for the characters and backgrounds.It was obviously clear to everyone who worked on the film that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was to be a collaborative effort, whose ultimate goal was not the recognition for any specific animator, but the glorification of a creative endeavor. During production on the film there was so much in the way of revision, rehashing, scrapping and so on in order to get things just right, that the animators constantly advised Walt that the screen-time of the characters they were animating should be cut.

Doc is very much the acknowledged leader of the dwarfs. Except for an occasional "harumph" from Grumpy, the dwarfs respect Doc and let him direct them. Whether it's washing their faces or coming home from the mine, the other dwarfs follow Doc's lead. Although he obviously inspires loyalty, you wouldn't think it to hear the way he fumbles and stumbles over his sentences.

There are eight songs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, all of which were composed by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey and have been translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and eight other languages. The only Oscar nomination the film received was for Best Score. The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs album was the first "original soundtrack" recording ever released. Prior to that time, film music had always been re-recorded for release on records.

With Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the backgrounds were painted in grayed-down transparent watercolors. This muted color palette not only achieved the overall subtlety that Walt Disney wanted, it was most suitable to the then-new Technicolor process, which was only capable of accurately capturing mid-range colors. The fairy tale was dramatized for the stage in 1912, with Marguerite Clark as Snow White. Clark reprised her role in a 1915 silent film version, which Walt Disney saw at a special screening for newsboys in Kansas City. According to Disney biographer Bob Thomas, "It had been his most vivid early memory of attending the movies."

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first animated feature, from it came the first original soundtrack album, and it also became the first film in history to be completely restored by digital technology. The final result of this 1994 restoration was screened for five surviving artists who worked on the picture (Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Ward Kimball, Marc Davis and Joe Grant) along with Disney Vice Chairman Roy E. Disney. It received their unanimous approval.

Snow White was the first realistically-animated human character ever attempted. Exhaustive study of anatomy was performed by Disney animators, and extensive reference footage of a live-action model named Marge Belcher helped animators render the character's realistic movements.

At the end of the production, Walt Disney noticed a flaw in the animation of the Prince as he bent to kiss Snow White. A Liberty magazine article reported that Walt supervised new animation for the Prince, and had the theaters that were running Snow White replace the flawed footage. A testament to the perfectionist in Disney, other minor adjustments were also incorporated into the film after it premiered. In one scene the Prince lifts Bashful, Grumpy, Doc, Sneezy, Happy, and Dopey for a good-bye kiss. Why was Sleepy left out? According to animator Frank Thomas, the scene was one of the last to be animated, and deadlines were imminent. The timing and layout couldn't be adjusted to include Sleepy, and still finish the film in time for its premiere.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a worldwide sensation. The dwarfs got interesting names in other countries: Doc became Prof in French; Grumpy, Sleepy, and Dopey were renamed Butter, Trotter, and Toker in Swedish; Bashful was Romantico in Spanish; Sneezy was Apsik in Polish.

Although Walt himself was never quite sure how he came to settle on the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as told by the Brothers' Grimm in Kinder- und Hausmarchen (1812-15), in 1938 he offered a tentative explanation: "I saw Marguerite Clark in [a movie of] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when I was delivering papers in Kansas City,, and the film made such an impression on me I'm sure it influenced my decision to use the Grimm fairy tale when I decided to make an animated film.

During the course of the production, live models were photographed for the animators to study so they might achieve realistic actions. Marjorie Belcher (who later became Marge Champion of the famous Marge and Gower Championship dance team) pantomimed the actions of Snow White and Louis Hightower stood in for the prince. Layout man Ken O'Connor was given the burdensome task of tracing the live action directly off the moviola. These tracings were then used as a loose guide by the animators. Proportions of figures and live action timing were altered to avoid the stilted, unreal look that direct copying would have created.

The scene depicted in "Let Me See Your Hands!" was animated by Frank Thomas, legendary Disney animator and one of Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men." Frank worked at Disney from 1935 until his retirement in 1978. With Ollie Johnston, Frank has written several incisive volumes on Disney Animation, including Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Too Funny for Words, Bambi, The Story and the Film, and The Disney Villain. The names and personalities of the dwarfs went through a lengthy period of development over the production of Snow White. Among the names suggested were Jumpy, Baldy, Wheezy, Gabby, Shorty, and Burpy. The strongest characters were decided early in production: Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, Doc, Happy, Bashful and Deafy. Deafy was replaced by Sneezy (Walt didn't want to play on physical handicaps for comedy), but the basic characters were established, which allowed the creative team to concentrate on the subtleties of personality.

The seven dwarfs were so popular that Disney was besieged with requests for a sequel to Snow White. Although no sequel was made, the dwarfs were seen again in four short films, The Standard Parade (1939), The Seven Wise Dwarfs (1941), All Together (1942), and the Winged Scourge (1943).

It is rumored that Walt Disney was lobbied by many of his staff to use Dopey in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Fantasia (1940), instead of Mickey Mouse.