The Big Picture
- Disney songs are often regarded as iconic, even regularly dominating in the Best Original Song category at the Oscars.
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
had the first official movie soundtrack, starting Disney’s musical film trend. - Disney has since perfected the movie soundtrack formula with timeless songs and innovative marketing.
Any parent that spent November 27, 2013, and every day since then hearing “Let It Go” from Frozen ad nauseam may loathe Disney, but you have to admit: the House of Mouse knows how to deliver memorable songs. 16 out of 40 nominations have landed the studio the coveted Academy Award for Best Original Song, the most for any movie studio in the history of the Oscars. It may come as a surprise, but not one song from Disney’s influential animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was even nominated. Not one. Walt Disney was celebrated for the innovative techniques that “pioneered a great new entertainment field,” with an Honorary Academy Award, one full-size and seven miniatures (the year after the film’s eligibility), but it’s another innovation that Disney created for the film that was then, and still is, largely uncredited, and one that makes the Best Original Song oversight even worse in retrospect. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the very first movie with an official soundtrack, as credited by the good folks at Guinness World Records.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.
- Release Date
- February 4, 1938
- Director
- David Hand
- Cast
- Roy Atwell , Stuart Buchanan , Adriana Caselotti , Zeke Clements , Eddie Collins , Pinto Colvig
- Runtime
- 83
- Writers
- Wilhelm Grimm , Jacob Grimm , Ted Sears , Richard Creedon , Otto Englander , Dick Rickard
- Studio
- Walt Disney Productions
‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Set the Precedent for Disney Movies Going Forward
The story of how Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs overcame its disastrous production as the first full-length animated feature is legendary. The film, nicknamed “Disney’s folly” by wags that had little to no faith that an animated film could hold an audience’s attention, was almost impossible to budget, given the variables involved in getting it to the screen. Almost everything about it was innovative, including the use of music. Disney was no stranger to using music with animation – the company’s Silly Symphonies centered around pieces of music – but Walt Disney wanted something different, feeling that the shorts didn’t bring the visual and audio elements together. “Really, we should set a new pattern, a new way to use music. Weave it into the story, so somebody doesn’t just burst into song,” was how Disney explained his vision. To say it all paid off seems like an understatement, given the positive critical reaction and $8 million (about $177 million today) at the box office.
The success of the film extended beyond the theater doors, with an unprecedented level of related merchandise. Disney archivist David Smith explains that in 1937, “it was, even then, one of the biggest merchandising efforts ever for a movie.” Author Steven Watts agrees, saying it was the first time a studio created such an extensive campaign that coincided with a film’s release, with merchandising bringing in over six million dollars over the eighteen months following the film’s release. Tea sets, paper dolls, wind-up Dopey toys, a board game, radios and, yes, that very first movie soundtrack. The soundtrack consisted of three 78 rpm singles, all of which made it into the US Top 10. “Heigh-Ho”, the earwormiest of the film’s soundtrack, hit number 4 on the charts in April 1938, and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks. The success of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs soundtrack set the precedent for Disney going forward: their animated features were no longer merely films, but musicals.
Disney Improves on the Legacy of the ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Soundtrack
Listening today, the soundtrack to Snow White is both a product of its time (the warbling of “Someday My Prince Will Come” has not aged well) and timeless (“Heigh-Ho” is still to this day one of the most recognizable and beloved songs from the entire Disney catalog), so it only stands to reason that Disney would continue to perfect the formula. By the time Disney’s follow-up feature, 1940’s Pinocchio, was released, Disney had already made significant steps forward, presenting a soundtrack with songs that shake off the trappings of the time to become timeless. “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee,” and “I’ve Got No Strings” (which will never be the same after hearing Ultron’s (James Spader) creepy rendition in Avengers: Age of Ultron) are still as good now as they were then. Disney had found the formula, everlasting songs with narrative lyrics that enter your head and never let go, which would continue on through Cinderella‘s “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” and “I Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book.
Disney’s Renaissance Era, which began in 1989 with The Little Mermaid, saw the studio take their soundtracks to a whole new level. The songs became even more ingrained into the films as sources of exposition, a means of shortcutting plot points, background story, and the natures of the characters. “One Jump Ahead” from Aladdin captures Aladdin’s (Scott Weinger) roguish ways and his big heart, while The Lion King‘s “Hakuna Matata” is the perfect example of giving the backstory of Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) while making their current feelings about life, one of “no worries”, clearly evident. The Renaissance Era also sees soundtracks used even more as marketing tools. Not only are the characters in the films singing their songs, but high-profile music artists are now adding their own versions of the film’s songs to the soundtrack, expanding the film’s reach to the pinnacles of popular music. Take the titular “Beauty and the Beast”, covered in the film by Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury) and as a duet by Céline Dion and Peabo Bryson, or “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” sung by Simba (Joseph Williams) during the movie and by Sir Elton John in the end credits and on the music charts. That deft combination of artist, engagement, and emotional connection continues to define the Disney soundtrack today.
‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Paves the Way for Movie Soundtracks as Marketing
It’s no secret that an original idea in Hollywood, at least a successful one, only stays that way for so long before everyone jumps on board the train, and the movie soundtrack that began with Snow White soon became a marketing pillar for the film industry. The rise of musicals as a must-see genre in the 1950s (and again in the 2000s) pushed their soundtracks to the top of the charts, while Elvis Presley, already a regular on the charts, used his music to promote his films. And just like how The Little Mermaid marked an evolution in Disney soundtracks, other Hollywood films had Saturday Night Fever to thank for turning a film’s soundtrack into something with its own life. The soundtrack became the highest-selling of all time, with over 40 million copies, reinvigorated the career of The Bee Gees, boosted the film’s popularity, and is cited as popularizing disco music everywhere. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how groovy you find it.
The 10 Most Underrated Disney Songs, Ranked
“Tell everybody I’m on my way new friends and new places to see.”
Today, soundtracks still make a connection between the film and its audience, one that presents itself in a variety of ways. Some songs on a soundtrack are linked forever with a particular scene, for instance. “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel and its association with Reservoir Dogs. Others revive interest in long forgotten tunes from the past, à la Guardians of the Galaxy, while others, like Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain, define the films they appear in. Yet, with great power comes great responsibility, and the soundtrack for a film can bring it down just as easily as it can up. And with the popularity of releasing soundtracks before the film hits theater, there’s a new danger that comes with it in the form of rabid fans scouring the internet for any information about the details of an upcoming flick, similar to what happened with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But when a soundtrack gets everything right, it can be magical, and we have a Disney princess and her seven diminutive friends to thank.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is currently available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
