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Who really said it

Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow

From the film Ted Sears and the Snow White story team
Attribution status: Attributed Reuse status: In copyright

The Magic Mirror describes Snow White with this line in Disney’s 1937 film. Wikiquote transcribes the dialogue and lists the film’s shared story-writing credits. Source and attribution evidence ↗

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Unconfirmed quote & credit

“Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow” — Ted Sears and the Snow White story team

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Walt Disney Productions). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Ted Sears and the Snow White story team — Film story writers. Theme: "Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Source
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Evidence
Source trail checked; limitations stated

Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow

An excerpt of the wording under discussion; see the source and attribution limitations below.

Source and attribution evidence

How we verified this

  • The Magic Mirror describes Snow White with this line in Disney’s 1937 film. Wikiquote transcribes the dialogue and lists the film’s shared story-writing credits. Source and attribution evidence ↗
  • The credited team comprises Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank, and Webb Smith. The source does not assign this individual sentence to one member. Read the supporting source ↗

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

The author

About Ted Sears and the Snow White story team

Ted Sears and the Snow White story team

Film story writers

Ted Sears is one member of the story-writing team credited on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film’s shared authorship matters here: the sources do not identify a sole writer for the Mirror’s description.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). See the linked evidence for the wording and attribution limitations.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/lips-red-as-the-rose-hair-black-as-ebony-skin-white-as-snow/

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