Friday, May 8, 2009

Happy Birthday to the Voice of Snow White

I just received this email from Traci and had to share. Andrew and I discovered the Snow White Wishing Well at Disneyland last December...so, in reading this ~ especially the tidbit at the end ~ I felt an immediate connection. Besides that, Andrew had considered proposing to me by the Wishing Well if we were able to get into Disneyland on New Year's Eve. :-)

Picture (Metafile)

Adriana Caselotti – Voice of Snow White

Adriana Caselotti's face may never ring a bell, but her voice is known wherever Walt Disney's Snow White is shown. We celebrate her 93rd Birthday this week. Born May 5, 1916 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Adriana was born into an operatic family. Her father Guido, an immigrant from Italy, taught music in New York City, her mother Maria (from Naples) sang at the Royal Opera, and a sister Louise was a noted opera singer and voice teacher. She was 18 when Walt Disney personally chose her from 150 girls auditioning for the voice of Snow White for his first full length animated feature “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937). He was looking for a fresh and natural voice, and asked her father if any of his students might be suitable, but on hearing Adriana's voice realized his search was over.

At the drop of a hat, Disney's first ingénue of the animated screen would burst into a chorus of the songs that made her famous - I'm Wishing, Some Day My Prince Will Come and Whistle While You Work. Reportedly, Adriana remembered every line, verse, and nuance of her most famous Hollywood role.

Over the years and many reissues of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," including the 50th Anniversary re-release in 1987, Adriana actively participated in publicity events and television specials celebrating the famous film. As she recalled, I'd never worked in show business before ("Snow White"). I feel very blessed. Not everyone gets the chance to be part of a genuine classic like - Snow White.

Adriana was honored by Disney Studios in 1994 when she received a Disney Legend Award and left her handprints in cement outside the Studio Theatre. She passed away January 19, 1997 at the age of 80. Infinitely proud of her contribution to Disney's legacy, she told a reporter in 1995, I know that my voice will never die.

Did You Know? In the early 1990s, when the Snow White Grotto at Disneyland was refurbished, Adriana re-recorded I'm Wishing for the Snow White Wishing Well at the age of 75.

Sources:
“Disney’s A – Z” – Dave Smith
wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriana_Caselotti
legends.disney.go.com/legends
bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com
disney.go.com/vault/archives

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