During the development of the feature film, several sequences were abandoned at different stages of development. Some were in the writing stage, others were completely finished. But none of them ended up in the final cut. It is impossible to be exhaustive on this chapter because of the many stages where a scene can be cut, but here is a sample.
The death of Snow White’s mother
The iconic image of Snow White’s mother sewing in front of her window, dropping three drops of blood onto her work or into the snow as she pricks her finger, and from there deciding on the name of her future daughter, whose skin would be white as snow, her lips red as blood and her hair black as ebony, is not actually in the film. The scene is never mentioned, not even the heroine’s parents. In fact, no genesis is ever given for the girl’s special name.
Some of the team’s story meetings do evoke this sequence, but it doesn’t seem to have reached the animation stage, even though numerous media (books, record books, albums, etc.) reproduce the image of this absent mother.
The Meeting with Prince Bucket-Head
There are several versions of sequence 2A where Snow White meets the Prince. Before finding the perfect musical scene where everything is told succinctly through songs, the filmmakers originally injected a little more humor in the male character who uses Snow White’s tub to introduce himself instead of the well.
In the storyboards, the Prince is much more energetic, jumping around once he gets his kiss. This made it possible to animate him in an unrealistic way, a choice of simplification not retained. The difficulties of animation linked to this character who had to move in a credible way for a human and marry grace and masculinity have shortened his appearance, but for a greater fluidity of the story.
Doc & Grumpy fighting
Sequence 5a ends with a consensus for the dwarfs: “Hurray! She stays!” they decide about the girl. But after that, Grumpy had other objections and even had a fight with Doc. The scene was animated and at least partially painted. You can understand why it was not included when you see Snow White simpering, a little disdainfully, “Don’t let ME break up your happy home”, a reaction that is totally inappropriate for the character. The two dwarfs’ fistfight was not a great example either.
The Soup Sequence
Once Grumpy is washed, the dwarfs finally enjoy Snow White’s good meal. This special sequence contained a song. It was recorded and the scene was animated but never put in color because it was cut by Walt Disney who explained later that it was “not essential for the story”.
This sequence became the most famous cut scene of the film. Broadcast on American and French television from the 50s and 60s respectively, it is also included in the VHS, Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film.
Dancing in the Clouds
Sequence 8b is famous because it is where Snow White sings “Someday my Prince will come” to her friends. But originally, a second part was to contrast with the simple, warm and almost maternal atmosphere of the first part: on an instrumental arrangement, we were to see the dream of the young girl who found herself floating in the clouds with her prince on board an enchanted boat pulled by anthropomorphic stars. Snow White will not dance for reasons of cost and flow of the story. The stars won’t be lost though: they can be seen in the short film Wynken, Blynken & Nod.
The Cauldron
The beginning of sequence 9a must have been considered too scary because it is the only scene that was cut, although it was completely finished. Many filter tests had been done to give a phosphorescent glow from the beverage. We find this sequence in pencil on the laserdisc, and finished on the DVD.
The Lodge Meeting
As we meet the dwarfs again in their mine, they hold a meeting to decide which present they should make for Snow White. Since this sequence was developped until a month before the premiere of the film, many scenes were animated and drawings and plot points were included in books and merchandise.
Bed Building
Once the dwarves have decided on the ideal gift for Snow White, they set about building the bed. Dopey takes the opportunity to tease his comrades, and the sequence contains many gags. Like the previous sequence, it can still be found in many books.
Prince in Dungeon
For the same reason that the aforementioned “Prince Bucket-head” was discarded, the adventures of the young man imprisoned by the Queen and his courageous escape only found their way into book adaptations, not the final film.
