Claim: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film) was the highest-grossing film at the time.

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 .   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 .   At the 11th Academy Awards , Walt Disney was awarded an honorary Oscar , and the film was nominated for Best Musical Score the year before . In 1989 , the United States Library of Congress deemed the film `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry and is ranked in the American Film Institute 's list of the 100 greatest American films , who also named the film as the greatest American animated film of all time in 2008 . Disney 's take on the fairy tale has had a significant cultural impact , resulting in popular theme park attractions , a video game , and a Broadway musical .