Snow White

A princess of noble birth, Snow White is forced into rags as a scullery maid by her jealous stepmother, the Queen. Blessed with an innocent's indomitable spirit, the fair maiden never loses faith that one day the wishing well will grant her wish for a true love to come and take her away. When her dream is answered by a serenading young prince, the evil Queen orders Snow White killed. Faced with the girl's innocence, the huntsman assassin can't kill her, and begs her to flee deep into the forest, never to return. Once again her innocence saves her as the forest animals lead her to the Seven Dwarfs' cottage, where she takes the role of their adopted mother (even the woman-wary Grumpy can't help but warm to her eventually). The Queen, however, will use the girl's naiveté against her as she dons the guise of a helpless peddler hag to lure Snow White into taking a bite from a poisoned apple. Falling into a sleeping death, Snow White can only be awakened by love's first kiss.

Finding a voice suitable for Snow White was one of the animators' hardest pre-production tasks. One day, Disney's casting director telephoned Guido Caselotti (a well-known voice coach who was married to an Italian prima donna) to get some voice talent references. Overhearing the conversation, Caselotti's 19-year-old daughter, Adriana, got on the phone to sing and banter in a young girl's voice. The embarrassed father ordered her off the line, but not before the casting director had invited her to audition. After Walt heard her, the rest, as they say, was history.