Snow White Grotto is an attraction at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, which originally opened on April 9, 1961,

Tokyo Disneyland is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney park t ...

at the

Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company, the Oriental Land Co., a subsidiary of the Keisei Electric Rai ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1983, and at

Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (abbreviated HKDL; also known as HK Disneyland or Disneyland Hong Kong) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It opened to visitors on Monday, September 12, 2005, at 13:00 H ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 2005. It is a

wishing well A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe water well, wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the notion that water housed deity, deities or had ...

located at the east of

Sleeping Beauty Castle Sleeping Beauty Castle is a fairy tale castle at the center of Disneyland and formerly at Hong Kong Disneyland. It is based on the late 19th century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany.Imagineers (1998). Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind t ...

for Disneyland and west of

Castle of Magical Dreams Castle of Magical Dreams is the centerpiece castle at Hong Kong Disneyland. It replaced the park's previous centerpiece, Sleeping Beauty Castle, as part of the park's 15th anniversary celebration. The castle's design pays tribute to the 12 Di ...

for Hong Kong Disneyland and

Cinderella Castle Cinderella Castle is a fairy tale castle at the center of two Disney Experiences, Disney theme parks: the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland at the Tokyo Disney Resort. Based on Cinderella (Disney character), Cinderella's f ...

for Tokyo Disneyland. Guests can throw a coin and make a wish in front of the grotto. When

was under construction, the error in which Snow White was taller than the dwarfs was corrected. However, it was later decided to replicate the Disneyland version in which Snow White is the same height as the dwarfs.

Overview

Snow White Grotto is located on the east side of the

and

. The grotto includes statues of

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

, the seven dwarfs, and a few woodland creatures. Snow White is standing at the top of a cascading waterfall. There is a bridge and a walkway in front of the waterfall as well as a

, the proceeds of which go to local children's charities. The statues were donated anonymously and

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

was determined to incorporate them into the

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

. The only problem was that whoever made the statues made Snow White the same size as the dwarves, which she is not. Walt Disney Imagineer

John Hench John Hench (June 29, 1908 – February 5, 2004) was an American artist, designer and director at The Walt Disney Company. For 65 years, he helped design and develop various Disney attractions and theme parks. Early life Hench was born on June ...

used the optical trick of forced perspective to make the statues work. He put Snow White at the top of the waterfall with a Disney-made small deer and put the dwarfs close to ground-level, making Snow White to appear further away, and thus smaller. One rumor as to the origin of the statues is that they were "a gift from an Italian sculptor that had never seen the

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, but owned a set of soaps in the form of the princess and the dwarfs. Unfortunately, Snow White was the same size as the dwarfs in the soap set, so the sculptor made her that way." The song "I'm Wishing" was also re-recorded and added to the grotto inside the wishing well in 1991 by

Adriana Caselotti Adriana Elena Loretta Caselotti (May 6, 1916 – January 19, 1997) was an American actress and singer. Caselotti was the voice of the title character of the first Walt Disney animated feature, '' Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs'' (1937), for which ...

, who was the original voice of

from the 1937 film.

References

{{Hong Kong Disneyland Disneyland Tokyo Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland

Grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

Fantasyland Grottoes Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions