Act One

Abstract This chapter discusses the earliest Disney films to feature music and song, the animated films that would lead to the “Disney musical.” Covering the years 1928 to 1940, the chapter examines Disney’s pioneering work in synchronizing music with animation in Steamboat Willie and the early Silly Symphonies. With the hiring of new musical talent during the 1930s, in particular Frank Churchill and Leigh Harline, the studio began to introduce original songs in its films, and some of the Disney shorts adopted the form of the “integrated” musical concurrently appearing in live-action Hollywood films. The increasing sophistication, musical and otherwise, of Disney’s cartoons led to the studio’s foray into feature-length animated films, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The chapter explores in depth the musical elements in Snow White and in the second Disney feature, Pinocchio (1940), which paved the way for further musical accomplishments in the years ahead.