Edmundo Santos Adán was, to put it simply, the most important figure in the history of
Disney's Spanish dubs. Before he came to work for the company, Santos was a radio announcer, dancer, singer, and even appeared on the Broadway. One day, while conducting his radio show, he criticized the original dub of
Snow White, saying that the songs had no rhythm or harmony and that the the accents of the characters lacked neutrality.
note Most of the voice actors came from entirely different countries Disney took note of this and responded by flying him to Burbank and giving him the score to
Pinocchio so that he could adapt it into the Spanish language. On the trip back to Tijuana, he had turned "When You Wish Upon A Star" into "La estrella azul". He would later serve as both the musical adapter and Spanish translator for both
Dumbo and
Bambi. When Disney decided to move their Spanish dubs back to Los Angeles after their partnership with Argentina Sono Film, they offered him the chance to direct the dubs himself, an offer he took up. From then until his death in 1977, he served as a director for most of Disney's films, staying on board even after dubbing moved to Mexico.
