1938 - Heigh-Ho, Off To the Movies We Go!

by Craig D. Barton

The 1937 release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” at the Carthay Circle Theater had silenced most of his critics and made him even more of a Hollywood daring than he already was. A week later, Walt Disney appeared on the cover of Time Magazine – the magazine itself gushed in its review of the new animated feature:

“Skeptical Hollywood, that had wondered whether a fairy story could have enough suspense to hold an audience through seven reels, and whether, even if the plot held up, an audience would care about the fate of characters who were just drawings, was convinced that Walt Disney had done it again. Snow White is as exciting as a Western, as funny as a haywire comedy. It combines the classic idiom of folklore drama with rollicking comic-strip humor.”

In January of 1938, “Snow White” began its run at the famed Radio City Music Hall in New York City – a run that would last an unprecedented for its time five weeks! The morning after its January 13^th debut, New York Times film critic Frank S. Nugent shared his review in the paper, making Time’s review seem pale in comparison…

“Sheer fantasy, delightful, gay, and altogether captivating, touched the screen yesterday when Walt Disney’s long-awaited feature-length cartoon of the Grimm fairy tale, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” had its local premiere at the Radio City Music Hall. Let your fears be quieted at once: Mr. Disney and his amazing technical crew have outdone themselves. Nothing quite like it has been done before; and already we have grown impolite enough to clamor for an encore. Another helping, please!”

Mr. Nugent, while smitten by the entire film, seemed quite taken with one dwarf in particular:

“Dopey really deserves a sentence all by himself. No, we’ll make it a paragraph, because Dopey is here to stay. Dopey is the youngest of the seven dwarfs. He is beardless, with a buttony nose, a wide mouth, Gable ears, cross-purpose eyes and the most disarming, winning, helpless, puppy-dog expression that creature ever had. If we had to dissect him, we’d say he was one part little Benny of the comic strips, one part Worry-Wart of the same, and one part Pluto, of the Mickey Mouse Plutos. There may too, be just a dash of Harpo Marx. But he’s all Dopey, forever out of step in the dwarfs’ processions, doomed to carry the red tail-light when they go to their jewel mines, and speechless.”



The image of the much-beloved Dwarf, as seen alongside the New York Times review.

It turns out that Mr. Nugent was not alone in his admiration for the film, or for Dopey either. As the full-length feature began a wider distribution from RKO Radio Pictures, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” became a world-wide smash hit, even temporarily becoming the highest grossing sound picture of all time (It would find itself displaced one year later by Gone With the Wind). By the end of its original theater run, Snow White had grossed over $7.8 million, bringing in much needed profits for not only The Walt Disney Company, but for RKO as well. Much like the public demand for “more pigs,” Walt now faced cries of “more dwarfs.” Of course, just like before, Walt had no desire for a sequel; he was already planning his next ventures – full length adaptations of Felix Salten’s “Bambi” and Carlo Collodi’s “Pinocchio.”

The new source of income allowed for Walt to surprise his animators with bonuses as a hearty “thank you” for their work and dedication in making “Snow White.” It also provided the company the opportunity to pour revenue back into the studio, allowing Walt to hire more animators and press forward with new innovations in animation. Of course with more staff, two animated features being developed, and ever-popular animated shorts being turned out, the studio found itself facing an obvious predicament – the studio was outgrowing itself. On August 31^st, 1938, Walt and Roy Disney put down a $10,000 deposit on a fifty-one acre parcel of land on Buena Vista Street in Burbank, the future and permanent site of The Walt Disney Studios that we know today.

As successful a year as 1938 was for Walt Disney and his beloved company, personally, it would end on a tragic note for the Disney Brothers. Studio success had allowed Walt and Roy to purchase a house for their parents, Elias and Flora, in order to move them down to Southern California from Portland, Oregon. A joyous family reunion would unfortunately be short lived. On November 26^th, a gas furnace in the house of the Disney elders had malfunctioned, causing Flora to become overtaken by the fumes. She and Elias were both taken to the hospital. Elias survived; Flora did not. Flora’s death would haunt Walt for the rest of his life; many accounts have recalled a tremendous guilt Walt felt for moving his parents to a house with a faulty furnace to begin with. While there was no way for him to predict the tragic outcome, one can understand the feelings that would come with such a discovery.

Elias and Flora's 50th Wedding Anniversary, celebrated New Year's Eve, 1937. Left to right, Herb, Ray, Flora, Elias, Roy, and Walt Disney. ©DIsney

As children, we want our parents to be proud of all we’ve accomplished. Flora Call Disney, the matriarch of the Disney family, had lived long enough to see her sons form a company bearing the family name, the creation of a world-famous mouse, and a triumph of a motion picture. Yet, as a parent, one can’t help believe that even with all the achievements her sons had accomplished, her greatest pride was in their own happiness and the happiness they were bringing (and would continue to bring) others.

1938

• January - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opens in Radio City Music Hall as well as Miami, FL.
• RKO Radio Pictures releases Snow White to a nationwide release.
• 1937's "The Old Mill" wins Academy Award for best animated short subject.
• Walt and Roy locate and place a down payment on fifty-one acres in Burbank for new studio.
• Huey, Dewey, and Louie make their wisequacking debuts in the appropriately named short, "Donald's Nephews."
• Flora Call Disney, matriarch of the Disney family, passes away at the age of 70

1938 Animated Short Releases:

  Donald Duck - Self Control - February 11

  Mickey Mouse - Boat Builders - February 25

  Donald Duck - Donald's Better Self - March 11

  Silly Symphonies - The Moth and the Flame - April 1

  Donald Duck - Donald's Nephews - April 15

  Mickey Mouse - Mickey's Trailer - May 6

  Silly Symphonies - Wynken, Blynken and Nod - May 27

  Donald & Goofy - Polar Trappers - June 17

  Donald Duck - Good Scouts - July 8

  Donald & Goofy - The Fox Hunt - July 29

  Mickey Mouse - The Whalers - August 19

  Mickey Mouse - Mickey's Parrot - September 9

  Mickey Mouse - Brave Little Tailor - September 23

  Silly Symphonies - Farmyard Symphony - October 14

  Donald Duck - Donald's Golf Game - November 4

  "One-shot" - Ferdinand the Bull - November 25

  Silly Symphonies - Merbabies - December 9

  Silly Symphonies - Mother Goose Goes Hollywood - December 23

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*"The Walt Disney Company: 100 Years in 100 Weeks" is a project conceived by Craig D. Barton and presented by Communerdy. It is in no way affiliated with The Walt Disney Company, and any opinions presented within its content are that of the author(s). For more updates, follow us on https://www.instagram.com/disney100in100/ .