Progress City, U.S.A.

It was seventy years ago today, on November 21st, 1937, that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at Hollywood’s Carthay Circle Theatre. Many of Hollywood’s royalty were in attendance that evening, but mixed among them were the anonymous and unknown animators who had struggled to create the film. As they watched the audience watch the film unspool, they realized that they had succeeded in achieving what many had claimed was impossible - the creation of a feature-length animated feature that would engage and affect audiences as much as a live action film.

Disney fans probably know all the stories and what was at stake; every ounce of the studio’s resources had been sunk into the film. Walt himself had mortgaged his home; he constantly struggled to find additional funding as the film’s budget skyrocketed from the original $500,000 to a then-astonishing $1,500,000. While not everyone echoed the sentiments of those who referred to the film as “Disney’s folly”, few could probably have anticipated the massive public response that followed Snow White’s release.

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For a long time, Disney didn’t really do Halloween. Disney is more of a Christmas kind of organization. But laced throughout Disney history are some nice, moody spooks suitable for the season (aside from the blinding terror of Bambi, of course)…

Foremost in my mind when I think of Disney and Halloween is a little special that used to show around this time called “Disney’s Halloween Treat” and later “A Disney Halloween.” The difference between these two specials was the host; in “Halloween Treat” we were welcomed by a hilarious pumpkin puppet (I’m of the opinion that anything in the world, funny or unfunny, is made a million times funnier by enacting it with a puppet), while “Disney Halloween” was hosted by the Magic Mirror from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Both shows were clip compilations of various spooky and supernaturally themed scenes from old Disney films, and the specials aired in various formats and venues from 1982 until the 1990’s. Now, of course, Disney would never be caught dead showing something ancient (read: pre-1995) on ABC or the Disney Channel; “Disney Halloween” would get bumped for “Haunted High School Musical.” But we have the internets!

Featured in the show were a number of films and shorts, but a few are notable in the classic Disney canon. Lonesome Ghosts is perhaps the most famous, with Our Heroes as proto-Ghostbusters back in the era when Mickey was interesting, but my favorite was always Trick or Treat, starring the inestimable Donald Duck. Directed by legendary Duck director Jack Hannah, and concurrently adapted into comic form by the great Carl Barks, the short isn’t seen nearly as often as it should be.