Many pundits predicted Snow White and the Seven Dwarves would be a huge flop. Snow White was an extremely innovative film, being the first ever full length animated feature produced via cell animation. Since Walt was breaking new ground, skeptics believed Snow White would be a fiasco and the daring filmmaker would fall flat on his face. Snow White ended up silencing critics by becoming a mega-hit. Riding high on his success, Walt then released two more classic features, Pinocchio and Fantasia, both of which bombed at the box office. Walts ambition had paid off in spades with Snow White, but the budget for Pinocchio doubled Snow Whites and Fantasias production costs spun out of control. Walts desire to push the animation envelope almost proved his downfall. With the company in dire straights, Walt had to cut his animators wages during the production of Dumbo. Fortunately, Dumbo turned a profit. This turnaround was short-lived though; Walt's next feature, Bambi, also under-performed. It wasn't until 1950's Cinderella that Walt produced another massive hit on the level of Snow White. Walt would want us forget his fiascos nearly killed the company, especially because his penny-pinching lead to an even darker chapter in the company's history.
