Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Movie Review: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Year of Release: 1937
Country of Origin: USA
Director: David Hand
Cast: Roy Atwell, Stuart Buchanan, Adriana Caselotti

Plot outline: From the old fairy tale, a jealous queen attempts to get rid of her beautiful step-daughter, Snow White, who takes refuge with seven dwarfs in their forest home (IMDb).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first feature length animated movie. It cost the studio $1.5 million to make, which was six times the cost of an average feature. More than five hundred animators contributed to the movie, which used a multiplane camera to create an effect of depth. It made $8.5 million during its first run alone, with many more millions made during subsequent re-releases. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was not merely the first, but remains the best of all animated movies. Cynics may have more room for complaint than exists in later, more 'sophisticated' movies. But it is the lack of self-consciousness that adds to the charm of Snow White. The story may be simple, and the characters may be stereotyped. But the execution is flawless. Snow White is so sweet and innocent that the forest animals assist her at every turn, even helping her to clean house. The dwarfs work in a mine strewn with gigantic diamonds that are already cut and polished, none of which seems to have increased their standard of living. No one thinks to leave a dwarf at home to help protect the hopelessly gullible Snow White from the wiles of the evil Queen. Snow White and Prince Charming are not only perfect in appearance, but are blessed with incredible voices. Complain all you want to about how unlikely the story is. All criticism of the story elements is made meaningless by the overpowering quality of the presentation. The drawings are magnificent, with their multicoloured backgrounds and shadows. The characters are strongly defined, and their motions are perfectly animated. The voices are perfect as well. Today, actor celebrities typically provide cartoon voices in Disney movies. But with Snow White, the voice talent was cast via a perfect match with the character, which is just as it should be. Some scenes are justly famous. The dwarfs return home from work singing, with each of their walks having a different cadence. Dopey dances with Snow White while atop the shoulders of another dwarf. But my favorite scenes feature the evil Queen. It is gloriously frightening when she transforms herself into an 'old hag', and her last stand is also great cinema. The suspense of the poisoned apple is extended, with the cavalry riding to the rescue as in the climax of an old D.W. Griffith silent feature. Despite all the comic relief dwarfs and friendly forest animals, Snow White is to some degree a horror movie. And not just due to the Queen's presence, as Snow White has a terrifying flight into the forest. Walt Disney was awarded a special Oscar for "significant screen achievement" by the Academy. The presenter was Shirley Temple, who also gave Disney seven little Oscars, one for each dwarf. The film was also nominated for Best Score. (BK)

My judgement: **** out of 4 stars