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| Scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs |
It isn't often that a film can be seen as groundbreaking to the point that it changes an entire medium forever. Yet that is exactly what happened when Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released on December 21, 1937. There had been animated shorts before, but what creator Walt Disney presupposed was that it could be used to elevate the story telling format to something grander, and he did so by tackling The Brothers Grimm fairytale of a woman lost in the forest. With sweeping shots of the titular dwarfs singing "Heigh-Ho" as they returned from work, Disney innovated an art form that many would imitate, but few would capture with as much critical and cultural success. Snow White was the first animated movie, and it has managed to remain just as memorable and iconic now as it did then, thanks to breathtaking animation and a catch little box of songs.
