Adriana Elena Loreta Caselotti (May 6, 1916 – January 18, 1997) was an American actress and singer, best known as the voice of the title character of the seminal 1937 Disney animated musical feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Born to an Italian-American musical family, Caselotti landed the role when Walt Disney was asking her father, Guido, if he knew of any suitable voices for Snow White. After auditioning for the part in 1934, she was offered the role and accepted it. She had previously been a chorus girl for MGM.
Despite the success of the film, Walt was keen on keeping Adriana's melodic opera voice exclusive to his first feature film, not allowing the actress to take up any major roles since. Jack Benny recalled that he had asked Walt Disney for permission to use her on his radio show and was told, "I'm sorry, but that voice can't be used anywhere. I don't want to spoil the illusion of Snow White." While she did unsuccessfully sue Disney for royalties, she never held any apparent resentment towards the company and was reportedly proud of her role as the original Disney Princess,note having appeared in promotional spots and in The Julie Andrews Hour where she sang her performances in Snow White alongside Julie Andrews. Caselotti also reunited with fellow voice actor Pinto Colvig (who voiced Grumpy in Snow White and Goofy in the Mickey Mouse shorts) in the obscure 1945 short film ''Hobo's Lady''
where they voiced a pair of talking dogs.
In an interview with Marv Newland of Bambi Meets Godzilla, he stated that he created the animated short in an apartment Caselotti rented out at the time, naming her as the "studio owner".
In 1994, she was named a Disney Legend and was the first female voice actress to be named so.
Filmography:
- Naughty Marietta (1935) - Dancing Doll
- The Bride Wore Red (1937) - First Peasant Girl
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - Snow White (voice)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Juliet (voice)
- We Were Dancing (1942) - Opera Singer (voice)
- Hobo's Lady (1945) - Pom-Pom (voice; short film)
- It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - Singer at Martini's (voice; final film role)
Adriana Caselotti's work provides examples of:
- The Cameo: She contributed bit voice parts in The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life, but not much else due to the infamous contractual clause with Disney.
- Expy: Caselotti admitted in an interview that she thought about imitating Betty Boop's speaking voice when she lent her voice to Snow White, further backing up any similarities her character has with Betty Boop (both Betty and Snow were designed by noted American cartoonist Grim Natwick).
- The Ingenue: As Snow White.
- Kayfabe: Walt Disney was insistent on keeping the illusion of Snow White as a real person, hence why Caselotti and the rest of the cast were left uncredited.
- One-Book Author: Though far from her only role, Snow White was very much her sole major acting credit; most of her roles were at best bit parts.
- Role Reprise: Caselotti re-recorded "I'm Wishing" for the Snow White Wishing Well at the age of 75.
- Uncredited Role: Caselotti and the rest of the Snow White cast were uncredited to the point that she was barred from taking any major film roles afterwards.
