Disney has announced the 1937 classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is coming to its streaming service with a 4K restoration next week.
“The feature film that started it all, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, comes to Disney+ in a beautiful 4K restoration October 16, in celebration of The Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary,” states the announcement.
The announcement continues, “This restored version of the 1937 classic is the result of the combined efforts of the Walt Disney Studios Restoration and Preservation team, working closely with key artists from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the same team who recently worked together on the critically-acclaimed restoration of Walt Disney’s 1950 animated classic, Cinderella.”
Disney released the following side-by-side comparison image still:
Disney Animation artists Michael Giaimo (production designer for the upcoming animated musical adventure “Wish,” as well as “Frozen” and “Frozen 2”) and animator/director Eric Goldberg (head of hand-drawn animation for Disney Animation’s newest short, “Once Upon A Studio,” director, “Pocahontas,” “Fantasia/2000”) were honored to re-team with their colleagues at Walt Disney Studios on the project.
“The opportunity to help restore Snow White was both an honor and a challenge,” said Goldberg.
Goldberg added, “As the very first Walt Disney feature, Mike Giaimo and I felt we owed a debt to history to get it looking as beautiful, and as accurate to the original colors, as we could. The muted palette and the delicate watercolor backgrounds evoke the illustrated fairy tales that Walt so loved, and the story and characters continue to resonate to this day. I hope our work inspires future generations of animation artists to fully appreciate the masterful talent and care that has gone into this landmark film.”
Kevin Schaeffer, director of Restoration for Walt Disney Studios, said. “We are incredibly excited to go back to Walt’s original negative and use current state of the art technology to restore this stunning classic to its original beauty.”
What is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs about?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs stands as one of the greatest triumphs in animation history, as the first full-length cel animated feature in the history of motion pictures.
The film was recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences with a special honorary Oscar – one large Oscar accompanied by seven smaller ones – which was presented to Walt Disney by Shirley Temple.
The film is the highest-ranked animated feature on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years…100 Movies” list, and was inducted into the National Film Registry in the registry’s inaugural year, 1989.
In the story, Snow White, a princess, is exiled into the forest by her jealous stepmother, the Evil Queen, who is envious of Snow White’s beauty. In the forest, Snow White befriends seven dwarfs: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey.
The Evil Queen, disguised as an old witch, tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, causing her to fall into a deep sleep. The dwarfs, along with forest animals, help Snow White, and eventually, she is awakened by true love’s kiss from a prince who had heard of her plight.
Adriana Caselotti provides the voice of Snow White, with Lucille La Verne as the Evil Queen; Roy Atwell as Doc, Pinto Colvig as Grumpy, Otis Harlan as Happy; Scotty Mattraw as Bashful; Billy Gilbert as Sneezy; Eddie Collins as Dopey; Harry Stockwell as the Prince, Moroni Olsen as the Magic Mirror, and Stuart Buchanan as the Huntsman.
