Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE) proudly opens the Vault to release ‘the one that started it all,’ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, for the first time ever on Diamond Edition Blu-ray and 2-Disc DVD on 14 October 2009.
The highly-anticipated release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fittingly launches a spectacular all-new product line specific to the Blu-ray format – Disney’s Diamond Collection. Poised to transform home entertainment, just as the movie itself transformed the entire motion-picture industry upon its debut in 1937, the revolutionary new Diamond Collection brings audiences the most immersive and high-level viewing experience including unparalleled features, exclusive high-definition content, superior picture and sound and much, much more.
Celebrated as an entertainment landmark for over 70 years, the first full-length animated film ever made, and still the ‘fairest of them all,” Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ world premiere represented a major milestone for the world of animation and a giant leap forward for The Walt Disney Company. Presented with a 1939 honorary Academy Award® for ‘significant screen innovation which has charmed millions, and pioneered a great new entertainment field,’ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is one of the most beloved and most watched films in history.
As one of the first ever films earmarked for preservation by the Library of Congress, it has been entertaining moviegoers and critics alike for decades. It was also the first film ever to have a motion picture soundtrack, as well as the first film to use music to advance the story. To date, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been released theatrically a total of nine times.
SYNOPSIS:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the time-honoured story of a beautiful princess whose blossoming beauty disturbs her stepmother the Queen. Each day the Queen asks a mysterious magic mirror the quintessential question: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” As long as the mirror answers the Queen’s name, all is well. However, when one day the mirror replies with Snow White’s name, the evil Queen begins her quest to kill the young girl, so she may once again be “the fairest of them all.”
Snow White’s escape from the evil Queen’s plan leads her deep into the forest and to a small cottage where she meets the Seven Dwarfs, in one of the most famous scenes in motion picture history. One day – when “off to work” they go – the wicked Queen persuades Snow White to take a bite of a poisonous apple that places a powerful sleeping curse on the young beauty. Heartbroken, the dwarfs make a glass coffin for their dear friend, because she is too beautiful to bury. Only when a handsome Prince – who had previously fallen in love with Snow White – finds her and kisses her, does she awaken to “live happily ever after.”
PRODUCTION OVERVIEW
Director: David Hand (supervising)
William Cottrell
Wilfred Jackson
Larry Morey
Perce Pearce
Ben Sharpsteen
Producer: Walt Disney
Written by: Brothers Grimm (fairy tale)
Ted Sears
Richard Creedon
Otto Englander
Dick Rickard
Earl Hurd
Merrill De Maris
Dorothy Ann Blank
Webb Smith
Music: Frank Churchill
Paul Smith
Leigh Harline
Character designers: Albert Hurter
Joe Grant
Voice talent: Adriana Caselotti (Snow White)
Lucille La Verne (The Queen / Witch)
Roy Atwell (Doc)
Pinto Colvig (Grumpy)
Otis Harlan (Happy)
Pinto Colvig (Sleepy)
Scotty Mattraw (Bashful)
Billy Gilbert (Sneezy)
Eddie Collins (Dopey)
Moroni Olsen (The Magic Mirror)
Stuart Buchanan (Humbert the Huntsman)
Harry Stockwell (The Prince)
Genre: Animation/family/fantasy
Rating: TBC
Release date: 14 October 2009
RRP: $39.95 – 2-Disc DVD;
$49.95 – 3-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
ABOUT DISNEY ‘COMBO PACKS’ (BLU-RAY + DVD IN A SINGLE PACKAGE):
To provide consumers with unprecedented quality, value and portability of their favorite Disney classics, in 2008 WDSHE pioneered the Combo Pack – Blu-ray Disc(s) plus a DVD in a single package. Current Disney Platinum Edition titles available as Combo Packs include Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio.
EXCLUSIVE DVD BONUS FEATURES:
- The Princess and the Frog sneak peek;
- Snow White returns;
- Deleted scenes – including ‘Soup eating sequence’ and ‘Bed building sequence’.
- The one that started it all;
- ‘Someday my Prince will come’ by Tiffany Thornton;
- Dopey’s wild mine ride game;
- Animation voice talent;
- Disney through the decades;
- Heigh-ho sing-along; and
- Heigh-ho karaoke.
EXCLUSIVE DIAMOND EDITION BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES:
The Diamond Collection debut of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will keep audiences spellbound for hours with exciting content exclusive to this historic release, presented with spectacular newly restored picture and 7.1 Digital Theater System Hi-Def Surround Sound. Utilising the latest in technology, possible only through the power of Blu-ray, the release includes Disney Smart Navigation, allowing the magic and personality of Disney characters to come to life as never before. Disney Family Play, the ultimate interactive Hi-Def experience, offers a variety of engaging games, activities and unprecedented levels of personalisation and customisation features, to transform how families experience home entertainment together. The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition is a Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack (2 Blu-ray discs + DVD).
· Hyperion Studios – Audiences are digitally transported to 1937 to discover first-hand the Hyperion Studios, the original studio Walt Disney himself built and where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was conceived and developed. Viewers will virtually walk the halls of this historic landmark experiencing life at Hyperion Studios back in the 1930’s. This amazing ‘Backstage Disney’ feature contains newly dimensionalised archival photos, animator recordings, archival transcripts and rare footage of Walt himself revealing how Disney’s gifted filmmakers crafted the very first animated feature.
· Magic Mirror – Using the latest in Blu-ray technology, the iconic Magic Mirror guides the audience through the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition features with ease serving as the ‘host’ for an incredibly immersive experience. The Mirror will recognise viewing patterns, knows where the audience has left off and will even suggest where to navigate next. This marks the first use of artificial intelligence in a Disney Blu-ray™ release and provides viewers the control to personally create a customised Snow White experience.
· DisneyView – Disney’s pioneering animated feature is brought to the modern era of widescreen high definition viewing by allowing the user to expand their viewing experience beyond the original aspect ratio of the film. Utilising Disney Blu-ray™ technology, acclaimed Disney artist Toby Bluth was able to ‘draw’ beyond the borders of classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful custom imagery, giving audiences a new view of their animated classic favorite.
· About Toby Bluth – Disney artist Toby Bluth tells how the movie inspired him to create the superb DisneyView art.
· What Do You See? – To win this exciting interactive game, players must untangle scrambled images.
· Jewel Jumble – Players put jewels from the Dwarfs’ mine in the proper order to win this game.
· Scene Stealer – Allows viewers to upload a personal photo and experience life as one of the Seven Dwarfs—on-screen in the actual film