“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (白雪姫), Original Japanese First-Release Movie Poster 1950, “Head-Office” Style, Ultra Rare, B2 Size (approx. 51 × 73 cm) (G)

A landmark 1950 first-release Japanese B2 for Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—the studio’s first feature-length animated film and one of the most consequential titles in animation history. This is the coveted Japan “head-office” illustrated design, centered on Snow White in a luminous halo, surrounded by the Seven Dwarfs and woodland animals, with drifting snowflakes and a misted castle vignette—a composition of unusual elegance and airy scale for early post-war Japanese film advertising.

For collectors, it is a true Japanese Disney “holy grail”: bold sculptural 白雪姫 title typography, refined storybook illustration, and period distribution credit to 大映洋画部配給 (Daiei) anchoring it firmly to the film’s first Japanese theatrical campaign. We believe this poster survives in only a handful of known copies (an exact population is extremely difficult to establish for working theatrical sheets from this era). Importantly, while other Japanese Snow White B2 designs have been publicly recorded, we have not found a documented appearance of this exact head-office B2 layout in publicly searchable records in Japan or the West—an indicator of how rarely this specific format and style surfaces.

Sourced from a private collection in Japan, this is an exceptionally rare survivor—especially in the present state of preservation. 

Date & Japanese Theatrical Release

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs originally premiered in 1937, but Japan’s first theatrical release came later: 26 September 1950, distributed by Daiei’s foreign-film division (大映洋画部配給). The poster itself underscores the long-awaited arrival with the headline 「待望十年！世紀の傑作遂に登場！」 (“Awaited for ten years! The masterpiece of the century finally appears!”), capturing the sense of a major post-war event release. The campaign’s positioning line 「ウォルト・ディズニー製作長篇天然色漫画」 (“A Walt Disney production—feature-length, natural-color cartoon”) further frames the film as a prestige imported feature rather than children’s short-subject entertainment.

The Film & Its Place in Disney’s Legacy

Produced by Walt Disney Productions, Snow White is widely regarded as the studio’s defining breakthrough in feature animation—both as a technical leap and as proof that animation could sustain dramatic storytelling at full-length scale. Institutional recognition reinforces its stature: the film received the famous Academy Honorary Award (one full-size Oscar with seven miniature statuettes) and was nominated for Music (Scoring). It ranks #1 on AFI’s 10 Top 10 (Animation) and was selected for the U.S. National Film Registry.

For Japanese collectors, that legacy intersects with the significance of the 1950 Japanese release—an early, influential post-war Disney feature arrival that helped shape local reception of Western animation and its cinematic potential.

Design Notes

Sculptural title typography: the three kanji 白・雪・姫 are rendered as dimensional, constructed forms—blue / yellow / red—with a crisp, architectural presence that reads like a premium “title object” rather than flat lettering.

Central “portrait tableau” composition: Snow White stands front and center, hands delicately posed, framed by the dwarfs in expressive reactions and complemented by small woodland figures (including a deer and birds). The spacing and soft atmospheric background give the sheet a fine-illustration, storybook quality.

Winter iconography and fairytale distance: drifting snowflakes, a small bird in flight, and a misted castle vignette create depth and a sense of enchanted scale.

Bilingual prestige branding: the ornate English “Snow White and the seven dwarfs” title at the bottom merges Western fairytale styling with Japanese theatrical identity through the distributor credit 大映洋画部配給 (Daiei).

Text translations (including small English line):
• 待望十年！世紀の傑作遂に登場！ — “Awaited for ten years! The masterpiece of the century finally appears!”
• ウォルト・ディズニー製作長篇天然色漫画 — “A Walt Disney production—feature-length, natural-color cartoon”
• Bottom-left small English: “WALT DISNEY’S / FIRST FULL-LENGTH FEATURE / In Technicolor” (a period branding line that functions as an historical fingerprint of Disney’s earliest feature era).

Disney, Daiei, and Japan’s Post‑War Reception

The poster’s Daiei foreign-film distribution credit is not merely a footer—it situates the sheet within Japan’s post-war theatrical infrastructure, when imported prestige titles were marketed as major events. Contemporary commentary and cultural history sources note the importance of Snow White’s Japanese arrival and Disney’s influence on Japanese animation culture in the post-war era, helping to shape audience expectations for character animation, musical storytelling, and cinematic presentation.

Condition Report

Overall condition: Excellent (professionally conserved and backed).

This poster has been professionally conserved and backed with traditional Japanese washi to stabilize the sheet for long-term preservation and display. Japanese conservation practice commonly emphasizes safe materials and reversibility, frequently using washi (often kōzo fiber papers) and wheat starch paste precisely because these methods are stable and can be reversed by future conservators. In practice, this approach reinforces folds/tears while keeping the object flexible rather than brittle—resulting in a flatter, stronger sheet that still respects the original paper.

Condition details: Colours remain richly saturated with strong contrast. The original central fold is now cleanly supported and presents smoothly; minor edge stress and small handling traces typical of a hung transit poster have been stabilized by conservation. Light, normal age-appropriate toning is limited to the verso (as expected for period paper). Overall presentation is crisp, vibrant, and ready to frame. Please review the provided photos (front and back)—they show the exact poster offered.