Snow White Original Colors

[Marky_198]

Today I received the book "The fairest one of all", The Making of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
It's an incredible (320 pages) book with lots of information and original pictures.

There is a whole chapter about the colors and the intended dark, realistic visuals.

"Like every other aspect of producing Snow White, the film's color had received Walt's careful attention. He had been producing cartoons in Technicolor since 1932, and he had very definite ideas about the use of color in his feature.

At the movies the night before, he had seen a recent Harman-Ising short, To Spring- a cartoon patterned on the Silly Symphonies. Walt was unimpressed. "They got colors everywhere and it looks cheap. There is nothing subtle about it at all. It's just poster-like. A lot of people think that's what a cartoon should have"

The critical stage of the process was photography, in which this artistic vision was committed to film. As each finished scene emerged from the lab, Walt and his team studied it minutely. When the film was released to theaters, Technicolor release prints were subjected to a similar level of scrunity. The prints were inspected for color balance and regularly monitored for wear. It was this film, produced with such rigorous attention to detail, that so entranced audiences around the world in 1937-38.

Unfortunately, other audiences over the next century would see a somewhat different version of Snow White.
(then 2 pages about the trouble they had with computers, removing the pigeons eyes, contrasts, darkness, details, structures etc).

At the restoration attempt in 1993, they invited artists who worked on the film in the 1930, to view the work in progress. Ollie Johnston , echoing Walt's words six decades earlier, thought that " the stuff they showed me had too much contrast. I felt it looked too poster-ish. I wanted to get back to a subtle quality. It looked almost medicinal, it was so clean, the whites were too pure".

Johnston's words underscore an important point: technicians of each generation have manipulated the film's color according to the standards of their own time. Perceptions of the role of color, especially in animation were very different in the 1980's and '90's than they had been in the 1930's, and the Cinesite technicians had had no intention of distorting the film's color balance; they were simply conforming to what was then accepted practice.

[Marky_198]

Here is a scan from that chapter (the "scanner lines" are not present in the book):

[Marky_198]

And here is a screencap of the latest "version":

[drfsupercenter]

Ha, about time someone from Disney themselves complains about Disney's own restorations

[monks19]

Now, will they do something about it ? I don't think so...

[nomad2010]

I had no idea that there was ever any issue with the colors in Snow White. But I have to say, I really do prefer the soft warm glow in those photos.

[disneyboy20022]

I'm not a mod, but Marky, I think those back to back posts could just be in one single post instead of bumping it every few minutes.

[Atlantica]

Goodness, is that what it is really supposed to look like ?

I knew they thought bright colours harmed your eyes so they needed to be natural, but this gives a completely different look to the film.

[Marky_198]

Yes, I think we can say that we are watching a very different film today.

Besides the completely changed colors, the "photography" part is especially interesting.
The late 1930's Technicolor was indeed known for it's warm colors and great "created sources of light".
The whole photography process was very important in this. That's why Walt and his team evaluated every result immediately when it came from the lab.

In the new version, I feel we are just watching the flattened out cells, without any sources of light whatsoever. This immediately creates the "poster-ish" look they speak about. More like clip-art than an actual realistic looking film.

[271286]

Wow, it's kinda shocking how different the movie loos today! I really prefer the warm look of the original transfer... It made me wonder if it' possible to color correct the Blu-ray and get a look closer to the original? I did a quick quick test in photoshop to see how it would look on Blu-ray if it had colors more true to the original look...


Before



After

[Atlantica]

Wow, so what did they actually do then to the movie? Just over brighten it up ?

[Marky_198]

Nice job! Although it still looks a bit flattened-out. The colors might be a closer match, but the warmth is still missing, for example the red glow on their noses.

[Marky_198]

Wow, so what did they actually do then to the movie? Just over brighten it up ?

Yes, and remove the effect of photography, what basically made the film.

[nunval]

Hi from Italy! A little surprise for you . These screenshots above are taken from a telecine of a ORIGINAL IB ITALIAN 16 MM TECHNICOLOR PRINT of Snow White dating back to 1954, printed in the Technicolor facilities of London. I got a telecine from a collector. Looking at them I find that the blu ray and the restoring are much more closer to the IB prints that the frames displayed in the book "The fairest one of all". Again I remember watching as a kid "Snow White" in a theatre in 1973 in a beautiful copy (Technicolor Italiana at the time was still printing in IB at full time ) and colors NEVER looked like the one displayed in those frames of the book . They instead look to me the ones of a FADED EASTMANCOLOR PRINT, like the ones on the 1975 35mm trailer I found on Ebay some years ago. All colors on this trailer were orange-yellow tinted and true Technicolor never looked this way!

[Mooky]

I have the same book, but I seriously doubt sepia-tone was the intended look for the film, especially since film color was a novelty/gimmick back then. Subdued colors, yes (and I believe it was well documented Walt thought bright colors would hinder the audiences' enjoyment of the film, since they were not accustomed to films in color), but not to the extent of everything looking yellow/orange/washed out. I'm not saying Disney didn't temper with SW's digital restoration, but old prints have a tendency of fading out and this is what it looks like to me.

Also, Disney's old media prints and promotional materials can't really be trusted. You must have seen it a hundred times by now: characters having different designs and/or being colored differently even on the posters for original releases. I have this Panini sticker album called "Disney's Gallery" from the 1970s, where Cinderella's maid outfit is completely brown, Wendy's nightgown is pink, and Lady is completely green (!!!).

[eric75]

First of all, unless it is an answer print, you can't go by the print shown for accurate colors. Secondly, Technicolor prints do not fade. Thirdly, you have to know that prints were timed very warmly back then because the carbon arc lighting used for projection would correct the warmness and project colder colors. The look of the Blu-ray is most likely the look of the film in theaters. You must also know that Technicolor prints varied, not only from theater to theater, but from reel to reel.

[Marky_198]

Hi from Italy! A These screenshots above are taken from a telecine of a ORIGINAL IB ITALIAN 16 MM TECHNICOLOR PRINT of Snow White dating back to 1954, printed in the Technicolor facilities of London.

They actually speak about that 1954 version as well, and that it looked nothing like the original. They say "restorers" made up their own colors and that it went downhill from 1944.

[Marky_198]

you have to know that prints were timed very warmly back then because the carbon arc lighting used for projection would correct the warmness and project colder colors. You must also know that Technicolor prints varied, not only from theater to theater, but from reel to reel.

The lighting used for photography made it look realistic and warmer, and gives it a certain depth. So looking at the flat cells, as we do in the blu ray now, can never have the same look. Also, this warm look was what late 1930's technicolor was known for.

Walt checked the results immediately after each one came from the lab and he also checked each and every reel that was sent to the cinema's (says the book).

[eric75]

I have the book, so I know what it says. The myth that 1930s Technicolor was warm has been blown out of proportion by looking at prints. You can't tell what the colors were by looking at the prints. Prints were timed warm to compensate for the blue in the carbon arc lighting during projection. You can't look at a print, that has then been reproduced in a book, and tell what the original colors are supposed to be.

[Marky_198]

Actually it was the other way around, the warm yellow glow that Technicolor in the 30's was very well known for, is mostly created in the photography process.

But feel free to consider some 1954 print, which is even mentioned in the book as completely off, as more original than the original 1937 release print.