Information
Sequence number: entire story
Date of document: December 3, 1934
Document writer: Walt Disney
The 5-page memo by Walt Disney himself is a description of the dwarfs that have been agreed upon at this stage of production. All the names of the dwarfs that will eventually make it onscreen are there, except Sneezy, because Deafy is still part of the picture.
Dopey has apparently been invented some time between the last meeting on November 16 and this memo and he is already defined as “the one that we are depending upon to carry most of the belly laughs”. His personality has been influenced by silent comedians and he is already a mute, but his dog-like actions are already hinted at since Walt Disney evokes a likeness to Pluto.
Snow White’s name, in this document, is now written with a clear space, whereas it was still written “SnowWhite” two weeks earlier.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVEN DWARFS AS I SEE THEM AT THE PRESENT TIME
DOC is a fat, pompous, serious-minded personality. He is the leader of the group, or rather he feels the responsibility and the others look to him for leadership. However, Grumpy is secretly the master mind and Doc is more or less the spokesman. Doc is never quite sure of his decision, or what he is going to say – Grumpy has to prod him along and tell him what to do. When talking, Doc is continually getting stuck for proper words and he has a habit of stammering and fishing around for the word. The others, trying to be helpful, will suggest something that is entirely out of line, but Doc picks the thought up and expresses it then realizes afterwards that it was not the proper word, and corrects himself. In this way he is somewhat comparable to Frank Morgan. At times when he is doing things he mutters to himself and stammers around like W.C. Fields. He is rather fidgety and excitable and at times jumps around and fusses a lot, without accomplishing anything.
Dopey, at times, is a source of irritation to Doc by doing things when Doc is trying to be pompous and distracts his attention. Doc is always quieting him or slapping his hands and things like that. Dopey reacts to it like a little child.
Grumpy is the old sourpuss – he knows something about everything and he is dead set against women. To him, most anything is a sign of impending danger. He is the prime mover in exciting the dwarfs to a high pitch when they find the light in their house. He is stubborn and we play this characteristic up throughout the story by him not giving in to Snow White’s charm outwardly, whereas inwardly he falls for her that first night during the entertainment sequence. Grumpy’s remarks are a great source of irritation to Doc. Doc can be in the happiest mood, but one look at Grumpy brings a complete change over him and a sort of determination to show his authority.
Deafy, the next character, is a happy sort of fellow – he always tries to make funny remarks, but he misinterprets other people’s attitude toward him. He feels, a lot of times, that they are saying something about him, or that they have made some remarks, which they haven’t at all – he takes exception to some of the most ridiculous things. Throughout the picture Deafy and Grumpy are always clashing. Deafy will pick up one word of the conversation in the early part, and whereas the conversation topic might have changed completely, he still sticks to the first thing that he heard, and in this way we hope to get some comical situations out of Deafy.
Happy is a very lively and sprightly little fellow, who is full of fun – thinks his remarks are funny and is quick to pick up any bit of conversation and turn it into a laugh. He is always playing jokes on the other dwarfs – poking fun at Grumpy, Deafy and Dopey. He talks in a very snappy manner – always ends everything he says with a little laugh or chuckle like he thought it was funny or smart.
Bashful doesn’t say much – he stands back and lets the rest of them do the talking. He comes in now and then with a word or a question and after it is answered, he goes into another lapse of silence. He has a one-track mind and it is not any too well developed. He falls for Snow White at the very beginning of the story and is deeply in love with her all through the story. When they first discover her he thinks that she is an angel. He can’t get this thought out of his mind. When Snow White looks at him – he wiggles and blushes all over – he has a nervous habit of twisting things – such as his coat, his hat – gets his beard all tied up in knots. When Snow White kisses him, he blushes from ear to ear and when he tries to say anything he giggles and titters around so much that he has a hard time of getting it out.
Sleepy is perhaps the wisest of the characters, yet he is seldom awake enough to enter into much of the conversation, but whatever he does say has some real weight to it. The rest of the dwarfs can be deeply concerned over a problem and Sleepy can wake up out of a dead sleep and solve the whole thing for them. He hardly ever says anything without finishing it with a yawn or saying it with a sleepy tone of voice. Throughout the entire picture he is having trouble with a fly that persists in following him around and trying to roost on his nose.
Dopey is the under-developed of the dwarfs – mentally and physically. He is unable to talk – no reason given for it, except that he just never tried. He has the mind of about a two-year-old baby. He is very active and wants to have a lot of fun. As I see him he is a combination of Harry Langdon, Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton and Harpo Marx. He starts out to do things, but they always end up disastrous. He has a sort of dumb personality – in a way, like Pluto. His mind is easily distracted. Even in the most important conferences a butterfly could fly in front of him and he would drop whatever he is doing and become interested in it, etc. The other dwarfs sort of ignore him. When he does things that irritate them they slap him down and spank his hands – the way one might punish a child. He is always ready for these slaps so that when he does anything wrong he knows it and if they merely look at him he ducks. While there are chances for personality gags on all the dwarfs, Dopey is the one that we are depending upon to carry most of the belly laughs.
