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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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