What was the first feature-length animated movie ever released?

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was the first feature-length film to be produced using cel animation. That means that characters were hand-drawn or painted on transparent sheets that were laid on top of still backgrounds. The Little Mermaid was the last Disney film to use this classic technique. In 1990, with The Rescuers Down Under, Walt Disney Animation Studios began using a digital method of animation known as the Disney Computer Animation Production System (CAPS).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was adapted from the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The film’s production was massively ambitious, and Disney had to mortgage his house to help finance it. However, the risk paid off and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an enormous success and is even considered an art form.

During the Academy Awards in 1938. Snow White was nominated for Best Musical Score. Then in 1939, Walt Disney was awarded an honorary Oscar for the film. The unique award comprised one normal-sized Oscar statuette, plus seven more miniature figures to represent each of the seven dwarfs.

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11 Comments

Michael W. Strode

Cristiani's 1917 film EL APÓSTOL deserves the credit of the world's first feature length animated film, running about 70 minutes.

Denise Currie

I remember going to see this with my mum when I was five, at the Esseldo Cinema in Sheffield, which along with many other cinema's of that era has long since closed down

lady draggon

Maybe the question could have been clearer because this is not the right answer. The answer given here by Michael W. Strode is correct for what the question asks.

Player

My first and favorite Disney animated movie.

mainjim

I prefer Gulliver's Travels!

Susan Lake-Harris

Michael W. Strode, perhaps the question needed to differentiate between the silent and sound eras. Also, while 70 minutes might be deemed a feature film by film experts (and especially for that era in time), most people watching today consider a feature film to be 90 minutes or more in duration. And that's not to diminish the achievements behind the making of The Apostle - for 1917, it was impressive.

elizawheeler

The woman who was the voice of Snow White recently died. May she rest in peace.

Louella Wilson

Anyone clicking on the link, and bothering to scroll down a short way, would find the following "Argentinian-born Quirino Cristiani (animator) and Italian-born Federico Valle (director) released El Apostol in 1917. It’s considered the first feature-length animated film in history, but unfortunately, the only known copy was destroyed in a studio fire in 1928." Perhaps Areesha didn't bother!