Sleepy is one of the dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. True to his name, he is always weary and droopy-eyed, and is always eager to fall asleep. Despite his laziness, he often proves to be the most observant and sensible of the dwarfs. He is constantly pestered by a fly. He was voiced by storyman Pinto Colvig, who also provided the voice of Grumpy.
Appearances
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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Sleepy at work
Working at the Mine
Sleepy is first introduced, with his seven companions, at the Dwarfs' Mine. He controls the mine cart, presumably transporting the diamonds to Doc, who then sorts them. The cart is pulled by a deer. At one point the fly pesters Sleepy, who in an attempt to swat the fly, accidentally hits the deer's backside; this causes the deer to kick the cart, sending Sleepy flying, several times. As the dwarfs march home, singing "Heigh Ho", Sleepy is fourth in line.
Finding Snow White
When the seven dwarfs reach their cottage, they think that a monster has taken up residence in their house. They sneak into the cottage (Dopey peeking through Sleepy's beard) and search the room. The dwarfs note that the cottage has been cleaned. They decide that whatever is in the cottage is upstairs, and Doc declares that one of them must go upstairs to chase it out of the house. Dopey is elected, and Doc, his hand shaking, gives Dopey the candle. Dopey is so terrified upon entering the bedroom that, when he hears a noise coming from the beds, he screams and rushes downstairs. The other dwarfs think that he is the monster and rush outside, locking the door. Dopey falls into the kitchen and emerges from the cottage covered in pots and pans. When the other dwarfs see him they, thinking that he is the monster, start hitting him. When they realise that it is Dopey, they decide to venture into the bedroom. They are about to strike whatever is sleeping in their beds when they realise that it is the princess, Snow White. Grumpy begins to complain, and Doc attempts to silence him, but Snow White is woken up. She manages to match the name at the foot of each bed to the correct dwarf, identifying Sleepy third.
In the Cottage
Eventually it is agreed that Snow White will clean and cook for the dwarfs if she is allowed to stay. She prepares soup for them, but demands that they wash first. The dwarfs reluctantly march outside. Here, the dwarfs, led by Doc, wash themselves, while singing "Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum (The Dwarfs' Washing Song)". Next to Sleepy, the fly can be seen washing itself on the soap. Grumpy refuses to wash, but the other dwarfs, led by Doc, to drag him to the water and wash him thoroughly. Later that evening, after supper, the seven dwarfs entertain Snow White with "The Silly Song"; to begin with, Sleepy is once again bothered by the Fly, and attempts to hit it with a cymbal, succeeding only in striking himself in the process. After they finish the song, the dwarfs listen to Snow White sing "Some Day My Prince Will Come", which sends every dwarf, except the stubborn Grumpy, into a dream-like state. Doc declares that Snow White will sleep in the bedroom upstairs, and the dwarfs must sleep downstairs. As Sleepy settles down in a corner of the room, the fly sleeps on his nose.
The dwarfs mourning
The Finale
The next morning, as each dwarf leaves, he is kissed by Snow White. While the dwarfs head to the mine, the Queen, as the Witch, makes her way to the cottage, knowing that only Snow White will be at home. Upon her arrival at the cottage, the animals sense danger and, after attempting to drive her away, rush to the mine to fetch the dwarfs, where they try to warn them. When Sleepy suggests that the Queen has found Snow White, the dwarfs rush home to find that the Witch has succeeded in poisoning the princess and is about to leave. The dwarfs chase the Witch into the mountains, and she reaches a cliff. She attempts to crush the dwarfs with a boulder, but a flash of lightning causes her to fall from the cliff and be crushed by the boulder herself.
The seven dwarfs mourn Snow White's death; tears stream down Happy's face, and he is silent. The dwarfs find her to be so beautiful, even in death, that they fashion a coffin from glass and place her inside. The Prince arrives, and the dwarfs part so that he can approach Snow White. He kisses her, breaking the spell of the Sleeping Death, and the dwarfs cheer. Before Snow White leaves with the Prince, she kisses each dwarf on the forehead.
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Theme Park Appearances
The Seven Dwarfs, played by actors in large masks, appear in Disneyland's Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams. They walk in a long line, coming before the Snow White float. They also appear as animatronics, performing "The Silly Song", in Snow White's Scary Adventures.
| SLEEPY: (voice: Sterling Holloway) Falls asleep at wrong time. Fly bothers him. Long, lanky type. Untidy. One sock down. —Story outline for October 22, 1934, for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs[1] |
Behind the Scenes
Animation
Though designing the dwarfs was relatively easy, animating them proved to be difficult, as the animators, already finding human figures difficult to animate, now had to animate 'ill-formed' human figures. Vladimir Tytla noted that the dwarfs should walk with a swing to their hips, and Fred Moore commented that the dwarfs had to move a little more quickly to keep up with the human characters[2]. In order to establish Sleepy's character during the march home in "Heigh Ho", George Stalling noted traits specific to the character, to be taken into account in the animation:
| Sleepy is almost walking in his sleep, dragging his feet but keeping pace. His pick gets caught in his clothes and forces him to walk on his toes. —Studio meeting notes[2] |
A drawing by Albert Hurter of Sleepy with his mouth wide open in a yawn inspired animator Fred Moore to be more extreme in Sleepy's animation. Moore made sure that, on every animation drawing of Sleepy, one eye was larger than the other, or one eye was more squashed than the other, to suggest the dwarf's perpetual weariness[3].
An inspirational sketch of Sleepy yawning
An armature of each dwarf was constructed as reference for the animators.
Abandoned Concepts
Trapping the Fly
At a story meeting of October 3, 1934, the suggestion was made that Sleepy bring an end to the conflict between the fly and himself by trapping the fly in Snow White's glass coffin[1].
Doc and Grumpy's fight
A sequence which was fully animated was ultimately cut as it was felt to detract from the story. Following Snow White's promise that she will cook gooseberry pie, all dwarfs cheer and agree that she can stay. The deleted sequence begins when Grumpy disagrees and scolds his fellows for weakening at the mention of gooseberry pie. Doc confronts Grumpy and a fight ensues, which Grumpy appears to be winning , until the other dwarfs try to pry him away. Snow White reminds them of how scary the forest will be for her if she has to leave, and Grumpy finally agrees that she can stay until she has made the gooseberry pie. The entire sequence can be seen on the second disc of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Platinum Edition DVD.
Ferdinand Hovarth's designs for the dwarfs Dopey, Grumpy, Happy and Sleepy
Music in Your Soup
After "Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum (The Dwarfs' Washing Song)", in which the dwarfs wash themselves, they sat down to eat the soup with Snow White and ate by slurping very loudly. The scene was cut as it was not felt relevant to the story.
You're Never Too Old
"You're Never Too Old" was originally to be sung by the dwarfs to Snow White. It was ultimately cut, because the subject of the song did not seem relevant to the story, and replaced with "The Silly Song".
Building a Bed for Snow White
A scene was storyboarded and partly animated in which the dwarfs hold a meeting to decide on a gift for Snow White. Sleepy suggests that the dwarfs construct a bed and, when his idea is met with enthusiasm (by all but Grumpy), volunteers to "try it out... when you're through".
References
