Beginning with the original 1955 Snow White's Adventures, the Snow White dark rides have always included a spin in the dark dungeons of the Evil Queen's Castle. This chilling scene, with grisly skeletons hanging in their chains, is undoubtedly one of the most controversial subjects of all Disney dark rides. Yet the existence of these beautifully luminous bony fellows is one of the most justified aspects of a dark ride based on Walt Disney's 1937 animated masterpiece SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. But like all creepy vaults, the Dungeons of Snow White dark rides hide some of the most deepest and darkest secrets of the "Fairest One Of All".

PLEASE NOTE
Especially on this page, the photos
and images have been extensively enhanced, expanded or completely fabricated for the KenNetti appearance. However, the visual style has been particularly inspired by the 1983 California and 1992 Paris versions of the Snow White dark ride. While expressing deep gratitude to all the generous people who provided the highly inspirational original photo material, KenNetti emphasizes that most of the analysis, images and opinions on this page represent solely Kenneth Sundberg's view on Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Snow White dark rides.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED
KenNetti recommends that
young children and other faint-hearted guests
should be accompanied by a responsible adult
when exploring this Dungeons page

The Dungeons
The Skeletons of Scary Adventures

Skeletons and dimly lit dungeons are the common ingredients of any spook ride. However, in the Snow White dark rides the imprisoned skeletons remain an integral part of Disney's retelling of Snow White - and an important feature of the Evil Queen's character. The Dungeons scene has always taken place inside the Evil Queen's Castle where change of the ambience certainly forewarns of the approaching sinister scenes. The Dungeons could be much more controversial if they happened all of a sudden in the middle of bright and cheerful Seven Dwarfs Cottage and or in the beautiful Diamond Mine.

However, it is justifiable to say that the Dungeons scene takes place maybe too soon in the Snow White rides of the Walt Disney World's (WDW) Magic Kingdom park and Tokyo Disneyland. In these versions, based on the original 1971 WDW attraction, the ride begins in the Queen's castle, where the Dungeons scene is the second major interior scene and thus nearly begins the entire adventure.

The usual accusation against this gruesome Dungeons scene in the Snow White dark rides is that it doesn't belong to Disney's SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. However, in the original 1937 movie, we see several gruesome skulls, one mummified corpse, and at least two skeletons in the deepest cellars of the Evil Queen's castle. The first of the movie skeletons is pictured in the original sketch (below). The second skeleton is seen in the infamous sequence in which the skeletal remains of a prisoner - who has died while reaching for a water pitcher - is kicked to pieces by the approaching Wicked Witch; (Thirsty? Have a drink!"). Before the video and DVD age, this brutal scene was censored in some countries. Deepening the character of the Evil Queen, the scene emphasizes once and for all that she is a real lunatic with deadly sense of humour.

Currently it is not known how many skeletons were seen in the original Dungeons scene of the 1955 Snow White's Adventures in Disneyland, or in its improved 1959 (or 1961) version. However, several people remember fondly that the ride had a skeleton hanging on the wall whose skull moved toward the approaching vehicle. This skeleton appears to have been a quite faithful representation of the aforementioned first skeleton seen in the 1937 movie, although the movie skeleton did not move or speak. The skeleton (pictured below) was apparently intact in the Dungeons of the Disneyland ride till 1982. The weirdness of this original Dungeons scene was topped with ghostly voices emanating from the darkness, telling the visitors to "go baaack! go baaack!" and "stay out! keep awaaay!"

The original amount of skeletons in the very scary 1971 Walt Disney World version of Snow White's Adventures is also uncertain. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the WDW version's Dungeons had two skeletons: one lying on the floor while reaching out through the bars of his cell; and another one chained to the wall with arms spread wide apart, although the rest of this skeleton was sitting "peacefully" on the floor. The first skeleton was obviously inspired by the similar individual in the 1937 movie (in the aforementioned sequence in which the skeleton of a prisoner is kicked to pieces by the approaching Witch). After the first skeleton, the journey through the dimly lit Dungeons in the 1971 WDW version continued towards very eerie lights and something that seemed a cage, but was actually a pair of "crash doors" which opened automatically. The opening doors revealed the second skeleton. It is unknown if this second skeleton has ever been dangling completely on the wall, like the later ones in the 1983 versions for California and Tokyo.

The 1971 WDW skeletons moved their jaws as if pleading for help - although the original audio material may have been the same "go baaack! go baaack!" moaning used originally in the Disneyland mother attraction. In 1994 the Walt Disney World ride was made less scary and only one of these scary skeletons was left intact, though it was the most justified individual - the one lying on the floor and reaching for the water. Noteworthy is that even after the 1994 remodeling and "toning down" this skeleton continued to move its jaws.

The Dungeons scene layout in the "Scary Adventures Formula" - perfected in 1983 for California's Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland versions - has three significant skeletons: the first one hanging in a cramped cell, the other one hanging chained to the wall with arms spread wide apart and feet not touching the ground, and the third lying on the floor but stuck between tight bars of his cell. While two of these skeletons are not specifically from the 1937 movie, the third one is again straightly inspired by the infamous movie scene (of the Witch kicking the skeleton).

The Disneyland Paris version of the ride (Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains) opened in 1992. The Dungeons scene in the Paris version is almost a replica of the 1983 California version, but with an additional, fourth skeleton. This scary surprise, hanging in the air (without actual manacles), emerges from a dark corner at the end of the Dungeons scene and descends upon the approaching vehicle in a true spook ride fashion. This particularly scary skeleton has occasionally disappeared from its place (quite possibly due to angry reactions by little kids' parents), but in the summer of 2009 it was hanging proudly in the Dungeons of the dark ride. The skeletons in the Paris version also differ a bit from the California version; in Paris the skeleton chained to the wall is hanging more loosely than his 2007 California counterpart, but the skull is in upright position and seems to grin quite happily in the ultraviolet illumination.

It is believed that the largest amount of skeletons in all Snow White rides has been seen in the Tokyo version of Snow White's Adventures, where the six individuals were still intact in 2008. The Tokyo version of the Dungeons scene seems even a bit larger, more detailed and definitely more grotesque than in any other of the ride's versions. Here, the skeletal remains of the tortured prisoners seem even more ghastly, and the crowded space of the Dungeons seems genuinely horrifying. While in the 1971 WDW version the first skeleton was reaching out through the bars of his cell in a desperate fashion, the Tokyo counterpart of the same cell features two skeletons creeping out in a significantly scarier fashion. Even though the 1983 Tokyo and California versions of the Dungeons share three similar skeletons, the order of the imprisoned skeletons is quite different. The Tokyo counterpart of the skeleton chained to the wall dangles almost as loosely as the Paris individual, but both of these skeletons have their feet "chained" above the ground (even if there are no actual manacles around the ankles).

As in the 1955 mother attraction in California, the imprisoned skeletons in the Tokyo version continue to speak in ominous fashion - in Japanese - maybe saying "go baaack! go baaack!" or pleading help. However, in the current California version (at least in the late 1980s and 1990s) and also in the 1992 Paris version, the skeletons have never spoken, moaned nor moved their jaws.

In each current Snow White ride (except the Tokyo version), the ominous ambience of the Dungeons scene is supported strongly by a chilling music excerpt from the 1937 movie soundtrack, a snippet from the “Transfiguration” underscore composed by Leigh Harline. Instead of using music, the Tokyo version of the ride creates truly spooky ambience with very few sound effects. The most significant sound of these is the ethereal but eerie "banshee wail" that was apparently created for the great Disney movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). This specific sound effect has made cameos in several other Disney productions, including the legendary Disneyland Record "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House" (1964) and The Haunted Mansion attraction (1969) - but here in the Tokyo version of the Snow White ride, the "banshee wail" gets a real leading role. Echoes of this sound effect are heard already in the Dungeons scene, but the wailing grows really spooky during the epic Dark Forest sequence.

Like everything else in the Snow White ride interior sets and backgrounds, all the shadows in the Dungeons scene are painted - and this is because the ultraviolet lighting of the ride is designed to illuminate everything and not to cast shadows in anywhere specific. Under the ultraviolet lighting also the gruesome skeletons transform into hypnotically luminous creatures.

Legacy of the Scary Dungeons

While the concept of skeletons dangling in chains in gloomy dungeons is not specifically initiated by Disney, the legacy of the Snow White dark ride dungeons may pop up in the most curious places.

Disney's Aladdin trilogy - the original 1992 movie and its sequels Aladdin: The Return of Jafar (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) - did include some minor dungeon scenes, but did not feature skeletons in chains or cruel instruments of torture. However, on a DVD game Aladdin's Magic Carpet Adventure there was an entire sequence inside the creepy dungeons of the Sultan's palace. This beautifully computer-animated (though totally silly) game was produced for the original 2-Disc Special Edition DVD of Aladdin. The game contains several different segments, but the dungeon sequence is definitely the most detailed: you fly through dimly-lit corridors where walls converge with spikes, snake statues spit darts, the skeletons of former prisoners reach out from their cells and razor-sharp pendulums threat to slice you up. After crashing into a pile of bones and skulls you descend to the deepest part of the dungeons, where in a dark torture chamber even more grisly skeletons hang in their chains while one is strained to utmost limit on a stretch rack. None of these horrors come from the Aladdin trilogy!

While most of the aforementioned booby traps seem to be borrowed from the Indiana Jones movies, the deepest torture chamber is curiously reminiscent of the "Dungeons" scene in Snow White's Scary Adventures dark ride (the Paris, Tokyo and California versions) with the eerie fluorescent colours, the strange laboratory equipment and the totally grisly skeletons dangling on the walls in tight manacles. The spiky iron maiden and the uniquely cruel stretch rack are among things you'd never expect to find in a Disney product aimed at young kids.

Darkest Secret of the Dungeon

There is even more to these luminous bony fellows in the the Snow White dark rides than meets the eye. Especially the skeleton chained cruelly to the wall has quite interesting connections - with arms strained wide apart, wrists in manacles, skull drooping and ankles in shackles with feet not touching the ground. Such horrifying torture is definitely not the typical Disney material. More than 70 years ago, however, such shocking material was actually planned for the world's first animated motion picture, with story adaptation by Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Dick Rickard and Webb Smith - and initiated by Walt Disney.

Among the many abandoned story concepts for the 1937 movie SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS there was an entire subplot filled with skeletons, dungeons and torture - contrast with spectacular romance and beauty. In this legendary storyline the Prince (also known as the Prince Charming) had indeed a far more significant role than to just pop up in the beginning of the movie and reappear in the ending. Refusing a marriage proposal by the Evil Queen, the Prince is dragged down to the castle's deepest dungeon, where - among grisly skeletal remains of former prisoners - the helpless young man is taunted and tortured in order to change his mind. The Prince is eventually rescued by Snow White's bird friends, but not before several long hours of unimaginable horrors.

This abandoned subplot included a particular chained skeleton of "Prince Oswald" pointed out by the Evil Queen. ("Oswald" the skeleton may have been named after Oswald the Lucky Rabbit who was "kidnapped" from Walt Disney before the creation of Mickey Mouse). The original storyline had "Oswald" and the other skeletons doing a "danse macabre" at the Evil Queen's bidding (reminiscent of the 1929 cartoon short The Skeleton Dance). Despite of these delightfully macabre plans, the final 1937 animated classic SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS included only two skeletons in the castle cellars and not a single so grotesquely chained skeleton as "Oswald" hanging on any wall.

Most sources claim that this exciting subplot was scrapped mainly because the animators had major difficulties animating the Prince as a convincing male. However, the abandoned storyline would also have resulted in much darker and maybe even “too adult” movie, but it would have also made the story much more adventurous, thrilling and epic - and, yes, extremely scary!

The dungeons and at least one imprisoned skeleton were already featured in California's original 1955 Snow White's Adventures dark ride. The ride scenes were selected by Ken Anderson (who was one the art directors of the original 1937 movie), so it may have been him who was really responsible for opening the jar full of delightful worms with these chained and imprisoned skeletons.

However, the Dungeons of the "Scary Adventures Formula" in California, Paris and Tokyo seem to refer to the abandoned storyline more clearly with one of the skeletons chained to the wall almost exactly like “Prince Oswald” in the original sketches for the 1937 movie. The photo evidence from spring 2007 confirms this better than ever before; in the California ride the skeleton has quite authentic looking manacles spreading its arms wide apart and locking also the bony feet tightly against the wall. The skull of this California skeleton dangles in the exact same way as in the original "Oswald" sketches for the movie. The only thing that is missing from this dark ride skeleton, is the cruel collar locked with a padlock - a feature that is found in several original sketches for the movie, including the conceptual drawings of the heavily chained Prince.

Since these intriguing Dungeons seem to have been perfected for the 1983 "Scary Adventures Formula", we may look to the direction of Tony Baxter and Ken Anderson for letting the worms and maggots out from the almost forgotten jar. KenNetti reminds that this is not an official fact, but the delightful skeleton-filled Dungeons in the Snow White dark rides may have found their inspiration in the abandoned storyline of the Prince's cruel capture.

You can find much more on these abandoned Snow White storylines - and some totally shocking processed images inspired by Snow White's Scary Adventures dark ride photos - at KenNetti's
The Fairest... and the Scariest of Them All

The Dungeons
IMAGE GALLERY

The KenNetti Tribute for Snow White's Scary Adventures strives for presenting at least some of the essence of the actual enchantment and atmosphere found in the Snow White dark rides. This is why most of our exclusively enhanced & expanded photos are not as glaringly revealing as most dark ride images on the internet. We ask you to notice, however, that some of these expanded and/or enhanced photos may not show things (sets, lighting and character design) exactly like they appear / or have appeared in the rides.

Most images and photos are specially processed for this KenNetti appearance. Originals can be found at the websites of the image providers or copyright holders. Whenever a provider or copyright holder other than Disney has been indicated in these images and photos, the originals have been used by permission in this KenNetti Snow White's Scary Adventures Tribute. KenNetti doesn't always have the exact source of the original images and photos provided by several different people, so these originals are usually copyrighted to the providers of the images.

The Skeletons
The 1960s SWA Skeleton
The California "Oswald" 2007
The California "Oswald" (Collage)
On the Floor - The California Version
Dangling in the Cramped Cell
The "Formula" Dungeons
The Paris Skeletons (Collage)
The Paris "Oswald"
"Make-It-Yourself" Skeleton
(Built from Tiny Bits)

Aladdin's Magic Carpet Adventure
Torture Chamber Scene

Original Sketches
In Chains - Original Sketch
In Chains - Slightly Enhanced
Flooding the Dungeon - Enhanced
Flooding the Dungeon - Original
Skeletons In Chains
1983 Poster Style "Echoes"

Further images and information on
"The Captured Prince" is found at KenNetti's
The Fairest... and the Scariest of Them All

This is the
last page on KenNetti's
Snow White's Scary Adventures
T r i b u t e

THE KENNETTI MAIN PAGE
& MAIN INDEX

KenNetti Presents
SNOW WHITE'S SCARY ADVENTURES
T h e -T r i b u t e

The Introduction & Tribute Main Index

Research, analyse, text,
design and image processing
by Kenneth Sundberg

All original artwork © Disney

T H A N K - Y O U
Without the indispensable support
and inspiration of the following
kind and generous people
KenNetti's SWSA Tribute would have
remained very little and inaccurate
P i a -L i n d s t r ö m
D. Brecher • J. A. Ganz
Dan Olson • Kurt Raymond
Charles Routh • D. Allen
Daveland & Dave DeCaro
Gorillas Don't Blog & David Eppen
Walt Dated World & Mouseketeer Alison
Chris' TDR Fan Site & Chris Calabrese
Widen Your World & Mike Lee
DAFE & Rick Davis
Markku Jääskeläinen
MintCrocodile at YouTube
WidenYourWorld at YouTube
HV10N90 at YouTube
RandomJazzy at YouTube
hbvideos at YouTube

Other information & photo sources:
Jack E. Janzen: E-Ticket Magazine #13
Randy Bright: Disneyland - Inside Story (1987)
Richard Holliss & Brian Sibley: Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs & the Making of the Classic Film (1987/1994)
The Imagineers: Walt Disney Imagineering (1996)
The Imagineers: The Imagineering Field Guide to the
Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World (2005)
Jeff Kurtti: Walt Disney's Imagineering Legends and
the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park (2008)
David Koenig: Mouse Tales (1994/2006)
David Koenig: More Mouse Tales (1999/2002)
David Koenig: Mouse Under Glass - Secrets of Disney
Animation and Theme Parks (1997/2001)
David Koenig: Realityland - True-Life Adventures
at Walt Disney World (2007)
Alain Littaye & Didier Ghez: Disneyland Paris
- From Sketch to Reality (2002)
Tim Hollis & Greg Ehrbar: Mouse Tracks
- The Story of Walt Disney Records (2006)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Original Motion
Picture Soundtrack CD (Walt Disney Records, 1993)
David Tietyen: The Musical World of Walt Disney (1990)
Steve Birnbaum: Walt Disney World - The Official Guide (1986)
Birnbaum's Disneyland - The Official Guide (1997)
Steve Birnbaum: Walt Disney World - The Official Guide (1991)
Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas: The Disney Villain (1993)
Disney theme park guidebooks & maps
YouTube / Wikipedia.org / Answers.com
www.DoomBuggies.com message boards
Happy Hills Way Happy Hoppies Test & Travel Group
Dr Vanessa Toulmin, NFA Website, 1997: Fairground Shows
Nick Laister (www.joylandbooks.com)
Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts (www.dafe.org)
Laff in the Dark (www.laffinthedark.com)
www.MovieMusic.com messageboards
Kentsu Pictures Video Archives
and Kenneth Sundberg
_______________________________________

KenNetti is a totally non-commercial website by Kenneth Sundberg to pay tribute and to honour the work of the talented people behind some of the most wonderful things found on this planet. All the material is gathered here only to inform, to promote things that need to be noticed, and to entertain people all over the world. KenNetti and Kenneth Sundberg are not affiliated to any of the companies, theme parks, movies, people, ghosts or other things appearing on this site. No rights of reproduction have been granted to KenNetti or Kenneth Sundberg, except where indicated. If You feel that some image or material whatsoever should not appear on this site, please CONTACT Kenneth Sundberg so that we can quickly resolve the problem.