She was the voice of Snow White , the lead actress in one of the most successful motion-picture show of all time . Her childlike , sing - songy vocals are still immediately recognisable more than 75 year later . You ’d think she ’d have become a home name and go on to star in countless pic musical theater , right ? But chances are you ’ve never hear of Adriana Caselotti – her name does n’t even seem in the credits of " Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . " Why was such an unforgettable articulation never get a line again ?
It is true that Caselotti was n’t credited asSnow White– it was 1937 , and Disney did n’t credit vocalism worker until 1943 ( the famously mental image - conscious studio want to preserve the idea that its animize eccentric were in reality real ) . But Hollywood legend has it that Walt Disney contractually prohibited Caselotti from revealing her " secret identity " or perform as Snow White , as well as doing any further film , TV andradiowork for the rest of her vocation . In a word , she was blacklisted .
Indeed , " Snow White " was both the beginning and end of Caselotti ’s showbiz career , besides one voiceover parentage in " The Wizard of Oz " and a petite singing part in " It ’s a Wonderful life sentence . " But was it because of an official Disney ban or just because her interpreter was so identifiable ? Maybe she was perfectly free to follow other part but just was n’t able to land job . Walt Disney was a very potent design in Hollywood , but would he really have sabotaged Caselotti to preserve an animation ?
It ’s hard to recount . Some claim Walt Disney efficaciously end Caselotti ’s vocation by putting her under contract bridge with Disney and then never giving her any workplace . That ’s a plausible explanation , given that this was the studio system epoch , but Disney did n’t have any formally abridge player until 1946 . Another circulate rumor is that Disney really own the right to Caselotti ’s voice . Jack Benny articulate Disney denied his petition to have Caselotti on his receiving set show in 1938 because it did n’t want to reveal the woman behind Snow White [ origin : Sibley ] .
found on what we do live of Caselotti ’s " Snow White " contract , the terms do n’t seem to have been favorable . Only 18 when she was charter , she was give a total of $ 970 for about three old age ' work ( the equivalent of about $ 16,000 today ) [ source : CPI ] . In 1938 , she and the actor who voice Prince Charming unsuccessfullysuedDisney and RCA ( for $ 200,000 and $ 100,000 , respectively ) for a share of soundtrack - phonograph record win . After this installment , though , she appear to have been fairly loyal to Disney for the rest of her life story . She received the Disney Legend Award in 1994 and never publicly mentioned a blacklisting strategy .
