The speech disorder of Doc in Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

Abstract

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is one of the best-known childhood fairy tales. First put into writing in the collection of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,1 it owes its reputation to Disney’s animated film version of 1937.2 The movie, the first full-length animated feature, became one of Disney’s greatest films, and a classic in film history. In the original version by the Grimm brothers, the dwarfs do not have names, nor do they possess personalities. In the movie, each of the dwarfs is characterized by a certain feature that is an exaggeration of a human trait, on the verge of a caricature, and in order to avoid any doubt they are labeled with appropriate names (Grumpy, Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, and Dopey). Doc, the self-appointed leader of the dwarfs, is an exception. Unlike the other dwarfs, who have personality disorders, he has a language problem. For obvious reasons, a formal neurologic and mental status examination cannot be obtained. However, a rough neurologic status can be assessed from watching the film and analyzing its script.2,3⇓ Doc is a short, bearded, middle-aged man with no gross motor or sensory impairment, and no obvious signs of apraxia or incoordination. His disability is a disorder of verbal communication. All language functions …