65th Academy Awards
There was a minor controversy when Snow White (Disney character) was presenting an award for Best Animated Short Subject. She was voiced by Mary Kay Bergman, Adriana Caselotti, the original voice of Snow White was not aware of this. She was reportedly offended that Disney didn't ask her to voice Snow White during the ceremony.
JoAnn Dean Killingsworth
Dean performed long-term with her professional dance partner, actor and dancer Gene Nelson. Nelson's then-wife, film and theater choreographer Miriam Nelson, was casting performers for an ABC television special in preparation for the 1955 opening of the company's first theme park, Disneyland, to be located in Anaheim, California. It was Miriam Nelson who cast Dean as Disneyland's first Snow White. Nelson recalled her impressions of Dean in a 2014 interview with "Orange Coast Magazine", "I thought JoAnn looked like Disney's Snow White, with her dark bangs...She was very enthusiastic, bubbly and always in good spirits. I knew she'd do a good job." Killingsworth, a 5-foot-3 dancer with dark brunette hair, was described as a bearing a strong resemblance to Disney's animated Snow White.