What if… Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was never released or if it had flopped? This classic almost wasn’t meant to be. © Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.

A favorite pastime among historians (and military strategists) involves conjectures as to how nations or even entire civilizations might have been affected if certain events had different outcomes. This intriguing hobby has even taken the form of formal academic debates, and it is interesting to ponder on how a single pivotal event may have had the potential to change every life on Earth. Suppose that Xerxes had triumphed in the Peleponnesian War, or that the automobile had been invented in China, or that the outcome of Gettysburg had been reversed? What if Hitler had never opened a second front, if Martin Luther King Jr. had lived, or if Khrushchev decided that Cuba would be stocked with nuclear weapons no matter how many threats JFK issued?

Animation has been faced with several pivotal events during the past century, and it's entertaining to engage in conjecture about any one of them, or indeed what they might even be. One of the most interesting questions an animation historian may be tempted to ask concern events that occurred in 1937. At that time the Disney studio was taking one of its greatest gambles and the outcome was by no means certain until the curtain rose on opening night. What indeed would have happened to the history of animation if Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had been too expensive to produce or, just as bad, flopped?

That notion is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Many executives at other studios were astounded that Walt Disney would even attempt such an endeavor. During the time Snow White was in production, it was widely and openly being referred to as "Disney's Folly." As the costs mounted and production time lengthened, Walt himself began referring to the film as "Frankenstein." At a final cost of $1,480,000, Snow White cost the studio every dime it had. The average first-run film released in 1937, by comparison, was produced on a budget of roughly $250,000. At one point the money actually dried up. Disney was forced to screen bits and pieces of Snow White for Bank of America director Joseph Rosenberg in hopes of securing a loan; whatever could not be shown was desperately acted out by Walt himself.

Inkers, painters and animators worked seven days a week without overtime to finish the film, and there was absolutely no guarantee — or precedent — to ensure that an audience would actually watch 90 minutes of any animated cartoon, let alone one produced by Disney. We know well what happened on Dec. 21, 1937. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater in Hollywood to the astonishment and praise of all who saw it. Millions more would follow suit. The Disney studio had served up a quality film, to be sure, but Snow White was still an expensive risk that dodged more than a few poisoned apples on its way to immortality.

Forced to screen bits of the unfinished movie to Bank of America to secure a loan, Walt Disney (left) seen here with legendary animator Ub Iwerks, circa 1932, almost lost his studio over Snow White. © Disney Enterprises Inc.

Had this gamble not paid off due to financial pitfalls or mediocre box office, animation history may have been irrevocably changed. Aside from conjecture about which individuals might have gone where or done what with their careers, it would be as interesting to speculate what might have happened in a more global sense. There are three significant areas where animation might have been affected: economic, artistic/aesthetic and cultural. It is important to note that animation would not have degenerated or even suffered greatly had Snow White been unsuccessful or economically unfeasible. The art form was far too vital and its styles diverse enough not to be plowed under by the failure of any one film. Animation simply might have changed course in several areas and here's how it could have happened.

In examining the economic domain, the most obvious occurrence may have been the elimination of the animated feature, perhaps for decades. It has been stated that other studios thought Disney's idea too risky in the first place, and they would have been vindicated. Disney may have had to stay with shorts for the long haul. The tremendous loss of funds might have meant that Walt Disney Prods. turned into a public company well before it actually did in April of 1940. Stockholders, remembering the fate of Snow White, may well have voted against considering a feature film in the future.