Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs narrated by François Périer (ALB9) 1955

The record-book, a French concept

It took over fifteen years for the French to record a new record of the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs after the popular 1938 Gramophone version. This time, however, the disc is accompanied by a booklet in which the listener can also follow the story, as the text is faithfully reproduced and richly illustrated. This new invention was the brainchild of Lucien Adès, who founded the “Le petit ménestrel” label in 1953 and quickly signed a contract with Walt Disney to adapt his greatest hits with big names in music and film.
New actors were brought in, led by narrator François Périer, who by this time had been a well-known figure in cinema for over ten years. For Walt Disney, he would reprise this role in one of the French versions of Fantasia. Roger Coggio, who plays the Prince, is a young leading man at the T.N.P.. Lucienne Pacley, who plays Snow White, is also a theater actress, having just played small roles in two plays at the Colmar theater, Tessa – La Nymphe au coeur fidèle (1953) and La sauvage (1954).

Singer Jany Sylvaire, known as a World War II survivor and resistance fighter, sings the songs of the little Princess, while Aimé Doniat sings for the Prince. Doniat had already crossed the professional path of another singer who would later record the role of Snow White: Lucie Dolène, with whom he recorded the operetta “Chiffon” for radio in 1954.