EVIL QUEEN PRODUCTION DRAWING WALT DISNEY STUDIOS RED, GREEN, AND GRAPHITE PENCILS ON PEG HOLE PAPER, 1937. Original production animation drawing of the Evil Queen from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, ” 1937, Walt Disney Studios; Graphite, green, and red pencils on watermarked five peg hole paper; Production numbers stamp lower left and numbered 923 in graphite pencil lower right; Unframed. Development on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs began in early 1934, and by June Walt Disney announced to The New York Times the production of his first feature, to be released under Walt Disney Productions. Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Disney studio had been primarily involved in the production of animated short subjects in the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies series. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was to be the first full-length cel animated feature in motion picture history, and as such Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. Both his brother and business partner Roy Disney, as well as his wife Lillian attempted to talk him out of it. The Hollywood movie industry mockingly referred to the film, while is was in production, as Disney’s Folly. After a long and difficult four years, on January 13, 1938, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made its New York premiere at Radio City Music Hall. The film ran for five weeks in a row, the first motion picture to do so, and it could have played longer if not for prior commitments of the venue. It was to be the theatres’ most successful engagement in all of the 1930s. The film was loved by everyone and Disney, along with his animation team, had managed to make an animated film that the audience would believe! The crowd would be sad and cry when Snow White bit the apple and was placed in a glass casket; and they would laugh, smile, and be happy during the song and dance numbers with the Dwarfs. However, Disney was criticized by some for making a very scary film for children. When the movie was played at Radio City Music Hall on its first release, the theater managers had to replace the music played when Snow White runs into the Dark Forest; because they were nervous that the kids would be too frightened upon hearing it. Snow White’s run into the Forest had another result; young children were still so scared by the sequence, that they wet their pants. As a result, the velvet upholstery of each and every seat held by a child, had to be replaced prior to every showing of the film. The Walt Disney film’s version of the Evil Queen changing into an Old Hag is very different compared to the original story. In the Disney version, the Queen uses her dark magic powers to actually transform herself into an old woman instead of just taking on a disguise; as in the Brothers Grimm story. Animation provided a transformation scene that is truly spectacular and the Disney team even made the event greater by utilizing the multi-plane camera; to make the room itself appeared to spin. This sequence along with the flight of Snow White through the Dark Forest; caused the British Board of Film Censors (now, the British Board of Film Classification) to give the film an A-certificate (children had to be accompanied by an adult) upon its original release. This resulted in a nationwide controversy as to whether the Forest and the Witch were too frightening for younger audiences. Nevertheless, most local authorities simply overrode the censor’s decision and gave the film a U-certificate (Suitable for children). Walt Disney’s response to the idea that the film was too frightening for children was, I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty. This may have been his statement, but he never made another film with such a scary villain. Every film after Snow White had the main villain accompanied by a comedic sidekick; such as Maleficent and her Goons, Cruella de Vil with Horace and Jasper, or Medusa with Snoops. The Evil Queen, one of the greatest Walt Disney animated villains of all time, was animated by the famous Disney animator Art Babbitt. Babbitt was already an accomplished animator prior to working on Snow White. ” He was known for creating the character of Goofy and for his work on “The Country Cousin, which won an Academy Award for the Disney Studio in 1936. The villain for Snow White was the Evil Queen; which Walt Disney and Joe Grant (Walt Disney character designer and story artist) had conceived as a blend of Lady Macbeth and the Big Bad Wolf, as well as traits inspired by actresses Joan Crawford and Gale Sondergaard. Refinement of the Queen was done by animators Grim Natwick and Norm Ferguson; however the actual animation of the Queen fell to Babbitt. Rotoscoping, a technique used in animation whereby live actors are used to portray the characters and then animators trace over the footage frame by frame; was not used as much on the Queen as it was for the character of Snow White. Babbitt preferred to avoid rotoscoping and instead draw the character free hand. It has been stated that you could wallpaper a room with just drawings that Babbitt made just of her mouth and eyes; because all of the Queen’s emotions came through her face. The Evil Queen, wonderfully voiced by veteran stage actress Lucille La Verne; holds a place in history as being the first character to ever speak in a full length animated film. The voice of the Queen was provided by Lucille Leverne and she also wanted to read for the part of the Witch. Leverne was a veteran stage actress and was perfect for the Queen, with a real regalness to her voice. When she was in the sound booth and Walt Disney heard her reading the role of the Witch, he stopped her and said that her voice just did not work for that role. Now her voice had changed to that wonderful raspy, gummy, and single toothed sounding Witch. Disney was amazed and asked how she had managed to get that perfect character voice, and Lucille replied, Oh, I just took out my false teeth. This is a very large original production animation drawing of the Evil Queen from the pivotal part in the film when she is lifting the heart box up in order to present it to the Huntsman. The heart box was to insure that the Huntsman had indeed killed Snow White! The Evil Queen is eyes and mouth open and the drawing is accomplished in graphite, green, and red pencils. A rare and important drawing from Walt Disney’s first full length animated feature film. Measurements: Size – Queen 10 x 6 3/4″, Sheet 12 1/2 x 15 1/2″. Condition: See pictures below of the actual drawing, which is in excellent overall condition as shown by the pictures below! All items we sell are from a smoke-free/mold-free home/workplace and are in excellent condition unless otherwise noted. I own every work pictured for sale and I stand behind every item. Please follow/bookmark me as a favorite and keep checking back for more items for sale in the coming weeks. For now, please check out my other Drawings and Cels and other original modern and contemporary artwork for sale! The item “1937 RARE DISNEY SNOW WHITE SEVEN DWARFS EVIL QUEEN PRODUCTION ANIMATION DRAWING” is in sale since Thursday, July 13, 2017. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Animation Art & Characters\Animation Art\Production Art”. The seller is “shadowline” and is located in Durham, North Carolina. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Original/Reproduction: Original Production Art
- Artwork Type: Production Drawing
- Studio/Show: Disney
- Age: Pre-1970
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States