Weekly Illustrated was a weekly British magazine published from 1934 to 1958, although it changed its name to “Illustrated” in 1939.
January 1, 1938
The issue number 27, volume IV celebrating 1938 also adapts the American Life magazine article published on December 13, 1937 that told the story of the film through a succession of color pictures. This time, the pictures are more crudely printed in black and white but the legends are the same. The article is different, though. Here is the text.
Will this be the picture of 1938?
The best laid schemes of Walt Disney have gone a bit “agley.” He had hoped to present his Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to the world as a Christmas gift, but even Disney did not realise the amount of work this first full-length cartoon film entailed and the time it would take. So 1938 will welcome this brave experiment and pass its judgment on it. Snow White cost £300,000 and took three years to make. Every character in the story has its own individuality. Reports from Disney’s headquarters in Hollywood give the impression that the famous artist will give up “shorts” such as Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies to concentrate on full-length features. We doubt it. The picturegoing public would not allow it. They cannot afford to give up so many good wholesome laughs.
How Disney makes his pictures
Walt Disney used charts to show how each character should be drawn. At top are the seven dwarfs. The drawing in the centre, shows their comparative heights. Below are the careful specifications for one of them, “Sleepy.” Twenty-five artists painted the pastel backgrounds, and 300 animators drew the characters in motion on sheets of celluloid.
