Snow-White
About Snow-White
The Queen's mirror, drawn like Cab Calloway, says Betty Boop is the fairest. The Queen orders her guards, Bimbo and Koko, to kill Betty. They cannot, and they fall into a pit. Betty slides into a frozen river and is sealed in a block of ice. The seven dwarfs carry her to the Mystery Cave. The Queen arrives as a witch. Koko, rotoscoped from Calloway, sings St. James Infirmary among skeletons and ghosts.
Cast & crew
More about Snow-White
Dave Fleischer is the credited director. Max Fleischer produced. Roland Crandall animated nearly the whole short, over about six months, as a reward for his years at the studio. Mae Questel voices Betty. Billy Murray is also credited. Paramount released it on 31 March 1933. It runs 7 minutes. Calloway's dance was traced onto Koko. The Internet Archive identifier is bb_snow_white. The Library of Congress placed it on the National Film Registry in 1994.
Themes
Making
Crandall worked alone on the drawings for six months. The only live-action element traced in is Calloway's dance.
Technique
Calloway was filmed and traced, frame by frame, so Koko's body matches the singer.
Music
Cab Calloway sings St. James Infirmary. His dance was rotoscoped onto Koko.
Preservation
The 7-minute short survives and was named to the National Film Registry in 1994. A copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- Also titled Betty Boop in Snow-White.
- Betty walks in singing that she wants to see her stepmother, and the mirror changes its answer.
- Koko's steps in the cave include moves later called a moonwalk.
- The ice coffin is how she reaches the dwarfs, not a glass box in a forest.
- Paramount, not Fleischer, distributed the short.
Scenes
- The mirror tells the Queen that Betty is fairer.
- Bimbo and Koko drop their weapons and fall into a pit.
- Koko sings St. James Infirmary in the cave while Betty lies in the ice.
Influenced by
- Snow White
Also available
- Internet Archive (bb_snow_white)
