Walt Disney presents Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (LLP 310F) 1967

The Record

Although the “See, Hear and Read” concept (“Regardez, écoutez, lisez”) was a French invention by Lucien Adès, who also produced this record, this new adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs marked a departure from the 1955 and 1962 editions. Unlike its predecessors, which featured original productions, this version was simply adapted from an existing American recording.

The result was considerably less ambitious: music was almost entirely absent from the story, and just three actors provided all the voices. The illustrations were also recycled from an earlier publication. With the exception of the cover, which inexplicably featured Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty, they were drawn by Al Dempster and originally appeared in an American Little Golden Book published in 1948.

Nevertheless, the French adaptation was carefully produced. The story opened with the words “Il y avait une fois” (“Once upon a time”), just as in the film. However, it retained a surprising feature of the American version: the actual plot did not begin until page 9 of the accompanying booklet, four and a half minutes into the recording. This entire opening section was devoted to lengthy exposition, whereas the film had managed to convey the same information in just a few seconds, through the two pages of its introductory storybook.

The bulk of the story therefore had to be condensed into the following five and a half minutes. The remainder of the record was devoted to two songs: “Sifflez en travaillant” (“Whistle While You Work”), using Christiane Legrand’s 1962 recording from the previous Adès adaptation, and a rendition of “Heigh-Ho” that appears to have been recorded specifically for this edition.

The three actors featured on this recording were among the performers Lucien Adès regularly worked with at the time. They could also be heard in his adaptation of Lady and the Tramp (catalog number LLP 307 F), among other productions. They also appeared in another adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (catalog number ALB 340), narrated by Rosy Varte. In that recording, Sylvine Delannoy reprised the role of Snow White, which she had previously performed on ALB 58, alongside Anna Gaylor and Monique Martial. The latter two are also believed to have contributed to the present record, voicing Snow White and the Queen, respectively.

The record was also released as a 45 rpm edition, with slightly modified cover artwork that now included the credit “Raconté par Claude Nicot et Anna Gaylor” (“Narrated by Claude Nicot and Anna Gaylor”), which had been absent from the original 33⅓ rpm edition. The recording itself was virtually identical, except that Claude Nicot’s spoken reference to “33 tours” (“33 rpm”) was edited out. The recording was also divided differently between the two sides, with listeners having to turn the 45 rpm record over slightly earlier in the story than on the 33⅓ rpm edition.

Successive reissues featured a few minor variations, but the most significant change came in 1977, when the original cover artwork was replaced with an illustration depicting the seven dwarfs discovering Snow White asleep in their bed.