Do you ever wish you were there at the beginning, to experience the start of something as beautiful as the first five Disney films to ever be released? I often think about the glamour of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiere - the dresses, tuxedos, limos, interviews, and the anticipation leading up to the world’s first feature-length animated film. The first few decades of the Walt Disney Company saw many ups and downs, beginning on such a high note and heading on a slight decline through the 1940s. Nevertheless, the feat of creating an entirely hand-drawn movie was something to celebrate, so the premieres never disappointed. Let’s take a look at the premieres of the first five Disney films: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Carthay Circle Theatre (December 21, 1937)

Snow White was dubbed “Walt’s Folly” when he first announced the project, as it was so ambitious for the resources the film industry had at the time. Many industry insiders predicted that the film would be an epic fail, and that Walt should stay in his Mickey Mouse cartoon lane. Even Walt’s wife Lillian and brother Roy had their doubts. But Walt was determined… he believed in the fairytale, he fell in love with the characters, and had a team of animators and writers behind him to make the dream come true. Even up until the night of the premiere people continued to have their doubts, but they were all washed away once everyone had a chance to experience this all-new creation brought to the world.

“I think [Snow White] is one of the more perfect plots - I mean, basic all the way through. From the very start you have sympathy.”

— Walt Disney

With the anticipation leading up to the night, everyone wanted to see whether it would be a success or a fail. The premiere was held at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, and had been open for about 10 years at the time. Snow White broke the record for advance ticket sales ever at the theatre, selling out the house before the night, and having to limit ticket purchases to 4 per person. The premiere began at 3pm, following through the whole evening until 9pm, with more than 30,000 Disney fans lined up outside of the theatre just to get a glimpse at the event.

The premiere of Snow White at the Carthay Circle Theatre. Image from: https://filmic-light.blogspot.com/2012/12/75th-anniversary-of-snow-whites-world.html

Many celebrity guests showed up for the event, including Shirley Temple (who would be the one to present Walt with his Oscars for Snow White in 1939), Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, George Burns, and many other close friends that Walt had made in the industry. Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and all of the dwarfs were also present too.

Shirley Temple at the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Image from: https://www.redbookmag.com/life/g28312450/vintage-photos-of-celebrities-on-the-red-carpet/

There were programs handed out for the event, with the names of the characters in the film, but the actors and actresses who portrayed the voices of these characters were not included, as to not ruin the illusion. This became a problem when Snow White’s Adriana Caselotti became blacklisted from Hollywood, and her name was not mentioned on any promotional materials for the film. She also wasn’t invited to the premiere, but did end up sneaking in with Harry Stockwell, who played Prince Florian.

“Three years in the making... an hour and a half in the showing... and a lifetime in the remembering!”

— Advertisement for the premiere of Snow White and the Carthay Circle Theatre

The Carthay Circle Theatre closed in 1969, after the decline of the design of the theatre and it’s inability to keep up with modern cinemas. As a tribute to the theatre that helped Disney from the beginning, a smaller version of the exterior of the theater was built on Sunset Boulevard in Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios and is now a gift shop. Another version was built on Buena Vista street in California Adventure Park and is home to the Carthay Circle Lounge, an exclusive lounge and restaurant. It is a love letter to the golden age of Hollywood.

The Carthay Circle lounge at Disney’s California Adventure. Image from: https://attractionsmagazine.com/little-known-facts-about-carthay-circle-theatre-namesak-disneyland/

Pinocchio - Center Theatre (February 7, 1940)

The production for Pinocchio began right after the release of Snow White in 1938, and it was a chance to experiment with a different type of story and different types of animation. They tried out new things they hadn’t with the prior film, like building 3D models of the characters, vehicles, and creating scale models of Geppetto’s cuckoo clocks. They also created the technology to animate water effects, a technique they would use right up until The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Pinocchio premiered at the RKO Center Theatre in New York City. The Center Theatre was the little sister cinema to Radio City Music Hall, which is where Walt originally wanted to have the film premiered, but it wasn’t possible to coordinate at the time. Instead of showing Pinocchio at the Music Hall, they showed Swiss Family Robinson. The Center Theatre was known for showing B-films, ones that wouldn’t particularly become box office hits. The Disney brothers also ran into problems with RKO, as RKO was trying to financially recover during the time of WWII, so they used Pinocchio as a way to promote their other offerings, which Walt was not a fan of. But, Pinocchio got its fair share of publicity, and the Center Theatre included an exhibit of the making of Pinocchio in the lobby.

“Like its famous predecessor, the folk tale of the puppet who became a real boy is known and loved in practically every country of the world.”

— John Kenneth Hyatt, Managing Director of the Center Theatre

The premiere of Pinocchio at the Center Theatre. Image from: https://attractionsmagazine.com/little-known-facts-about-carthay-circle-theatre-namesak-disneyland/

Fantasia - Broadway THEATRE (November 13, 1940)

Fantasia would act as another device to try new technology with, which ended up being a much more complicated process than anticipated. Originally to be released as a Silly Symphony, the costs for the audio production named Fantasound would prove to be too much for just a cartoon short, so it was turned into a feature-length film and would act as the reintroduction of Mickey Mouse to the big screen. Fantasound was created to compliment the music that the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded for the film, and it would be the first taste of surround sound. Disney wanted the audience to feel like an orchestra was actually present in the room whenever you watched the movie. However, in order to achieve this for a premiere and any other theatrical showings, the theatres had to install Fantasound to their audio systems.

The marquee for Fantasia. Image from: http://www.warpedfactor.com/2020/05/mickeys-music-box-fantasia.html

The Broadway Theatre in New York City was originally named Universal’s Colony Theatre, where Disney’s Steamboat Willie premiered for the very first time. Steamboat Willie was the catalyst to syncronized sound, so it only made sense to bring another new musical technology to the Broadway Theatre once again with the premiere of Fantasia. RKO suggested to Disney that they make Fantasia into a roadshow, meaning it would travel to many different theatres across the USA and show for several weeks at a time. Fantasia showed at the Broadway Theatre for 57 weeks, which was the longest run of a film at the time.

“Let us agree, as did almost everyone present at the occasion, that the sly and whimsical papa of Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Pinocchio and a host of other cartoon darlings has this time come forth with something which really dumps conventional formulas overboard and boldly reveals the scope of films for imaginative excursion.”

— The New York Times, 1940

Dumbo - Broadway TheatRe (October 23, 1941)

The release of Dumbo is one of the biggest reasons why we still have the privilege of experiencing new Disney movies today. Though Pinocchio and Fantasia weren’t complete failures, they definitely contributed to the decline of the studios in the 40s, along with the anthology films released during the war too. Dumbo was a chance to bring back the wholesome stories to the screen, especially during such a tragic time. RKO was the distributor for this movie as well, and they had issues with the 64-minute runtime. This was the shortest film Disney would ever release that wasn’t considered an actual short film. However, the studio refused to make it any longer or change the status, and it went ahead to premiere at the Broadway Theatre. Along with Snow White, it was the only other Disney film at the time that actually made a profit.

“His first all-laughing full-length feature with his greatest new star since “Dopey”!”

— The New York Times, 1941

At the premiere, guests arrived for the 8:45pm start time, at 35 cents a seat (25 cents for children). The premiere would also act as a benefit performance for a charitable organization called the Vocational Service for Juniors.

“See the most genial, the most endearing, the most completely precious cartoon feature film ever to emerge from the magical brushes of Walt Disney’s wonder-working artists!”

— The New York Times, 1941

Bambi - Radio City Music Hall (August 13, 1942)

Though Disney hadn’t been successful with holding premieres at the Radio City Music Hall for several years, it was finally their time to shine with the release of Bambi in 1942. Bambi would be another chance for the world to see a more wholesome, pure story with a bit of sadness and reality mixed in. The Disney studio decided to do oil paintings instead of water colour for this movie, which added to the artistic imagery that elevated the film to new heights.

“In colors that would surprise even the spectrum itself, Disney’s cartoon craftsmen have recreated a woodland that shimmers and glows and darkens altogether magically.”

— The New York Times, 1942

Friends, family, fans and celebrity guests gathered in the lobby of Radio City Music Hall and were surrounded by original sketches and concept art from the film on rectangular boards. Images of Bambi, Thumper, Flower, and background art were on display. Fans lined up outside of the hall just underneath the Marquee sign, awaiting their turn to catch a glimpse at the film and the people who worked on it.