Disney+ has finally arrived in the UK! 🙌 Now that we have all of the Disney goodness, I realised: there are a lot of Disney films I haven’t seen.
When I was in uni, Disney-mad friends were regularly shocked and appalled (okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration… more like bitterly disappointed) that I hadn’t seen some of the biggest Disney classics.
So now, it’s time to change that.
My Disney+ membership is in full swing and I’m ready to start watching some of the films I missed out on all my life. I’m going to start a new project. As of now (March 2020), there are currently 58 Disney Animated Classics, and I’m going to try* and watch them ALL in order and review them right here on my blog.
*I say “try” because I’m currently not sure if all 58 films are on Disney+, so I’ll watch as many as I can before sourcing any missing ones elsewhere.
If you want to see the full list of films and links to all of my reviews so far, head to the Disney Animated Classics tab on my A-Z Index page.
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“Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”
Exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household. – Description from IMDB
Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Year: 1937
Duration: 83 mins
Director: David Hand
Starring: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille LaVerne, Moroni Olsen, Billy Gilbert, Pinto Colvig
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
Seen before: Yes, probably as a child, but most memorably a few years ago.
Date rewatched: March 26th, 2020
Review
In contemporary films, I’m used to it taking a little while for the prince to show up so we can get some good princess character building. We see our heroine’s personality shine, and in more recent films especially, the relationship with the prince (or savior-like character) happens as a secondary plot to the heroine’s own growth.
But in this film, I love how we’re less than 6 minutes into the film — and about 4 minutes of that was opening credits — and the prince has already arrived on horseback, attracted to Snow White’s voice, and one song later, they’ve fallen in love.
What’s interesting, though, is that she barely talks about him while she’s with the dwars. She has her own adventure before the prince comes back to save her at the end. It’s like a nice middle ground between instalove and letting her have her own adventure too.
So how about the animation? When you’re used to contemporary Disney and Pixar films and their impeccable animation, the art style in this film seems so weird to watch now. I’m not even sure how to explain it. But you have to appreciate the fact that this was made in the 1930s, and this is pretty incredible for the time!
It’s interesting because the animals and background scenery look a lot like some of the films that are to come much later, but the animation of the characters themselves feel odd against the backdrop. I think that’s something I’ve found a bit unsettling both times I remember watching this film — the animation of Snow White herself. There’s something about it that just feels a bit off.
But there are some amazing parts too, again, especially for the time – like reflections in the water, shadows on the ground, and the constant scuttling of the many animals that follow Snow White around for almost the entire film.
Snow White is definitely the first typical “perfectly feminine” Disney Princess: an angelic singing voice that attracts a prince right to her doorstep, an affinity to talk to and control animals, and superb domestic skills. But again, as a film made in the 1930s, she’s definitely a character of her time. She also, I think, has the most unique singing voice of any Disney princess. There’s no voice like hers!
Generally, Snow White is a very confusing film. She’s singing into a well, almost being killed by a huntsman sent by the evil queen, and then she’s running, screaming and frantic, through a dark cave full of bats and seemingly animatronic trees.
Then the animals come and they sing a happy song and all is right again. Then she’s breaking into a house, filling it with wild animals, worrying if she’s broken into the home of some small orphans, and cleaning their house for them. (What if they want to live in a hovel? Although, I would honestly love someone to break into my house and clean it for me. That’d be grand.)
Story-wise, it’s not the strongest. The last time I watched this film, a few years ago, I remember being bored and finding myself getting distracted halfway through — and it was the same again when I rewatched it. I stopped really caring what was happening. I think this is what’s so good about the more contemporary films – they make you feel for the characters so you care what happens to them. But this one doesn’t have much of a story arc and I always find myself wanting the story to move on.
It’s also interesting that half the story is told through text on the screen; maybe because this wasn’t long after the silent movie era ended, so this still had some of the same characteristics.
In its defense, I think this was maybe more of a showcase of the animation itself, and I’m sure audiences 80+ years ago would have been thrilled! I think we’ve been spoiled by beautiful animation and action-packed, emotional stories that the much older films potentially fall a little flat on an adult audience.
Even so, I can appreciate it for a film of its time. The animation was groundbreaking, and once upon a time (ahem), the story would have been interesting enough to get people to sit down and watch a full animated feature, when such a thing hadn’t existed previously.
It might not have the strongest story or be able to fully keep my attention, but in its time, it was undoubtedly something special: the dawn of the thriving animated film industry that we have today. So for that, I have to give it a lot of appreciation and respect.
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Enjoyment rating: 2.5 / 5
Will watch again: Probably not out of choice
Question of the day… the Dwarfs all have names that suit their personalities: Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, etc. If you had to pick a Dwarf name based on just one of your personality traits, what would yours be?
Useful Links:
For a full list of films and links to all of my reviews so far, head to the Disney Animated Classics tab on my A-Z Index page.
