Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Movie Info

Frolicking is fun!

Snow White is considered the most beautiful girl in the land which drives her wicked stepmother into a jealous rage.  When the witch orders Snow White killed by a huntsman, the huntsman spares her life. Snow White flees into the forest for safety and discovers the home of seven dwarfs.  Though in the protection of the dwarfs Dopey, Sneezy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Bashful, Happy, and Doc, Snow White’s life is still in danger.  Will Snow White be protected from the evil witch and will she ever find her prince?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full length animated feature in the United States and was predicted to be a failure for Walt Disney.  The movie is sometimes mislabeled as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but the spelling of dwarfs as dwarves was popularized by J. R. R. Tolkien at a later date.  The movie was a huge success and started the popular idea of marketing toys and merchandise with a film.

It was a sad day when termites attacked the dwarfs path home

I am not a huge Snow White fan.  I do enjoy the animation which has that classic, very fluid movements but with static (but very detailed) backgrounds.  My problem with Snow White is the sing-songy style of Snow White’s voice.  Snow White speaks in a flutter of butterflies light and almost rhyming.  This makes the main character lighter than air and hard to connect to (which is a problem when it is called SNOW WHITE and the Seven Dwarfs).  It is kind of important you like the character.

The dwarfs and the Wicked Stepmother however are interesting characters.  Scenes with these characters really flow and help to make Snow White a better character.  Once Snow White reaches the dwarfs, the story moves much better and finally goes somewhere.  The pursuit and death of the Wicked Witch is quite shocking and really well done.  Disney’s little touches like the animals and the Witch’s raven help establish a style for Disney’s movies (which was used in animated shorts beforehand) and established a style for future films.

If only Snow White had been on a low carb diet, this tragedy would have never happened.

The music of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is quite good.  Be it the classic “Heigh-Ho” work song of the dwarfs or “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first movie to release a soundtrack.  The songs have become ingrained in popular culture so everyone knows “Whistle While You Work” and even the Gremlins can enjoy “Heigh-Ho”.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs started Disney as an institution.  It might not be my favorite Disney movie, but I have a lot of respect for it and what it accomplished.  The movie still looks great and a new Blu-Ray transfer has it looking more crisp than ever.  Walt Disney followed-up Snow White with Pinocchio in 1940.

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