Why Walt Disney Blacklisted SNOW WHITE Voice Actress Adriana Castelotti
Walt Disney made history with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) being the first feature-length animated film, but its iconic leading lady, Adriana Caselotti, didn’t share in the glory.
Not only was she never credited for her work, but Disney actively sabotaged her career, ensuring her unmistakable voice wouldn’t be heard anywhere else.
At the time of recording Snow White, Caselotti was just 18 years old. She was paid $970 for her work, which was standard in the industry at the time but translates to only about $21,000 today.
That might not seem so bad until you consider that Snow White became a massive box-office sensation, propelling Disney into the future as an animation powerhouse.
Despite the film’s success, Caselotti never received royalties or residuals. In a 1993 interview with The Day, she admitted she had considered suing Disney for back pay but ultimately decided against it, saying she didn’t want to go through “what Peggy Lee went through.” (Lee had famously sued Disney and won over Lady and the Tramp royalties.)
Caselotti later learned that the reason she was struggling to find work after Snow White she was because she was being blacklisted by Walt Disney himself. When The Jack Benny Show, one of the biggest radio programs of the time, wanted to hire her, Disney shut it down.
Disney personally told her, “That voice can’t be used anywhere. I don’t want to spoil the illusion of Snow White.”
By branding her as only Snow White and keeping her from using her voice anywhere else in any other project, Disney essentially locked Caselotti out of Hollywood.
Caselotti didn’t even know she was making a movie when working on Snow Whit! She assumed Snow White was just another of Disney’s animated shorts, not the groundbreaking feature film it ended up being.
She recalled: "They had told me that it was going to be a little longer than their shorts, which were 10 to 12 minutes. So I thought it would be 20 minutes long or so.
“I didn’t realize that had happened until I went to the premiere. I saw all these movie stars; Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Gary Cooper. Everybody was there. I discovered that this was an hour and 23 minutes."
Despite Disney’s efforts to keep her from working, Caselotti managed to sneak into a few projects. If you listen closely to The Wizard of Oz, you can hear her voice in the “If I Only Had a Heart” song as Juliet, whispering “Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” She also provided background vocals for It’s a Wonderful Life, but, once again, received no credit.
In the early ‘90s, as Snow White was preparing for its long-awaited home video release, Caselotti finally decided to take action. She and her Snow White co-star Harry Stockwell (the voice of Prince Charming) sued Disney, seeking $200,000 and $100,000, respectively. Unfortunately, they lost.
Decades after being cast aside, Disney finally invited Caselotti back into the fold… sort of. She was brought in to record a Snow White track for Disneyland’s Wishing Well attraction, and in 1994, she was officially named a Disney Legend.
It was a very small, belated recognition for someone whose voice had helped shape one of the most important films in animation history. Caselotti passed away in 1997 at the age of 80, leaving behind a legacy that deserved far better treatment than what Disney gave her.