When the Brothers Grimm first published Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1898 (a similar story had been told in many cultures for centuries), they couldn’t have known the tale of a young princess, sheltered from her wicked stepmother queen by diminutive miners, would become such an icon of American children’s folklore. Disney immortalized the tale on the big screen as an animated feature film in 1937, and its celluloid legacy equals or surpasses other Disney properties, such as Mickey Mouse and The Lion King.
Disney produced Snow White as a musical; its run at the Disneyland theme park will continue until an unspecified time next year in celebration of the park’s 50th anniversary. Therefore, they sought conspicuous promotion. As such, they contacted Young Electric Sign Co.’s (YESCO) Los Angeles office to discuss signage options.
Location, location, location
YESCO had contractual arrangements for the rooftop signage at Tinseltown’s historic 6253 Hollywood and Vine, which was formerly known as the Hollywood Equitable Building. Aleck Curlett, a prominent architect of his day, designed the building in 1929 in Gothic Deco style, common for financial institutions of that era. Today, the historic structure’s occupants comprise a mixture of restaurants, nightclubs and office space.
The sign’s backdrop, a 72 x 80-ft., steel frame, was originally erected when Disney’s Lion King musical played at the neighboring Pantages Theater.
Dave Hargis, a YESCO account executive with 24 years of industry experience; Pat O’Donnell, the company’s outdoor-market manager; and David K. Jones, YESCO’s attorney, handled negotiations with Disney. They proposed the Hollywood and Vine location because they believed it was a natural for promoting the production.
"They loved the idea of its location as the ‘jewel’ of its promotional campaign," Hargis said.
Michael Mendenhall, executive vice president of the Disneyland Resort, agreed.
"We wanted to raise consumer awareness and position the show as an elaborate theatrical production, along the lines of a Broadway musical," he explained. "Displaying a highly crafted sign, at a prominent Los Angeles location, helped us achieve that."
Light fantastic
Sixty days prior to the show’s opening, YESCO began the project with camera-ready artwork from Disney. YESCO’s graphic-arts department digitized the copy and artwork with Corel Corp.’s CorelDRAW