Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Nominated in the Music category in 1937.

What can be said about this movie that hasn't been said before? It was the first full length cel-animated motion picture, it was the first in color, and the first Walt Disney Classic. It also, I would say with great confidence, set the standard for every single American animated film that has come since.

It's hard for me to give any kind of opinion on this film that isn't based solely on nostalgia. I have crystal memories of seeing this movie at the Melody Drive-In with my mother, and during one of the dwarves' musical numbers a thunderstorm came and it rained so heavily that we couldn't see the movie screen. It was an amazing experience, and every time I have watched since it's that memory that overwhelms me.

It's impossible to tell if I would find the animation so beautiful if I hadn't been raised on later Disney pictures, but watching “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” always gives me goosebumps. Every incarnation of Snow White since 1938 gets compared to Disney's, and few have been up to that challenge. I have quite a few films that predate this one in the Oscar annals, but I'm going to go ahead and call this now: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” is the original feel good movie – the watch when your tummy hurts, watch when you're sad . . . the first Warm Fuzzy movie. It is complete insanity to think that the movie almost never got made – Walt Disney mortgaged his own home to finance and the movie's production costs totaled well over one million dollars, which in 1937 was unheard of.

Special Oscar fun fact – this movie was nominated only for music, but received a special award for recognition “as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon.” The award was one large Oscar and seven miniature statues on a steeped base.

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” did not win in its only nominated category.