Today's the day! Just a few more minutes until the opening of our first major exhibition--Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic--we continue our countdown by taking a closer look at our next dwarf. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of this Disney classic, author and historian J.B. Kaufman's new book The Fairest One of All explores the making of Walt's first feature-length animated film, including an examination of each individual dwarf. Click through for a short excerpt from this book—which is available now online and in our Museum Store—all about... DOPEY!
Even among the Seven Dwarfs, each one established as a distinct individual, it was a foregone conclusion that one dwarf would be set apart as the "odd man out." Chosen to fill this role was Dopey, by any measure th edwarf most widely beloved by audiences when Snow White was released. But Dopey was a long time evolving.
Earlier stage versions of Snow White, especially the Winthrop Ames version, had established the convention of one dwarf who was "different," and early character development of dwarfs for the Disney film was influenced by this idea. Stubby, "the baby and the goat of the gang" in an October 1934 outline written by Dick Creedon, clearly owes something to Quee, the youngest dwarf in the Ames play. Creedon's outline attempts to build sympathy for STubby as, with "his short, kneeless leg,s" he tries to keep up with the other dwarfs in their march home from the mine. Reaching a clearing near their home, the dwarfs indulge in what is apparently a standard practice: crying "Last one home has to wash the dishes," they sprint for the door. Stubby, of course, with his short legs, has no hope of keeping up. Creedon describes him dissolving into tears: "It's always me! I've washed all the dirty dishes for the last three hundred years!"
In hindsight, it's not difficult to see Stubby as a pre-cursor of Dopey—but clearly, he had a long way to go. During the final months of 1934, the concept of the little/fall-guy dwarf appeared in a variety of forms. The name "Dopey" seems to have been applied to this character first in November 1934, in another outline about the dwarfs' meeting with Snow White. Here, Dopey has (thankfully) lost Stubby's whining, self-pitying attitude, but he's still a long way from the Dopey who appears in the finished film. For one thing, he still has the power of speech—and, in fact, talks a blue streak, constantly making silly comments for which the others slap him down. (As the dwarfs speculate on what manner of intruder could be inside their house, Dopey pipes up: "Maybe it's Santa Claus!") And, just once, he gets his words mixed up—a trait that has yet to be applied to Doc.
During the next two years, Dopey endured a long refining process. Still the "baby" of the group, he ceased to be a mindless chatterbox and became a more precisely defined character. "He is not an imbecile," said Perce Pearce. "He is full of fun and life. Life is just a bowl of cherries to him and just a game . . . he is a little guy that hasn't grown up." . . .
To find out more about Dopey and the other six dwarfs, pick up The Fairest One of All at our Museum Store or online by clicking here. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic will be on view from November 15, 2012 to April 14, 2013, the exhibition celebrates Walt Disney’s vision and the artistry of his dedicated staff, illustrating how they shaped and defined an entirely new American art form through their creation of this groundbreaking film. For more information and details about our first major exhibition, please visit waltdisney.org/snow-white.