Dubbed "Dopey" by his brothers, this loose-limbed dwarf has never spoken a word; as Happy explains to Snow White, "He never tried."
But Dopey isn't really dopey, he's just childlike.
Is it dopey to try and steal a second and third kiss from Snow White on your way to work, or to make yourself tall enough to dance with her by climbing on Sneezy's shoulders? Not at all. Dopey's a genius at fun and games (and a whiz at the drums to boot).
He just doesn't mind looking silly along the way.
So what if he wiggles his ears and shuffles his feet to his own skippity-skip beat?
He's simply being himself, and that's pretty smart.
In the early development process on the film, Dopey was the "leftover" dwarf with no particular personality.
Then one day animator Ward Kimball discovered vaudevillian actor Eddie Collins at a Los Angeles burlesque house.
Kimball invited the baby-faced Mr. Collins to the studio to perform and improvise pantomimes of Dopey's reactions on film.
Thanks much to Collins' innovative acting, Dopey assumed a very definite personality and soon became one of the animators' favorite dwarfs.
Collins' pantomime turned out to be one of the first times live-action reference footage was shot for an animated film. The technique proved so successful that it's still used today.
The inspiring Mr. Collins went on to perform live-action reference for Gideon in "Pinocchio" (1940).
