Editing Walt Disney (section)

===Golden age of animation: 1934–1941===
[[File:Walt Disney Snow white 1937 trailer screenshot (13).jpg|thumb|alt=Walt Disney sits in front of a set of models of the seven dwarfs|Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White]]'' theatrical trailer]]
By 1934, Disney had become dissatisfied with producing cartoon shorts,{{sfn|Thomas|1994|p=129}} and believed a feature-length cartoon would be more profitable.{{sfn|Thomas|Johnston|1995|p=90}} The studio began the four-year production of ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'', based on [[Snow White|the fairy tale]]. When news leaked out about the project, many in the film industry predicted it would bankrupt the company; industry insiders nicknamed it "Disney's Folly".{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=270}} The film, which was the first animated feature made in full color and sound, cost $1.5&nbsp;million to produce{{nsmdns}}three times over budget.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrier|1y=1999|1p=130|2a1=Finch|2y=1999|2p=59}} To ensure the animation was as realistic as possible, Disney sent his animators on courses at the [[Chouinard Art Institute]];<ref name="Disney Myth" /> he brought animals into the studio and hired actors so that the animators could study realistic movement.<ref name="Disney Experience" /> To portray the changing perspective of the background as a camera moved through a scene, Disney's animators developed a [[multiplane camera]] which allowed drawings on pieces of glass to be set at various distances from the camera, creating an illusion of depth. The glass could be moved to create the impression of a camera passing through the scene. The first work created on the camera{{nsmdns}}a ''Silly Symphony'' called ''[[The Old Mill]]'' (1937){{nsmdns}}won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film because of its impressive visual power. Although ''Snow White'' had been largely finished by the time the multiplane camera had been completed, Disney ordered some scenes be re-drawn to use the new effects.{{sfn|Williams|Denney|Denney|2004|p=116}}

''Snow White'' premiered in December 1937 to high praise from critics and audiences. The film became the most successful motion picture of 1938 and by May 1939 its total gross of $6.5&nbsp;million made it the most successful sound film made to that date.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=270}}{{efn|$1.5&nbsp;million in 1937 equates to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|1500000|1937}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}; $6.5&nbsp;million in 1939 equates to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|6500000|1939}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}, according to calculations based on the US [[GDP deflator]] measure of inflation.{{inflation-fn|US}}}} Disney won another Honorary Academy Award, which consisted of one full-sized and seven miniature Oscar statuettes.<ref name="AA: 1939" />{{efn|The citation for the award reads: "To Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon."<ref name="AA: 1939" />}} The success of ''Snow White'' heralded one of the most productive eras for the studio; the [[Walt Disney Family Museum]] calls the following years "the 'Golden Age of Animation{{' "}}.<ref name="WDFM: Golden Age" />{{sfn|Krasniewicz|2010|p=87}} With work on ''Snow White'' finished, the studio began producing ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'' in early 1938 and ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]'' in November of the same year. Both films were released in 1940, and neither performed well at the box office{{nsmdns}}partly because revenues from Europe had dropped following the start of [[World War II]] in 1939. The studio incurred a loss on both pictures and was deeply in debt by the end of February 1941.{{sfnm|1a1=Thomas|1y=1994|1pp=161–62|2a1=Barrier|2y=2007|2pp=152, 162–63}}

In response to the financial crisis, Disney and his brother Roy started the company's [[Initial public offering|first public stock offering]] in 1940, and implemented heavy salary cuts. The latter measure, and Disney's sometimes high-handed and insensitive manner of dealing with staff, led to [[Disney animators' strike|a 1941 animators' strike]] which lasted five weeks.{{sfnm|1a1=Ceplair|1a2=Englund|1y=1983|1p=158|2a1=Thomas|2y=1994|2pp=163–65|3a1=Barrier|3y=1999|3pp=171–73}} While a federal mediator from the [[National Labor Relations Board]] negotiated with the two sides, Disney accepted an offer from the [[Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]] to make a goodwill trip to South America, ensuring he was absent during a resolution he knew would be unfavorable to the studio.{{sfnm|1a1=Thomas|1y=1994|1pp=170–71|2a1=Gabler|2y=2006|2pp=370–71}}{{efn|The trip inspired two combined live-action and animation works ''[[Saludos Amigos]]'' (1942) and ''[[The Three Caballeros]]'' (1945).{{sfn|Finch|1999|p=76}}{{sfn|Gabler|2006|pp=394–95}}}} Due to the strike{{nsmdns}}and the financial state of the company{{nsmdns}}several animators left the studio, and Disney's relationship with other members of staff was permanently strained as a result.{{sfnm|1a1=Langer|1y=2000|2a1=Gabler|2y=2006|2p=378}} The strike temporarily interrupted the studio's next production, ''[[Dumbo]]'' (1941), which Disney produced in a simple and inexpensive manner; the film received a positive reaction from audiences and critics alike.{{sfnm|1a1=Finch|1y=1999|1p=71|2a1=Gabler|2y=2006|2pp=380–81}}