The Fairest One of All

#34—Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Synonymous with animation, Walt Disney built an empire on the little cartoons he created in the 20s. Starting with a rabbit, Disney revolutionized the way audiences viewed animated shorts. Disney’s first creation, Oswald the Rabbit, failed and so he decided to craft something new that would sky rocket his name into the history books. Disney’s animated shorts were nice for a time, but Disney had grander plans for animation that would also change people’s ideas on how they viewed cartoons. Disney chose to extend the short into a full feature length film and the story he elected was a Grimm Brothers fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Snow White tells the story of a young princess that is hated by her wicked Stepmother. Taking her jealousy to a deadly level, the Stepmother hires a hitman to lure Snow White to the forest and murder her. Though his conscience takes over and feverously tells Snow White to run and hide in the neighboring forest, out of her Stepmother’s reach. Snow White, unfortunately, doesn’t run far enough and her Stepmother finds out she is still alive and so takes it upon herself to track the princess down and kill her herself.

As I am well aware, the plot of this film is highly known but I thought I would give it a more adult flair. As I am also sure that any Disney fan knows the significance of this film. Disney was very popular with his Mickey Mouse shorts; it was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that solidified Disney’s name with animated movies. Being the first full length animated film, Snow White is yet another film on this list that paved the way for other filmmakers to create art in a creative way. Disney does an outstanding job of mixing drama, suspense, and comedy into the movie.

I really wish I had more to contribute to this review, however I, sadly to say, was never a real fan of this film. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the importance of the film, but I found the film boring. On the other side of that double edge sword, I did always like Dopey, the best Dwarf, and I think it is essential for any parent to view this film with their kids. Take a glance at where Disney’s animated features got their start and why it was such a big deal in 1937. It would be until 1995 that the world of animation would change again, but more on that later…

The Verdict: Should Be Lower.