Camarata conducts a modern musical interpretation of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (BV4023) 1967

In early 1937 the news spread through Hollywood that the young cartoon maker, Walt Disney, already famous for Mickey Mouse and The Three Little Pigs, was trying to produce a full-length motion picture cartoon feature. Amid much shaking of heads, the Hollywood pundits immediately dubbed the project “Disney’s Folly.” It was rumored to be costing in the millions; and who would sit through a feature length cartoon anyway?

In December of 1937 at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was premiered, not without trepidation on the part of Walt Disney and his entire staff, for this was an all-or-nothing gamble. The triumph which Walt Disney and his fellow workers enjoyed that night will certainly never be forgotten by them, and the box office bonanza which Snow White proved to be, became the financial basis for Walt Disney Productions’ future growth into the entertainment institution it is now.

SNOW WHITE’s success was not confined to the United States. The film has been a box office smash all over the world and foreign language versions have been made in French, German, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Polish, Czechoslovakian, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese.

SNOW WHITE has been before the public in the United States five times. It was first released in 1938, en then reissued in 1944, 1952, 1958 and 1967. SNOW WHITE has also been reissued all over the world.

When Walt Disney entered the phonograph record business in 1956, one of the first albums to be released was the original sound-track of SNOW WHITE. Sales of this record through the years since then have been tremendous ; this, despite the fact that the music was initially recorded in 1936 on optical film, which with its high noise level makes it seem archaic by today’s recording standards.

The score of SNOW WHITE is one of the greatest of any Disney motion picture. No less than six of the songs were on the hit parade in 1938 and many of the tunes have become best selling standards. In view of the advent of magnetic tape for recording and stereophonic sound on records, we of the Disney organization felt that it was time for a brand new recording of Walt Disney’s most famous score. Tutti Camarata, musical director of Walt Disney’s phonograph record activities, assembled an orchestra for this recording made up of the finest musicians in Hollywood. Soloists are well known artists but contracts with other record companies prevent us using their names.

Tutti Camarata has been Musical Director and Artist and Repertoire chief for Walt Disney’s record operation since its inception. His musical career began early when he played lead trumpet with big name bands by night and studied at Juilliard and the Institute of Musical Art by day. This unusual ability to perform successfully in the jazz and popular field and the light classical and classical field has continued to this day.