French-Language Songbook, 1938

Front Cover

Published in Paris by Salabert, this 1938 Snow White songbook was produced concurrent with the release of the film in Europe. The softcover is a compilation for piano of the original 8 songs from the movie, and its 17 pages are brimming with both B/W and color illustrations of Snow and the Dwarfs.

Copyright reads "Walt Disney Mickey Mouse SA." Book measures 31 cm x 23.5 cm (12.2" x 9.25").

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All illustrations/music copyright Disney.

I really dig the vintage style in which the characters are drawn. All book images are courtesy of Disney Showcase Key who picked this treasure up at a Belgian flea market for the bargain price of only 20 euros!

UK Snow White Children's Album, 1950

This book of Snow White sheet music arrangements for children contains the complete set of songs plus illustrations patterned after some of the original inspirational sketches. Published in the United Kingdom, 1950. Bottom front cover reads: “By Permission Walt Disney – Mickey Mouse Ltd”.

The back cover shows full page advertisement for the Pinocchio Children’s Album.

Snow White Children's Album (1950). Chappell and Company, Inc. London.
Images courtesy of CollectingCollectibles.com. Used with Permission.

For more pics and larger images from this songbook, see Cloud 109 post.

Some Day My Prince Will Come - Jazz and Pop Covers

Adriana Caselotti's showstopping "Some Day My Prince Will Come" is one of the many touching highlights from Snow White. Composed by Frank Churchill with lyrics by Larry Morey, the song is ranked #19 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest songs in movie history.

Over the years, the tune has been performed by both jazz and pop artists alike. First covered by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1957, the American jazz pianist was inspired to record the song for his Dave Digs Disney album after hearing the original on one of his kid's Disney records. Other jazz greats followed including Miles Davis whose 1961 arrangement included a sax solo by John Coltrane. Modern day recordings continue like that of Venetians Radu and Violeta Zaplitnii.

Pop covers include Diana Ross and The Supremes (1967), Sinéad O'Connor (1988), Tanya Tucker (1996), Barbra Streisand (2001), Tiffany Thornton (2009) and quite a number of others. Some are welcome renditions of Adrianna Caselotti's original. Others nearly make me ill. But who am I to judge?


Here's a cross section...

Performed by Dave Brubeck Quartet. Video posted by daalmelo.

Performed by Bill Evans Trio. Video posted by kenjames64.

Performed by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, et al. Video posted by elnapoli.

Performed by Radu e Violeta Zaplitnii. Video posted by neboske.

Performed by Lena Horne. Video posted by lenahorneclub.

Performed by Diana Ross and The Supremes. Video posted by dreamsupreme4u.



Performed by Linda Ronstadt. Video posted by planetlove71.



Performed by Barbra Streisand. Video posted by StylishlyDemented.



Performed by Ashley Tisdale. Video posted by Pinkgirlie1995. 



Performed by Cheetah Girls. Video posted by wiishup0nast4r. 

 

Performed by Tiffany Thornton. Video posted by DisneyChannelUK.

Snow White Music Remix

This Snow White remix was posted a couple of days ago by Lou Mongello on the WDW Radio site. 

From electronic music producer Pogo: “This is my track Wishery, comprising vocal syllables, musical chords and sound effects recorded from the 1937 Disney classic Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.” Pogo is most famous for his similarly-styled track based on clips from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, which currently has over 4 million plays on YouTube.
Lou Mongello

The First Commercial Soundtrack - Vinyl, Cassette, CD and MP3

Entitled Songs from Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it was an immediate sensation. Unleashed in January of 1938, this commercially-released movie soundtrack was the first of its kind. Originally sold as a set of three individual 78rpm singles, altogether they contained the eight songs from the film. A month after the release, each and every single was a hit with "Whistle While You Work" topping the pop charts.

 















1938 - Set of three 78rpm 10" records, Victor, US.
Images via Wikipedia, Fair Use.
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Record 1: Victor #25735
Side 1: "With a Smile and a Song"
Side 2: "Dig-a-Dig Dig / Heigh Ho"

Record 2: Victor # 25736  
Side 3: "I'm Wishing / One Song"
Side 4: "Whistle While You Work"

Record 3 Victor # 25737
Side 5: "Dwarfs' Yodel Song"
Side 6: "Some Day My Prince Will Come" 

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Over the years the soundtrack has been re-issued in a wide variety of formats and packaging styles (see just a few below), but the actual album content usually consisted of the original eight songs. Often the musical score would be added and sometimes a narration track of the story as well. Later versions also include the two deleted songs, "Music in Your Soup" and "You're Never Too Old To Be Young".

1963 - Music LP. 33 1/3rpm 12" record, Disneyland Records #DQ-1201, US. Front Cover (left), Rear Cover (below). Images courtesy of mauiiangel. Used with Permission.

1968 - Music LP. 33 1/3rpm 12" record, Disneyland Records #DQ-1201, US. Front Cover (left), Disc Label (below). Image courtesy of Children's Records and More. 

Disneyland Doubles (below) appeared in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Each 45rpm record contained two singles from the film.

1972 - Disneyland Doubles. 45rpm 7" record, Disneyland Records #DD31, UK. Front Cover (left), Rear Cover (below). Images courtesy of Disneylicious. Used with Permission.

1980 - Disney Picture Disc, Music LP. 33 1/3rpm 12" record, Disneyland/Vista Records #3101, US. Side One (left). Side Two (below). Image courtesy of scampy. Used with Permission.

Mid 1980s - Music LP. 33 1/3rpm 12" record, Disneyland/Vista Records, UK. Front Cover (left), Rear Cover (below). Images courtesy of Disneylicious. Used with Permission.

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1985 - Music Cassette, Disneyland/Vista Records, Disney Cassettes # 101GP, US. Front Cover (left), Tape (above). Images courtesy of Alameda Music Company. Used with Permission.

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On June 8, 1993, about three 3 weeks before the last North American release of Snow White hit theaters, the first Compact Disc appeared in stores. Then eight years later and just shortly before the film's premiere on DVD, a digitally remastered CD was released on September 25, 2001.

1993 - Music CD, Walt Disney Records, US. Front Cover (left), Rear Cover (middle), Inside (below). Images from personal collection.

1993 - Music cassette, Walt Disney Records, US.

2001 - Remastered Music CD, Walt Disney Records ISBN: 0-7634-0385-7, US. Front Cover (left), Rear Cover (middle), Inside (below). Images from personal collection.

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On October 14, 2008, you could begin sampling Snow White songs and purchasing download-able MP3 audio files online. You can find these on several sites including Dada, Amazon, iTunes and others.

The Souvenir Album

It's interesting to note that in the early days, Disney did not have its own music publishing company. All material was contracted out to Irving Berlin Music and later the Bourne Music Company.

All the rights to publish the music and songs from this film are actually still controlled by the Bourne Co. In later years, the Studio was able to acquire back the rights to the music from all of the other films, except this one. Prior to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a movie soundtrack recording was unheard of and [had] little value to a movie studio.  Source: IMDb.

Read about a 1995 United States Court of Appeals case of Bourne vs. Walt Disney Company in regards to a Snow White copyright infringement in the use of video cassettes (first released on home video in 1994) and TV commercials.

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The Souvenir Album: 

Published by both Irving Berlin, Inc. and the Bourne Co., this softcover book includes the songs and musical notation by Larry Morey and Frank Churchill, but also 14 full black and white illustrations, 50 pages, 8 3/4 x 11 1/4".
 

Front Cover (above), Rear Cover (below)

 Souvenir Album (1938). Publisher Bourne Music Publishers. Images courtesy of RareLibrary.com. Used with Permission.

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Other editions of the Souvenir Album contained the same illustrations, layout and music sheets. However, a red background color was added.

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 Souvenir Album (1938). Publisher Bourne Music Publishers. Images courtesy of ToGo Books and Comics. Used with Permission.

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There was also a children's edition of the album with simplified versions of each song.

 

 Children's Simplified Edition (1937). Publisher Bourne Music Publishers. Image courtesy of A Page From the Past. Used with Permission.