Information
Sequence number: entire story
Date of document: December 26, 1936
The 26-page skeleton continuity presents the story as it was agreed upon at this stage in the production. In it, Snow White is called “SnowWhite”, the Prince has a much larger role, and several later discarded or modified songs are included, such as “Beautiful, Beautiful Queen”, the skeleton marionettes song, “Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Mo”, The Dwarfs’ Marching Song, “The Fairest of All”. “Whistle While You Work” and “Some Day My Prince Will Come” are already present, as are many key plot points and elements of dialogue that will remain in the final version.
Some unexpected influences are mentioned like Tarzan the Ape Man.
MAIN TITLE – Beautiful fairy tale book – Book opens on various pages revealing screen credit. This leads to introductory page with beautifully worded introduction that leads us up to where animation starts. The introduction tells about the beautiful princess named SnowWhite. Her mother died. The King, her father, took a second wife. The second wife was beautiful, but wicked, extremely jealous, and vain.
Dissolve into the introductory scene of the Queen. Queen seated on gorgeously carved peacock throne – She is being entertained by court musicians, singers and dancers. They play, dance, and sing to her theme song, “Beautiful, Beautiful Queen.” The Queen is deeply affected by the words of her theme song – She leaves her throne and goes to her boudoir and has her magic mirror tell her again that she is “The most beautiful of all.” The palace walls and floors are of mirrors – Beautiful paintings of the Queen in various poses adorn the walls. The statues are all of characters of myths, depicting Beauty.
From the Queen sequence, dissolve to another page of the book. This tells of the Prince of another land, who heard of SnowWhite’s beauty and had set forth to find her and ask her to be his bride…..Dissolve into action of the Prince and his horse. They have stopped at a stream for a drink…..On a distant hill can be seen the castle in which SnowWhite dwells…..The Prince talks to his horse – tells of his love for SnowWhite – that they will soon be there, and so forth…..Prince and horse are great pals. Dissolve into another page of the book telling of SnowWhite….how she was mistreated by the Queen, was not allowed the privileges of an average princess, but was made to work and slave…..The excuse that the Queen uses is that she wants SnowWhite to be capable and accomplished, and she puts her through these various routines of working in the kitchen and doing the housework about the castle to keep her from becoming a pampered, spoiled child. (The action carries on from here without any more introductions.)
SnowWhite is shown working around the castle grounds, sweeping the steps, scrubbing the floors, or whatever action fits in best…….She takes time out to play, pretends that she is not a little slavey, but that she is a Princess….The little birds and animals of the palace gardens gather around her. She dresses up in some old clothes….The birds decorate her with flowers, and out of these old rags and things she becomes a beautiful, little make-believe Princess. She builds a Prince out of some old mops and brooms, pails, and so forth (call him ‘Prince Buckethead’). With the help of the birds, she puts on a little dance number and sings a song that tells of her yearning to be a real princess and how she would like to have a Prince Charming come and take her into his arms and make love to her, and carry her away, perhaps, to his castle in the hills…..The little birds might be her bridesmaids….They may ring the wedding bells and she may live happily, ever after.
While this is taking place, the Prince approaches the castle….He hears SnowWhite’s song come over the castle walls….He stops his horse, climbs up on the wall and watches SnowWhite….He is greatly amused by SnowWhite’s antics, and decides to have some fun….However, he realizes she is SnowWhite. He realizes that she is the Princess he has travelled far to find……He gets this over by telling it to his horse. The horse snorts and whinnies in answer. The Prince sneaks over the garden wall. Perhaps, he sneaks up and takes the place of the dummy prince which SnowWhite has rigged up, so that when SnowWhite approaches the dummy prince and pretends that he is making love to her it turns out to be the real Prince in disguise…..When she sees this she becomes greatly alarmed….She runs. Perhaps she climbs up the stairs to a balcony above.
The Prince tries to follow. She tells him to go away; that he is not allowed there; that if the Queen finds out she would probably throw them both in the dungeon……
The Prince laughs at this, says that he doesn’t care if he is thrown in the dungeon for the rest of his life if he could just sing to her this one song: The little birds gather around and watch. They are very delighted with what is happening. They are very pleased with the Prince. The Prince starts his song.
He tells SnowWhite in the song that she is the most beautiful of all, that she is the fairest in all the land. SnowWhite, on the balcony, listens. She, too, has fallen for the Prince.
While this is taking place, we might show the Queen in her bedroom. She hears this beautiful song coming from off-stage. The song doesn’t mention SnowWhite’s name, but it carries the thought that “you are the fairest of all – the fairest in all the land – – – You are beautiful like the roses – like the sunset – like the golden sunshine” and so forth and so on. The Queen thinks the singer is another suitor who has come to win her hand. She thinks he has a beautiful voice; perhaps, this one might please her.
The Queen goes to the window and looks down into the garden. She sees the Prince below, singing. She is pleased with him. She says he is handsome, young. “He, perhaps, has heard of my beauty.” Just as the Queen is getting all puffed up, thinking that the Prince is singing to her, she sees something else. It is SnowWhite on the balcony. She sees that the boy is singing to SnowWhite and not to her. She becomes angry, draws the curtains. She goes immediately to the mirror. She demands of the mirror: “Mirror, on the wall! Who is the fairest of all?” This time the mirror hesitates. She demands that it speak, and it says, “Oh, Queen. ‘Til love came into SnowWhite’s heart, thou wert fairest of all. But, now, SnowWhite is the fairest in all the land.” Or something on this order. The Queen flies into a rage…..”The hussy!” “The so-and-so!” ‘She’ll let no sniffly slip of a girl stand in her way to the throne of Beauty….There cannot be two queens of beauty in the land.’ “Call the guards!”
The Queen orders that the Prince be arrested – he is a spy – orders him thrown into the dungeon (so that he will not interfere with her plans any more.) She has her huntsman brought before her. She tells the huntsman that he is to take SnowWhite into the woods in the morning; that he is to kill her, cut her heart out, and bring it back to her in the golden casket that she is giving him.
The huntsman begs not to be forced to do this deed. The Queen threatens him; threatens his family; threatens his children; threatens him with torture on the rack if he doesn’t carry out her orders!! The huntsman bows out, promising to carry out the deed. The Queen goes to the window and looks down into the courtyard.
Back to the Prince and SnowWhite. The Prince is still singing the song to SnowWhite…..As he finishes it, we show SnowWhite above. It is plain that she is in love with him. She takes a little bird in her hand, gives the little bird a kiss and sends it down to the Prince. The little bird flies down and the Prince takes it on his hand. The little bird is bashful. He is to give the Prince SnowWhite’s kiss. He hesitates. Finally, he gives the Prince the kiss. He blushes and flies away….The Prince picks a flower – kisses it and throws it to SnowWhite
She catches it, kisses it and dashes into the house, out of sight….The Prince is happy – he exclaims, “She loves me!” as be dances around in a happy manner..
Behind the wall appear three or four guards. They grab the Prince and carry him away.
We show the Queen above in her window. She gloats over the fact that it won’t be long until SnowWhite will be out of the way, and then she will never have the threat of SnowWhite’s beauty overshadowing hers, and she will, once again reign as the beauty of all the land; or something on this order. Fade out….
Fade in on the scene of the huntsman taking SnowWhite through the woods….SnowWhite thinks that he is taking her on a picnic, or on some little jaunt to pick wild flowers, or something. She doesn’t understand the real reason behind the venture….The huntsman’s dislike of his task is evident. He is in deep thought, while SnowWhite is, in contrast, gay and happy, listening to the birds singing and so forth.
When it comes time to kill her, the huntsman hasn’t the heart. He confesses. He tells SnowWhite to run away into the woods, never to return, and he will find some way to fool the Queen….someway to satisfy her selfish greed…SnowWhite runs away into the woods.
The huntsman is very sad. He looks up and sees two buzzards leaving their roost in an old dead tree, following SnowWhite as she goes into the dark woods.
SnowWhite wanders through the woods, sobbing and crying. She falls, gets up and goes on – through streams, across ditches, over hills, through brush – and so forth.
The woods have a very menacing appearance. The dark shadows, the big, gnarled roots of the trees all look like sinister figures standing guard, scowling and frowning at SnowWhite. Great menace expressed in all the props and atmosphere.SnowWhite comes to a clearing in the woods. She falls down and cries….Little eyes appear in the darkness of the bushes and various places in the shadows.
These little eyes emerge into cute little birds, little squirrels, chipmonks, and rabbits; little deer, fawns. They all stand and look at SnowWhite in wonderment. SnowWhite sees the little woods creatures. She is a little frightened at first, but when she sees how sweet and harmless they are, she becomes ashamed of herself for being afraid. She expresses the thought that ‘why should she be afraid of the woods when they live there. They are not afraid; that she’s not as helpless as they are.’ The little birds don’t say anything. They express their approval or disapproval of what SnowWhite says by nodding, chirping, and so forth, with little glances and looks.
SnowWhite asks the birds if there isn’t some one in this big wood – some woodcutter or huntsman who has a lot of children and would like someone to do his housework and help take care of his children for him. The little birds nod, “Yes.” She asks them to lead her to him….that she’ll work hard, that she’ll do anything if she can only find someone who will give her a home where she may stay and be happy.
At this spot, we might bring in the angle of SnowWhite’s finding the little crippled bird, of fixing up its leg – putting a splint on it….then this little crippled bird might follow through all the rest of the story, always hanging around SnowWhite…..The little crippled bird might be the one that leads the birds to the dwarfs when the old Queen approaches, later – and so forth……A lot of nice, sweet, cute little stuff between SnowWhite and the birds might be brought in at this spot, such as: SnowWhite sees the little baby birds in the nest, talks to the father and mother birds and tells them what a beautiful family they have and how much the little ones look like the father….The father puffs up with fatherly pride when she says the children look like himself (they are ugly little birds, without any feathers on and with big beaks.) SnowWhite accidently wakes the little birds…..They all begin to cry….She is very sorry that she has disturbed their slumbers, so she puts them back to sleep by rocking the branch and singing a little lullaby of “Rock-a-by little birdies in the tree bough, Etc….etc.”
The little birds lead SnowWhite on to a spot in the woods where the birds all fly down and pull the bushes back, revealing a clearing…..SnowWhite looks through and sees in this clearing a cute, little house….It is the house of the seven dwarfs.
It is a miniature….more like a doll’s house. (‘Who could live there?’ The little birds shrug their shoulders….Perhaps, some little children live there.. “Oh! How cute!” She runs up to the house, very excited….She is almost too big to get in the door, but she goes in. She looks around the house. She sees the things are all untidy; dishes not washed; clothes lying all over the floor….
The whole house hasn’t been taken care of at all! She is quite shocked by this She thinks that there must be a bunch of awfully untidy little children who live there; it is just the place for her to stay….They certainly need someone to look after them…..The birds agree with her. SnowWhite is going to give them a big surprise….She is going to fix the house all up….She is going to clean it up so they won’t know it when they come home.
“Won’t they be surprised?” The little birds nod, “Yes.”
The first thing SnowWhite does is to pick up all the clothes; takes all the dishes to wash them; takes a big pot of soup that hangs over the fire – “It has no seasoning. What terrible soup!” So she starts in to fix the soup. The birds all start in to help her. They help to hang up the clothes and wash the dishes and so forth….Fade out.
Fade in on woodland scene. In the distance can be heard the voices of the little dwarfs, singing their marching song….They come marching up to the foreground, turn and start marching along on a pan; all singing and whistling the marching song, “We’re seven men of the woods,” and so forth. Closeups of the dwarfs – Introducing each individual, showing his personality. Gags of the way they march under tree roots, over old logs, across trees, and so forth; We fade out of this sequence as they march over the hills again toward home.
Fade in on SnowWhite in the dwarfs’ house. She is just lighting the candles; it is getting dark. She has straightened the house all up. The little birds all gather around her, proudly, as she surveys what they have done. She says, “Now, it looks like an entirely different place. Won’t they be surprised when they come home?” The birds nod, “Yes.” She says, “Let’s go up and see what the bedroom is like. My! If it is anything like downstairs it must be a terrible mess!” So, up they go….Show the bedroom – Seven little beds, arranged in order around the room….Shoes, pants, various things all around. SnowWhite is more taken by the cuteness of the little beds….She runs over to try one of them. As she attempts to lie down she sits on something hard, and cries out. She raises the covers and finds a shovel in the bed. “My goodness! How disgusting!” She is just going to try the bed out, so she pushes three of them together, and stretches out. “My! How soft they are.” She is just going to stay there for a minute – she’s going to think. She starts to think and goes to sleep. The little birds gather around, see that she is asleep….They pull the covers up over her and leave her sleeping. They sneak out of the room.
Cut to the downstairs of the house. The little birds fly down. They hear the dwarfs’ song coming off-stage. They rush and look out the window. We cut outside. It is dark. The dwarfs come marching around the corner of the cliff, or come up over a hill. Doc is in the lead. He is carrying a lantern, lit….The other little dwarfs are following behind. When we come to the end of the line, Dopey is on the end. He is carrying a red lantern. They swing around a curve and start marching toward the house. They are singing the chorus of their marching song. Suddenly Doc sees something and stops. All the other dwarfs bump into him and stop. Dopey is the last one; he bumps into them and takes a fall to the ground. Doc points to the house. He says, “Look! A light in our house!” All the dwarfs repeat “A light in our house!” They are greatly alarmed. They run out of the scene toward the house. Door to house – the dwarfs run in and skid to a stop. Doc peers in the door, says, “Some one must be in there.” Doc says, “Brothers, we must investigate. Come! Follow me!” He motions for them to follow him, but, instead, he pushes them all on ahead of him.
Cut to the interior of the house, showing the interior of the door to the outside. Seven little dwarfs pop their heads in the doorway. Doc is the last to appear. They look all around the house – very scared. Then, they all sneak into the house – one at a time, very cautiously, very frightened lest something spring out at them any minute. Gag business here of their finding the clothes all in order, hanging up. The dishes are all washed. “Some one’s been monkeying with our things.” “The place is clean! There is dirty work afoot,” and so forth and so on. The little birds up above in the rafters see how the dwarfs are taking it, so they decide to get some fun out of it. They let out a wild screech! This scares the dwarf’s so they all duck and hide…It adds to their terror.
The dwarfs decide that there is someone up in the bedroom. They send Dopey up to investigate. Doc hands him a candle and tells him to go on up and see who’s there…Chase it down! He’ll get it when it comes down. Dopey is very scared. He admits it, but he is forced to go up by the other dwarfs. He sneaks up the stairs in a very goofy manner – comes up to the door – and peaks through. Show Dopey up above at the door of the bedroom – he looks around – the candle throws the light on SnowWhite on the bed…She has become completely covered with the sheet. She moves and yawns – resembles a ghost. Dopey sees this. He becomes very frightened – lets out a scream and runs down. He bumps into the other dwarfs on the way down the stairs – knocks them all down in a heap. They all become frightened and run out. They close the door on Dopey – He tries to open it from the inside; they are holding it from the outside. Finally, the handle pulls off and lets Dopey fly across the room and bang into the cupboards, which spills a lot of pots and pans all over him. This scares him all the more, and he goes running out of the house with the pots and pans all over him.
The other dwarfs are hiding outside. They see Dopey coming, but don’t recognize him. They think it is the spook, or ghost, or whatever it was up above. They all jump out and beat the tar out of Dopey. Finally, they discover it’s Dopey. They all pump him with questions. “What did he see?” “What was it?” “Did it kill him?” Did it do this and that. Dopey is excited. He gets his words all mixed up.
They can’t understand what he says. They finally get out of him that “It’s asleep! It’s asleep!” Doc says, “Brothers! Now is the time to attack! Before it awakes!” “Come! Follow me!” He motions for them to follow him, but he pushes them on ahead of him. They all go back into the house, their clubs, picks, shovels and things ready to attack.
Bedroom – SnowWhite asleep – Dwarfs sneak in and gather around the bed – picks, shovels and clubs raised ready to attack – Doc pulls back the covers…..They discover SnowWhite….They find out who she is; that she is a princess; that the Queen had tried to kill her; that the huntsman had taken her into the woods to kill her and cut her heart out and take it back to the Queen, and so forth….. The dwarfs know quite a bit about the Queen. They declare that she is a witch. That she has magic powers. SnowWhite asks to be allowed to stay. She’ll sew, and darn, and scrub, and she’ll keep house for them. They are not interested, but when they find out that she can cook they decide to let her stay…..Old Grumpy sounds a warning. He says the Queen will swoop down on them and bewitch them, and turn them into cats and dogs and so forth if they allow SnowWhite to stay. But, the dwarfs finally overrule Grumpy. They decide to take a chance. They’re not afraid of the Queen.
SnowWhite is happy. She kisses all the dwarfs, all but Grumpy. He won’t allow her to kiss him. He’s an old sourdough. Doesn’t like women. SnowWhite tells them that they will have to wash before they can eat. They haven’t washed for years. They hate it, but since SnowWhite told them to, they all wash. Various gags of the dwarfs washing.
They come back in to eat. Their table manners are bad. SnowWhite teaches them to say grace before they eat. When they start to eat, they make such terrible noise with their soup that SnowWhite has to correct them and teach them the proper manners. This is where we bring in the Soup Symphony.
While they are trying to eat properly, Dopey sucks his spoon down his throat. Funny business of the gang trying to get the spoon out of Dopey’s throat. Fade out on this gag sequence.
Scene of Queen waiting on the throne…Huntsman appears with jewel box, presents it to her. Queen thanks the huntsman for carrying out her orders….tells him that on the morrow seven bags of gold will be his reward. The huntsman bows out. The Queen goes to the mirror, shows the mirror the box and says, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, now tell me who’s the fairest of all.” The face on the mirror fades in and the mirror answers. “0h, Queen. SnowWhite, who lives in the woods with the seven little men is still the fairest of all.” The Queen becomes very angry….. This is impossible! She holds in her hand in the jewelled box, the heart of SnowWhite….The mirror laughs and says, “The heart in that box is a heart like thine. The heart of a swine.” The Queen flies into a rage – she yells – “You lie! You lie!” The mirror laughs and says, “I have never lied to you, O, Queen. SnowWhite is still the fairest of all. The fairest of all!” The Queen becomes so infuriated that she smashes the mirror, yelling, “You lie! You lie!” It reminds the Queen that it is bad luck to break a mirror (as it lies on the floor, broken) and predicts that within a week the two of them will meet in hell. It laughs. This arouses the Queen’s anger, and she stomps and kicks the mirror into many pieces. The mirror’s laughs multiply and drive the Queen into a frenzy.
She quickly leaves the room through her secret panel in the large painting on the wall.
The Queen goes to her sanctuary down in the dungeons of the castle. She consults her witches book for a means of getting rid of SnowWhite…Her huntsman tricked her so this time she will attend to it herself. “The blundering fool!” She will see that he suffers for his trickery. (She mumbles this while getting the book)
She looks in the book, and, starting with “A”, she finds the poison apple…….
The book tells of the terrible effect this apple has on the victim. It leaves them in a sleeping death…..They are buried alive…It tells of the disguise that goes with the apple. First, she will change herself to the peddler woman and then fix the poison apple. The Queen fixes up a potion and drinks it. She immediately changes into the old hag, peddler woman. She is amused at her change. She kids the raven. (It never says a word; just watches her.) She tries out her disguise on the raven and scares him. This amuses her. Then, she decides to go in and visit the Prince – see if he will recognize her…She’ll have some fun.
She takes a torch in hand and goes out a secret entrance in the wall. Dungeon Scene…Dark, dismal, dingey, creepy atmosphere….A section of the wall opens, and the Queen, with her torch, comes through. The torch lights up the room and reveals the Prince, chained hand and foot to a pillar – a gag around his mouth so he cannot talk……The Queen approaches. She places the torch in a bracket on the wall. She asks the boy if he recognizes her, if he knows her, if he has ever seen her before. The boy answers “No.” She laughs at this. She inquiries about his comfort; then she introduces him to his pals. She points each out. We show close-ups of the various skeletons chained to posts in the same manner as the boy…..The Queen taunts the boy with the thought that he won’t suffer long; it isn’t as painful as it might seem, and so forth……….To cheer the boy up, the Queen drags out a couple of skeleton marionettes, and puts on a little show for him. As the Queen works the marionettes, she talks for them in the manner of a ventriloquist. She has them dance for him. They sing a little song of welcome….All during this the boy can’t do anything but look on. Can’t talk on account of the gag; can’t move on account of the chains.
Build up a very gruesome atmosphere, here…..The dialogue of the Queen is rather sarcastic. She tries to be very kittenish. Might even try to flirt with the boy. She could tell him what she intends to do to SnowWhite, and how soon they will both be able to see each other again, in the great beyond. Or, better still, she might tell the boy of her scheme to use the poison apple, that doesn’t kill its victim, but induces a deep sleep, and only the kiss of the loved one will bring the victim back. SnowWhite will have no loved one, because the boy…….”He will be dead!” We fade out on this sequence.
Fade in on a moonlit scene of the dwarfs’ cottage….Lights in the cottage windows. Sound of music and hilarity coming from the cottage…..Camera trucks up and we dissolve to an interior of the cottage….. The dwarfs, with their crude musical instruments, have formed a little orchestra.
They are playing the happy melodies of the forest, and dancing and singing for SnowWhite. Everything indicates they are very happy and are enjoying SnowWhite’s stay……SnowWhite joins in the dancing while the dwarfs’ orchestra plays for her……Dwarfs sing their special little song, called “Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Mo” in which every one gets up and sings a verse with the whole gang joining in the chorus……All the dwarfs get up and do some kind of stunt…dancing and aerobatics and various gag things that we can work in here for entertainment.
The atmosphere is very happy and gay. Sleepy is still having trouble with his fly. Even Grumpy has changed and is beginning to enjoy things….After the dwarfs finish a musical number, or some bit of entertainment for SnowWhite, they all ask that she do something, so she starts in to tell them a little story…..This little story leads into her song that ‘some day her Prince will come.’ This song describes how SnowWhite is longing for her Prince, and how she is hoping that some day he will come and take her away to his castle in the clouds and she will become his bride and they will live happily ever after…..(This song is the foreshadowing of our ending.)
When SnowWhite finishes her song, the dwarfs are very pleased. They give her a big hand and ask that she do more, but she tells them that the hour is late and that they’ve all got to go to bed early so that they can get up early – go to work early – “Early to bed, early to rise…….” The dwarfs don’t want to go to bed. They want to have fun all night. SnowWhite insists.
Dwarfs decide that Snow white is to sleep in their bedroom, and they will all sleep downstairs. SnowWhite goes upstairs – says ‘goodnight’ to all of them, and they all say ‘goodnight’ in a soft, mushy tone, showing and indicating that they have all fallen for her. The dwarfs have to arrange to sleep downstairs……They fight over various places to sleep. Some of them sleep in the drawers in the cupboards; others sleep on benches, hang themselves on hooks; old Grumpy gets to sleep in the soup pot…..Gags of the dwarfs fighting over places to sleep – fighting over pillows – fighting over blankets to covers themselves up, and so forth. Cut to SnowWhite in the bedroom……She is kneeling down to say a prayer……
Doc hears SnowWhite’s prayer…..He makes all the other dwarfs stop their fighting, get down and fold their hands as SnowWhite says the prayer. In her prayer, SnowWhite asks God to bless the old Queen and forgive her for her wicked sins…..She asks God to bless the little birds that led her to this house, and she asks a blessing for all the little men, individually, Doc, Grumpy, Dopey, Happy, Sleepy, and so forth……..As each name is called, we cut to the individual and show his reaction…
As soon as SnowWhite says, “Amen,” all the dwarfs immediately start to fight again over the things they are going to sleep on, in, or with….We end this sequence with the dwarfs finally getting settled, putting out the light and going to sleep. Show the various dwarfs sleeping: funny snoring action and sound. Dissolve to the exterior of the moonlit cottage. There is a light in the upper story window of SnowWhite’s room….The sound of the dwarfs’ snoring dissolves into the sound of bullfrogs and crickets, outside…..As the light in SnowWhite’s room goes out, fade out on this sequence.
Fade in on the old Queen preparing the poison apple…..She goes through her chant as she prepares it….When it is prepared, she goes in to see the boy, shows him the apple, tells him what it is going to do, gloats over the result, and so forth…
Before she leaves, she turns on the water which is going to flood the whole dungeon and drown the boy. She leaves through another secret passage, laughing, as the boy struggles to free himself. The Queen goes down a dingey, old, stone stairway which leads to the canal under the castle. She gets into an old boat and pushes herself out of the castle, through a big sewer opening…
Queen comes to the exterior of the Castle and gets out of the boat. It is dawn. The colors of the sky and everything indicate that dawn is breaking…The old Queen sneaks through the shadows, comes to the road and starts hobbling along, in her disguise.
Back to the Prince in the dungeon….The water is filling up the chamber…Prince is struggling to free himself from the chains, but his efforts are futile. He happens to see a couple of little birds playing in the window…He calls to them.
They do not understand what he wants. Finally, they come over to him…He gets them to take the gag off his mouth, and then he tells them that he must escape that it is life or death – they must help him! They must get the keys from the guards, who is outside! The birds get together. They get an idea….Two of them go out and stage a fake fight to get the guard’s attention, while the other three or four are trying to get the keys off his hook…..They succeed in getting the keys off, but drop them….The noise attracts the guard’s attention, and the birds hide….The guard looks around – sees the keys on the floor, picks them up and puts them on the hook…At this point we cut to: Morning scene at the dwarfs’ home…All the dwarfs are preparing to leave. SnowWhite is kissing them goodbye….They warn her of the Queen, before they all march away over the hills. (Singing a marching song.) After the dwarfs march away, SnowWhite gathers all the birds about her and tells them they are going to have a very busy day….They are going to clean the house, do the washing, bake pies, and prepare everything for the little dwarfs’ return at night. SnowWhite teaches the birds a little work song (Whistle While You Work) and starts them all going….They start cleaning the rugs, dusting away the cobwebs, and washing the dwarfs’ clothes. Various gag things, here, of cleaning up the house and so forth — a very busy and happy atmosphere. All set to music.
Cut to the old Queen going through the woods – mumbling and talking to herself, planning what she is going to do, and so forth. Somewhere, here, we want to show the Queen taking a short cut that is not obvious to anyone else, so that later on in the story the boy can lose his way in the woods. It must be very clear, when we come to this point, that the Prince goes in the wrong direction… Possibly, the old Queen goes through a big, rock wall by saying a few magic words and having a portion of the rock open up to let her through; or something similar to this – like the water-fall idea in “Tarzan”….the waterfall hid the entrance to the elephants’ burial ground.
As the Queen trudges along, she sees something off scene – She stops and looks.
Cut to the scene of the two old buzzards on the limb of a dead tree – They see Queen – hear her muttering off-stage, talking about the buzzards….”Here, little birdies, follow me, and you’ll soon have something to eat……” and so forth..
We leave this sequence with the old Queen still wandering along through the woods, with the buzzards following her.
We cut to the dwarfs’ mine…..Dwarfs come marching into the scene, singing their marching song….Doc gathers them all around him, tells them that they will not work in the mine, today….They have something more important to do….They must make their Princess a present – something that will make her realize that they appreciate her, and want her to stay with them…..Various funny suggestions are made. Finally, Sleepy makes the suggestion that they build her a bed…Much to his surprise, this suggestion is taken up by the rest of the gang…..Doc issues orders and tells each dwarf what he is to do, and they all start to build the bed……call on all the animals of the forest, such as the birds, squirrels, and the different ones to help cut out and carve the bed. We leave this scene with them busy building the bed.
SnowWhite busy at the house….By this time she is baking gooseberry pies…The little birds are helping her…They are all singing and whistling and very happy in their work. At this point, SnowWhite could take time to think of her Prince.
Tells the birds about him – and so forth…Might sing her song, “Some Day my Prince Will Come.”
We show the old Queen approaching the house, the two buzzards following….The little birds, outside, see the Queen…..They become suspicious, then, when they see the buzzards following her, they become convinced that something is wrong…
The Queen comes up to the window of the house….She sees SnowWhite busy, baking the pies….This gives her an opportunity…..She tries to sell her apples so SnowWhite can make apple pies…..”There’s nothing more delicious.” SnowWhite tells the Queen that she is sorry, but she cannot allow her to come into the house, nor can she take anything from her, that the dwarfs have warned her to be careful of strangers…..The old Queen laughs at this and tries to throw off any suspicion on herself by her smooth tongue….She tries to get SnowWhite to taste one of her delicious apples. “Just take one little nibble.”……The birds see this. They realize that something is wrong….They try to knock the apple out of the Queen’s hand just as she is giving it to SnowWhite…The old Queen flies into a rage and tries to fight the birds away…..The birds fight back at her. The old Queen pretends that she is faint…This excites SnowWhite’s pity…She dashes to the Queen’s rescue, takes her into the house and shuts the door on the birds. This greatly annoys the birds…..They fly down and look in the window…They see SnowWhite and the old Queen through the window….The birds can’t hear what is being said, but they can see the old Queen salving SnowWhite and trying to encourage her to eat the apple…..The birds become alarmed and excited….They chatter among themselves and finally all fly off, hurriedly, in the direction of the mine.
Cut to the two buzzards on the dead tree watching the birds fly away….They look at each other, and then back toward the house with eager expressions.
Pan of the birds flying over the tree tops with great speed in the direction which the dwarfs had taken in the morning.
We flash to a scene of the dwarfs finishing the building of the bed…It is almost complete….They are putting on the finishing touches, such as the gold inlay, the carving, and so forth……The birds arrive….They try to tell the dwarfs in their language that something is wrong…The dwarfs don’t understand.
The birds are frantic…They grab the dwarfs by the beards and sleeves and try to drag them away….The dwarfs fight off the birds and wonder what is the matter with them, what has come over them.
Back to the boy in the prison….Water is still creeping further up around him. Show the birds outside, still trying to get the key….They stage the fight over again. The other birds sneak up, get the keys, and fly into the cell with them. Cut to the birds inside, trying to get the right key to fit the lock…They finally make it….The boy frees himself and escapes.
SnowWhite and the Queen….The Queen is thanking SnowWhite for being so kind to an old lady. She wants to do something for her to show her appreciation…Suddenly, she thinks of this magic apple – Ah! That’s what she’ll do! She’ll let SnowWhite have a bite from this apple. It is the apple that makes all dreams come true.
If she has a loved one, far away that she is waiting for, it will make him come to her side……SnowWhite falls for the Queen’s story….She begins to ask questions about the apple…”Will it really make your wishes come true?” The Queen assures her that it will…..As SnowWhite is beginning to weaken, we cut to: The dwarfs, with the birds still annoying them….They are bothering Grumpy… Finally, Grumpy gets the idea..He shouts! “SnowWhite! The Queen!” The other dwarfs all get alarmed….They hop on deer, rabbits, and so forth, and start dashing back through the forest, the birds leading the way….Various gag ways of leaping the ditches, going through the brush, and riding on the backs of the deer….Gags of Dopey having a hard time trying to hang onto his deer.
Shot of the Prince escaping over the castle wall, calling his horse, leaping on his horse and starting off.
SnowWhite and the Queen…..The Queen tells SnowWhite that only the red part has the magic power….She tells SnowWhite to first make her wish, and then bite the apple….SnowWhite starts to make her wish..Her wish is that the old Queen could be relieved of her sins, and that God will keep her Prince safe from harm, and bring him safely to her, that she may live happily ever after with the Prince. Shot of the dwarfs hurrying through the forest on the backs of the deer, rabbits, and so forth.
Shot of the boy going through the forest on his white horse…Comes to the place where the Queen went through the rock; where the Queen took the short-cut…He becomes confused and goes in the wrong direction.
The Queen and SnowWhite….The Queen has re-sold SnowWhite on the apple – SnowWhite states her wish again and takes a bite of the apple…She chokes, falls to the floor….The old Queen gloats over her, and says ‘now, she is the fairest of all – that the fair beauty who lies on the floor will stand in her way no more’ and so forth…….The Queen hears the dwarfs approaching….She becomes alarmed – exits hurriedly.
Show an exterior of the house…The Queen comes out, sees the dwarfs coming and runs away.
The dwarfs arrive. They leap off their rabbits and deer. Two of them, Doc and Grumpy, run into the house, while the other five chase the Queen…..The birds join in the chase – They hammer and peck the old Queen as she tries to escape.
Show the two buzzards on the dead tree…They see and hear the Queen and dwarfs approaching….They watch with great interest. Another shot of the Queen battling the dwarfs and birds – She finally comes to the edge of a big cliff – She sees a huge boulder – She tries to pry the boulder loose, to roll it down and crush the dwarfs’ bones….She is muttering to herself as she is working hard to get this boulder loose….In her efforts to get the boulder loose, she slips and falls over the cliff, with a great, piercing scream. The dwarfs come in, look over the edge of the cliff and watch her fall.
The two buzzards in the tree watching the Queen fall….both of them smile….. They look at each other knowingly, nod their heads, and fly off.
Shot of the cliff….Dwarfs looking over the edge – Buzzards fly in and circle around….Dwarfs see them, and exit.
Interior of the dwarfs’ house….Doc and Grumpy have SnowWhite lying on the table. Grumpy is on his knees, crying….Doc is holding SnowWhite’s hand and listening to her heart…He shakes his head – folds SnowWhite’s hands across her chest – kneels in a praying position.
Interior view of the doorway…..The other five dwarfs enter….They see what is going on…They all remove their caps, kneel and go into a praying attitude… Tears in their eyes….
Scene of SnowWhite, Doc, Grumpy…..Grumpy is crying and sobbing…Doc on his knees, his hands in a praying attitude…He looks up and starts a prayer…This prayer tells that SnowWhite is dead…Doc asks God why it couldn’t have been one of ‘us old critters’ instead of this beautiful, kind child who had nothing but loveliness in her heart….a short, but effective, prayer, that will bring tears to the eyes of the audience……As this prayer is going on, we show cuts of the other dwarfs on their knees, tears in their eyes, all of them sobbing…..Build this up to a very sad scene – End it with a long shot of the group in a praying attitude around SnowWhite. The room is rather dark, but a light seems to be shining around SnowWhite………..Fade out on the finish of Doc’s prayer, with the sobbing noises from the other dwarfs.
Fade in on beautiful art title, with an animated background….It is fall – Trees are drooping – leaves are falling – gentle wind is blowing….This title deals, in a poetic way, with ‘love has eternal hope – that the Prince wandered far and wide searching for SnowWhite….He never gave up hope.’ As this poem goes on, the background dissolves into a winter scene – snow falling, drooping trees covered with snow, and so forth……As the title fades in, telling that the Prince heard of the beautiful Princess who slept in a beautiful glass and gold coffin in the wood, where the little men kept eternal vigil, the background dissolves from the winter scene to a spring scene, which symbolizes hope….Dissolve to: Scene of SnowWhite in her glass coffin, under a bower of flowers…The little birds are gathered around….The dwarfs are keeping vigil – other birds are bringing flowers and placing them on the bier…Everything is very sad, but beautiful…..Off-stage the voice of the Prince’s song, “The Fairest of All,” is heard…..The dwarfs, birds, and every one look up in a surprised manner.
Beautiful art shot of the top of the hill….The boy and the horse on the hill. The boy is singing the song….He approaches and goes out of the scene, singing.
Medium close-up of SnowWhite in the coffin….The dwarf guards relax their vigil and step back as the boy comes into the scene, singing….When he finishes his song, he raises the glass lid of the coffin and kisses SnowWhite…She comes to life….She raises up, just as though she were awakening from a deep sleep…She sees her Prince, smiles, exclaims, “Prince Bucket Head!” They embrace.
The dwarfs and birds immediately let out a big cheer and become very happy….. The birds start to sing…..The dwarfs dance around and hug each other……… Great excitement.
The Prince picks SnowWhite up in his arms and carries her away…..Pan along with him as he passes all the little birds, the dwarfs, and so forth….He puts her on his horse…..SnowWhite bids them all goodbye – her Prince has come – She is happy again….She hates to leave them, and she makes them all promise that they will come to see her every year at this time….The dwarfs all promise.
As the boy starts to lead SnowWhite away, the dwarfs pick up the song, “Some day my Prince will come” and sing it in a chorus; as the boy is leading SnowWhite over the hill on the white horse, cut back to the coffin.
Sleepy by empty coffin…He sees the nice, soft coffin, feels of it – it is soft. He stretches and yawns, crawls into the coffin, starts to go to sleep….The fly comes around…He sees the fly – sees the glass lid on the coffin, pulls it down over him so the fly cannot touch him – thumbs his nose at the fly, turns over and goes to sleep. (Off-stage the voices of the dwarfs singing, “Some Day my Prince Will Come,” is carried on.)
Dissolve from the scene of Sleepy in the coffin to a beautiful castle on the hill.
A long road leads up to the castle – clouds around the castle….SnowWhite and the Prince are riding up to the castle on the white horse.
This dissolves into a scene of wedding bells being rung in the tower – Little birds are pulling ribbons, ringing the bells……
This dissolves into the book – the big initial letter starting the phrase, “They lived happily ever after.” The book closes with the title “The End,” on the back of the book……Off-stage lyrics and music of the song, “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” building to climax.
