In 1937, Walt Disney produced "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", the first American feature-length animated musical fantasy film. This was the culmination of four years of effort by Disney studios. Walt Disney was convinced that short cartoons would not keep his studio profitable in the long run, so he took what was seen as an enormous gamble. The critics predicted that "Snow White" would result in financial ruin for the studio. They said that the colors would be too bright for the audience and they would get sick of the gags and leave. However, the critics were proven wrong. "Snow White" was a worldwide box office success, and was universally acclaimed as a landmark in the development of animation as a serious art form.