From http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/filmnot ... epigs.html :
"The film (The Three Little Pigs) was successful, grossing $250,000 in its first 2-year release. Additional profits came from the merchandising efforts of Kay Kamen. As a result of these profits, Disney secured a $1 million credit line from A. P. Giannini of the Bank of America and was able to finance the production of Snow White, the first feature-length animated cartoon."
So the question is; if it wasn't for The Three Little Pigs, would it have been possible to make Snow White?
The Three Little Pigs and Snow White
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Rumpelstiltskin
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blackcauldron85
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That's a good question- I just looked it up in a couple books that I have, but they didn't make a direct connection to the earnings of T3LP and the making of SW&t7D. But I would assume that T3LP helped finance SW&t7D, because I believe that SW&t7D went over budget, so surely some money made from T3LP went into SW&t7D...
Edit- I misread the question...
Thomas, Bob. Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire. New York: Hyperion, 1998. 97-98, 107.
Who wants to see a feature cartoon?...Roy also expressed his doubt whether their company, barely ten years old, could amass the resources to accomplish such an ambitious project. Walt estimated the movie would cost a half-million dollars...
Roy began further negotiations with Joe Schenck, brother of Nicholas Schenck, whose Loew's, Inc., owned MGM. Joe Schenck agreed to invest $400,000 in exchange for a one-third interest in Walt Disney Productions. Roy reluctantly agreed, figuring that amount would be enough to start the cartoon feature.
But Schenck encountered financial difficulties...[and] he asked to be excused from the obligation...
"After we got shut out of Joe Schenck, we got in better with the bank," Roy said later...
With the backing of A.P. Giannini and the Bank of America, the feature could commence.
***
"Walt sweated on 'Snow White' from the time it was first started...there was a period of great tension, because for us a million and a half dollars was a terrific investment...if we had flopped with 'Snow White', we were gonna flop with our own money." Roy remembered...
Then the book goes on to mention how when Disney needed another bank loan to help finance SW&t7D, that they were going to say no, but Walt needed to show them the work-in-progress SW&t7D. So, I think that the success of T3LP helped finance part of SW&t7D, but- notice how the earlier part of the quoted text mentions that the budget was a half-million dollars, versus the million-and-a-half dollars in the latter part of the text. So, the budget went up, anyway- money from T3LP only went so far- so, it surely would've been welcome, but the bank loans were what really helped keep SW&t7D afloat.
Edit- I misread the question...
Thomas, Bob. Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire. New York: Hyperion, 1998. 97-98, 107.
Who wants to see a feature cartoon?...Roy also expressed his doubt whether their company, barely ten years old, could amass the resources to accomplish such an ambitious project. Walt estimated the movie would cost a half-million dollars...
Roy began further negotiations with Joe Schenck, brother of Nicholas Schenck, whose Loew's, Inc., owned MGM. Joe Schenck agreed to invest $400,000 in exchange for a one-third interest in Walt Disney Productions. Roy reluctantly agreed, figuring that amount would be enough to start the cartoon feature.
But Schenck encountered financial difficulties...[and] he asked to be excused from the obligation...
"After we got shut out of Joe Schenck, we got in better with the bank," Roy said later...
With the backing of A.P. Giannini and the Bank of America, the feature could commence.
***
"Walt sweated on 'Snow White' from the time it was first started...there was a period of great tension, because for us a million and a half dollars was a terrific investment...if we had flopped with 'Snow White', we were gonna flop with our own money." Roy remembered...
Then the book goes on to mention how when Disney needed another bank loan to help finance SW&t7D, that they were going to say no, but Walt needed to show them the work-in-progress SW&t7D. So, I think that the success of T3LP helped finance part of SW&t7D, but- notice how the earlier part of the quoted text mentions that the budget was a half-million dollars, versus the million-and-a-half dollars in the latter part of the text. So, the budget went up, anyway- money from T3LP only went so far- so, it surely would've been welcome, but the bank loans were what really helped keep SW&t7D afloat.
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Rumpelstiltskin
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Yeah, everything that could add some more ressources helped, but the question is if he would have gotten enough money to start the project if it had not been for Three Little Pigs (if the link is correct about this), even if he made good money on Donald Duck and other cartoons.
All the trouble about mortgaging his own house, beg for moeny elsewhere and so on, happened fro what I understand only after the production had started. It was probably the first bank loan who helped him make enough footage to convince the other bank, it was all the first investors who helped convince the later investors etc. Once it was set in motion, it was most likely easier than if the movie hadn't even been greenlighetened yet.
It's kust like Cameron's Titanic. If he had asked for the whole amount of money that the movie would end up costing from the beginning, it would never have gone into production. But when the real costs became clear, there was no other choice than to invest some more and hope the finished product would at least give some of the investment back.
It was the first step which seems to have been the most important one. One can only specualte if this was a step that had been possible if it was not for the money made on the famous cartoon. If you know what I mean.
All the trouble about mortgaging his own house, beg for moeny elsewhere and so on, happened fro what I understand only after the production had started. It was probably the first bank loan who helped him make enough footage to convince the other bank, it was all the first investors who helped convince the later investors etc. Once it was set in motion, it was most likely easier than if the movie hadn't even been greenlighetened yet.
It's kust like Cameron's Titanic. If he had asked for the whole amount of money that the movie would end up costing from the beginning, it would never have gone into production. But when the real costs became clear, there was no other choice than to invest some more and hope the finished product would at least give some of the investment back.
It was the first step which seems to have been the most important one. One can only specualte if this was a step that had been possible if it was not for the money made on the famous cartoon. If you know what I mean.