During the mid to late 1940s, Walt Disney Productions had suffered financially after losing connections to the European film markets due to the outbreak of World War II. During this time, the studio endured box office bombs such as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), and Bambi (1942), all of which would later become more successful with several re-releases in theaters and on home video. Due to this, the studio was over $4 million in debt and was on the verge of bankruptcy. After two years in production, Cinderella was released by RKO Radio Pictures on February 15, 1950. It became the greatest critical and commercial hit for the Disney studio since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Dumbo (1941), and helped reverse the studio’s fortunes. It received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Music, Original Song for “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”.
