Snowballs

Everyone told Walt Disney it was a mistake. Until December 21 1937, cartoons were short clips that ran before the real film, while everyone was grabbing popcorn and getting seated. Even his wife Lillian said, “No one’s ever gonna pay a dime to see a dwarf picture.” But Walt knew better. He put everything he had into Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; the first American animated feature film. Snow White was re-released in 1944 to help raise money for a studio hurt by WWII. It was released again every seven to ten years afterwards. I believe I saw it first at age eight. In one scene the Wicked Queen descended to her dungeon and laughed at the corpse of a man she’d tortured to death; he’d obviously died slowly of thirst with a pitcher of water just barely out of reach. She scared me half out of my wits. She still does.