The First Since Snow White
Although Bambi was originally planned as the second feature film of the studio, Pinocchio was developped first and came out advertised as “RKO Radio Pictures proudly announces Walt Disney’s first and only full length feature since Snow White”.
Aside from the obvious desire to borrow some of Snow White’s luster for their second effort, the studio heads were anxious to distance themselves from the first animated feature released a few months earlier by Paramount, Gulliver’s Travels, produced by the Fleischer studio. Rushed into production following the success of Snow White, the Fleischers compromised on quality so that they would beat Disney in theaters. Walt Disney knew it, and feared that the public would confuse this lesser work with his studio’s output.
