and I would pick up my skirt and curtsy.
Disney wanted his Snow White to be different for his 1937 movie, the companys first major animated feature.
There was a lot of trial and error, though.
Credit: Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
I tell you, I nearly fainted, she says.
It was very hot underneath there and not at all what I expected.
It was very limited what I could do with that big hat.
They quickly ironed out the bugs and Champion remembers the sessions fondly.
They were looking for the feelings that Snow White had when she was dancing with the dwarves.
[Laughs] I was told to call them the dwarfs.
Anyway, we called them the little men.
They really used the motion that I invented when I was dancing with them.
Champion danced with the other actors, she danced with the animators.
Sometimes, she even danced to help the artists with the other characters.
I even danced as Dopey, she says.
They put a big coat on me and did all sorts of funny things, just like Dopey.
And I still get fan mail from Russia and Germany and all kinds of places.
Champion went on to have a prolific Hollywood career, pairing with her second husband, dancer Gower Champion.
Then we were in New York forBye Bye BirdieandHello Dolly.
Im in my 96th year, and I must say that Ive had a real interesting life.
