Walt Disney created Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was a major success in 1937. The film made $1,499,000, and this was during the great depression. When the film industry learned of Disney's plans to produce an animated feature-length version of Snow White, they were certain that this would destroy the Disney Studio. Both Lillian, his wife, and Roy, his brother, tried to talk Disney out of the project, but he continued plans for the feature.
During World War 2, Disney released Dumbo and Bambi. In 1945, The Three Caballeros was the last animated feature released by the studio during the war. Disney was asked by the US Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, to make an educational film about the Amazon Basin. Which resulted in the 1944 animated short, The Amazon Awakens.