A U.S. patent was granted for making a "Sealed Crustless Sandwich," (No. 6,004,596), to David Geske and Len C. Kretchman of Menusaver, Inc. From 1995, they had successfully marketed their product to schools. Smucker bought the company and introduced "Uncrustables." Shortly, Smucker alleged patent infringement by Abbie's Foods, Inc., a grocer and caterer, warning them to cease selling a crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Albie's appealed to federal court (11 Jan 2001). Challenging the patent, Albie's and requested (9 Mar 2001) a Patent Office re-examination. A patent requires non-obviousness, and is invalidated by any prior useage. Despite Smucker's further patent filings and appeals, the Patent Office finally cancelled the improvident patent (8 Dec 2006).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney's first full-length (83 minutes), animated film opened in Los Angeles, California. Using the story adapted from Brothers Grimms' Fairy Tales, it was the first commercially successful film of its kind. This pioneering film made use of the multi-plane camera to achieve an effect of depth, introduced human characters modeled on live actors, and used larger painted cels. After two years and a then astronomical $1.5 million to create, it was released for its premiere during Christmas of 1937. Disney had to mortgage his house to pay for the film's production. This followed within a span of just 12 years since the first black and white talking Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie (1928).