Happy is the
joyous dwarf. He is the fattest of the seven and is always
laughing.
Bashful
is
the shyest of the dwarfs, and is therefore often embarrassed by
the presence of any attention directed at him. He frequently
annoys Grumpy, though not as much as Doc. In Walt Disney's own
words, according to one of the film's original theatrical
trailers, Bashful is "secretly in love with Snow White".
Sleepy is
always tired, as attested by his heavy eyelids, and therefore
usually appears laconic even in the direst situations. His job
at the mine is to haul all the diamonds and rubies by cart to
Doc for inspection. He has the longest beard of the seven.
Usually he is pestered by a fly, who appears as a background
character.
Dopey is the
only dwarf to have no beard at all; he is presumably the
youngest of the seven. As his name suggests, Dopey is clumsy.
His clumsiness provides comic relief to some of the plot. He is
a mute, or at any rate never speaks and does not know whether he
can. His job at the mine is to clean up all the unusable jewels
and lock up the vault. He is always seen last in line whenever
the dwarfs walk to and from work.
Sneezy's
name is earned by his extraordinarily powerful sneezes, which
are seen blowing objects (including his brothers) across a room.
He has the shortest beard of the seven (besides the beardless
Dopey). The cause of his sneezes is hay fever.
Grumpy is as
his name suggests him to be. He has the biggest nose of the
seven and he automatically disapproves of Snow White for the
mere fact that she is a woman. However, though initially too
proud to show it, deep down he cares perhaps the most for her
safety. He repeatedly warns her of the threat posed by the Queen
and rushes to Snow White's aid upon realizing that she is in
danger, leading the charge himself.
Doc is
considered the leader of the seven dwarfs, and is presumably the
oldest. He wears glasses and often mixes up his words. His job
in the dwarfs' mine is to check the authenticity of the many
gems.
The first feature-length animated film in history,
"Snow
White" is a testimony to Walt's deep commitment to taking whatever
existed and making it better. When he first proposed creating a cartoon that
would run for more than just a few minutes, critics and nay-sayers abounded.
"It'll blind the audience," said some. "Nobody will watch a cartoon that's
so long," said others. They dubbed it Disney's Folly. But Walt persisted,
risking the financial future of his studio on the project. And of course the
success was complete. "Snow White" premiered on December 21, 1937, and
provided a financial bonanza for the Disney organization. It was originally
budgeted for $250,000, wound up costing $1.75 million, and brought in about
$4.2 million in its first release. Perhaps more important, it proved that
animation could be used not just to amuse but to provoke a far wider range
of emotions. Viewers witnessing the "death" scene of Snow White -- shown
above -- were moved to tears.
Snow White was the daughter of a great
king whose wife died when the she was very young. Her wicked
stepmother forced her to work as a scullery maid in the castle.
Despite this, she retains a cheerful but naive demeanor.
