Snow White TV Special (50th Anniversary - 1987)

We wrap up our month-long look at the Snow White 50th Anniversary with a television show...

Screen captures via DTVzone.

This one hour special, Disney's Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was shown on NBC's weekly series The Magical World of Disney. In the Michael Eisner introduction to the show, it's clear that it aired around Christmastime. The copyright at the end of the program and the episode title both indicate that it was created in 1987. (I make a point of this because there are numerous online sources that state various and differing airdates for this program.)

Hosted by Dick van Dyke, the show included live-action and animated segments telling the history of the film and revealing for the first time the deleted "soup-eating" and "bed-building" scenes.

Dick van Dyke

The special guest-stars included Jane Curtin as the Evil Queen and Sherman Hensley as the Magic Mirror. The storyline that runs throughout the other historical and musical segments of the program has the Queen placing a spell on Grumpy in an attempt to get him to persuade the other Dwarfs to retire. Much of the show was shot on location at night throughout Disneyland with a couple of singing and dancing numbers by Dick Van Dyke and the Seven Dwarfs.

Jane Curtin

Sherman Hensley

 Dwarfs exit "mine shaft" at Big Thunder Mountain

Fantasyland song and dance

As mentioned earlier, the program was introduced by Michael Eisner. Later, partway through the show, things slowed a little with a weaker musical number by a few television stars of the day. Yet, Dick van Dyke picked things up, and Linda Ronstadt, singing at Snow White's Grotto, finished it off in style with Some Day My Prince Will Come .

Michael Eisner intro

Linda Ronstadt at Snow White's Grotto

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Now here's the entire program in six parts...

Part I

Videos posted by DTVzone.

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

You'd think that a Snow White television program from the 1987 might not hold up too well in today's video game, action adventure society. Yet, in fact, it does. Dick van Dyke is timeless, and following his lead, the program is informative and entertaining...even 24 years after its original airing.