Before 1937, cartoons were only short subjects shown before 'real' movies. Walt Disney changed this with 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' The production was so difficult it was nicknamed 'Disney's Folly' by the industry, who believed adults wouldn't sit through a 90-minute cartoon. Disney had to mortgage his house to finish the film. It used the revolutionary 'Multiplane Camera' to create an illusion of depth by filming through several layers of glass drawings. The gamble paid off: it became the highest-grossing film of its time and earned Disney a special Oscar. It proved that animation was a legitimate medium for storytelling, leading to the creation of the massive animation industry that dominates Hollywood today.