Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Being the first cel-animated motion picture in history, the Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is impossible to miss. It is also the first animated feature to be produced in America, the first animated feature to be produced in colour, and the first entry in Walt Disney’s classic canon of films. The film premiered in 1937 and has gone on to become a true classic, landing as one of two animated movies on AFI’s list of 100 greatest American pictures of all time. Fantasia is the other movie on the list.

Discussing something like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in any new, meaningful way is almost always a challenge. The movie has been examined from frame to frame by experts in animation and passionate fans alike, generating scads of commentary that can be found anywhere discussions on film are taking place. It is one of those success stories, as Walt Disney’s vision for a completely animated feature film was pretty groundbreaking at the time.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is, of course, an imaginative re-telling of the classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Like with many Disney pictures, creative license was taking in adapting fairy tales and many of the darker themes were removed. A lot of what occurs in Snow White is still surprisingly dark, with themes of death and vanity infusing the piece.

Snow White is a princess living with her stepmother, a cruel and wicked witch. That the concept of the stepmother is so often rendered an ugly, jealous character is something for another discussion, but the vanity and jealousy exhibited by the stepmother in this case is the driving force of the whole film. Told that she is no longer the most beautiful in the land, the wicked stepmother dispatches a huntsman to kill Snow White. He can’t do it, however, and she escapes through to a magical forest.

Befriended by various woodland creatures, Snow White eventually comes into contact with a septet of mining dwarfs and begins to take care of them. Their resistance to her mothering instincts is worn away and they grow fond of her. Soon, the wicked stepmother learns that Snow White is still alive and sets out to kill her so that she can once again be the most beautiful in the land.

The animation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is fascinating in many respects. The animated humans, drawn from the process of rotoscoping with the exception of the Queen, come across as incredibly fluid. Some portions of the animated prince don’t come across all that well, likely a result of the tracing process more than anything else. While Disney once complained about the lack of preparation they took, the movie still ages well and looks quite breathtaking at times.

The songs of Snow White, composed by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey, are some of the most famous ever written. The classic working song of the dwarfs and the timeless “Whistle While You Work” speak to the movie’s theme of getting past difficult times and through hardships with a charming ditty. The act of singing through the working day is perhaps not a new concept, but Snow White gleefully employs it throughout.

Watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs again, it’s easy to see why the New York Times would have said “Thank You Very Much, Mr. Disney.” The film is a true classic, generating a spellbinding story through simplicity and beautiful animation. Nothing about Snow White is overly complex and nothing about it needs to be. It takes the viewer back to a time when storytelling was a community affair, showcasing the talents of songwriters and animators and writers working on one task to tell an enduring, entertaining narrative that will shine on for generations to come.

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