The Golden Book of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Nathan) 1981

A glimpse into the production

This French story book is an abridged adaptation of an American book by Viking Press, itself a reprint of the original Circle Fine Art Press book from 1979.

This book retells the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but what makes it truly unique is its extensive use of original production artwork, much of it published here for the first time.

This approach reveals the paradoxical place the film occupies in the collective imagination. On the one hand, it is undeniably a work of art worthy of serious study. On the other, it continues to be treated primarily as a commercial product for children, as though discussing its artistic merits in earnest were somehow embarrassing.

The book itself perfectly illustrates this contradiction: it brings together invaluable archival material, yet presents it in a format traditionally associated with young readers—a children’s picture book.

The French edition takes this approach even further, omitting both Walt Disney’s introductory quotation emphasizing that his films were never intended exclusively for children and Steve Hulett’s concluding chapters about the film.

Although originally published in 1981, the book was featured on the French television program Temps X on November 16, 1983, confirming that it was still available at the time of the film’s theatrical re-release in France that year.