TCM To Screen “Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs” For 75th Anniversary on April 14th at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre
For the second consecutive year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will celebrate the legacy of The Walt Disney Studios. Turner Classic Movies (TCM), in collaboration with D 23: The Official Disney Fan Club, will present a 75th anniversary screening of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Disney’s first hand-drawn feature-length animated film. In addition, legendary actor Kirk Douglas will present the first general public screening of the newly restored (from original camera negatives) live-action adventure, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
On Saturday, April 14, Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will screen at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre at 1 p.m. This film revolutionized the art of animation with its cutting edge technique, design and storytelling — setting animation in pursuit of an ever more realistic look. Moreover, it demonstrated animation’s viability as a legitimate cinematic art form. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed a special Academy Award® on Walt Disney, recognizing Snow White as “a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field.” The unique Oscar® trophy consisted of one full-sized statuette standing next to seven miniature versions. The film also earned an Oscar® nomination for Leigh Harline’s memorable score.
In 1997, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was named one of the 100 Greatest Films of All Time by the American Film Institute (AFI). The following year, the AFI named it the greatest American animated film of all time.On Friday, April 13, at 2:45 p.m., Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas will be present at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for the first public screening of the newly restored 1954 adventure film epic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, t he first live-action feature film shot at Walt Disney’s Burbank studios. Disney recruited an A-list cast including Kirk Douglas, James Mason and Paul Lukas, and a set budget of $9 million, the largest in Hollywood history at that time.
Walt Disney had originally planned to turn Jules Verne’s tale of Captain Nemo’s battle to wipe out warfare into an animated feature. But when he saw designer Harper Goff’s preliminary sketches, he decided to make the switch to live action. To film the massive production — the studio’s first in CinemaScope — Disney added a water tank and a third soundstage to his studio, rented additional space from 20th Century-Fox and Universal, and sent cast and crew to the Caribbean for underwater shooting. His technicians also had to develop new equipment for the film’s many underwater scenes and create a giant, two-ton squid for the film’s most impressive sequence.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea went on to earn two Oscars®, one fo r the eye-popping visual effects and one for John Meehan and Emile Kuri’s art direction and set decoration. The film earned a third nomination for Elmo Williams’ editing.
Operation Undersea, an episode of the Disneyland TV series highlighting the creation of the film, won Emmys® for Best Individual Program of the Year (1955) and Best Television Film Editing.
