<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $1.49 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $418.2 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures . Based on the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first full - length cel animated feature film and the earliest Disney animated feature film . The story was adapted by storyboard artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith . David Hand was the supervising director, while William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film's individual sequences . </P> <P> Snow White premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre on December 21, 1937, followed by a nationwide release on February 4, 1938 . It was a critical and commercial success, and with international earnings of $8 million during its initial release briefly assumed the record of highest - grossing sound film at the time . The popularity of the film has led to it being re-released theatrically many times, until its home video release in the 1990s . Adjusted for inflation, it is one of the top ten performers at the North American box office . </P>

When was snow white and the seven dwarfs made