Walt Disney had started his company in the 1920s, making short animated cartoons, but he was never able to attain much financial success because theaters just didn't pay enough for cartoon rentals. He determined that to be successful, he would have to make a full-length feature instead. "What?" said his critics. "People will go mad sitting in a theater for a full 80 to 90 minutes watching the bright color animation on the screen." But Walt knew they were wrong. While traveling in Europe, he had found theaters where 8 to 10 Disney short cartoons were being shown together, and audiences loved them, staying for the entire screening. He reasoned that if they would do that with Mickey Mouse, they would certainly sit still for a well-made full-length film with an intriguing story.

In 1934, Walt Disney gathered his artists on a Studio soundstage one evening (after giving them all money to go out and get their dinner first). The animators were all amazed as Walt explained they were going to start working on an animated feature. Despite first thoughts that they weren’t capable of that kind of production, the animators were then transfixed as Walt took the next hour and a half to tell the entire story of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, acting out the parts of all the characters. Walt’s performance was enough to persuade the artists it could be done, and they left the room just as convinced as Walt that they could make a breakthrough motion picture.

For the next three years the Disney staff toiled. They were breaking new ground and learning as they proceeded, but everything started to fall into place. Frequent story meetings were held and a stenographer took down all that was said verbatim. The artists could then refer to the decisions that were made when they returned to their drawing tables. While the animators were drawing the characters, other artists were styling and painting elaborate backgrounds and composers were writing a catchy musical score.

The film was completed in December 1937 and premiered on December 21 at the Carthay Circle Theater in Hollywood. Walt Disney was entranced -- all of Hollywood had turned out for a cartoon. He needn’t have worried; the film was soon a phenomenal hit, becoming the world’s highest-grossing film until Gone With The Wind was released a few years later. It even won a special Academy Award® consisting of a full-size Oscar® and seven dwarf-size Oscars. Walt had made his first feature, and it was a masterpiece that would never be equaled.