Marge's work.
Marge was honored as a Disney Legend in 2007. See the Disney Website for more information. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

On this first day of 2010, I thought I'd share some of the firsts that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made. We all know that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney's first full length animated feature but did you also know that Snow White was the:
* First movie to ever have a marketing campaign the same day as the movies release (thanks to Kay Kamen's ideas on marketing)
* First movie album ever to be produced utilizing the actual soundtracks recorded for the move
* First Book musical (where the music moves and tells the story rather than the popular variety style musical popular at the time). Oklahoma! is usually recognized as the first but it was released five years after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
* First Disney feature to be re-released because no feature was scheduled (1944)
* First movie to be exhibited simultaneously in more than 60 countries (1987)
* First Disney animated feature made into a stage show (1979 - read about Snow White Live! on this blog)
* First film to be restored with digital technique (1993 for the 8th reissue)