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OPEY:
Dubbed "Dopey" by his brothers, this loose-limbed dwarf has never
spoken a word; as Happy explains to Snow White, "He never tried."
But Dopey isn't really dopey, he's just childlike. Is it dopey to
try and steal a second and third kiss from Snow White on your way
to work, or to make yourself tall enough to dance with her by
climbing on Sneezy's shoulders? Not at all. Dopey's a genius at fun
and games (and a whiz at the drums to boot). He just doesn't mind
looking silly along the way. So what if he wiggles his ears and
shuffles his feet to his own skippity-skip beat? He's simply being
himself, and that's pretty smart.
In the early development process on the film, Dopey was the
"leftover" dwarf with no particular personality. Then one day
animator Ward Kimball discovered vaudevillian actor Eddie Collins
at a Los Angeles burlesque house. Kimball invited the baby-faced
Mr. Collins to the studio to perform and improvise pantomimes of
Dopey's reactions on film. Thanks much to Collins' innovative
acting, Dopey assumed a very definite personality and soon became
one of the animators' favorite dwarfs. Collins' pantomime turned
out to be one of the first times live-action reference footage was
shot for an animated film. The technique proved so successful that
it's still used today. The inspiring Mr. Collins went on to perform
live-action reference for Gideon in "Pinocchio" (1940). |
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GRUMPY:
No matter what anyone says, Grumpy is against it. This know-it-all
naysayer has the disposition of an old boot: tough, craggy, and
resistant to anything. When the dwarfs first find Snow White lying
asleep across their beds, Grumpy gripes, "Angel, huh? She's female,
an' all females is poison! They're full o' wicked wiles." When
Bashful asks, "What're wicked wiles?" Grumpy admits, "I don't know,
but I'm agin 'em." Like many an old boot, however, this one's
really a softy inside. When Snow White kisses him on the forehead
despite his complaints, he even smiles for a moment before
regaining his mal-composure. Could it be that Grumpy may be grumpy
partially to see who cares enough to put up with him? Whatever its
source, his stubborn determination eventually proves invaluable.
When the forest animals warn of trouble so dire that even his bossy
rival, Doc, stammers, "What do we do?" it's Grumpy who leads the
charge to save Snow White from the Wicked Queen.
During the party sequence, Grumpy plays an elaborately carved pipe
organ designed to look like a row of totem poles. To achieve the
organ's deep tonal quality, the soundmen blew into bottles
partially filled with water. Unfortunately, the ingenious solution
created as many problems as it solved: As the recording sessions
went on, slight temperature changes and natural evaporation kept
altering the pitch of the bottles' notes. |
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DOC:
If the Seven Dwarfs have a leader, it has to be Doc (though he's
far too good-natured to ever make it official). When there's an
important decision to be made, Doc is usually the one to make it.
After returning to the cottage to find it mysteriously tidied up,
he nervously demands: "Search every cook an' nanny, uh, hook an'
granny, uh, crooked fan -- uh, search everywhere." Doc's mind often
works faster than his mouth when he's excited, but his judgment's
always sound. Doc takes it upon himself to convince his fellows
that the hardships they must endure in allowing Snow White to stay
are worth it -- even that strange custom of washing up. And only he
knows how to get that "old warthog" Grumpy into the wash
trough.
Sometimes Doc himself doesn't know how wise he is. As the dwarfs
leave for the mine after Snow White arrives, he warns Snow White,
"Now don't forget, my dear, the old Queen's a sly one, full of
witchcraft. So beware of strangers." Before voicing Doc, actor Roy
Atwell had already developed his word jumbling skills (or
"Spoonerisms") in his popular radio comedy act. Perce Pearce, one
of the film's sequence directors, did a good rendition of Doc, and
so doubled as the live-action model. |
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BASHFUL:
More than shy, Bashful's a hopeless (make that hopeful)
sentimentalist. When the dwarfs return to find their cottage
mysteriously tidied up, he's even sentimental about his newly
cleaned cup, lamenting that "the sugar's gone" as if he'd lost a
dear friend. While everyone's suspicious upon finding Snow White
asleep across their beds, Bashful's the first one to see her for
who she really is, observing, "She's beautiful, like an angel."
Indeed, Bashful can't help but blush, twist his beard into knots,
and bat his eyelashes whenever Snow White's around. And when the
dwarfs ask her to tell them a story, Bashful, of course, requests
"a looove story." To his delight, that's exactly what they
get.
In the initial development stages of the production, Bashful's
character was to have a high-peaked skull which made him ashamed to
take off his hat, and the rest of him resembled Dopey's eventual
character design. It was later decided that Bashful didn't need
such an elaborate reason to be bashful -- he simply was. |
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SLEEPY:
Sleepy sneaks in his Z's anytime and anywhere he can, but none of
the other dwarfs ever complains. Maybe that's because he works just
as hard in their diamond mine as the others, albeit in a more
relaxed fashion. In fact, he's so relaxed, and yawns so widely,
that the resident housefly keeps buzzing into his mouth in hopes of
finding a nice warm home. But even on the perpetual verge of a nap,
Sleepy turns out to be twice as observant as his fellows when it
most matters. Strangely goaded and prodded by the forest animals
outside their mine, none of the dwarfs can figure out what's going
on until Sleepy yawns, "Maybe the old Queen's got Snow White."
Thanks to Sleepy, the dwarfs are soon off to the rescue.
In addition to voicing Sleepy, actor Pinto Colvig was also well
known as the voice of Goofy. |
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SNEEZY:
No, Sneezy doesn't sneeze all the time ... just at the worst of
times, like when the dwarfs have returned from the diamond mine to
search for the mysterious "cleaning monster" in their midst. After
a particularly violent sneeze, which sends them tumbling in its
wake, he protests,"I couldn't help it ... when you gotta go, you
gotta ... I-I-I, i-i-i-it's comin'." So his pals quickly jump him
and tie his nose in a knot. Instead of getting angry, poor Sneezy's
grateful. He's just as annoyed by his condition as the other
dwarfs. But when all is said and done, his fellows are quick and
happy to lend him a sneeze-stifling hand. It's all part of being a
dwarf. Just keep Sneezy away from the goldenrod ...
After reading an article in "Variety" that said there was to be a
character named "Sneezy" in Disney's upcoming production of "Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs," a comedian named Billy Gilbert
contacted Walt by phone to say that his specialty happened to be
comic sneezes. Walt agreed to audition him and, upon witnessing Mr.
Gilbert's bewildering range of on-cue sneezes, Walt hired him on
the spot. He reprised this act as the comic giant, Willie, in "Fun
and Fancy Free" (1947). |
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HAPPY:
Without Happy around, Grumpy might not be quite as grumpy. For
Happy's just too infernally cheerful about everything. When the
dwarfs think there's a monster hidden under the blankets, Happy
cheerily asks, "Which end do we kill?" And when the "monster" turns
out to be a slumbering Snow White, Happy's even happier. But not
even he can find any joy in his life after Snow White's bitten into
the Witch's apple and fallen into a sleeping death. With any luck
he'll get to live up to his name again someday ...
Although originally brought to the studio to perform live-action
reference for Dopey, rotund vaudevillian actor Eddie Collins
performed a jaunty routine that became the inspiration for Happy's
fleet-footed dance in the party sequence.
Film: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) |
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