Movie Review: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) directed by William Cottrel
Once upon a time, a princess was born with hair of raven black, lips red as blood, and skin as white as snow. Her mother named her Snow White, but soon died. The king’s second wife was a beautiful woman, but as vain as she was fair of face. It was not long before she was a widow. She despised her stepdaughter and treated her as a servant. Snow White took this in good grace, but longed for a loved one to take her away. Things became more tense as the maiden grew into her true beauty.
The queen’s magic mirror alerts her that Snow White has now surpassed her in “fairness”, so the queen orders her huntsman to take the girl out into the woods, kill her and bring the queen her heart. The huntsman almost does so, but cannot bring himself to commit murder of the innocent maiden. He warns Snow White of the queen’s intentions and slaughters a pig for its heart instead. Snow White flees into the deep forest.
Snow White finds a cottage inhabited by seven dwarfs, and negotiates lodging with them. But what will happen when the queen finds out her stepdaughter is still alive?
This film, based on the Grimm Brothers version of the classic fairy tale, was the first full-length animated film produced in the United States. It was a huge gamble for the minor Disney studio which had previously only done short subjects. Many innovative techniques were used, and it did splendidly at the box office, assuring that other animated feature films would be made.
To be sure, there are places that the technical limitations of the time can be seen, particularly in the animation of more realistic humans. (This is one of the reasons Prince Buckethead has such a tiny part despite his importance in the story.)
But given those limitations, the movie still holds up well. We’ve barely met Snow White when the huntsman is ordered to kill her, and we already want her not to be harmed. (And since we never see the huntsman after he takes the pig’s heart back to the queen, there’s the nagging doubt that he was killed offscreen. She’s clearly murdered at least one person previously.)
The Wicked Queen is scary, both before and after she transforms herself, allowing her jealousy of Snow White to override even her overwhelming vanity. And in a cruel irony, she leaves the world in an old, ugly form, food for vultures, while Snow White’s beauty was preserved in even seeming death.
The seven dwarfs are funny and likable, though there are a lot of questions that one could raise about their backstory. They have cleaning implements and soap in their house but don’t seem to have used them themselves. Did they have a housekeeper previously? And despite their isolation, they know the kingdom’s gossip about the queen. Who do they trade with? Some of the jokes don’t land, but there’s plenty that do.
Content note: As indicated in the plot synopsis, the Queen tries to have Snow White murdered, and then attempts the job herself. She’s even willing to have the princess buried alive! Deaths are tastefully off-screen, but parents or guardians should be with very young viewers the first time they see this movie.
Overall, one of the all-time classic animated films from back when Disney was the feisty underdog. Well worth watching again, and having in your permanent collection if you have children or grandchildren.
